It’s day 4 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog where today’s challenge is to take a little time to do something that I wrote about last year that has the potential to transform your blogging!
And what is it, you ask?
Today you’re going to be analysing another blog
It’s as simple as that, and it really only takes 10-15 minutes, if that’s all you have to spare.
It really does help you see what’s happening in your niche, where your blog fits, and maybe where you can fill a gap or do something better based on what others are doing or not doing.
In today’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Podcast, we give hints and tips on how to do this successfully – how to fully give analysis to blogs, and the questions to ask yourself as you do so.
I recommend 15 minutes today if is your first time, and to have a look at everything from their content, tone, post style, post frequency, etc to wider things like design, incentives, mailing lists, audience, and calls to action.
It’s a huge list, so remember to bring a notebook and a pen!
Spending this time daily can help you differentiate what you’re doing and who knows – even stumble upon a winning idea that helps your blog stand out from others in your niche.
As I say in the show – don’t be so caught up in what others are doing that you forget to be unique. Maintain the focus and be yourself.
If you’ve missed the podcast yesterday, it was all about thinking outside the square to create great blog promotion strategies. Tune in tomorrow for a brand new topic!
Further Reading:
- The post this episode is based upon – Spend 10 minutes a day doing this, it will transform your blogging
- Jeff Bullas gives us The 6 Simple Step Checklist for Analyzing your Competition on the Web
- 7 Sneaky Ways to Use Twitter to Spy on Your Competition on Kissmetrics (it’s not as bad as it sounds!)
- Create “pages to watch” on Facebook so you can keep track of how they work their social media
Reading other blogs is the best way to gain blogging experience.
Blogging your voice and maintaining your own style are critical Darren, even as you read and analyze other blogs, because you being you makes you stand out from the crowd. I do little analysis of others, spotting patterns here and there, and focus my energies on getting clearer and clearer with he direction of my blog and brand. The clearer I get the less I look to others for guidance because I’m already receiving it in the form of my clarity.
Thanks for sharing :)
Ryan
Learn by Following,
As well said You became as you per your engagement circle , Be with Good be good, Be with bad be bad. Its basic of our learning. We must follow this proven rules to go ahead with our approach .
Nice article. I have recently started the new website. This is very useful for me. Thanks for the post.
Great stuff, Darren. I am building from the ground up and this series is so helpful. Thanks for that.
Great stuff in episode 4. I will be breaking the suggested review questions down into groups in order to focus on one or two elements at a time. There is so much to learn just by looking at content and community!
Thanks, again!