How to Make Your Blog Stand Out: A Complete Guide

If you’re looking to start a blog or already have one and want to make it stand out, you are in the right place. Having a successful blog requires knowing how to make your blog stand out. As an expert copywriter who’s helped tons of clients rank their blogs, I’m here to give you easy-to-follow steps in doing so.

There is a lot to know about writing a compelling blog that’s different from the rest. Truth be told, most of us aren’t born knowing how to blog. From knowing exactly what will grab and keep our audience’s attention to impressing search engines, there’s a lot to do when it comes to good blogging. I’ve got a complete guide coming your way with links to my favorite tools I use when writing blogs.

Why You Want Your Blog to Stand Out

It’s safe to say that most (or all) of us have a blog because we want others to read it, right? But, there’s no reason for someone else to spend their valuable time on our blog when there are a few or a lot of other options. Unless, of course, we give them a reason to. The good news: we are going to give them a reason and maybe even a few of them. Here’s how...

How to Make Your Blog Stand Out

It’s not easy to make our blog stand out. It takes a lot of work. When chatting with a potential client, I’m most often asked what I can do to make their blog stand out. My answer isn’t quick. But, it’s a simple one. Honestly, doing the following things is really all it takes! You just have to make sure you do all of these things.

Know Your Competitors

Now, some niches are more competitive than others. For example, food and finance are quite popular niches. There’s a lot of competition out there (but, a lot of people are interested in reading about these topics). The key is knowing how to blog as well as, or better than, your competitors.

It’s crucial to know who your competitors are and set yourself apart. Do know that this is not to say you should stalk their content and compare yourself to them. Actually, don’t do this because you need to put your effort into creating your very own unique content. However, it’s good to know what highly ranked blogs (found on pages one and two of Google) are doing and what kind of questions they’re answering.

Use Click-Worthy Headlines

Imagine if the title of this article had been ‘A Guide to Blogs’ as opposed to what the title is: ‘How to Make Your Blog Stand Out: A Complete Guide.’ Not only would you not really know what the article is going to offer you, but it sounds pretty bland. People want to know what they’re getting and they don’t like bland. If you want your blog to turn heads, use meaningful headlines.

Headline analyzers such as Sharethrough Headline Analyzer and Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer score the quality of your headlines based on SEO, readability, and sentiment.

Be Original

Going back to not stalking your competitors, you don’t want to be just like them. You want to be original. When you see what content your competitors are offering, don’t copy it. You’re uniquely you and an expert in your niche. Use the style of writing and knowledge that's unique to you. One way to make sure you’re offering content your audience wants is by asking them what they want to know more about. There’s likely information they want that they’re not able to find on your or your competitor’s blogs. If you know what that information is, you can provide it.

Know About SEO

Are you just learning how to blog or new to the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? No big deal because we can fix that. Once upon a time, I was a blog and SEO dummy. However, SEO is crucial if you want to get yourself out there in the world of the internet. Here are some SEO basics when it comes to making your blog stand out.

Titles and Headlines

Going back to titles and headlines, be intentional with them. The goal is to get noticed, create an emotional response, and be clear in what the blog is about. Use power words such as ‘extraordinary,’ ‘affordable,’ and ‘proven.’ Check out this extensive list of power words.

Keywords

Keywords are everything in SEO! What are people turning to Google for? Find out and write about it. The more focused keywords are, the better. The broader the keywords, the more competition. 

To find keywords, do a Google search for your topic and see what Google shows you. I also highly recommend using a keyword search tool like Keysearch, where you can find countless keyword options and learn a lot of helpful information. Make sure you use your keywords in your headlines and naturally throughout the content.

Note: Use code KSDISC for 20% off Keysearch.

Meta Title and Description

Meta titles and descriptions tell search engines what your blog is about. This doesn't come from the article itself, although it can be content straight from the article, it’s the webpage’s HTML codes. This is what readers will also see on search engine pages. It’s important to use your keywords in the meta title and description.

Here’s an example of a meta title and description:

Meta Title: How to Make Your Blog Stand Out

Meta Description: Having a successful blog requires knowing how to make your blog stand out. You can do this by using specific keywords, unique content, and monitoring results.

Include Links

As you see done in this blog, outbound and internal links not only boost your SEO but give your reader more. Your audience is probably tuning in to learn more and resources, aka links to other tools, are always a bonus. Outbound links go to websites outside of your own. While you don’t want to link to your competition, it’s good to link to other helpful resources. Internal links, or backlinks, go to other pages on your site such as other blog articles. Make sure the links you include are related to your topic.

Put Yourself In Your Audience’s Shoes

Remember, you’re writing for an audience. This means you have to consider them when you’re creating content.

Know Their Pain Points

Know what problem your audience may be facing and help them solve it. You can do this by, again, asking them. You can also read their comments and see what other articles you have that get a lot of traffic.

Be Relatable

As a reader myself, I like to know that there’s a human on the other end. It’s nice to connect with the writer and it gives more meaning. Do this by being personal and sharing your own experiences. Pro tip: being personal also makes you stand out from your competition. For example, sharing personal successes in an article about how to grow a business makes you human and allows you to share something another writer can’t.

Change Things Up

One key to blogging is keeping readers around. Boring them won’t keep their attention for long. Change up your blogs. Don’t always write listicles. Don’t use titles that all sound the same. This one’s pretty straightforward. 

Make It Look Good

Of course, words are what matters most in a blog article. You might know the ins and outs of how to blog when it comes to content, but don’t forget about appearance. Imagine clicking on a catchy headline’s link and seeing a messy website or a crazy font. No thank you.

Promote Your Blog and Make it Shareable

You’ve got to market yourself to stand out. You can do this by using share buttons and social media accounts to promote your blog. The more places you share your content, the more people will see it. Not to mention, Google ranks web pages higher when they appear to be getting traffic. Share buttons at the end of your blog encourage your audience to share which can lead to getting noticed by more people. You’ll see what I mean at the end of this article. Feel free to share this one! ;)

Monitor the Results

Analytics are there for you to see what’s working and what’s not. Your blog’s analytics can give you information on page views, click rates, and length of time spent on a page. To make your blog stand out, pay attention to what topics are getting attention and write more about them. Monitoring results can also show you what topics don’t get as much traffic and let you know what to steer clear of.

In Conclusion

Now that you know how to make your blog stand out, it’s time to take action. While it takes some time and effort, having clear steps to follow and useful tools make it doable. When you see the results, I hope you do a happy dance and keep up the awesome work while your business continues to flourish.

Do you have any other tricks to add to the list? Let me know in the comments below!

Have specific questions about your blog? Check out my Website Q & A service!