I think the most important factor is dropping the word 'diva' all together. I know this is a long shot with WWE's Total Divas becoming a big hit but to me it seems like they are playing from behind before they even begin. 'Diva' tells the audience to care about their looks rather than their in ring work and it is an uphill battle from there. I think what could really help this problem is changing the Divas Championship back to the Women's Championship. Lets not have the females compete over a belt for who the best looking or sexiest Divas is. Let's let them compete for who the best women's wrestler is. Once the WWE starts to legitimize women's wrestling rather than eye candy than the women will be able to garner some more respect.
As we have seen in NXT, women's wrestlers are extremely talented and when given 10+ minute matches they can shine just like men. Women have even main evented shows down in NXT and the crowd did not miss a beat. It can be done, just needs to focus more on their in ring work.
To go along with dropping the term 'Diva', I also think the WWE could really benefit from writing women some unique story-lines that will keep the audience interested. How about a Queen of the Ring competition with a match or two each week on RAW and Smackdown? How about an all female battle royal? How about even letting the women work a potential cage match? These are just a ideas that could trend women in the right direction for the future in the WWE. Let's agree that calling them 'Divas' does not help or promote the properly! Let them be women's wrestlers and let them wrestle with a purpose and they will shine!