10 Tips That Will Set You Apart From Other Bloggers Online

Writing content for your personal blog or a commercial site may sound pretty straightforward, either putting your thoughts down online or doing some research and piecing together a well written informative article your users would find interesting and in engaging. It sounds fairly simple and at its basis, that's all you really you need to do but that if you want to be like every other blogger.

If you want to stand out in the blogging crowd you may want to add a few more tricks to your arsenal. Tips that will not only set your content apart but also increase the traffic to your site which is ultimately what we all aim to do with blogging isn't it? At this point you're 10 steps away from becoming a better blogger, enjoy and see you at the end.

10 Tips to set your blog posts apart from the rest

1. Write on what naturally interests you. Choosing to write about what naturally interests you will keep fueling the desire to write. You will never get tired of writing about what you are passionate about. Your expertise and love for the field of interest will show in the way you create your content. Readers will not only pick this up but they will appreciate it and be happy to recommend your content to like-minded individuals. Can you say Hello targetted amplification? :)

2. Be original and creative.

For your content to make the top in search engines, you have to be creative and be original. Being original makes your reader know you have authority in your field. To put it plain and simple if you sound like you know what you talking about and you're better to read than a Wikipedia page or a Yahoo answer, you're on the right track.

3. Include images.

"A picture speaks more than a thousand words" and it's also pretty stimulating. Most people are attracted by visuals and using quality visuals will give readers a better understanding and have them engrossed in your content. It also encourages Pinterest pinners to run wild on your blog posts which can never be a bad thing.

When adding images to your blog post always make sure that you've compressed them to a size that does not slow down the load of the page, especially for mobile users. The longer your page loads the less likely anyone going to bother reading the content on it. To find out more about compressing your images check out our article 4 FREE Tools to compress your images

4. The content should not be too long

Attention spans online are wavering and readers do find long articles boring. While long-form content and more meaty content does tend to rank higher than shorter answers it doesn't mean you should pile on the word count for the sake of it. Make your content precise and simple. Try and create shorter and simpler answers are better for readability and can answer questions immediately. You can always elaborate on your answer either later in the article or link it to a follow-up the content piece with more information.

Protip! Creating immediate and easily digestable answers can land you in position 0, the answer box for question search queries which will have you sitting pretty at the top of search results.

5. Choose great headlines

Headlines are powerful tools that attract reader's attention. Use attractive and short headlines. Headlines should be composed of 55 characters of less and if you have custom headings for social media it should be around 70 characters or less.

For more on writing tactical headlines for blog posts check out our article 8 Headline Formulas That Drive Most Viral Blog Posts or for simple but effective headlines check out the article we did on how to Get Better CTR’s With 8 Headline Optimisation Tips

6.Offer solutions

A number of people who turn to search engines for solutions are staggering. Many people visit search engines in the quest to know more about a topic. Find questions in your field of expertise, and if you feel the answers provided can be improved on, by all means, go ahead and create content that improves the quality of search results and readers lives.

7. Make sure your content be practicable

Nothing will put readers off your content more than knowing they can't extract value out of it. If you are providing solutions through your content, make sure it is what people can practice and are not unachievable solutions. While not all content topics are simple to explain and some actions need expertise be sure to mention that and guide the reader to a solution that's fit for them.

8. Create engaging content

Approach a topic from a different angle, go deeper into certain subcategories, or re-do content to make it more relevant for a new set of users or for the new year. There are so many ways to create engaging content will hook your readers from beginning to the end and also ignite series of comments.

For ideas on how to create engaging content for your site check out the article we did on 10 Content Marketing Ideas For Small Businesses

9.Use schema

Schema markups are all about making your search listing stand out from the crowd in search results pages. That little extra markup can not only attract users attention away from others but increase your click-through rate, lessen pogo sticking (which is the action of users immediately bouncing to the next result) and have you moving up search results pages. The schema I'd recommend for blog posts are:

• Breadcrumbs
• Author
• Date
• Comments
• Reviews
• Ratings
• Events - If you're blogging about shows
• Recipe - If you're blogging about food

10.Create alternative versions of your content

Instead of writing a plain old blog post, write the blog post and record an audio version/podcast or a video and upload it to your various sites. Your audio could be upload to mix cloud, SoundCloud, iTunes while your video could go to youtube, Vimeo or Dailymotion.

When creating alternative versions, be sure embed them in your blog post as well as linking your blog post article in the description of your podcast or video, for additional referral traffic and amplification.

Creating alternative versions of your content can be tedious at times but it's an easy win and a great way to set yourself apart from other bloggers. Giving your users multiple ways to ingest and interact with your content can not only increase readership but also reach as you engage with users on multiple platforms via multiple mediums that they prefer, and trust me, users appreciate the extra effort.

Don't take my word for it, watch your performance

Armed with these 10 tips you should be able to create blog content that hits all the key metrics a seasoned blogger should be aware of. If you're not too sure what metrics you should be monitoring regularly here's a list of the most important ones.

• Rankings in search
• Social shares
• Click through rate
• Low bounce rate
• Longer read times
• New visits
• Return visits
• Lead generation - If you're a service provider
• Conversions - If you're an eCommerce store
• Impressions - If you're selling ad space on your site

If you're not sure how to monitor these metrics, then check out all our articles on Google Analytics. It's free, it's easy to install and does most the tracking for you without too much interference or knowledge from your side.

Now that you're know how to improve your blogs, how to monitor them, you will be able to hit your target more often and give your audience more of what they're looking for. So go on, begin your journey into blogging and most importantly enjoy it and have fun. If you have any questions, feel free to use the comments section below.

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Tags: Content Marketing, SEO, organic search, blogging