Last Updated on March 5, 2024
With the advent of Wordpress, even those who are the very opposite of tech savvy can create a professional looking blog. Though this might sound like a good thing, for those looking to make a living blogging, it’s not, at all.
When you combine the ease of Wordpress with the fact that Google algorithms can’t yet measure the intelligence or usefulness of a piece of content, the result is excessive levels of competition across just about every niche.
These days, if you want to stand out, you’re going to need a lot more than a fancy logo and a unique idea every now and then. And if you don’t think that you need to stand out in order to make a profit, you’re already seriously behind the curve.
When it comes to blogging, the real money isn’t in SEO or SERP, it’s in repeat readership. It’s in attracting a following. It’s in standing out so much that word spreads and traffic comes your way effortlessly.
If you want to stand out, you need killer, thought provoking content. You need to write posts that make people want to hear more from you. Here are six tips for writing posts that attract repeat readers.
Write About Something Different
Take a look at your competitors. Doing so can not only provide you with some much needed inspiration, it can also show you what not to write about. If it’s been covered extensively everywhere, you should do your best to avoid it. If you can’t avoid writing a post on such a topic, always do your best to look at things from a different viewpoint.
Be First
When something happens in your niche, blog about it and fast. It’s obviously not going to be possible to be first every time, but you should be trying to be. If you want your blog to be the place that your readers go for breaking developments in your niche, you can’t expect them to wait for you to find the time to post.
Focus on Structure and Clarity
If the standards were higher in the blogosphere, excellent formatting would be the norm and not a way to stand out. But the standards are not that high. Simply by proof reading your posts, understanding grammatical syntax and avoiding big blocks of text like the plague, you will stand out.
Be Opinionated
Facts are obviously important. Unfortunately however, when ten other bloggers have already written about them, the result is usually pretty boring. If you want to attract a following, you need to colour your facts with opinions. Take a look at the most popular bloggers in your niche. Chances are they are all highly opinionated.
Be Controversial
Another common trait among popular bloggers is a certain level of controversy. Controversy is a tricky beast to use effectively however. Use it right, and you can go viral. Use it wrong, and you’re just a troll with a blog. Those who use controversy correctly always explain their opinions and they back those opinions up with facts. They also don’t change their mind/forget what they wrote the following week.
Go Bigger
Lists are always going to be an effective way to structure your posts. They are useful, popular and by their very nature, clear. But top tens are everywhere. If you want to stand out, you should focus on creating lists with at least fifty items. Not only do they make your blog far more useful than that of your competitors, they also happen to be the very definition of link bait content.
Check out our previous articles:
- Top 10 Tips for Building a Strong Online Community
- How to Write Hard Hitting Headlines That Work
- The History of Ghostwriting
- Drive Traffic and Build Links with Google News
- Should You Self-Publish Your Book?
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