The art of the blog

There are a lot of bloggers out there. A recent infographic put the figure at 152 million individual blogs. That’s 152 million different voices competing for a limited collection of engaged readers. And with a 2015 study confirming that our average attention spans are less than that of a goldfish, it is very easy to feel like a small fish in a massive pond.

The biggest challenge that confronts new bloggers is how to make your page/blog as unique as possible. So here’s three tricks and techniques that will help you establish your own original voice.

Choose a striking blog layout

With a lot of multimedia productions, it is the combination of writing and images that makes for the best result. No piece of writing is complete without a pleasing aesthetic, just as no images are good enough without any explanation. The key to a visually satisfying blog is in managing this combination in a suitable manner.

Sometimes the best way to decide is consider what your blog subject lends itself to. If, for example, you’re a nature blogger, then a minimalistic background and layout may be what your readers are after. If you’re into punk music, then loud colours and large text can get your chosen audience excited. Just make sure you choose a blog site that is easy to use, and allows you to design your page exactly as you want it!

Blog about your situation

Many blogs fall victim to dealing with the same subjects in the same way. The voices come at you from a neutral place where objectivity is the key. This may be great if you have journalistic aspirations, but both the beauty and success of blogging is in its subjectivity. People want to hear your own story, and your own unique outlook on things.

Make sure to involve your own personal experiences, location, cultural background and any other unique aspect of you when writing. This way, your readers can treat you as a real person, and best of all – as a friend.

Don’t get hung up on relevance

It is a general rule in media that the more relevant something is to topical events, the more pickup it will get. But many successful bloggers with highly engaged readers plough their own furrow. True, there are a few highly successful writers who are looked for in interpreting news events, but for a new blog often it is better to just follow your own topics, rather than chasing the tails of others.

Blogging gives you the chance to write about exactly what you want to write about. Make the most of it!