I haven’t yet received a PageRank from Google, I am in a highly saturated niche, and this site is only coming up on its fourth month of being active, yet despite having so many things going against it, the growth of this site has outpaced over twenty of its competitors.
Where am I getting this comparison? Well, earlier this month, I was at the 121st position on the 45n5.com Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs list, and I made it my goal to get into the Top 100. A goal that some friends of mine said was pretty much impossible. Heck, some were surprised that once the list was expanded to over two hundred, that I was still sitting so high, but I was already working hard to build this site, and make it the best it could be.
As of today, I am sitting at a ranking of 101, and while that is still one spot away from my goal, it is still a jump of twenty positions over other blogs working hard to improve their ranks in the same niche.
Competition Doesn’t Matter
One of the biggest complains I hear from bloggers is that the niche they selected is too crowded, or that it has all been done before, and if you are going to go around believing that, then you are setting yourself up for failure.
You can’t concern yourself with your competition. They are great to help you set goals, and think up content ideas, but otherwise, you can’t let them make you feel inferior. If you have something to say, even if it has been said before, it is still worth getting your opinion out there.
Do Something New
With this blog, I added a weekly podcast, showcasing other people’s content and ideas, as well as adding my own thoughts and opinions to the subjects at hand. This lead me to stand out in this niche, and it is not like podcasting is a new idea.
Mark at 45n5.com came out with a Top 100 list, another idea that has been around for ages, but he made it his own by focusing it on a single niche, and promoting it well.
If you are going to really stand out from the crowd, you need to do something different. It doesn’t have to be innovative or new, but it has to set you apart from others in your niche, and help spread your message, and build your popularity.
Promote Your Content
If no one knows about your blog, then no one will read it. Seems to be a simple path of logic for me, but so many people don’t promote their content, and those that do, don’t always give it enough time or effort.
On some of my best articles, I will spend upwards of an hour promoting it. I contact my friends via e-mail that are willing to help me out from time to time. I have found e-mail newsgroups that help each other out with a link or an approving thumbs up if they like the article. I ask friends to submit the link to social bookmarking sites.
I come up with custom, personalized e-mails for a variety of site owners that are in the same niche as me, and ask them to look over the article and send me any for of feedback they have time for.
Sure this might seem laborious and tedious, but done well on your best posts, you can gain a huge influx of links, traffic, and new ideas. A few links, placed on really popular sites, can double all the stats on a new site, over night.
Make Friends
One of the biggest avenues for promotion, and one of the best tips I can give you is to make friends. Network with people both inside and outside your niche. Surrounding yourself with people that understand you can lead to great feedback, the occasional link, and help with every bit of your site, from the design, to the content.
Also, as a side note, friends can open avenues of promotion through their blogs, but allowing you to guest post, and I have said how amazing guest posts can be for your blogs, numerous times. It has been one of my largest sources of traffic this month.
Conclusion
So there you have it, with a little hard work, a positive attitude, and a lot of promotion, you can push your site up the rankings as well. Don’t let a little hard work scare you away. Pick a niche you are passionate about and enjoy your blogging time.
Originally posted on October 23, 2007 @ 8:00 am