Blogger trends we hope we'll see in 2014

December's the time to look back on the year and evaluate what went right, what went wrong, what should change and what should stay the same.

So here are our blogger predictions for 2014.

Spon con gone
With bloggers more divided over sponsored content than ever - and Twitter-hosted chats ending up drama-fuelled conversations whenever PR/advertising is mentioned - bloggers will find new ways of making money from their little corner of the internet without that dreaded 'sponsored content' disclaimer. While sponsored content is the easiest way to cash monies, we're thinking Vine will play a role in really quick and easy 6 second ads for brands without being the same old same old we're used to seeing.

The Buzzfeed effect
Instead of reams of copy (because no one has time to read through thousand word features when they're 500-down on Bloglovin') we'll see long features broken down into bite-size chunks for ease of reading. Think bullet points and numbered lists with simple paragraphs of information easily read and digested. 

Finding the G-spot
Love it or, more than likely, loathe it, Google places higher emphasis on g+ than anything else. Next year we'll see bloggers getting more involved with pluses and circles in order to improve their page ranks and promote their blogs. It'll be a steep learning curve for some as this is the social media platform that's being forced upon us rather than being something we willingly adopt, but the rewards should offset the frustration of getting to grips with however the hell it works.

Be a guest
Not just to show off your knowledge on a certain subject, guest posts should always include backlinks to your site. With SEO taking a different turn and keywords being more random than ever, this is the key to start building a proper footing. The more backlinks bloggers get, the better. Be prepared to work hard to guest post on blogs with real klout - and start networking and building relationships with bloggers in lots of different genres. One or two well placed backlinks can work wonders, so pitching out to bloggers will start to really be important.

The demise of the one-track pony
We'll see less of the categorised blogger, and more of a merge. So a fashion blogger may still focus on clothes and posing like a swan for OOTD posts, but they'll also start including the odd recipe and review - without falling into the lifestyle genre. Beauty bloggers will still be smearing lipstick over their hands, but will start delving into opinion features. Carving out a niche was important when blogs were less popular and there was more scope for individuality. But now, with hundreds of thousands of posts on every subject imaginable being posted daily, it's time to start thinking outside your blog and spreading out.

What do you think? Are we hitting the nail on the head, or do you think we're completely off the mark? Is there anything you're going to try to do in the new year? Let us know on twitter or in the comments.