Blogging is competitive. There are millions of blogs out there, all competing to be seen and heard. So how can you make your blog stand out? Blogs are a creative endeavor, so to make it get the attention of your audience, you should use your creativity to find and carve out what makes your message unique. If you are looking for ways to make your blog stand out, and to become an authority in your niche, this guide shows you how.

Content is King

One of the most important things for a blog to be successful is having quality content that provides value to your audience. This might be to provide solution to problems they have, to give them information about a topic they are interested in, or ideas and inspiration that they can uses to enhance their own lives in some way. If you continually give value, then you will have a flock of regular reader who keep coming back to your blog, as well as gaining the interest of new visitors to your blog.

Another way to get your content to stand out is to find out what topics in your niche are trending, and write blog posts around them. This sort of content will feel new to your audience, and you can benefit from the growing interest and bring a new set of people to your blog.

Use Creative Post Titles

Use post titles that grab your audience’s attention, or pique their interest in some way, to encourage them to click on your post to read more. It is fine to stick with a working title to use as you are writing your posts, but before you publish, see what you can do to improve it. Adding a sense of mystery, or hinting that there is some important information that just cannot be missed out on, is a good way to get your audience to click. Also, short and punchy titles have more of an impact that longwinded ones.

Other titles that get an audience’s attention are list style titles, where you give them ‘10 Tips on…’ or ‘5 Ways to…’ Post titles like these give the audience a condensed version of the information contained in the post, and it is a tried and tested format that people are familiar with.

Encourage Sharing

Linking back to the ‘Content is King’ adage, your audience will be more likely to share your content if it is worth sharing! So write valuable posts that your audience will want to share.

Let your audience spread the word about your blog by putting social sharing buttons on your posts. However, an although it might sound counter-intuitive, you don’t want to give your audience too many share option. This is because when presented with too much choice, an audience is less likely to take action that if just presented with one or two options. So, keep social sharing limited to the most used platforms.

You could also make graphics out of quotable sentences and add a click to share button.

Great Design

A great blog design looks good, and has great usability. The layout should make the content clear to read and make navigating easy. A search bar will help your audience find information on specific topics. Use a color palette that works well together and use white space effectively.

Always use great quality visuals such as photos and infographics, or you might include gifs or animations. If you do use animations, be careful as overdoing it may actually distract your audience. Other ways to add creativity to your blog design is to use stock music that plays in the background as your audience views your blog, or you could create videos to click on as an alternative way to get your message out there.

Audience Interaction

Rather than having a set of static posts, encourage your audience to join in with your blog by having a place where that can leave comments at the bottom of each post. Try to reply to the comments you receive, so your audience feel a connection with you. Other ways your audience can interact with your blog is to post polls or ask people to vote on a topic.

Connect with Other Bloggers

Think you can create a popular blog on your own? Well, actually you need other bloggers. Other bloggers are also influencers, so connect with them, learn from them and help each other out. Build relationships with them and share their content on your social media. They will likely do the same. You might ask to do a guest post on another blogger’s site, including a link to your own. This helps you read a new audience who might become fans of your blog.

Bring your own Uniqueness

There are millions of people in the world, yet we are all unique. For your blog, you need to find your unique voice and use it to give your blog its own flavor. Although what you have to say might have been said before, the way you say it is up to you. Put your personality into what you write, and your audience will begin to find a connection with you. Don’t try to please everyone, or your writing will end up bland. Just know that while some people like what you have to say, others won’t, and that is fine. The ones that do like you will become loyal fans, and that is much better than having a whole bunch of people thinking your blog is just ok.

Blogging is fun and creative, but for some it might also be a business. There are many reasons why people have blogs, but what all bloggers look for is ways for their blog to reach and have an influence on an audience. When you know as a blogger that you have helped someone improve their life in some way, it makes it all worthwhile. So don’t be disheartened if you feel like your blog is not reaching the audience you want. A successful blog takes time to create, so keep posting using your unique viewpoints, and soon you’ll have a blog that stands out in its niche.