How to make your blog stand out?

Several problems, doubts and anxiety are a daily part of those who have a blog, right? However, it also brings joy, achievement and satisfaction, but this comes after the challenges faced.

And one of the challenges that literally keeps you up at night is how to make your blog successful.

Okay. For this article I want us to change the issue a bit. From our daily blog experience, we realize that talking about success is a sensitive issue and depends on the subjectivity of each person. From now on, let’s ask the following question: how do I make my blog a different blog?

Nowadays, the number of blogs out there is unimaginable. As to their quality, it is possible to divide them into bad, regular, good and excellent, all in similar quantities. And you’re going to say: Of course I want to be a part of excellent blog group! But being excellent is a requirement; being different is now the key element to achieving what each one understands by success. Do you follow?

Now, what does it mean to be different?

In general terms, and here are a few tips for our personal lives; being different goes beyond observing the competition and reacting to their innovations and releases by adding our personal touch.

In communication, in marketing and sales, being different is understood as the product or service’s price or quality. But that’s not it! These are small things that must be accomplished!

Being different means that you present yourself as something unique and not to find how your competition ceases to be relevant; it actually means forgetting about the competition and focusing on you.

In the book, “The Blue Ocean Strategy“, which we highly recommend, its authors try to show us that difference lies in getting ideas outside the box and in shifting to market sectors that haven’t been covered yet; in other words, fill in identified blanks and expand to uncharted territories and qualities .

As a second tip, being different is useful. Coming up the most insane ideas if they have no affinity with anyone and if they do not arouse interest is useless. Being different doesn’t mean being out of the ordinary or strange, but stand out among people, showing aspects that no one else has, but that are necessary.

Follow this order of ideas and learning a little more about us.

What is a different blog like?

Summing up the previous ideas and putting them into perspective, a different blog is one that does nothing against the mainstream and does not have to be the best because it does not have to face competition. It shouldn’t face it because it is unique, because it was already searching for spaces that weren’t being addressed and that have the space for itself. Of course, you must remember that having an excellent blog and quality are indispensable requirements and not what makes it unique.

A different blog is one that search for topics to talk about and that hadn’t been covered or those that didn’t receive enough importance and of course, the audience was eager to get to know.

It is also the one that found an original design, a form of addressing certain issues or that is presented to the market in an attractive manner. Or also, one that drives the trends that begin with the desire to fill the gaps that other blogs have not provided and do not intend to do so.

While the rest of the blogs are busy debating the top places of the search engines and trying to catch the attention of other blog readers, to be different; your blog will be rewarded with a well-deserved first place and an audience that comes to you because you really have something valuable to say from a different point of view.

Now you realize that thinking about being different is more intense than being successful?

How to create a different blog?

Talking about differences is simple … but talking is cheap … doing it is something else entirely! Once the idea of ​​why it’s good to be different is clear, the hard task of being truly different begins.

The task is arduous, and involves concentration and lots of research. But relax! We don’t want to be alarmists because making the difference starts with the sum of small details, not with a radical break.

So let’s start with a list of details that will, in fact, help your blog become different. Take note that the points are not necessarily in order, but … take notes! And apply them according to your needs to make the difference:

Having a goal is essential

What do you intend to do with a blog? Generate authority, make money, attract leads or clients?

Whatever the purpose of your blog, you must be clear about what it is you want to achieve and focus on producing content on your blog that truly leads you to what you want.

There’s no use in having a huge variety of subjects and presenting yourself as the most versatile blog if you fail to reach your goal. Blogs that deal with different topics often have problems being remembered. The more focused your blog is, the easier it will be to reach your goals and it will be recognized by its theme.

This is the first unique feature: being recognized as ____

Choose a niche

With your blog’s goal defined, observe the audience that is usually attracted to your subject. Select a part of the audience with which you feel more affinity, study it in depth and ask the following question: Which problems haven’t they been able to solve yet?

The answer lies in the people. If you ask them directly which of their needs haven’t been solved by the market yet; what are the ways in which they prefer to be addressed and that no one gives them attention or what doubts do they have before, during and afterwards, and that no one is answering; you will find the gaps and focus on creating ideas to be different.

Creating a different blog means presenting solutions to those who need it most. This is the second unique feature.

Create buyer personas

With your niche selected and surveyed, it will be easier for you to know where to direct your ideas and also know how you will develop them.

Therefore, it’s time to create buyer personas. But, what is a buyer persona?

In marketing, an avatar is the detailed and humanized representation of your target audience. It is the compilation of the survey that is concluded with the creation of a character who talks about who is the ideal reader of your blog, what their interests are, demographic, financial, social, customs information, hobbies, consumer habits, goals and personal and professional problems.

To learn more on how to create personas, click here!

Choose your subject

With your goal defined, the niche selected and the avatar created, choosing the theme of your blog will become easier since you will have clear and specific information about what the market doesn’t have and that you can provide.

Okay! The problem is clear so far, right? But this point not only refers to choosing a good subject, but also its visibility.

Making the topic visible relies on both the creation of content around it as well as the name of your blog.

The name of the blog? Of course!

If you choose a name that is too complex or too creative for your blog, two things might happen: it will easily be forgotten if the public doesn’t know it yet, or people will not know what your subject is.

A good example of this is: www.allbusiness.com/. A blog called All Business, whose subject is … everything involving businesses! No hassles, it is simple and practical.

Have an original design

e are visual beings by nature, everything enters through our eyes. From this premise, having an original design is important. Why?

Blogs are usually written on platforms such as WordPress, Wix, among others, and these websites offer all users the same templates. This means that there is no unique visual identity for one blog.

However, these platforms allow you to customize your blog and that’s where your designer can do his/her magic, making you unique. If you have a design done within your blog, based on the analysis of your audience and theme, you will have a unique and original image that no one else can use.

If the platform design or content images are of original production, readers will always be able to recognize it, even without a logo. Now you already have a different blog from others!

Although an aesthetic resource as a designer is expensive, to begin with you can explore design websites where you can put your creativity into practice, such as Canva, Freepik or ThemeForest.

Structure your content with keyword variations

The main piece for a different blog is and always will be its content (in its various formats: article, video, infographic, among others). And in its turn, content must always be pleasant for its consumption and answer the questions and address the problems of those who visit it.

When we talk about the structure of content using variations of a keyword as a unique feature, we mean that the content can answer several problems at the same time.

But be careful! We are not saying that different content covers many subjects and everything at the same time, but that one content can address, using the same problem, different points of the same problem.

For example, we have a persona who is interest in digital marketing. This person goes online looking for what digital marketing is and, when reading the article, will find not only the answer to their question but other points that we discover, according to the survey we have done in the buyer persona, which may also be of interest: what are the digital marketing strategies, such as choosing a digital marketing agency, among others).

This is structuring content and making it unique by means of the existing variations of a keyword. Doing so means making it more complete and aims at issues that are not always covered in ordinary content and that the public wants to learn about.

But be careful! You should only resort to this tip when your goal is your ideal reader.

And also about keywords…

Work with specific keywords

Here’s another way to be unique: using more specific keywords.

Keywords are the terms that people use to find information. They exist in various types: short, medium and long. When we talk about long keywords, we refer to more specific keywords, which in the end refer to the reader’s more precise question.

Searching for marketing rather than marketing mix isn’t the same. In the former, results can be viewed from what is marketing, to universities that offer marketing courses (because it isn’t specific); in the latter, it is clear that the person specifically wants to learn about marketing mix.

Why would this make a blog unique? Because it is pointing you directly to specific needs that other blogs may not be pointing to because they are generic. Of course your audience will be smaller, but it will be more qualified and really interested in what you have to teach.

Create a style

Creating your own style is essential to have a different, but be aware that your style shouldn’t compete with clarity and shouldn’t forget assertiveness, grammar or spelling.

Once these points are defined, style is the way you adopt to expose problems and solutions. Having your own style will make you stand out, be authentic, identify yourself and generate memory and closeness with people.

To create your blog’s style you must keep in mind who you are writing to and understand how he/she likes to be addressed.

And don’t worry, because creating a style is not something that happens overnight. This requires much exploration and constant practice.

Additional tips:

The previous points have exposed some of the details with which your blog will gain prominence in comparison to others. However, they are not the only ones that exist. Before we conclude, we’ll talk about the last five points that are part of the routine of having a blog and that will also help you find a way to be unique:

Create interesting titles

Titles are responsible for convincing people to insert content and read, when it comes to texts or watching a video for example.

Take advantage of this space as a sample, a summary that generates impact and that provides reasons why you are unique and why you respond to people’s problems from a perspective that hadn’t previously been taken into account.

Post at key times

There are studies we can use to find out the best times to publish content. But, your publishing times do not need to be the same as those of the studies.

If your blog is still very new and you are focused on other key issues, it is good to use the studies; that’s what they were created for. However, try researching and address your audience to get to know them well and really take advantage of the times when they are available to receive it.

If your persona is online at night, you know that you should be there for them at those times. The same applies if they are online during the day, at breakfast or lunch, on the bus, etc.

In the knowledge of the avatar lies the power of being unique.

Post frequently

Consistency achieves what enthusiasm cannot. Establish a publishing rhythm. Find the way to make your audience understand that they can always find it.

To do so, create a suitable editorial schedule for your publications. You don’t need to post every day. You should take into account the availability of the authors and of course the audience’s attitude.

Create a community

Interact with your blog’s reader. Let him/her know that your opinion is indispensable; in fact, that’s the most important thing! Your blog should be created as a gift for your audience, a place where you can answer their questions and meet their needs without having to pay for it.

Take advantage of your audience’s interest and become stronger by giving them details of your problems and solutions. When they find clear answers on your blog, they will certainly come back and refer you to other people.

On the other hand, be willing to talk to them not only through content. Call them directly by their name, be fast, punctual and affectionate, and allow them to contact you through your email, phone or other direct means.

In the end, having a different blog is creating a community.

Analyze statistics

The survey should be done before, during and after the creation of your blog content. It is not enough to be interesting and teach points never seen before by your audience if you do not follow up.

How did your audience behave? Did the time of publication work? Do you still have questions about resolving a problem your audience has?

Install programs like Google Analytics to track your visitors’ movements on your system. This information will help you find gaps in your own blog.

Being different lies in the essence as well as in doing

Finally, we reiterate: to be unique is to be useful and valuable; it means you don’t do what is already being done.

In order to have a different blog from others you need to go beyond merely creating good content; you need to have reading skills, be keen and attentive, capture the signs, be meticulous and detailed to make visible what has been invisible: problems that are still unsolved.

No more, nor less.

Now that you’ve seen how to make a blog stand out from others, find out how to make money with your content!

This article was produced by Rock Content, Marketing de Contenido, and translated by Hotmart.