One of the blogging tips that I hear a lot is be different. Be unique. Stand out from the crowd. This is a great advice for typical businesses and it’s also helpful for probloggers especially with all the competitors on the internet.
But how can you apply it practically to your blog?
I’ve been thinking about this advice for the last couple of years and from my experience, I think I’ve realized the best way to differentiate your blog. The answer is pretty simple so it might surprise you.
Narrow your topic.
That’s it. Nothing too complicated or revolutionary, but this suggestion will make your blog different from 99% of the other blogs.
Copycat Blogs
I wrote last week that copying A-list blogs is not a good idea for the average problogger. Yet, most blogs look to the A-listers as examples. I said that reaching the success of the most popular blogs is very unlikely. It’s much better to implement the strategies of successful mid-level blogs. These blogs may not earn the millions that the A-listers earn but they still make a decent wage and their success is much easier to achieve.
But there’s another reason why A-list blogs should not be your example. A-listers are all about getting a lot of raw traffic, so they cover a very wide range of topics. This lets them reach the most amount of people.
But if you try this tactic, you’ll end up fighting a losing battle. See the A-list blogs have much more resources than you. They have more money, more staff, and better partnerships. They will cover your niche much better than you. If you copy them, you’ll end up with a subpar copycat blog.
And here’s the big question. Why would someone read your copycat blog when they could read the A-list blog?
Go Deeper Not Wider
Fortunately, with many bloggers copying the A-listers, there’s a lot of opportunity for probloggers who choose to specialize and focus. Instead of focusing on all usual subjects in your niche, pick only 1-2 and really learn them well. In other words, go “deeper” instead of “wider”.
For example, let’s say you have an interest in video games. Instead of trying to cover every single video game like Joystiq, you decide to only write about Xbox games. You could even narrow that subject down. Maybe just do Xbox reviews. Or only blog about future Xbox games. Or just create Xbox strategy videos. You get the idea.
After some time, by focusing on a small topic area, you’ll get enough experience to draw from that will help you generate truly unique valuable content. Quality goes down when you’re juggling too many things but it goes up when you concentrate on a few things. You’ll actually become an expert instead of a so-called expert that just spouts the same old advice that everyone’s already heard.
Going deeper is better too because you can make more per visitor. You’re delivering more value so you can charge more. You won’t need a ton of traffic to make a decent living.
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9 thoughts on “The Best Way to Differentiate Your Blog”
Thanks for sharing this Dee…I am having a heck of time with my new blog. I started it with a fellow web design friend with the goal to talk about web design. But the name is kinda broad…its onebiginternet.com.
We’ve told ourselves its going to be Tech tips for Designers and Bloggers. We thought o targeting a demographic. If you have the time, could you just glance at it and tell me if we should put any more energy into it?
I appreciate your help and your blog, great advice!
Regards,
Nate with OBI.
Hi,
My question is; Isn’t just one topic too narrow? I intend to have three on my blog and see how it goes from there. If one topic isn’t doing any good I’ll gradually drop it and replace it with something else.
Mac
Paul,
Just pick 1-2 narrow topics, learn about them really well, and only write about them. If you write quality content, over time, you’ll build a reputation in your field and attract a supportive audience that will look to you for your expertise.
It will take discipline and effort to have a narrow focus but it’s worth it.
Great post, but if you got stuck with the broad wider niche in the first place. What is the next step you should do? For example, if you started a blog about internet marketing and you cover a lot of bases, what is your suggestion to this scenario?
Dee, I couldn’t agree more.
Find a niche you are interested in.
Make sure plenty of other people are also interested this niche.
If it is a broad niche then find a sub niche and then aim to become the industry expert in this niche.
Once you piosition yourself as the go to guy or gal in any sub niche interesting things start happening.
Traffic goes up. Subscriber conversion rates start going up. The number of quality comments goes up (which often give you great ideas for new content which people are looking for).
And so the circle goes on.
Interesting one Dee!! The suggestions given here are quite true and found to be applicable. In the increasing number of internet users daily, its very tough to remain competitive by providing unique content.
Hi Dee,
Great post!
I think your advice is also applicable to non-blog websites. Given the huge number of Internet users it is quite likely that a good site on a narrow niche topic will draw attention.
Dorjee
This is exactly what I am trying to do (and encourage others). There are too many broad niche bloggers to compete, so we need to find our own ‘niche within a niche’!
Nice post Dee. I agree that it’s probably easier to differentiate yourself from other blogs if you have a more narrow topic. For example with games, it’s probably not wise to write about all games, but rather just the ones that you may be interested like Xbox games, Xbox game reviews, or even just strategies for the best online Xbox game out there. I do however think it’s still possible to make a successful blog with a lot of competition if you are able to separate your voice and personally from others and create valuable content for your readers.
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