According to Technorati.com there are over 112.8 million blogs that they are tracking. If they’re tracking yours, what makes it unique? How is it that your blog stands out against the rest? Many writers try to blog from some standpoint that is unique to them, or write in some unique voice. While not a blogger, the late Kurt Vonnegut had said he wrote his stories in the voice of a child. What is your appeal to your audience? What makes your blog stand out against the rest? While the majority of us are not prolific writers, there are other ways to make users come back to our blogs and make our blogs stick out from the rest. One of the best ways is to have a unique blog design. This article will explain the advantages of having an unique blog design as well as how it is used to brand the blog and make the readers remember you.

Let’s start with the small stuff. So you’ve just purchased a domain and decided to set up a blog. You want to blog about….well that doesn’t even matter at this point! You set up your wordpress database and run the installation files. You’re ready to go. Or are you? While Wordpress does work “out of the box” the installation leaves you with a pretty boring theme. Welcome to the Kubrick theme. This theme runs default on not only your blog, but EVERY wordpress blog out there. Let’s change this up a bit. I’ll explain how. There are a few resources you can go to find yourself some themes.

• http://themes.wordpress.net/
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes#Get_New_Themes
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/02/09/83-beautiful-wordpress-themes-you-probably-havent-seen/
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/06/26/21-fresh-usable-and-elegant-wordpress-themes/
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/05/07/10-fresh-elegant-and-clean-wordpress-themes/

Quick How-To: Adding Themes to your Wordpress Blog
• Download the theme files. Normally they are contained in a folder.
• Upload the folder containing the theme files to your wp-content/themes folder that was created when you ran the wordpress installation files.
• Log into your blog and go to Presentation.
• Under Themes the new theme should show up. Click on it to use the new theme.

Those links give you some great options, but let’s be honest they’re publicly available and anyone can download and use them. I think that takes away from the “unique factor”. How do we get a truly unique you need to start from scratch. Or find someone who can. A great place to look for custom theme coders is the Services Forum on Digital Point Forums. You can normally find several potential developers to help you to create a custom theme to your liking for a fairly reasonable price. Once you get your truly unique theme just follow the how-to listed above to install the theme and you’re all set!

The advantage of having a truly unique blog is that it stands out. Your readers are no longer asking themselves if it was your blog where there had read “that one post”, or if it was another blog. Your design is unique and sticks out in their minds. It sets you apart. Now along with having your custom theme having a custom header image is another way to keep user attention. By creating a custom header it gives you something for your readers to remember. This “stickyness” enables you to brand your blog. Through a means of having a unique writing style of posting method as well as a custom header and theme your create brandability for your blog and create a blog that stands out from the crowd and gives your readers not only something that they want to come back to, but also something they can easily remember and easily find.

So what we’re trying to say here is simple; don’t be one among the crowd! When you start with wordpress you are in no way unique. If you are willing to spend a little time and money you can have a great custom theme and header created for your blog. It’s easy enough to install this new theme and by doing so you give your blog a brand. It is through this brand that your readers will recognize you and will begin to equate this theme and logo with you and with your blog. Good luck, and happy blogging!