Blogging is becoming more popular and competitive and every single day there are thousands of new blogs created so at this rate it becomes very difficult for new blogs to gain traction. While you can easily visit a lot of blogs and read a lot of posts on building a successful blog the truth is that many of the tips you will be reading about don’t work either because the person who wrote the post is a copycat blogger or because the said formula has been overused. It is true that there are a lot of new blogs online everyday and things keep on improving but the truth is that it is the same approach that was used to build a lot of successful blogs 6 years ago that still works today. We only need to stop reading and start taking action, this post will be giving you some tips on how to build a successful blog.
DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF
The first step to take when trying to build a successful blog is to differentiate yourself. There are already hundreds of millions of blogs in the blogosphere and more millions are added every month so you can’t afford being the same with the other blogs because it doesn’t work. The real key to building a successful blog is to differentiate yourself. While writing great content and marketing your blog as best as you can is invaluable what makes people share your blog, stick with you and engage with you is your uniqueness. This is also known as your unique selling proposition or USP.
There are many ways to differentiate your blog in the blogosphere and below are some tips to help you make your blog completely different from the other blogs in the blogosphere.
Have a Solid About Page: Every single successful blogger, entrepreneur and business has a story and it is your story that will determine which problem you can solve. A lot of people underestimate the power of an about page but the truth is that this simple page can make a huge impact on how successful your blog will be. We all have an idea of who a blogger is by reading their about page and this idea of who they are will reflect in how we read and see their content. You must have a unique story and the only way to tell the world this story of yours is by having a solid about page. People will find it easier to relate with your content about breaking free from the 9-5 shackles if you tell them how you lose your job and how you were able to build a base online.
Be Personal: It doesn’t matter how great your about page is your readers might only read it once. The only way to let your readers know that you’re a real person who has experienced the same thing as them and who knows, understand and is ready to meet their needs is by being personal with your posts. Don’t try to portray yourself as a company or copy some other big blogger in your niche. Let the real YOU reflect in your posts and your readers will find it easier to connect with you and share your content.
Have a Unique Design: Let’s take a look at this story. You visited a shop that was painted blue last week, you had a terrible experience when you visited the blog and you vowed never to visit them again, you later decided to visit another shop in another country and it has that same color. What will be the first thing to come to your mind? I can bet it will be the memory of your bad experience with the former shop, and this can even affect your decision of working with the shop or not. You might be confused and be asking how this can be solved, and it is as simple as ABC. All you need to do is have a unique design that only you use. I spent over $1500 to design my blog just to make sure it is unique and different from other blogs and I’m so happy to tell you I’m now reaping the benefits.
You should also know that a unique and perfect design is easy to use and will also ensure your readers never forget their experience with you and your blog.
Be Engaging: There is a blogger with the name of Pat Flynn, this blogger is highly successful, he has a blog that is visited by almost 100,000 people every month, he has been interviewed and featured on almost all the big blogs online, he has over 30,000 subscribers (both email and RSS), he makes over $30,000 online yet he makes it a duty to connect and engage with all his readers. While this isn’t what everybody can do, especially at his high level of success, it has really separated him from the rest of the blogosphere and has significantly affected how successful his blog is. His readers don’t think twice before taking action based on his recommendation because they know he is genuinely willing to help them.
Give Your Best Content: One thing I have discovered as a blogger is that creating great content takes time. It is really easy to write a few hundred words blog posts (yes, I do it too) but the reality is that writing more detailed, explanatory and effective blog posts bring more results. I have personally tested this on my blog and I noticed that every single blog post I focus a lot of time and effort on ends up bringing me more than 3 times the number of visitors I get to a shorter and less informative blog post at the same time span. You can only succeed as a blogger if you’re truly there for your readers and this can only be proved by your content. Try to do your best to make sure every single content you write is the best, and your readers will love you for it. If you really want to see an example of a great blog post you can read this one.
PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
A lot of people don’t want to hear this and very few people take it serious but the truth is you can hardly build a successful blog if you don’t focus most of your efforts on promotion. While viral marketing doesn’t rely on much of your efforts it is imperative that you know that you have to do something to give your content the momentum it needs. You have to have an audience base before your content can really go viral and you can’t do that by just sitting at home and expecting them to come.
Writing great content is really important but getting traffic is more important. It is also important to know that while there are many ways to get traffic to your blog it is very important to focus all your efforts on only one technique and you will be happy to see that it works. For example, you might want to focus all your efforts on blog commenting instead of trying to use 6 different techniques that will hardly work.
A great example of this is what I do, instead of focusing on a lot of traffic techniques I decided to focus on guest blogging alone and this has helped me build a blog that is being visited by over 10,000 people monthly and it is also helping me make thousands of dollars every month.
If you’re to ask me what my personal recommendation is when it comes to getting traffic I will tell you it is guest blogging, and to know more about this you can download my free guide on the subject here.
ENGAGE WITH YOUR READERS
A lot of us spend a lot of time trying to attract readers to our blogs and when they come we treat them with levity and as if we don’t care about them. It is very important to be careful with how you deal with your readers because they can come and go when they want. Try to engage with your readers by being there for them; whenever they have a question make sure you’re always giving them an answer, whenever they send you an email make sure you always reply and whenever they need your help make sure you give it to them.
You should also know that the best way to engage with your readers is with your content so it doesn’t matter how great you are at replying comments it is of no importance if your content sucks. Always do your best to help and engage with your readers and they will always be happy to spread the word about your blog.
Spread The Word!
It might be that simple but the truth is that simple things bring great results and complex things bring minimal results. Dominating the blogosphere isn’t that complex and it is mostly about you reading and following the advice in this post. Also make sure you share this post with your friends and comment with your opinion below.
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