Blogging 2010 Way: How to Stand Out From the Competition

23. Jan, 2010

The prospect of setting up and managing a Blog can prove to be difficult, especially if there is so much competition in the field that you will Blogging into. Making sure to be unique and stand out from the crowd is very important to allow the readers of said Blog to really enjoy and continue coming back for more after the first glance. There are several different ways of going about creating a Blog that focuses on standing out from the competition and these are a few:

Resolutions are some of the things that every person will try to set each and every year. It is best to try and set those resolutions towards a Blog and set goals that are worth your time and achievable. Some of the possible resolutions that anyone that owns a Blog can do are simple such as posting new content every set amount of time, focusing on better topics and brainstorming more often for relevant ideas towards the intended flow of the Blog. Setting Resolutions can be one of the best ways to really get the Blog running to success while the competition is not putting in the same effort to progress. A great examples of blogging resolutions for 2010 would be doubling your monthly traffic. A few ways to do this is through social networking promotion on websites such as Twitter.com, Facebook.com, or Digg.com. Creating a following on social bookmarking and social networking sites is extremely important, allowing you to connect to fellow bloggers and fans on your website and giving you an opportunity to get your Blog name out there and your name as a writer out there.

Having unique content is a major rule that should always be followed. No one wants to read an article or watch a video that explains to them everything they already know about a subject. The online audience is starved and craving new information that is only available from your Blog. Giving the readers what they want is an especially important step in 2010 that your competitors may skip by simply going the easy route and taking simple ideas and repackaging them with alternate wording. Completely new and innovative content is one of the most important assets to any Blog to gain more readers.
The design aspects of the Blog are important, but content should always be put first in priority. Once you are ready for the design of the blog, choosing an aesthetically pleasing yet functional theme to manage the content on your Blog is essential. Choosing a design that allows your readers to easily navigate and locate the content they need from your Blog is important. The design aspect of your Blog should focus the attention towards the intended audience age range as well. A playful design might not be best for a business focused Blog and vice versa. Using websites such as Digital Point Forums and Elance to hire a blog designer is easier than ever, and there are hungry designers out there that are very talented and eager to earn the job of redesigning your Blog. Picking through the plenty designers of designers can be quite difficult. You should look for experience (a good resume/portfolio), prompt responses, and a reasonable price.

One of the biggest challenges in the immediate word of mouth options is Changing Social Media Algorithms. Social Media is used every day by those who are great targets for branding and other ventures that a Blog owner may have ready to explore. The best option is to create social media presences that help to promote the Blog that they are attached to. This way when associates and followers through the Social Media get to the Blog, they have a reason to look into the content that was promoted. The simplest way is to offer a small snippet of the content and place a link to read more at the permalink for the Blog post.
Everyone has focused on the need to appear on search engines and this is a great idea. The big change that is needed for most Blogs is the optimization of the Blog and several of the encompassing layers that are found online that lead to the ranking when valuable search keyword terms are queried. By keeping an eye on search engine optimization updates through Google Webmaster Blog and other key sources, the Blog owner can take proactive steps towards creating a site that is well indexed in Google and other search engines. Staying on top of the latest SEO news from third parties or Google, Bing, or Yahoo is very important to make sure your site is up to date with the newest plugins that will help you optimize your site for viewing by web crawlers from the search engines.

There are several Blogging tools available, depending on the content management system you will be using for your Blog. Several options such as WordPress and Joomla have plugins and various other widgets that can be used to enhance the Blog in several ways. Options from simply making the Blog more secure to filtering spam or offering some simple entertainment that can be relevant to help keep the reader’s interest.
The helpful tools that are available are often free or open source with several options to choose from and possibilities to allow for seamless integration into the Blog site. Taking advantage of these options is very important, especially when getting ahead and distinguishing the Blog from the competition which may not be using these tools to help enhance their sites and content. The appropriate usage of certain Blogging tools like these can help to become easier to find, easier to read and the best possible and unique Blog that readers will want to revisit and promote through word of mouth.

Sometimes it is hard to be overwhelmed with your blog or multiple blogs you write on. It is hard to come up with creative content on a daily basis for five different websites sometimes, and hiring help is a great option, especially for an already profitable blog. Taking some of your earnings and investing them back into you blog can be a huge asset and create better value for your readers and more time for you to focus on the more important aspects of your blog.
Hiring a virtual assistant to help you on your blog can be an affordable alternative to ripping your hair out. For as little as $5 an hour you can hire a very talented virtual assistant to help you in promotion on twitter, facebook, and websites like digg, manage your comments and moderate them, update your twitter feed for you with the latest news from the blog, brainstorm article ideas with references, or pretty much anything else an in person assistant can do, and more.
Using a website like Elance.com or Guru.com will give you way to many options for virtual assistant companies and will allow them to bid on your proposed work and help you manage your relationship with the group you hire. Teams can be set up for projects and time sheets help your virtual assistant keep track of their time. Most groups will charge you only for the time that they spent on the task. Privacy and confidentiality agreement templates can be downloaded from DocStoc.com and filled in with your name or your blog/company name. After you make the modifications sending them to your virtual assistant is a good idea so they know what rules will govern your relationship with them.
If you are able to afford a personal assistant while still maintaining your profit from your blog, you will lighten your load personally and disperse it over a team (or individual) virtual assistants and make it an overall better experience for both you and your readers.