At last count, Technorati is tracking 112.8 million blogs. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing the vast majority of them look very plain and generic. I’d even go so far as saying that thousands of them probably look exactly the same, not counting the content, of course.

Out of that 112.8 million, your one blog is is 0.000000009%. That’s a really, really small number. I figure that’s also about the chance of someone finding your blog on Technorati by chance. So without any extra work on your part, your blog won’t get much traffic. Even if someone does find your needle of a blog in the haystack of the blogosphere, a generic-looking site won’t make much of an impact and they’ll be unlikely to come back for more.

With that in mind, what can you do to make your blog stand out from the other 99.999999991%? The most important thing you can do is establish a unique site branding. Create an image for your blog that no other site can claim. But how?

Use a unique site layout or template

Every major blogging platform has support for themes: ways to easily change the look and feel of your blog. The theme controls the way your site is laid out, and is the fastest way to make your site look different.

It’s always easier to use a pre-ready blog template, because you don’t have to write any code that way. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but keep in mind that other people may be be using the same template. When using somebody else’s free template, always choose custom colors. Swapping in your own colors will ensure nobody else’s site will be exactly the same, even with the same template. It’d also be good to rearrange other aspects as well, but always change at least the colors.

The other option is to write your own layout from scratch. This, obviously, is much harder and requires a good investment of time, but you’ll be guaranteed to be using a personalized theme.

Create a unique logo

A single logo goes a long way in removing that generic look. Come up with some sort of image to represent your blog. You want people to see that logo at the top of your blog, or on an advertisement, and know exactly what it stands for. Whether you make your own or pay a graphic designer to create it for you, you’ll need to choose from two main types.

1) A logo that includes the name of your site. Look up at the top of Blogging Addiction. That header image up there that says “Blogging Addiction” in fancy text? That’s an example of this type. This is the best option for your blog, because people who aren’t familiar with your blog will get an idea of the topic of your blog. A whole lot of companies use this strategy as well: take a look at the logos of Microsoft, Google, Wal-mart, Best Buy, Albertsons… the list goes on and on.

2) A logo that doesn’t include the name of your site. This would be some kind of little picture you’d use to represent your blog. This is the first thing a lot of people will start sketching when they decide to make a logo, but it’s usually a really bad idea. Unless everyone knows what it is, it’ll just be another image on your site. This is hard for multi-million-dollar corporations, and all but impossible for small blogs. In fact, the only company I can think of off the top of my head that actually gets away with this kind of logo is Apple, and everyone has seen theirs on the back of an iPod.

In summary, create a unique look for your site. Visitors will be encouraged to start reading your blog when they come across good content and realize it’s all from one blog. Every blogger wants loyal readers, so come up with a good branding plan as soon as possible.

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