There are countless blogs on the internet and many of them compete for the same traffic. Companies run corporate blogs and many also encourage or require some of their employees to run one as well. Small business owners operate blogs as part of their offline business, as well as use them to accent their online businesses. There are some people that even run one or more blogs as separate businesses all to themselves.
All of these blogs, no matter what their subject matter, are competing for one thing, readers. The visitors to a blog are called traffic, and the more traffic a blog receives, the more successful it is judged to be. With all of these blogs and bloggers seeking out the same pool of traffic, the number one way to get traffic and visitors is for your blog to exhibit a good amount of uniqueness. A unique blog that is well maintained and frequently updated will outshine the competition, even when the competition is a decent blog.
There are a number of ways to make your blog unique so that it stands out from the crowd. Design is one element that can set your blog apart from the rest. Of course, the subject matter that you cover on your blog is an easy way to set your blog apart. Other ways of making your blog stick out are the tone that you write in, the features you cover, the services you provide, and more.
One of the most unique features of your blog though is you. You are completely unique from other bloggers on the internet. Your background, your experiences, your talents, your sense of humor, and everything about you makes you different. Those qualities can also make your blog different. Approach a broad subject like shoes and make it your own by also showing weekly or monthly what you think are the ugliest shoes for sale online. Cover a subject like reggae music with a weekly feature detailing what you did this week while listening to that type of music. You can even combine your talents and interests. Do you love sports and also write poetry? Put up a weekly or monthly poems about your favorite team, sport, or even just a player in the news.
Driving traffic to your blog is one of the harder things you’ll have to try and accomplish as a blogger. One of the best ways for your blog to be successful is for you to get a good amount of traffic coming to your blog on a daily basis. Getting a good amount of traffic requires link building, word of mouth, and sometimes even advertising. Getting that traffic to stay, and then come back and turn into repeat viewers and loyal readers is harder and one of the things you can accomplish by letting your true personality shine through. It’s your blog, don’t be afraid to show off exactly what makes it yours… you.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Excellent message. No two people see the world exactly the same, so your opinion counts, particularly if you are not following the crowd. Offering a different perspective gives real value.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
It is definitely one thing that sets a blog apart Barry. Thanks!
February 22nd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
That is a very good point. Didn’t think of it that way, but it’s so very true.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:35 am
after reading your post, I looked at the the closed windows along my street with the new eyes. Thank you for the help to understand what darkened my picture. The title of your post connected our blogs with the way we live. So the mystery of the high traffic to our blogs was uncovered: it’s our personal perseverance to welcome the passersby loudly and daily (to update our blogs regularly) that attracts others - helps us to recognize ourselves in the eyes of the others.