With over 152 million bloggers worldwide circa 2017, making your blog stand out from the crowd can seem like an impossible task. After all no matter how ‘original’ you may think your blog is, chances are another blogger has an identical site to yours, so the question is how on earth can you create an ‘authentic, creatively original’ enterprise when there are so many other bloggers with the ‘exact same ideas’? The truth is, even after two years in the blogging industry and a month full time, I am still learning how I too can make my blog gain more traction and despite ‘ a unique aesthetic’ and personable approach to blogging, there is more to ‘branding’ than meets the eye. As bloggers get better at marketing their content and hone their streamlined aesthetic, we struggle to get our voices heard and learn how we too can gain recognition for our work, but never fear for Faded Spring is here to show you how you too can stop your blog from falling into the cracks. After all you might get 20,000 visitors but traffic is not everything, neither is the awards that you might win; instead there are eight valuable components that will allow your blog to gain visibility in the deep web of bloggers…
Street Artist: Cloakwork
- Allow Your Personality To Shine Through
I can’t stress this enough; a blog without personality is like a child without toys. You invest all your time and energy on the blog of your dreams, influenced by blogs around you that you have admired for some time. Yet because you have become fixated on how the admired blogs ‘write’ and present themselves you find yourself adopting their tone of speech, until you morph into someone that is clearly not you. While ‘imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery’, there is a fine line between ‘inspiration via imitation’ and ‘imitation equaling loss of sense of self’. Therefore, if you are influenced by blogs around you, whether that be fashion or social media tips, how do you allow your personality to shine through?
Well its easier than you think; think about what makes you, well YOU? Do you have a USP i.e. a poetic style of writing or is your tone of voice chatty? What about your images, do they reflect your personality i.e. how do you present yourself through the images? For example are you more of a serious or comic writer, using a series of expressions that reflect how you brand your business or want to come across to your audience is so integral to making your site stand out from the crowd. It might seem like I am throwing random questions at you but the reality is injecting personality into your blog starts with thinking about who you are as a person.
Below I have included key components you need to think about when showing your personality through your business:
- Engaging with your comments on both your site and social channels is a great way of showing your personality. For example say a readers writes ‘ I really identified with your story about how you decided to travel the world because I too left my job to follow my dreams. I am proud of you for taking this step and cannot wait to see where your journey may take you’, instead of reading and moving on, reply.It does not matter if they do not read your reply, but demonstrating that you engage with your readers shows good personality traits like ‘kindness’, ‘friendliness’ and gratitude. After all I make sure I reply to every tweet and most of my Instagram comments too.
- Have A Unique About Page– while you might think that noone reads your about page, the truth is that many people do. After all when it comes to brands, they look at your about page to see how you come across, what your interests are and whether your about page comes across as authentic enough for their brand.For example I have mentioned that I am a huge advocate for the LGBTQ community and love drag queens; as a result I have had many brands, including First Class Watches: Fossil mention their own love for drag queens and how it drew them to my blog. Think about who you are and what you want to say.
- Write How You Talk: Whether you are a conversational speaker or are facts orientated, learning what your unique point of view is can help attract more visitors to your blog. For example my own writing style tends to be ‘dense and informative’ but equally, depending on the post I also can be quite ‘rude, crude and sassy’, especially if it is about dating. Learning to adopt personable voices for different niches is key to maintaining your sites visibility.
2. Create Consistent Branding On Both Your Website And Your Social Media Channels
When it comes to marketing your blog, there is more to promotion than just sharing across social and interacting with your readers. A key component of branding is how you present your blog aesthetically and how it correlates with the rest of your social media channels. For example if you have a Twitter Account that does not have the same name as your IG account, chances are it might confuse brands and readers. After all if I called my Twitter account Ana De-Jesus instead of my blog name, people would see it as a personal rather than business, brand orientated account. But then if my Instagram remained as faded_spring, VS the use of my actual name on my Twitter, chances are people would be more likely to follow the Instagram account, as it is consistent branding that relates to my site name.
Brick Lane Street Art
How To Create Consistent Branding For Your Website
- Choose A Blog Name That Reflects Your Interests, Personality Or Blog Niche and use it throughout your social channels. For example my Instagram and Twitter handles are faded_spring, my blog is Faded Spring as is my Facebook page. I chose Faded Spring because it refers to A. my favourite time of year, B. My approach to transitional fashion and C. because it sounded poetic, relating to my ‘writing style’.
- Create A Unique Aesthetic: My Instagram is a good example of this. As stated in How To Grow Your Following On Instagram, creating a ‘grid’ that shows your blogs branding is so ‘key’. For example my Instagram uses a colour scheme which alternates between blue and pink – my two favourite colours- and features a mixture of ‘close ups’ and mid-shots, as that is how I want my Instagram to be known for. With Instagram my feed is predominantly fashion oriented using personable, thought provoking captions, with Twitter my genres are more varied as it is the best platform to drive traffic to my blog, thus reflecting my blogs genres:fashion, lifestyle, dating, food and travel.
- Create A Logo To Represent Your Blog and Channels. While I don’t have a logo per say, I do however have a simple blog header, which reflects my minimalist approach to blog layout. It is ironic to say that someone who is such a maven of colour, used simple fonts and an italicized header to amplify and demonstrate her blogs brand, but I wanted the attention to be focused on the content as opposed to the home page. A simple branding aesthetic does well to promote your point of view and helps your site stand out from the crowd but for some, a logo is more beneficial. Meet Logojoy, a site that uses artificial intelligence to create logos based on your inspirations. For example my blog header is ‘black, italicized and sketched’ which suits the colour street art aesthetic because it too is a form of art.If I was to create a logo using Logojoy, I would cite blue and pink as my ‘colour inspirations’ and thus it might generate a ‘baby blue background’ with pink italicized or bold font, without imagery. Not to mention that ‘logo branding’ is also key for business cards and helps get your ‘brand out there’ in a professional and well thought out manner
Whether you create branding through a logo or personalized blog header, ensure that you choose an aesthetic that you can effectively market.
Oh and one more ‘logo branding bonus’. If you want to create a logo to effectively market your brand, Logojay has shared a 15% discount code for you lucky readers to use at the checkout. Simply type FadedSpring15 and you are ready to go!
3. Utilize Two To Three Social Media Networks That Can Help Drive Traffic To Your Blog
Lora Zombie Street Art
The key to social media is unlocking which two or three platforms would generate the most traffic to your blog and in my experience that is all down to your niche. For example say I wanted to promote my ‘travel content’ my highest streams of traffic would come from Twitter and Stumbleupon, for dating ‘Twitter and Instagram’, food and blog tips ‘Pinterest and Facebook’ and for Lifestyle ‘Facebook’. Learning what platforms are key to helping your blog gain traction will help you A. get more traffic, B. focus on niches that you are most passionate and C. find out which community is most important for you. For example the three platforms I focus on are Instagram, Facebook and Twitter because they help drive the most traffic to my blog and is where most people find my content.
Even by looking at my analytics it shows that my three platforms drive the most traffic to my website and goes Facebook, Google Search (Organic), Twitter, Instagram and Stumbleupon, with readers in the US, UK and the Philippines being the most audience centric market for my blog to target. While my ‘social reach’ (excluding my blog following and stats) is only 16.7 K (Twitter 2. 1 K, IG 8.9 K, Linked In 1.5 K, FB 2.2 K, Pinterest 518, Bloglovin 538, my small social followings still help make my website stand out because they are highly engaged and focused communities.
Despite what brands might tell you, following is not everything as my Instagram demonstrates. I get an average of 1.8 K likes per photo, with an average of 180 comments , which demonstrates a 23.8 % engagement rate, while my Twitter got 108 K impressions, with a 3.5 engagement ratio, proving that a micro-influencer can still effectively market her blog and get ‘high quality collaborations’. After all even in the early days I worked with big brands like River Island, Debenhams and House of Fraser, because they were more focused on my authenticity as a brand and high level of engagement as opposed to following.
4. Create Attention Grabbing Content With Value: No Click Bait Allowed Please!
We all know that ‘epic content’ is key to making your blog stand out but what on earth is ‘classified’as attention grabbing content. Again it depends on your blog niche; if your blog post is on how to generate more ‘blog traffic’ which of these titles do you think would be more ‘attention grabbing’? ‘How To Triple Your Blog Traffic In A Week’ or ‘How I got 40,000 Views In A Year’? While both titles would generate traffic, readers seek ‘quick gratification’ that generates results thus the ‘triple your blog traffic in a week’ would be more helpful to your target audience. One thing to keep in mind though is to get rid of the ‘fluff’ and not fixate on ‘click bait’. In other words don’t create filler content because you think more posts will help you stand out, instead focus on content that offers value to your readers.
For example in my posts, like the one you are reading, my titles always correlate with the content i.e. if I wrote a post claiming I was getting 40,000 views but it was essentially a copy-paste of affiliate links and courses, readers would get disgruntled because I am not offering any value to them. Sure they may join the courses and shell out for blog branding training but ultimately their cycle of ‘self-satisfaction’ will remain incomplete because they are reading articles that are only written to generate traffic/money/fame as opposed to helping and engaging with the target demographic!
Brick Lane Street Art
Of course the definition of epic content is not just relegated to ‘blog tips’ but evergreen content i.e. how to make a custard pie, creates cornerstone content which your blog will be associated with and will still generate hits for years to come, whereas content that is more ‘personal’ i.e. Faded Spring buys a dog would gain hits but probably not provide value to my readers but that’s ok. After all epic content is about remaining authentic, distinctive and creating a mixture of content that is for both YOU- i.e. Faded Springs Dating Disaster Series– and rewarding your readers ‘how to turn your blog into a money making business’.
5. Spotlight Customers/ Readers On Your Blog and Social Media Channels
Brick Lane Street Art
I am very grateful to my readers and clients for choosing my blog, so why shouldn’t I reward them for their loyalty? It pays to be nice and creating shout-outs, sharing readers and fellow bloggers posts and tagging them in posts like ‘10 Colourful Bloggers You Should Follow On Instagram‘ shows you care. Go out of your way to be nice to readers; I see bloggers who do not engage with their audience at all and while I know it is hard to reply to every comment, even replying to a minimum of 5 comments a day shows that you appreciate your audience for stopping by.In fact I don’t just reply to comments, DM’s and Tweets/ Social Shares but in some cases I will also return a comment on their blogs or send them an email thanking them for stopping by and personalize it to their interests and needs.
I do this about 3 times or more a week and it does help me get more followers, increase my engagement and bring more, new readers to my group. For example say that you write a post on 10 fashion bloggers you should follow on Instagram and tag them on social when promoting your content, their readers will in turn visit your blog and engage with your content, with a good percentage returning as ‘return visitors’.
6. Identify A Gap In The Market And Solve A Problem In The Process
Fanakapan Star Yard
Finding that ‘missing something’ can be difficult to pin point, after all there are millions of bloggers like yourself, offering the same perspective. So what can you do to ensure that your content is fresh? Say for example you identified a gap in the market for ‘street art bloggers’ you would hop on that bus to market central and chances are over time you will stand apart from the rest of the websites who employ the same monochromatic aesthetic. But how then do you solve an issue and what exactly is the issue? In cases like these when you employ a niche aesthetic like myself, you would have to predict an ‘issue that would arise’ i.e. the problem I would be solving would be finding an aesthetic that people would be searching for i.e. street art. If you typed street art spring in Google, chances are you would find my blog comes up as the first result because that is what my blog is known for. Equally if you typed in foster care or dating, my blog archives would also come up, because they are common search results derived from my blog, as these are ‘issues I have solved’ or spoken about extensively.
Because of the way you have ‘branded your content’ through niches and have been able to identify a gap in the market where you can help solve an issue, Google would then call upon you as an expert in your field. I.e. when you think of Fashion you think of Chiara from ‘The Blonde Salad’ or a Vlogger you would turn to Zoella, not because they are the ‘best’ but because they have the most recognition as an expert in their field.
7. Raise Awareness Of Controversial Or Taboo Topics And Be Honest!
Brick Lane
Honesty is so important, especially when you are a new blogger and still testing the waters. After all increasing your credibility takes time , so choosing your content and being honest will allow your readers and subscribers to trust you. After all it would be like me talking about dog food when I don’t have a dog or writing a fake review on how much I loved a phone case when in actual fact I have never used it and gave it away to my cousin. Whereas if I only promoted clothing that I actually liked from retailers I trusted but at the same time, wrote a food review that demonstrated the pros and cons of the restaurant I ate at, readers would be more likely to stick around because I am true to myself.
Equally writing about ‘social issues’ or taboo topics like mental health, being cruelty free or abuse (depending on your genre) will tie into the ‘honesty feature’ that I spoke about above. For example lets say you are a vegetarian food blogger and you wrote an article featuring vegetarian food recipes while highlighting how animals are treated when being breeded for the ‘meat industry’ will be more likely to get clicks-whether it be positive or negative- because it touches on a controversial topic that not everyone will agree on. Equally I have written on being abused as a child and my second most viewed post Dear Aunty Valentine (5,000 views) touches on foster care, abuse, cancer, bullying and depression. While it was not written to be ‘controversial’ and was instead written as an ‘online journal’ or ‘diary’ it did attract both negative and positive comments because its a sensitive topic to talk about i.e. someone commented that I ‘deserved to be abused because I made myself a victim’, although the majority of the comments were positive.
The internet can be vile but it can be beautiful too; raising awareness of taboo topics can help others as well as yourself and can be something you and your readers can look at fondly in time.
8. Research Your Blog Audience And Create Content They Will Read
It goes without saying that writing content that is much for you as it is for your blog audience is an integral way of maintaining a ‘readership’. For example writing a post about luxury handbags that cost £600 when you only wear clothing from high street retailers and your target demographic and readers are made up of 16-24 year olds, chances are they will switch off because a regular student is unable to afford handbags that would cost them half of their tuition fee! Whereas if you wrote a post that spotlighted 10 High Street Handbags On Sale This Week’ they would be more likely to read your post, as it is well within your budget. Equally if your niche is luxury travel then make sure you target readers and brands that fit into this ‘luxury travel niche’, by researching your audience demographics, where they are based and even their interests. For example the average demographic is 72 % women aged 21-34 who are either students, mothers or start-up entrepreneurs.
So if I was to create content for the 22 year old student, it might be highlighting ways to save money at university, the 27 year old mother might appreciate my ‘personal family orientated posts’ like ‘A Letter To My Dad On Father’s Day‘ whereas the start up entrepreneur might appreciate 35 groups that pay you to blog or how to turn your blog into a money making business, because they too want to ‘utilize’ their brand. Of course this is just generic circumstances but the basic gist is that it pays to do some research into who is reading your content, so you can create value laden content for them in return!
How Do You Make Your Blog Stand Out From The Crowd?
Read More Blog And Social Media Tips Below
*Disclaimer
Please note that this post was sponsored by Logojoy but all thoughts, opinions and research are my own.
Omg, I totally though that no one read my about me page. Time to spice that up a little bit! Thanks for the tips beautiful! XO Via Bella Blog
great post. it can be hard to get a unique but authentic voice sometimes but great tips to help here
Helpful tips…I am new into travel blogging and would definitely take up your advice..Trying to be honest…
These are such great tips! I struggled with showing my personality when it came to how I typed out my blog posts because I didn’t know if my chatty personality would be unprofessional. I’m glad I decided to just do it my way!
http://www.myclusterofthoughts.com/
This is great advice. Some of these I will look to implement right away.
“One thing to keep in mind though is to get rid of the ‘fluff’ and not fixate on ‘click bait’. — I so agree with this. A lot of bloggers are guilty of this crime. lol
These are some good tips and I like your artwork.
Thank you for all these tips! People keep telling me that I have great pictures so I try to highlight them in my post. That is a bit of a problem because all I get as comments are “Ohh nice photos”, “Beautiful shots” ect when in my post I could have write that I saw a flying pink elephant and nobody would even notice!😂 Ahhh these social media, the only I truly get is Instagram…the rest I am still trying to understand how to use.
I totally agree with all of this, and you have definitely just prompted me to go back through and read my about me page in case there is anything I can improve upon.
Great tips i feel I definitely need up my blog game a bit more.
I wish read found this article before Zi start to write my blog . This is such amazing tips for beginner like me .
Thank you for sharing
Good reading here,. Nice thoughts on blogging, ill certainly follow some of your suggestion.
These are some great tips! I definitely need to work on my About Me page. I’ve tried using a color scheme on Instagram but it just doesn’t seem appealing to me. I’m struggling with that right now. Thanks for all the wonderful tips. It hits on a lot of things that I need to focus on.
A great post. I don’t promote my blog enough and there are some great tips here that I’m going to try out. I need to work a lot more on Pinterest. I love the Street Art.
Great post! All very valid points.Especially the one about injecting personality into your blog!
I agree Sometimes we get too busy that we are lost on how to regain our readership. Time for blog tweaking 😀
P.S I always love to see Mr. Bean!
Great post this. I would say allowing your personality to shine through is the number 1 ‘hook’ you can use on your blog. It’s what will keep people coming back for more!
Great post! It is something I’ve been looking for a while, since I started in serious blogging relatively recently, I have so many things to learn and usually I learn by doing something lame and redoing it again xD My mistakes are my guidance to what I really want to do. I also noticed that many people have at least faint idea what they want to write about or share, or what their reader looks like. I’m still lost in here and have to most of the time guess what it is going to be 🙂
I know some people are afraid to start drama by posting about a controversial subject, but why not? It gets people talking and isn’t that what it’s all about?
Writing how you talk is the best advice you could ever give a blogger. I can’t read rigid posts that don’t flow. When people make it sound like a conversation readers are more engaged and incline to comment.
I am totally going to spruce up my about page more, cause I never thought anybody is going to read about it, I usually make it as simple as possible.
You have touched some really interesting points in your post. I do marketing in my day to day life and I know how important engagement back is. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to do the same on my own blog (I’m just a one man band with limited hours) but I would love to be able to sometimes soon. I think being honest and being you are the most important things that will bring you loyal readers.
About me page is definitely my most read page. I tend to read them as well if I like the blogger. I used to not get personal a lot on my blog because I am very shy. I still can’t but whenever I do, I get a huge positive response. Readers who love to read your blog also would love to know about you. Last point is very true. I neglected that in my i rial days of blogging but understanding your audience is the key. Congrats Anna on the 40,000 view.
Fantastic tips – I really like it when bloggers show their personality and are engaged with their audience, which is the type of blogger I aspire to be 🙂
I appreciate how thoroughly your advice covers your bullet points. Thank you; there’s quite a bit for me to begin employing on my own blog immediately.
And the artwork. Outstanding. (I would have loved links to the artists’ websites or social media though)
Ana, these are AMAZING tips, honestly I’ve been looking at ways to improve my blog lately and feel like this are gonna be a big help, along with your instagram one. I’ve bookmarked them both! Thanks so much for sharing these tips.
Great post as always! x
The honesty one is the huge one for me. I would also add to write what you’re passionate about. That makes your blog more honest and will draw the right readers in. As for brands, I’m not much into promoting brands at this point but maybe down that road. I love the artwork you have shared. Gorgeous!
I agree. I am only concentrating on 3 social media platforms at the moment because I can see where my traffic is coming from and where I want to grow my traffic. I have been writing less content. I’d rather write a couple of great posts than litter the web with a ton of mediocrity. My site has a strong identity that has brought some important collaborations from The British Museum and Knoll Furniture to name a couple. Thanks for reminding me to write an about page too!
Some great tips here. I have often thought of changing my blog name but it is what I am known by now
All great points. Being a food blogger is actually harder ( in my opinion) because it seems that everyone thinks that they can snap a recipe with their cell phone and blog about it. And recipes are almost the same across the board. I think this is where stories and personality has to shine through when you write a recipe post.
I love reading blog improvement tips, but I’m so bad about implementing them. Lol. I really need to do better research, it’s just hard to find the time.
I’ve seen a lot of bloggers turning to click bait of late and I think it is such a shame,
These are all great tips! You really answer all the questions new bloggers ask themselves! Good promotion and outreach, knowing your audience and filling a need are the most important
I hate clickbaits, some people just use them to get extra traffic but they fails to get some returning visitors for lifetime, good content is always a key for blogging, content should be always resourceful, thanks for sharing this amazing article, you gave me motivation 🙂
I really like the point: Spotlight Customers/ Readers On Your Blog and Social Media Channels. I do this for other bloggers in my niche, but I’m looking for ways to do this for my regular readers. THEY are the ones who purchase from my links and read my newsletters faithfully. I’d really love to be able to give something back to them.
Fantastic tips here that I will definitely be making use of. I love the detail you went in to explaining how and why each tip was so important. Thanks for sharing
These are great tips and I think honing ones own voice is incredibly important. Self promotion is key to blogging! I work really hard on my social media and it is really starting to pay off.
Thank you so much for a comprehensive post! I agree that your personality is such an important factor in being unique. There’s a lot of competition out there these days, but following your passions and strengths when you’re making your blog will really help. I 100% agree with you that honesty is such an important factor too. Readers will respect you for that.
These are definitely some great tips for making your blog post stand out! Engagement is a big one!
This is all such great advice, particularly for new bloggers! I agree that knowing your audience and filling a gap in the market/solving a problem are some key strategies that have worked for me.
All of these tips are SO helpful and SO true. Thank you for compiling them all in one place!!
Great tips here! I think with there being SO many blogs it is so important to make your blog stand out, and I do try and do that by writing as honestly and openly as I can, sharing the highs and the lows. There are lots of tips here I will implement though, thank you!
I completely agree with all of these! I love reading a blog that has personality and originality. Being honest has to be the number one for me, nothing worse than just knowing when someone is being deceitful.
Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk I
I completely agree, being yourself and letting your personality shine through is so important. Too many bloggers are fixated on what others are doing and it’s such a shame.
This is a super good post. I know I am missing that “fill a need” part. I haven’t found that specific niche yet.
These are some great tips – you’ve inspired me to update my ‘about me’ page!
I love the artwork you’ve included in your post 🙂
Dani x
Really good advice here. I’ve just redone my about me page after reading some similar advice
Really good tips that are all spot on. I think engaging with readers is very important.
These are all well put points to consider. Branding is extremely important and it sounds like uiu have figured that out in time 🙂
how i make my blog stand out from the crowd is to be original. My niche is basketball, so i talk about what’s going on in the basketball world and give my opinion on it.
These are great tips! I was also doing things haphazardly when I first started blogging but now I have streamlined everything and I have maintained true to my niche. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Such a wonderful collection of tips for staying on brand and connecting with your readership. Every few months it’s a good idea for bloggers and creatives to stop, go through their blog and social media accounts and make sure everything is meshing and connecting in a lovely way. If not, it’s time to make a course correction!
These are great ideas Ana! Personality is definitely a big one that will have people coming back again and again. Those street art pictures are amazing
This post is really useful for me as I don’t feel that I promote my blog well… Thanks for sharing 🙂
I have thought about changing my names but I think I can make them work and I feel like I am getting a little more traffic. Great tips that I will refer to regularly.
These are great tips for any bloggers out there. It’s good to let your personality shine through, that’s where it all starts. That’s how we show that we’re unique. It’s also important that we learn how to brand our blog well.
So many great tips to make my blog stand out more. I need to work on my Instagram aesthetic.
I love these tips. I always try to be myself. And I try to be unique. I don’t always want to post How Tos and things like that. I find personal stories usually do the best!
I completely agree about click bait. I have stopped following people because of click bait. Don’t trick us into reading something. Just be honest about it. Click bait is one of my pet peeves.
Yes to all of this! I think making your blog personal and really letting you shine through makes it the best. I love blogs where I feel like I know the blogger (yours is a perfect example!!)
I love blogging and I definitely try to give my readers information that they are looking for. I never thought blogging would be as much work as it is but I absolutely love it.
I love how honest this post is and it was really nice to read, thank you. I enjoyed it, because I’ve just started promoting my new blog about travel and dating called Tinderella Worldwide and tone is very important in how I write as are all the other things you mentioned. I also love that you write about dating disasters!
Great tips here, not easy to stand out in the crowd. I love the pictures in this photo!
Amazing advice! We’re working on building our brand as a travel blog (we’re only 8 months old 🙂 ) and always looking for new and better ways to grab attention. Thank you!
All of these tips are so good for anyone trying to build their blog and continuously looking for ways to improve it. There are so many things that I have to commit to doing consistently. Thanks for sharing all these Ana. <3 xx
I am always looking for ways to make my blog stand out. I think it is so important to make sure your personality shines through.
Thanks for the tips. Great post! The concept of consistent branding is so important. You are your brand1
The more we get to know our readers, the more we’re able to write posts that they’ll enjoy reading, without forgetting about our personality of course! I think these are great tips for new and old bloggers. Consistency is key.
I love your post. Being consistent in your content and having a specific personality in your blog are definitely necessary to have a great blog. Thanks for sharing.
I couldn’t agree more! I have seen many great following on Facebook because they usually post something that is engaging. I enjoy reading blogs with great content and yep, I hate click baits.
Such a great read Ana, you’re so right about being authentic and not loosing your unique voice. Also I am someone who dislikes click baits, they are such a waste of time.
There was so much great info in this post! I’m new and didn’t even think about replying to comments! So much meat in this so thank you!
Every point of your post is very informative. Really it’s a great thing to stand out in front of your competitors. But your post is very helpful in this regard. Thanks for sharing this.
To be honest this is something I struggle with as I don’t have the time to spend on my blog as much as I’d like x
Very useful tips to make the blog stand out in the crowd. There is lot of competition in Blogging world and we really need to put efforts to stand out as guided by you.
Some fab tips here. I can’t believe just how many bloggers there are. I definitely need to put a little more “me” into my blog.
Ami xxx
Really good tips here, especially cause now everyone has a blog and it’s so over saturated and hard to stand out x
Lots of great advice, thanks. Will definitely be implementing some of these.
Personality is key I find. My writing style can be slightly cheeky at time and that reflects me. I try and be as honest as I can in posts as I value that as a person. I’ve learnt some handy tips from this post even though I’ve been blogging two years. Just shows you can learn something new everyday.
Love these tips, the blogs I love the most are the ones where someone’s personality really shines through x
Awesome and useful post, I really enjoyed reading it. It’s imortant to create a brand, and so I thnk you really need to be motivated and excited about writing and creating content, because otherwise, nobody will care about your content
Well, I was really all over the internet to find out a way to help my blog grow and this post is so beautifully crafted that I have got each and every information in here! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing these great tips! Be yourself, everyone is uniquely different that is why I think we need to be true to ourselves because knowing who’s behind the blog is just as important.
Fantastic, informative post, Ana! Love the art work, too. I agree, you always come across as totally authentic to me and I know exactly what I am going to get when I read your posts. Off to pay more attention to my “about” page! 🙂
These are all really great tips for blogging. I really believe consistency is key, as well as remaining true to yourself. It can be tempting to do “what everyone else is doing” but that isn’t usually a good thing. Personally, My social media, IG especially, isn’t “like other bloggers” but it works for me and my brand.
Loving the street art and the tips too! When I first started my blog I tried so hard to write about what I thought others wanted to hear about that I forgot to add my own perspective which made it generic and didn’t stand out. Now I know better and to add my own unique flair :p
It can be so difficult to make your blog stand out, but my biggest tip is to do your own thing with it.
Wow had no idea there were so many blogs/bloggers around the world! Can I just say that I love this post and in general love your blog for the kind of topics you write about and because of your transparency and honesty. I could not agree more to everything you said, especially talking about taboo topics. Keep up the great work, Ana!
xx, Kusum | http://www.sveeteskapes.com
Hello
This is a great great post. I need to thank you, I was for more than a month having the same amount of followers on Instagram and I felt really bad about it almost thinking to quit. But then, I read your post about how you grew on Instagram and I follow almost all the instructions and now I am back. I gain more than 100 followers a week and it’s much better.
I’ve been blogging for a year and a half now, and I’ve found that I first tried to hard to make money. Now I just do it for fun and if the money comes, it comes
Oh my gosh I need this post because my blog is Not standing out from any crowd after 3 years at it!! It is hard but your points are crucial, engaging and being yourself and not a version of yourself that you think will “sell” is so important! Also can we just talk about that epic Mr Bean mural you found!! Amazing!
Ellie | http://www.scotchandstilettos.com
This is such an informative post. It can be really hard to stand out when there is so many of us. I try to just do my own thing and so far its working but I’d love to change some things up a bit!
Great and helpful tips! Bookmarking this to refer back to from time to time. I definitely agree about letting your personality shine through!
Some fab tips! Thank you! I am still relatively new (Just over a year) so a lot of these are still applicable to me 🙂
W.O.W talk about quality content and in depth answers to all the lost bloggers questions! This is an awesome post and I have learnt a wealth of information from just reading this! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
http://www.nmdiaries.com
This post is such a great one. Some sort of mind-opener and valuable tips to consider when blogging. Fully loaded with lots of helpful informations.
Wow, these are some really great tips. There are a few things I wouldn’t have even thought about without reading this, such as writing content that’s a bit more controversial.
Overall, this has definitely been an eye opener as to what I can do to make my blog stand out from the crowd.
Thank you for sharing!
I’ve been working really hard on making my Instagram page more engaging and definitely agree about having a specific color scheme. I normally follow the grid of nine rule where I have one color that links all of my photos together. I want to post more diverse pics that are beauty and fashion related, and aren’t just shots of my outfit that day. Definitely going to try incorporating these tips!
Great tips here. Being yourself is the best tip. There is only one you. Let your personality shine.
Don’t you think the top image looks a little like Mr Bean? Ana this is a super helpful post and it so important now day for your blog to stand out from the crowd.
Fabulous tips and great food for thought. Thank you so much!
These are some great tips to make your blog stand out from the crowd. As we all know that content is the key but social media promotion as well as writing a post keeping SEO guidelines in a mind can be a real game changer.
Wonderful advice, I like the tip about having a unique about me page. I always look at this page an definitely like when something draws my eye!
I couldn’t take my eyes off those fabulous street art photos.!
Visuals are very important and the tips and reminders you offered will help folks get onboard with growing their blog following.
At the end of the day, numbers come and go and what remains is our joy and dedication to our craft. We should never forget that. 🙂
These are such great tips, I love the point about letting your personality shine through. These images are so lovely too, you have an amazing blog.
http://ohduckydarling.com
Bookmarking this because it is so on point. Your posts are always so helpful and informative! Thank you Ana!
So many great tips. I think my favorite is no clickbait. I’ve actually unsubscribed to YouTubers or Bloggers who use this lame tactic. It doesn’t make me want to read your post, it only serves to make me think you aren’t worth my time.
I think staying true to yourself and your readers is the best way to make your blog stand out. Don’t be someone you aren’t or your readers will catch on. I also greatly admire bloggers who take on the tough topics and start an engaging conversation.
Such a great post, I’m trying to turn my blog around. I’m getting there slowly
I seldom talk about controversial subjects since some of the companies that I work with prefer that their influencers steer away from them. However, I did talk about racism in America not too long ago since I felt like it was a subject that needed to be addressed more, especially during recent events.
These tips came at a great time for me thank u, i feel like a little fish in a big ocean quite often
Your post is so very informative and the content is extremely useful. Everything you have suggested makes sense and I can definitely learn from this post and try and improve my blog by making some minor changes. I have seen so many blogs that are copies of others , they lack feel so you are absolutely right in saying your blog should have your voice.
I love your style of writing. It’s so engaging and involves the reader to read till the end. That street art looks amazing with such bright colours. The competition in the blogging world has elevated so much in this era, we as bloggers really have to do something that stands out.
Fab advice, it is very hard to stand out when there’s so many bloggers out there.
Great tips !! Some of these I currently do, plus some good new ideas for me .
As always you give the best tips and write in a style that keeps me engaged. Creating a logo and letting personality come through are key 🙂 x
This is a fascinating post! We made the decision early on to blog through a child’s eyes, now all our social media is written by a four year old! Its different and quirky (not everyone gets it) but I’m sure there are other kid bloggers out there too. Doing what you love and having passion will come through in your writing. We’ve seen you flourish in the last 2 years and its greatly deserved x
These are all amazing tips Ana. The last few weeks I’ve been thinking more about my blog and its direction so I’m going to have a serious think about all of these tips in relation to mine over the next few days. Thank you x
What a great article, I have learnt alot from this post so I must thank you for sharing.
I too recently learnt that my about me page is the second page everyone goes to, they come via a link then to my about me page and then onto another.
Great advice here.
Now this is a helpful guide for bloggers. Too often, I see articles that profess to help you with your blog, and they list a few sentences of what you should do, but do not detail how to do it. THANK YOU for understand the need to emphasize the how so that other bloggers may attempt to get to the next level. GREAT ARTICLE.
Thrifting Diva
http://www.thriftingdiva.com
great post and very unique one. Being a prominent blogger is a difficult task. If one have that passion then he/she can overcome that. Thanks for sharing.
I think personality is a really big one! Everyone is different and unique, so letting that show can make your blog a whole lot more interesting… Don’t just follow the trend; be yourself, both in writing and the style of the blog.
These are all good points. Thanks for sharing. This is a must read for all bloggers. There are many ways we get this done, your list has the most important things to keep in mind.
what a great post , i think we all have our own flair and showing individuality and your on style i think makes it stand out
These are all great tips. Totally agree with the personality one and writing how you speak, I love reading blogs where it feels like the writer is talking to you like a friend xx
Yeah it’s important to have all the platforms be cohesive. Social media should definitely reflect the blog.
Thank you so much this is so helpful. I’ve book marked this to keep coming back to!! I always thought no-one bothered with your about me page either!!
I am spending so many hours on my blog but I still do not know if it is standing out or not. I think it needs more time and lots of hard work.
That is really informative. I do agree with your tips about being authentic and reflect yourself in your brands. Love to share this to my friend who is new to blogging.
I’m loving the tips! They’re really awesome and I enjoyed reading them. I personally believe that a blog can reflects the personality of the writer. Engagement is certainly key to stand out.
Wow I can’t believe how many bloggers there are out there. Some great tips to help us stand out x
These are some really great tips. Standing out is something that can very hard to do with blogging. I think that letting your readers see your personality is a great tip!
These are great tips, it’s incredible the amount of blogs out there these days and it is important to make it your place to shine
This article is just amazing! Thank you so much for so many great tips 🙂
Great Tips, I feel a little bit lost in a sea of blogs, being a newish blogger. I hope I can carve my own little space in the blogosphere. Thank you!
Wow, are there really that many blogs around?? Eek. Also, thank you for the reminder, my ‘about me’ page is in serious need of revamping!
Personality is so important in blogging as other wise your posts can just blend in to everyone elses. It is important to be unique!
Thank you! This blog post is super helpful! All tips are VERY good! And I fully agree that it’s important to “Allow Your Personality To Shine Through” … because the thoughts, ideas and person behind the text is of course most important for the audience 🙂
This is a great read. It will be a big help for those bloggers that they wanted their blog to be stand out.
Brilliant information with great details and suggestions – I’m already thinking I know I should be doing some of them more to really engage with followers and have jotted a couple down to refer back to. Thanks!
Great post and amazing tips!!! Will definitely bookmark this and read it often so it sinks in my brain 🙂 I do most of these already but I should work a little more on consistency.
very inspirational. I spend so much of my life trying to blend in I think I do the same with my blog
Wow your posts are always so full and give so much information. Thank you for some fantastic tips
This is really good advice for people looking to increase their reach. I definitely agree with you that focusing on just a couple of the social media platforms and not trying to focus on all of them simultaneously is the way to go. When you reach out to everything you spread yourself too thin. Just focus on which platforms are best for what you do. Let what you do and who you want to reach dictate what the end product of your blog looks like.
OMG this is super useful! Really makes me think about things I haven’t done to make my blog standout or target the right audience. I used to be selfish with it and said I only started it for me, but really I love the blogging community and the people I’ve met from it. Great post, thanks!
Such an interesting article! A great summary of all the things that can be done! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
All the best, Theresa
WOW – you have given me a lot of information. I so often feel like a minnow in an ocean, as regards to my blogs. I am going to bookmark this post so that I can go back over in repeatedly and put you ideas into motion.
Very useful tips. I have been focusing on my social media this month rather than my actual blog so I’ll be interested to see if it has had any effect on audience etc
This is a great post Ana! It’s crazy how much the blogging scene has grown since I started blogging 8 years ago and it’s so much harder to stand out. Your tips are so helpful though! xo
Great tips and recommendations here! Being true to oneself and showcasing your own unique personality goes the distance. Thanks for sharing this informative article.
Great post. I think the best thing is writing how you talk. It’s great to be proper and all that but you have to show who you are. Sharing this!
I’m also going to work on my About page. I didn’t realize people even read mine! Good to know!
I feel like number one says it all. I think it’s so important to let your personality and heart shine through it all. Whether it’s in the way you write or what you say…
These are some great recommendations for making your blog stand out! As I was reading, I thought “yep, I’ve done that… done that… did that one…”, until I got to #4. I need to get better at #4. I have been wanting to spotlight/feature some of my friends, on my blog, who are in direct sales, because I am in direct sales too, but they have yet to create their content for me to feature on my blog. I’d say that I need to work on #4 through #8. Thanks for writing this for all of us! 🙂
Great points to keep in mind esp for new bloggers. Keeping our personality can be difficult, maybe fearing rejection if we show out true selves. And my about page … yikes!
Grt Wall arts … they looks amazing and is a good way to engage us readers .. Now that’s a good way to keep audience engaged .
I completely agree that engagement with your readers and followers on social media is so important. People want to see that you are available and that they can connect with you.
I love the gap tip! Im mostly in the travel niche but there’s not that many people in the minority and religiously diverse community! And as a Muslim traveler theres so many aspects that need to be talked about since it impacts how we travel!
I honestly wrote down a few tips just because I feel like I need to work on them more. I really try to reply on every comment because they mean to me so much, but sometimes when I get generic comments or see that people haven’t read my post, I don’t. I don’t won’t to confront them if you know what I mean. I should do something about that. I quite like my about page, so I hope that people read those. And I think I definitely write how I talk, at least the way my thoughts are in English because it’s foreign language for me.
Wow! Really great post. I think I naturally stand out now that I am simply being myself, but when I started, I was learning and imitating a lot. So glad to hear you say that success lies in seo plus personality. 😀
These are great tips and very informative. I’ll have to reconstuct my posts a little better. Thanks for sharing!
Your tips are always great and work so well for me. My only problem is sticking with it, the moment I loose focus due to life, it all goes downhill, but you are right consistency is key,
Amazing advice. i will be taking this on board, thank you
Wow this is amazing content. I’m a newbie blogger and this is really helpful for me. There’s really a lot to be done as a blogger and I’m slowly learning. Thank you for this!
All of these points are so true! I’ve noticed that since I started writing more travel content and sharing more pics of us as a family I’ve had more readers. I’ve been a bit rubbish at engaging with them recently, but I’ve had a tough couple of months. I’m hoping to jump back in with both feet next month though 🙂
Louise x
This is a really great post and I’m going to start using these these tips going forward. I haven’t been putting enough personality in my posts.
This is such a very helpful post. I am going to start implementing your tips to my blog.
My two best social media apps are facebook and pinterest for me and I write about psychology, body image (being a plus size girl, it has always been a big and important issue), art and fashion. All your tips are on point and they are written in a way that are very easy to understand. Standing out is hard, but I believe you have to keep trying and have the “I will not give up” mentality; it might take time, but it will happen!
These are all great lists of tips. I am going to use some of them.
These tips are all amazing and I genuinely didn’t realise there were so many ways to increase the visibility of a blog. I have bookmarked this and will be giving these tips a good go. I would really love to increase my visibility and I really have been struggling with it, so thank you honey! xx
These are all really great tips! I agree that being yourself and letting your true personality shine through is the best way to interact with others!! Thanks for sharing!
Such a helpful tips especially for someone like me! I work hard on my blog but still forgetting about some details
Great post, Ana! I especially loved the tips about not shying away from controversial topics, such as child abuse or growing up in care. The posts on my blog that have the largest (genuine engagement) were those I wrote from the heart. While not everyone may have been in those particular situations, they can relate to being knocked around by life. I also liked the tip related to our About pages. I have a note to myself to revisit mine quarterly, just to make sure it’s all still relevant. xx
These are some really great tips and ideas! Thank you for this!
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A great post indeed and wonderful art illustrations. just saying that because I am a graffiti artist myself and I loved these.
it really feels great to read that the ethics in blogging are still strong. loved the post!
Peace.
An interesting and very in-depth post! I must admit to being a bit guilty of not replying to comments on my blog and some of my social media channels – but I realise it’s so important as I get great engagement and should so value it more.
Thanks for sharing!
Leigh at Fashion Du Jour LDN x
These are all awesome tips! You’re on the right track!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Holy moly, that’s a lot of bloggers. Great read though, and really great tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
Great advice, Ana. Everytime I would start a new niche specific blog, it is the logo that I spend hours conceptualizing. It has to be catchy but not too “loud.” It has to contain information that would benefit my target audience. Oh, there are so many things to do to make a new blog get noticed! Thanks for your tips.
I’m always worried about being too opinionated on my blog, scared of what the backlash may be from keyboard warriors
This made me realize that getting viewers to your blog is really hard. But for now, I would forget about the technicalities, just write about all the ideas I have in mind and hope one day, many people would appreciate.
Great tips about making your blog stand out. I rebranded last year and am now blogging under my new name. These tips will help me to write better blogs.
I personally want Chucks even after lifting in Olympic weightlifting sneakers
for awhile, which I will talk about in the subsequent post.
Outstanding post, thanks and we want more! Added you to FeedBurner.
This was a great informative article. I was definitely able to take some good notes.
These are great tips! I was always afraid to raise awareness on certain topics because I didn’t want to lose people. But the people that are for me will probably appreciate it more!
For me it really was allowing my personality to come through – I was a very private person before but I found such a release when I did so and my posts resonated with my audience so much more
For me it really was allowing my personality to come through – I was a very private person before but I found such a release when I did so and my posts resonated with my audience so much more.
Good tips. Thanks for the recommendations.
Really like point number 6! Finding your unique value to your readers is very important. Great insightful post. Thanks
Such an extensive and valuable source of information on blogging, I have gained a lot thought your post. Thanks a ton!
Very awesome post and I implemented all of these ideas
This is a really great post, and I appreciate that I can relate it back to what you actually do with your brand. Your site and your social media are easily recognizable. Thanks so much for these tips!
Love the tips, thank you. Being yourself is really key, I’m going to try and let my personality shine through. 🙂
Thank you for these tips . I write how I talk and hopefully get the point across. My blog isn’t a college – level essay so I can show my personality more.
Great post! Great info! Thanks for sharing.
I really appreciate this thorough article. As I am just starting out I am slowly finding my voice and letting my personality shine through in my writing. Branding is something I struggle with. I hope to work on this.
This was AWESOME, highly detailed advice. I personally need to work on point #2, blog branding and consistency. Thanks for the help!!
This post is super helpful! Thanks for sharing these tips as well as the awesome unique art!
Looks like you really figured it out! I can’t wait to implement done of these awesome ideas. Btw, I love the art in this post. Is it yours?