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My top 10 dos and do nots of blogging

I was recently encouraged to write this post by Shri over at SmartAdvise.info as part of a cross blogging conversation.  Shri is looking for new members and people who’d like to participate.  Read more of the details here.

So, to my list of some of what I think are some of the most important dos and don’t dos of blogging…most of them are common sense, some maybe less so, but I hope you get something out of the suggestions.

The things TO DO

1. Encourage participation in your blog - speak to and interact with your audience. Encourage opinions,  feedback and/or criticisms in the comments of each post that you write. Acknowledge your visitors comments - this helps develop reader loyalty.  Ensure that your comments are moderated and approved regularly.
2. Blog because you want to blog, not because you’ve heard blogs can sometimes make money!  If  your goal is just to make money, your blog posts will likely lack quality and be less interesting. People can tell…
3. Try to make your content appealing, be passionate about something, and write in an engaging style. This doesn’t suit all blog-types, but for me it helps to write like I’m having a casual conversation with a friend. Let people get a feel for your personality in your writing.
4. Make references to other people’s blogs or websites and link where appropriate.  This helps to drive traffic and helps you to become established amongst your peers, rivals…bitter enemies. People are generally quite vain and love to be linked to. This includes me, BTW - link away! ;-)
5. Engage with the writers of other blogs that match your subject of interest.  Comment on their blogs, and when you do, write a little bit more than “Hey, great post!”. :-|
6. Join a blogging community -  I recommend Budding Bloggers talk to people about the difficulties you have encountered and share experience and best practice.
7. Post, post, and then post some more and post often -  Google will like you for it, but please maintain a consistent level of (preferably high) quality. Don’t let your blog go stale.
8. Ensure you have enough interest in the topic you are writing about, this will ensure you have enough material and be able to write without end.  You don’t wan to have run out of ideas and interest by week 3.
9. Make full and proper use of tags and categories in your blogging software, but don’t overdo it like me. Spell check and proofread!
10. Love what you do and try to be original. There is not much originality left in the world, but do your best. Be honest and open.

The things to DO NOT

1. 1. Don’t plagiarise. But by all means, quote, reference etc BUT attribute appropriately (with citation links if relevant) in ALL cases.  In the case of sources like Wikipedia, CAREFULLY read the terms of use.
2. Don’t have traffic as your primary goal. You don’t want huge numbers of random visitors necessarily.  What you want is a community of loyal followers. Traffic will happen over time, if you write well. Don’t sweat the statistics (he says!)
3. Don’t use images in your posts that you do not have the proper rights to.  There are plenty of sources across the Internet for stock photos -  many of which are free.  Best not to get into trouble. Ask for permission and attribute - Many people would be quite happy of the advertising and exposure your site might offer them. Resize your images!
4. Don’t always do the hard sell. If this is a new visitor coming to your site for the first time, you will never see them again, if this is your approach.
5. Don’t overcomplicate your language. $20 words might sound impressive in a corporate brochure, but might alienate people, or make you come across as sounding pretentious, in your blog.
6. Don’t waffle. Please!  Be. Concise.
7. Don’t let an awesome post down with a weak, wimpy title. Try to make it attention grabbing, since somebody might just be scanning titles in an RSS feed and the title is often your only chance.
8. Don’t plaster your website with ads. Perhaps have one or two, but be conscious of the old idiom “Can’t see the woods for the trees” or something like that.
9. Don’t spend all your time choosing a WordPress theme! Sure, you want the site to look pretty, but you want people to be coming back to your site to enjoy your posts, and be there for the content, rather than to applaud your mad theme selection skilz!  Focus on the writing and delivery, rather than on how shiny the thing looks.
10. Don’t be a doofus! Write sensibly and accurately.  Don’t write just to be contentious and inflame. Admit when you are wrong.

Well, there you go. Agree, disagree?  Have better/other suggestions? Please share…  Don’t forget to visit smartadvise.info for more great tips and advice on getting started with Internet marketing and maybe join the conversation…

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