With millions of bloggers fighting for a share of the ever so competitive blogosphere, it can make it incredibly difficult for your blog to stand out and get noticed. Although difficult, it’s not impossible to make your blog standout of the blogging crowd and increase your readership. Here’s a few simple ways to get noticed:
1. Leverage Off Online Communities
Send you blog posts to online communities and forums and piggyback some of their traffic. There are many online communities out there that are on the constant lookout for informative and engaging blogs to post on their websites. And will normally do so for free. Find communities that are specific to your blog theme or topic and approach the editor about submitting your blog posts. As a start here are some popular free online communities: Business 2 Community, Reddit, Ezine Articles
2. Use Captivating Headlines
Don’t lose your readers with a boring and generic title. The title and featured image are what draws majority of readers to read your blog. There are many ways you can go about creating a compelling headline, below are some examples:
- 3 Tips to Creating the Best Blog Post
- 5 Reasons Your Blog Sucks
- What Your Blog and the Titanic Have in Common
- How to Create a Blog Post in 5 Minutes
3. Use Images
Static long text isn’t attracting anyone to read your blog; it’s normally the image that first grabs the reader’s attention, followed by the headline. Use a simple but engaging image to capture the attention of your audience. It should complement what your article says, where appropriate use colourful images to standout from other blog posts. A good example of clever image use can be found at PR Daily.
4. Add Personality
It is so much easier to read a blog that has a personality. Always avoid writing in third person and keep the content personable with your opinions, thoughts and advice. Steer clear of clichés and write as if you are talking to your friends on the topic. With practice this will come naturally.
5. Finish With Style
Once you start it can be very easy to write the main body of your post, and often the ending is where the post fizzles out. Don’t underestimate the importance of your closing paragraph. It’s good to provide a wrap up of what your blog post was about and reinforce your point one last time.
Of course this isn’t an all-inclusive list but does give you a good start on creating that standout blog! If you’re stuck on the technicalities of putting together your first blog post, have a look over these step-by-step tutorials.
