By Darren Gilbert

You need to understand that blogging may sound like fun – and it quite possibly is for a time. However, the honeymoon will wear off and only then will you know if your blog has the legs to stick around. With that in mind, here are three quick tips that you should remember when next sitting down to write a blog post.

Always have a plan before you start

It is important that whenever you sit down to blog, or even create a new blog, you need to have a plan. I suppose this goes without saying. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone does it. In fact, there are probably more that fail to do this and the only reason you don’t know is because the blog sank.

“Even before you start drafting, you need to have a great plan in mind,” writes blogger, Reginald Chan. “Here are several guidelines you can follow: Knowing the reasons why readers are coming to your blog; How you can attract potential readers to your blog; What can you do to ensure they stay longer (reduce bounce rate); [and] How to market your writings and further increase the blog traffic.”

In having a structured guideline, you are able to stay on top of what your blog is going to say and where it is heading in terms of content.

Add something new to the conversation

The popularity of blogging has resulted in one obvious fact: there are many blogs. In fact, if you speak to some people, there are too many blogs. At the same time, there are too many blogs saying that same thing. This leads to a flood of the same information, a situation which if you are smart, you will avoid.

Instead, you need to add to this flood of information so that you stand out from the crowd. Matthew Stibbe, CEO for Articulate Marketing agrees: “There are an awful lot of sheep on the Internet. With nearly 60 million blogs in existence, you really want to try and be a sheepdog.” What he means by this is simply that you want to the one driving the conversation rather than following it. And he is completely right.

Stibbe continues: “In my opinion, it’s important to say something new and something interesting to contribute that the conversation.” If you don’t you are in danger of becoming like everyone else and your blog will disappear in amongst the flood of same information.

Identify your blog hotspots

It goes without saying that with every blog, there are some pages and content that does better than others. If you can find these so-called ‘hotspots’, then you can use them to your advantage.

Dragos Roua, a serial online entrepreneur and blogger makes this exact point in an article on his website: “Depending on the reader’s habits and your own layout, you can use those places for various incentives, from subscribing reminders to advertising or premium content.”

In identifying these ‘hotspots’, you are also able to figure out what your audience is most interested in. You can then tailor your content to meet their needs and thus, bring them back for more.

What are your thoughts? Do you know of any other tips that will help you to stand out from the blogging crowd? Tell us below.