Creating a blog means entering one of the most competitive, fast-growing, and rapidly evolving fields in commerce today. So unless you intend starting a blog just for the heck of it, or if you believe that you have some killer idea that no one is currently addressing then perhaps you can afford not to worry about blog competition. But guess what; if your revolutionary idea is so great and it begins to attract traffic then you are going to have competition… and plenty of it.
Learn to Beat Your Blog Competition
OK, let’s assume that you are setting up your blog with a purpose in mind – not only to educate, inform, and amuse but also perhaps to make a penny or two on the way through. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, just be aware of the fact that you are entering a relatively new field and in any new field that is evolving as rapidly as the blogosphere the goalposts move at the speed of light and unless you are on top of things all the time you are going to get trampled.
Given that blogging is such a vast and “quick” industry, it is virtually impossible to be constantly au fait with all the developments in your field of specialization. Consequently, it is not only good business practice to be aware of what advances and trends are developing in general but you must also be aware of what your specific competitors are up to so as not to get left behind by something that they are aware of and you may have missed. Similarly, you can often piggyback on their research and even money that they are expending to save yourself money and come out on top. Of course, this “research” can be done with the use of a premium proxy so as to keep your identity hidden and your competitor unaware of your presence.
The name of the game is getting traffic to your site and the more traffic you get the higher the probability that you can make money from it. Therefore, you want as many people visiting your blog as possible. If you can do this by utilizing your competitor’s hard work, then so be it.
Following is five kickass ways to beat your blog competition:
- Become the Expert – good content may get people to your blog but they won’t stay for long or keep on coming back. You have to become the source of information in your chosen field. Your content must be compelling and you must become the “go to” blog in your chosen field. Build yourself an “expert” reputation by gaining followers on Twitter, who seek your expertise tweets. By answering questions in you field on Quora they will start following you and slowly but surely you will be known as an expert.
- Fresh Content – not updating your blog on a regular basis means that you have nothing to say and will not keep the surfers coming back to your site. You must plan ahead so that there is a constant and steady flow of your wisdom so as to “keep them coming back for more.”
- Keywords – get the best bang for your buck with the best keywords. A good mix of keywords – both long tail and short tail will optimize your organic ranking. Good keywords can be gleaned from your competitors – especially their paid advertising – but, once again, try and differentiate yourself by playing with and finding the optimal keywords rather than the competitive keywords.
- Competition Anyone? – you’d be surprised what people will do for a prize. The prize doesn’t need to be of great, or any, monetary value; however running a competition on your blog will attract surfers like flies. Prizes could include your subscription e-newsletter or free access to your subscription service.
- Paid Search – there is nothing wrong with paying to advertise. After all, you are in a competitive industry and this is a legitimate business expense. Together with your organic search, it should form part of your blog strategy. Once again, you can get ideas from your competitors attempts at this mode of marketing.
Writing a blog for a living is not all fun and games but it is a challenge that can be lucrative and afford you a certain lifestyle if you persist, learn and keep abreast of all the going on around you.
How do you beat your blog competition? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Featured image from Pro Fit Bootcamp, retrieved on January 25, 2013.
[...] The blogosphere is packed and crowded – how will you succeed? Learn how to beat your blog competition in five kick-ass ways. [...]