Getting noticed might seem impossible. But there are blogs that rise up out of that vast sea of sameness. Blogs started by people just like you. You don’t necessarily need great writing talent, although it’s worth developing the talent you have. You don’t need to be able to break the latest tech news or celebrity gossip. And you don’t need to already be famous.

You do need to find something interesting that only you can say, then say it clearly and repeatedly. Here are some ideas for lifting your content out of the limitless ocean of blog mediocrity.
Don’t write in a tired space

Think twice before you start a blog whose sole focus is on affiliate marketing, your adoration of Apple products, David Allen’s Getting Things Done, or, yes, blogging itself.

It’s not that there’s too much competition. Competition is a great thing. The problem is how rarely anyone approaches these subjects with a truly fresh eye.

It’s not impossible to create exciting new sites on these topics. Ittybiz did it with making money online, and Zen Habits with an appealing personal voice and an easygoing, non-techie approach to GTD.

If you have a genuinely new angle or voice to contribute, go for it. Otherwise, ask yourself if anyone really needs another Shoemoney clone.
Don’t write in a space no one cares about

On the other hand, if you start a blog on naked mole rats, it had better be for passion rather than profit. The audience that wants more information about insect-like collectivist rodents is going to be pretty limited.

If you’re launching a blog (or trying to refine your topic to get more readers), start with some basic keyword research. Look for a subject that gets a healthy amount of traffic every day for combined relevant keyword phrases.

One way to find a great niche is to carve out a small corner of a popular topic. It will be hard to get attention for “weight loss,” but you could create a great following for yourself with “gourmet low-carb.”
Share a unique voice

There are a million snarky mommy blogs. There’s one Dooce.

The more vulnerable you’re willing to get, the harder you are to imitate. And the more likely you are to find the true fans that lead to blogging success. Dooce’s mix of serious and silly, profane and profound, has found a lot of would-be imitators. But Heather Armstrong stays at the top of the game because, well, no one else can be Heather Armstrong.

If you want to know how to strengthen your own unique voice, re-read this classic Copyblogger post on becoming a better writer.
. . . or be genuinely useful

Even though the world is virtually drowning in information, that information is getting harder and harder to actually use.

Who’s trustworthy? What are the first steps? Which resources actually work? When’s the best time to start? What’s overrated, hard to use, or annoying?

Look around for a set of useful questions you can reliably answer. Keep an eye on forums, blog comments, Twitter and your own email box for problems that seem to come up again and again. Keep looking for ways to help.

It’s absolutely fine if you compile rather than create. It’s not your job to invent something out of nothing. It’s your job to take the nearly infinite sea of information and distill it to something useful.
. . . or have real authority

If you actually make 7 figures on the Web, you are allowed to start a “making money online” blog.

If not, well, don’t.
. . . or focus on your community

It doesn’t matter how many blogs there are on your subject, or how big some of them are. If you focus obsessively on offering great solutions that benefit your readers, you’re going to be able to grab a nice slice of the attention pie.

Chris Brogan is the master of this. There are thousands of blogs about social media, but no one pours more attention and care into his community than Chris does. His dedication is both remarkable and infectious, and it pays off not just with great readership numbers, but with an engaged readership that talks Chris up and recommends his blog to others.
The key to creating a memorable web presence

It’s not what you uniquely do. It’s what you uniquely communicate.

There will always be bloggers who are smarter, more perceptive, better connected, or more entertaining than you are. But if you can communicate what you have to offer in an exceptional way, you’ll find a warm, responsive audience and all the amazing gifts that can bring.

得到广泛关注看起来好象很难实现。但也有许多像你一样写博的博客从中脱颖而出。像他们一样成为名博，其实并不难，您不需要非常出名、且具有很强的写作能力，你也不必发表最新的技术新闻或名人绯闻来吸引眼球。你只需发现一些只有你能说的有趣话题，把它表达清楚，并持续坚持下去即可。下面是提升你博客内容，使它免于平庸的七个方法：

一、不要写一个陈旧的话题

三思而后行，当你开始一个博客写作前，你应该先考虑博客的市场推广或者博客本身，您崇拜苹果公司的产品，但David Allen’s 已经写过了。

这并不是说博客有太多的竞争，竞争是一件伟大的事情。问题是很少有人能用真正新的思维来写好这些主题。

这也不是说在这些主题上不能创造令人兴奋的新网站。 Ittybiz 建立了一个吸引人的在线赚钱网站，而具有磁性声音、随和、非技术人员的Zen Habits建立了一个出色的GTD（译者注：GTD为Getting things done的缩写）博客。

如果你对你些陈旧的话题，有一个真正的新的角度或见解，就去写它。否则，问问自己，是否真的有人需要一个克隆的Shoemoney。

二、不要写无人关注的话题

另一方面，如果你开设一个关于无毛鼹鼠的博客，最好是因为兴趣，而不是利益。因为想了解昆虫类群居啮齿动物信息的读者是非常有限的。

如果你想开设一个博客（或试图修改你的话题以获得更多的读者），你应该进行一些基本的关键字研究。寻找一个每天能得到较多点击量的关键词相关的主题。

其中一个好的方法是，从一个热门话题里开拓出一个小角落来讨论。如果你写一个关于“减肥”的话题，这将是很难得到重视，但如果你开设一个“低碳水化合物美食家”的博客，将会吸引大量的眼球。

三、分享一个独特的见解

这世界关于snarky mommy 的博客有100万个。但Dooce只有一个。

你对你的认知变得越敏感，你将越难被人模仿。你就越接近发现你真正的粉丝，从而使你的博客取得成功。Dooce的混杂着严肃和轻松、世俗和深刻，已经发现了许多相似的模仿者。但Heather Armstrong 所做的Dooce仍然是最好的，因为没有一个人能模仿Heather Armstrong。

如果你想知道如何提高自己独特的见解，请重读Copyblogger里怎样成为一个更好的作家这篇经典文章。

四、你所写的话题对读者真正有用

尽管世界几乎淹没在信息中，但确实有用的信息却越来越少。

谁是值得信赖的？第一步该做什么？什么资源真正有用？何时开始最好？什么被高估了、难以使用、或者恼人的？

对一系列你能回答的实用问题进行调查。对论坛，博客评论，Twitter和电子邮件中再三发生的问题进行关注，并不断寻找各种方法来解决它们。这绝对是一项杰出的工作，尽管你只是收集，而不是创造。你的工作不是出发明了一些什么，而是从信息的海洋中提炼出对人们有用的东西。

五、成为某个领域真正的权威

如果您确实通过网站赚到了7位数字以上的美元，你可以启动“网上赚钱”这样一个博客。如果没有，那么，请不要开设类似博客。

六、聚焦你所在的社区

不管有多少博客与你关注同样的话题，也不要管它们有多成功。只要你煞费苦心推出伟大的解决方案，使您的读者受益，你就能够从你所关注的市场分到一杯羹。

Chris Brogan就很好地掌握了这一点。世上有成千上万个关注社会化媒体的博客，但没有人比Chris投入更多的关注和照顾他的社区。他的献身精神是引人注目并富有感染力，他的所做所为不但使他获得了极大的读者人数，而且访问过他博客的读者会经常谈论Chris，并把他的博客推荐给他人。

七、创造一个令人难忘的网页

这不是你独特的事情。而是你独特的沟通方式。

总会有一些博客比你更聪明，更有趣，更富有洞察力，拥有更好的链接。但是，如果你能你能提供独特的交流方式，你就会发现热情，受到读者的好评，并享受其所带来的惊奇礼物。