<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blog-Smarter.jpg" alt="Blog Smarter" width="254" height="180" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-8866" />Blogging is a hugely popular scene right now because so many people enjoy doing it and every industry needs a good blogger to get the information out there for them. With an overcrowded niche, bloggers are struggling to stand out and find work. Making your blog successful can be a full time gig, looking for new material, being creative and finding a way to be different than the rest of the world. How do you stand out as a blogger and get noticed? 

Along with meeting the 1,000 word minimum for search engine positioning, you can build traffic to make your blog profitable and turn it into a career. Here is a look at how to blog smarter in order to gain more traffic. 

<h2>Be Willing to Evolve</h2>

When you have a blog for a long time, you may pick up on things that could be changed over time. There are things you’re probably aware that need updated, changed or removed but you’re afraid to do so. Whether it’s a section of your blog that isn’t logical with the rest of your message or it’s a part of blog that you’re just not that excited about anymore, it’s important to be willing to change it or remove it. 

It may be a section you enjoy but it doesn’t really fit the general idea or it’s bringing in the wrong traffic. Be willing to evolve with your blog whether it’s be making a change in the content, updating the design or reinventing the mission. 

Perhaps you’ve had a subtle theme that is welcoming to everyone but it’s time to go bold and brave. Perhaps your blog is about a serious issue but it would be better conveyed with a lighthearted and fun theme. Be willing to change if it means bringing in more traffic and more revenue. 

<h2>Make an Investment</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Rebranding-for-Success.jpg" alt="Rebranding for Success" width="270" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8868" />While you may want to blog for free, it might be what’s holding you back. Investing in your blog to get the perfect design or theme may be what brings in the traffic. Rebranding might cost you now but it may bring in the profit later. Spend money to take a blogging course or get business cards that match your blog and watch the investment pay off. 

If you put in as little as $15 per month or as much as $1000, you could gain tools to help with efficiency, tools that promote you on social media, knowledge from a course with strategic advice and even a ticket to a conference for your niche. 

<h2>Help Others</h2>

While you may think you’re just another blogger in the mix, you could be the one that teaches others how it’s done. It only takes 1,000 page views per month and you are considered at a level to teach other bloggers. Help someone who just launched their blog or help a small brand to improve theirs. This is a great way to make money or gain experience which will improve your reputation and get you noticed. When you’re the hero for someone else, you could end up gaining more work for yourself and a bigger network. 

<h2>Focus on Traffic Rather than Posts</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blog-Traffic1.jpg" alt="Blog Traffic" width="270" height="180" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-8869" />It might be time to step back and focus on your traffic rather than pumping out post after post. Consider republishing an old piece and adding an image that could be pinned to increase search engine optimization. Get involved in contests that target your niche and look into having a guest post from a trusted blogger added to your blog. 

Consider investing in your blog, thinking outside the box and making some changes in order to gain more traffic and allow you to blog a little smarter.  
