CreativeHerb.com

Does your blog have declining readership, or maybe your blogging topics just aren’t working? It is a common story in the blogophere where 175,000 new blogs pop up everyday, with many of them abandoned just a few weeks later. Here are 5 easy steps to Rebrand your blog and get that traffic you deserve.

1. What is your Identity?

You must first ask yourself, what does your audience see your blog as currently, and in the future, what do you want them to see it as. That’s Branding. This is one of the most important aspect of planning any blog or business because the perceived value is often the deciding factor. For example, Coca Cola may taste similar to other pop sodas, but their cool brand image makes it taste extra good.

Your identity must not be vague. If I were to ask you, what is your blog about, you should be able to tell me in a few short words. While covering every single topic, and targeting the entire planet is a nice wish, it is not feasible for the most part. Even with mega corporations like Google, they have many sub-brands to keep the purpose of each unit distinct and clear in people’s minds.

So ask yourself, which chunk of the market you want to capture. Then present yourself in a way that creates a clear visual image of your purpose, in the minds of your audience.

2. Set new Post Categories

With your target set, it is time to set your posting categories. I found it extremely useful to preset your posting categories because it helps you to stay within your preset topic boundaries. They are by no means set in stone, but it can guide you when you are stuck for an idea as well. Nothing kills creativity like having unrestricted choices.

If you are going to create more than 6 categories, and if your blog design allows it, group them up with subcategories. This makes it easier for readers to find the information that they are looking for, rather than go down a list of 10+ categories where the topic categories jump wildly from one subject to the next. For example, I’ve placed Branding, SEO and Social Media under the Marketing category, because I don’t want to mix them up with my Design topics.

With a focused set of posting categories, both you and your audience will now have a clear idea of what the blog is all about. Any vagueness or confusion will be automatically be dumped into the ignore pile.

3. Picking your Blog Theme Template

Content is important, but even before reading your blog, they will see the design first. A good theme design is one that is easy to read, comfortable colors, and convenient links to other parts of your site.

There are many great free wordpress themes out there, but choosing the right theme isn’t easy. When I choose a theme, I consider many factors such as structure, convenience and customizability. That is where a good premium theme is probably a better choice. While I know enough about themes to build one from scratch or customize a free one, premium themes start off with a very clean code base and optimized user experience. Fixing up a free wordpress theme properly can be weeks worth of work, so why not start off with a more solid foundation?

I researched various premium theme template companies but found major flaws in one area or another. I needed a theme that already has most of the essentials and will allow me to customize easily. Make sure that you’re not adding in so many features that it causes clutter though. I found Woothemes to have the most consistently good themes. Both their free and premium themes are very solidly designed. Good user experience, clean interface and relevant placement of site links. They also have themes for different purposes including Personal Blog, Image Gallery, News Blog, Portfolio Blog etc. Definitely a good place to start your theme search.

4. Maintain the New Posting Schedule

Now that you’ve settled on your posting categories and optimized your theme, it is time to set your posting schedule. It should be on a regular interval so that your readers will know when to come back, whether it is once a day or once a week. If your content is good, people will want to come back regularly to read what you have to say, and then eventually start to comment on your blog.

If you have trouble choosing what to blog about every day, one suggestion is to have themed days, kind of like Meatloaf Mondays or Chicken Thursdays. You can choose a topic with an unlimited amount of content, such as Graphics Icons or Tips on Cooking.

5. Advertising your New Blog

Once you have some decent content published on your blog, it is time to let everyone know about the new Rebranded you! You can post on forums and invite people to comment on your new branding. Or you can write a blog post about your rebranding, then comment on blogs with the CommentLuv plugin installed. When you comment on a blog with CommentLuv installed, it will display the name of the last post you made on your own blog. You can also post on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace etc about your Rebranded blog and create an exciting relaunch.

Following these 5 steps will help you towards a new and exciting blogging experience. Just remember to always ask yourself, if I was a visitor, what would I like or dislike about the site? Got any more good ideas on rebranding a blog?