Blogs until few years ago were still an innovation, and the pioneers of this new way of communicating on the Internet did not suffered too much to carve out a niche of loyal readers.
Since the number of blogs went up from 30 million in 2005 to almost 200 million in 2012, things have changed a lot.
Today the situation is much more complicated, because the boom that blogs have lived on the web makes increasingly difficult to “grow up” a new site and gain the attention and trust of a large part of the internet audience.
It’s a fight to the death, in which only the best can survive. And the winners are actually in small numbers compared to the mass of enthusiasts or simply curious who every day choose to start a blog.
The success of a blog depends on a number of factors : the type of content that is written, for instance. Or the way it is marketed online.
But to be able to differentiate yourself from the crowd and to make your blog “unique” is a job that requires commitment, perseverance and willpower.
As in all things, also promoting a blog requires many small steps that can be more or less useful.
Here below, you can read 7 effective ways to differentiate your blog from the others and make it unique.
1. Draw Original Graphics for Your Blog
An original graphical interface, which is unique and different from any other causes that your blog is easily kept imprinted in the mind of your visitors, especially the occasional ones, that end up on your pages almost by accident.
The next step is obviously to combine an unique theme and a customized header with an original logo: this will be your brand, and you want it to remain in the mind of your visitors.
So, forget about free themes and templates built by others. At most, you can use them for inspiration, but make sure that your blog look unique and different – you will see that your visitors will remember it much more easily.
2. Make Clever Use of Images and Media
Photos, images, videos, podcasts, audio extracts, are all very useful to attract the attention of your readers, if used in the right size and placed “strategically” within the pages.
A blog or a website that is filled with multimedia content will be very slow to open even with the fastest of connections, which produce a single, obvious result : your visitors will leave your blog even before it has finished loading.
And of course you know that the loading speed of your site is a factor considered by Google in order to decide your rankings.
Therefore, public images and video when you need them, and remember that – except for a few cases – it must be an enrichment for the content.
Of course you need to use all the blogging tips in order to reduce the weight of these media in your site, in order to make it faster to load.
Also in this case, you need to be original. Spend some time looking for eye-catching images and capable of intrigue. In other words, “never seen before” media.
Not surprisingly, most of the blogs of some importance create by themselves the images and videos in support of their products, through different softwares, rather than go and take the media from other sites ( take in consideration also the copyright!).
3. Be the First to Treat a New Topic
Another way to generate interest in your blog and stand out from the crowd is to tackle as first a topic or a story that is going to “explode”.
If you will be fast, your article will be the first to be be indexed by search engines, reported on social networks and found by the public users and web surfers.
Obviously also the quality of your content makes the difference: a good article, reasoned and full of information will achieve better results than an incomplete and carelessly written post for the sole purpose of being able to say “First!”.
4. Do Not Be Afraid to Express Your Opinion
It is undeniable that articles able to swim against the tide, to stir up a debate or just to make people think, are far more interesting and challenging than content that always confirm the opinion of others.
It is important to consider and assess yourself if you are serious about something “different” to say, arguing your case in an intelligent way. Otherwise, forget it.
Most successful bloggers have earned their reputation simply by thinking with their head and not being afraid to express their opinions, even when they clashed against what most of the people think.
5. Do Not Be Afraid to Challenge the “Guru” of the Blogosphere
This point is linked to the previous one. Who loves to spend time on the web, and even more those who write online, know which are the influential blogs.
This does not mean, however, that everything they say should be taken as gold rules: after all they are also human beings, and they can be wrong!
Correct an incorrect statement expressed by popular bloggers can result in a great benefit for your little blog in search of visibility, provided that you do it in a correct way, without being deliberately provocative or offensive.
Of course you need to know the facts, without “shooting blind”, just to get noticed. Otherwise you may get the opposite result, antagonizing most of the readers and bloggers of your niche.
6. Divide a Story into Episodes
Split into related parts a long article or macro-argument is a good strategy to make sure that the public come back to visit you.
And a “smart” subdivision of your content will also generate a certain expectation in readers and many of them will take your RSS Feeds in order to not miss the next post published.
Obviously this is not an invention of the bloggers. Ask the producers of the TV series and soap operas, or publishers of comic books and novels of the proven effectiveness of such a strategy.
7. Try to Offer Something Useful, Funny or Different in Your Blog
Have you noticed that newspapers and magazines occupy only a fraction of the space in a newsstand, and they are often overwhelmed by hoards of DVDs, CDs and gadgets of all kinds?
These are goods attached as gift in newspapers and magazines, and which more and more often end up to be the true driving force of sales.
Here, think of your blog as a small kiosk, and do not just write rivers of articles, but also think in what you may offer to “outfit”.
Your gift will be the possibility to download free resources, as ebooks, online courses, tools, etc. anything that your audience can find useful!
But also imagine somehing to make more attractive to your visitors to remain on your pages, such as newsletters, contests and competitions. It is an extra work but if done right, can bring great benefits.
There are many ways to increase your pageviews and decrease the bounce rate of your blog, you just need to check what is working for your audience.
What do you think? Which are the crucial factors to the success of your blog?
This article is written by Erik Emanuelli. He is a traveler and passionate blogger. He runs Free MAKE MONEY Advice program.
I must say design of blog plays a vital role in uniqueness. Yes i am purely agree with Differentiate Your Blog and Make it Unique and it gives seo benefits to blog as well.
There are so many blogs around that every blogger needs to differentiate his own one from the others.
Think outside the box!
I have been blogging from a very long time now, it is almost three years now. A lot has changed from that time. Before, all you needed was a great content and a presentable site. But now the competition is so much that you need to do something different and creative in order to attract readers. You need to have something extra, like post good images as well as videos which will help the readers in understanding the topic better.
I agree with you, David.
From 60 million blog in 2006 now we are at 300 million in 2012!
This is an amazing competition!
With so many new things coming up everyday there is always something to learn. Try making your site more appealing for the readers. If you make it different and intriguing enough people will get attracted to your site automatically. If people like your blogging site they are likely to visit again as well as tell others about it.
Testing is always useful, you can find what works and what does not.
Hi Erik, This is Awesome Post. This is totally depend on your content That what you are writing.And you should search new topis which is very interesting and very informative for all the peoples. Then that topics will help you to get the more visitors. But i recently changed my blogging techniques and really it has helped me. Great 7 tips to make different of your blog.Well thanks for sharing this post.
Hi Neha,
thanks!
So glad you liked the article! 🙂
Instead of aiming to be successful aim to be different and unique. When you do that success will automatically follow you. When your site and your blogs are different from others it will automatically catch peoples eye. The more rare your blog is the more people will come looking for it and talk about it. That’s the best way to generate traffic for your site.
Yes, Jack.
Do not be afraid to be different!
Trying to make your blog different from that of others is always a good move on your part. People who do things differently are always successful. Anyone can copy ideas from others but it takes creativity and talent to come up with something that is not only original but also engaging. Always aim to be original and different.
That’s right Peter!
Be Original ! Be Unique! Be Successful!
The more different and interesting your site is the more people will love it. It is likely that they will be more intrigue by it and will keep coming back. But building a site which is different is not easy at it seems. It will require serious out of the box thinking and a lot of hard work on your part to come up with something that is original and unique.
That’r right, Peter.
Showing up your personality in your content is one of the ways to have unique content and original blog.
A different way to present your blog and posts is always a pleasant scene for the readers and they like to come back for more of such content and presentation. Including relevant images in the post or blog makes it attractive and unique than most other blogs.
With all the fierce competition in the blogging world, a site that can stand out from the crowd is a thing to be proud of!
Thanks for the comment, Paul!
Hi Erik Emanuelli! This is very interesting post. I am aware of most of these and is applying them on my blog. Thanks for the sharing this information. I think that it is the dream of all the bloggers to make their blog an outstanding one. Well thanks for sharing this info.
Hi Neha,
glad to see you liked the article!
Hi…Erik thans for this wonder full tips to make a unique blog. I’m in favour for Divide a Story into Episodes actully it get more attraction of readers & visitor & Offer Something Useful & different in Blog which look more attractive to visitors.
Glad you liked the article, Steve.
I am new to Blogging. I am sure these tips are surely going to increase the traffic, but is the content or the traffic which one is most important. I think good content and technique will automatically increase the traffic.
Hi Scentsy,
the topic of the article is about being unique and write good content! 😉
These are really wonderful tips. I really wish people could follow them. This will help them write great article. Bloggers try to play safe and write articles that are dripping of bookish and factual information because they know they cant wrong with that. But what they don’t realize is if people wanted to read that they would have read the book instead of a blog. Bloggers should understand that people like to read real life experiences and what they think about a particular topic.
You’re right, Kenny.
Bloggers should show personality and originality, in order to reach real success.
Thanks for your comment.
As the number of bloggers increase so does the competition to have more number of readers for your site. Everyone wants their site to be the best and attracting huge traffic but that is not possible unless you have something different to offer which people cannot get on any other site. By being unique and offering information that no one else, is one way to make your blog popular.
That’s right, Jack.
Being original and unique is the way to stand out from the crowd.
Totally agreed on the point that even guru’s can be wrong sometimes, so you should challenge wherever you think the point isn’t right, but yeah be sure to have a very GOOD foundation before doing this or you might end up making a fool of yourself.
Hi Sahl,
if I could have the opportunity to challenge a blogging guru in future, I will do it,
but of course with strong foundation that I am right! 🙂
I believe, simplicity combined with creativity is a key factor. If the site is too complicated, it discourages the viewer. I, myself would not access sites that are too complicated to handle. So first, I should present the site in a creative manner with interesting content. This will generate curiosity among the viewers and direct traffic to the site. Once that is done, I should make sure my site is not too complicated. If it is easy to go through the site, site traffic will increase by leaps and bounds.
I do agree with you, Jack.
A simple and clear website is always attractive more than a complicated one.
Thanks for your comment!
I liked what you mentioned at 6th point it is better to break a long article into episodes instead of posting at one time this will not only bring the reader back but also develop interest.
Glad to know that you liked the tips, Erica! 🙂
Today there are thousands of blogging site that are online. So in order to make your blog stand out you must try doing something different with it. You don’t have to make only your site look different but also be different in what you write. It should be unique like you and your thoughts. Just having a great idea is not enough, executing it properly is also important.
Well Jack, more than only thousands of blogging site : almost 200 million blogs in 2012!!!! 😀
Also finding a niche is important, try to see if you discover something that people really need.
If you can do it, this will be a success!
Thanks for providing such useful information. Your idea of Dividing the story in the episode is best.
Hi Neha,
thanks for your appreciation!
Are you going to use these tips, then, in your next article? 🙂
Great tips. I like the idea about creating own graphics for blog and also Don’t hesitate to share your own opinion.
Hi Puneet,
glad you liked the article! 🙂
Great blogging tips, Erik. Although I am aware of most of these and is applying them on my blog. Thanks for the sharing, friend!
Hi Jasmine,
good to know that you are already applying these tips.
Any other suggestions to share? 🙂
Recently I have changed my blog design to minimalistic version and noticed a quite lot difference. In my view, experimenting is also a part of blogging, so doing the same. Finally Great and unique tips Erik, like them all.
I have visited your blog, Bharat : pretty clear theme.
Sometimes less is better. White template are popular nowadays.
And you’re right, every blogger should experiment new things and changes, in order to improve the quality!
Thanks for your comment, Bharat!
Nice article.. We share our opinion directly to the reader.
Happy to see that you liked the content, Suraj!
I love to hear readers opinion.
great article dude………we should never afraid to express our feelings on our blogs it can bring more attention…………
I think that saying our point of view is symbol of great personality.
This helps to be unique! 🙂
Creating a NEW TOPIC is some thing every one should try and yes it is very difficult to get one new topic. But its helps to get more visitors.
Hi Khaja,
it really depends in which niche you are writing.
In order to find a NEW topic (as you said) in “blogging” niche, for istance, is really hard!
Everything has been said! Or almost!
But saying your opinion on these topics can make the difference … what do you think?
From when I started blogging, I’m following such tips to become unique and interesting in front of my readers…
You are doing the correct strategy, in order to stand out from the crowd.
Being original is the key.
Thanks for sharing your point of view, Avi Jit!
Well yes, visuals draws the attention of the visitors/readers and if used in right format/size/place will be really effective and yes, being the first one to write on a new topic is another great way to generate interest. Thanks Erik for sharing this wonderful info 🙂
Erik
Read more at http://hellboundbloggers.com/2012/09/02/differentiate-your-blog-and-make-it-unique/
Glad you liked the article, Nizam!
Are you following these rules in order to be unique in blogging?
Thanks Erik for providing these unique tips. It would definitely be helpful and a good guide for all the bloggers. Well, I think that it is the dream of all the bloggers to make their blog an outstanding one. Bloggers try to post their unique posts as far as they can and they became sad when the ugly truth of blogging comes out that their posts are not getting the actual replies their posts are meant to get. I like the seventh point that you have shared. It is true that if you post something unique in your blog, readers definitely get interests in it and you will be able to get more visitors in your blog. Thanks for the share!!
Hi Aditi,
and thanks a lot for your appreciation!
Having success blogging is not easy at all, and more, make money from it is even more difficult!
But following some rules, and working hard, you still can succeed!
I really liked your points. I agree that our posts should be attractive and they should interest the readers:-)
Hi Avi,
I am glad you liked the article.
Do you already follow those tips in order to be Unique?
From when I started blogging, I’m following such tips to become unique and interesting in front of my readers…
So I am sure you will build a nice community around your blog.
My best wishes! 🙂
Thanks Erik…
My pleasure!
When any blogger post their new article he/she wants only this thing they want to see much number of readers and comments on his blog. So these are the perfect tips to make your blog more attractive.
Hi Sam,
you are right, every blogger would like to get noticed!
But you need to produce high quality content, in order to stand out from the crowd!
Recently i changed my blogging technique and approach ,and it has helped me a lot in getting more traffic and response from readers.They are much more interested in my content and images and i am happy to see that 🙂
Hi Abhishek,
being original and showing your personality is the key to get noticed.
Can you please share which blogging technique you are using now?
Great to know that you are having success! 🙂