Over the past few months, I have been asked by prospective clients what are ways to make money online. Now, understand that these people are interested in using WordPress as a content management system, and have intentions on using it to monetize their blog.

There are a number of things to consider when designing a theme for monetization, and before you try to figure out ways to make money online, you’ll need to figure out what your options of monetization are.

I’ll quickly make a list of ways to make money online:

• CPC advertising like Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network
• CPA advertising like Azoogle and Max Bounty
• Affiliate marketing with Linkshare and Commission Junction

Aside from identifying which type of ads you want to display, it’s also very helpful that your theme design can accommodate these types of ads.

First thing you should is research what are the best types of ads to show - meaning which ad sizes generally get the best click through rate. Different ad sizes work better/worse for various niches, so research is key in your attempt to find ways to make money online.

Second, and more importantly, good ad integration is a must. The last thing you want to do is turn off your site visitors by having to many lousy or overused advertisements.

The last step in your attempt to monetize your blog is to hire a WordPress theme designer to optimize your blog for SEO. Getting search engine traffic and high rankings means that you will want to ensure that your overall theme is nicely done and will be an abundant source for ways to make money online.