Your blog is just one of many lost in that sea of blogs both good and bad.  It’s a fact of life that with access to the Internet made easier than ever before the number of people who are creating blogs increases daily. The situation can be so discouraging that some blog owners just up and abandon their blogs in frustration.  So the question is, with an excess of blogs out there just stuffed full of free information, how do you make your blog stand out from the pack?  Here are some tips on how to successfully market your blog and get the jump on your competitors:

1.  Target Blog Content to Specific Readership

In order to avoid wasting your time and money on people who just aren’t interested in your blog, you need to determine who your preferred audiences are.  That’s the people you want to target.  Don’t just post a lot of articles and assume that some of them will catch on and lure people to your website.  Be sure that you will be reaching your demographic audience.

2.  Be Original When Sharing Tips

Discuss topics that aren’t usually talked about in your area of interest.  Don’t merely repeat what you’ve heard and read elsewhere.  And even if you are discussing a commonly mentioned topic, there’s nothing to stop you from taking a different tact on it.  Be interesting.  Above all, DON’T be boring!

3.  Court A Little Controversy

The fact of the matter is that controversy sells.  So encourage people with opinions different from yours to write and engage in a little bit of debate.  It doesn’t have to be anything dramatic, just a little stimulation for your readers.

4.  Guest Blogger

Write the best postings that you can and submit them to some of the more prestigious blogs out there.  These are the ones that have a large following.  If you are lucky enough to get one of your posts published on a prominent blog, it will drive lots of traffic to your blog where readers can then be shown your content.

5.  Make Subscribing Easy

Offer email subscriptions.

Also, provide one-click subscriptions using reader links to good site readers.  Make it easy to find your blog again and again, and you will increase the speed with which you will build up your subscribers.

6.  Market Content on Social Media

Social media sites are thriving, which gives bloggers plenty of tools using the principle of: Using the resources of others to your advantage.

Open accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  Every time you make a new post to your blog, inform your readers by posting to these sites.

7.  Different Profiles For Social Media Sites

Do not use the same profile from site to site.  For example:  On LinkedIn, feature your business side.  On Facebook, throw in a little personality, and give people an idea of who you are.  On Twitter, focus on your blog.

8.  Sell, but Teach Too

If you are a frequent poster on social media sites, constantly discussing your latest blog post won’t cut it.  Sure, go ahead and post information about your new blog article, but also post news from other sites that you think will interest your readers.  In other words, share information.

9. Long-Tail Keywords

Whatever your blog is about, if you simply use one word to describe it to search engines, you won’t get very far.  Use what is called a long-tail keyword.  Example:  For a book review site.  books  — no independent book reviews — yes.  These long-tail keywords will help get your blog featured at the top of the page.

10. Optimize Blog

Don’t clutter up your blog with affiliate banners, advertisements, and other types of distractions which can serve to confuse and frustrate the reader.

Also, do keyword research by using tools like Google’s keyword generator that will give you the keywords used by Goole users over the past 30 days.  It’s up to you to put those keywords in headlines, sub-headlines, and your blog posts.