Do’s and Don’t’s of Blogging (Tips)

Welcome back for Part 4 of my Blogging Basics Series I’m doing for the A to Z and Ultimate Blog Challenges. This is a great way for me to meet the challenges, and give something back to all the wonderful bloggers who read this blog.

If blogging is something like this for you, you’re in the right place.

Now with that order of business out of the way, let’s get back to the daily blogging tips. Today’s topic:

D is for Do’s and Don’t’s of Blogging

Let me just say that with blogging, there are no set rules, but there are plenty of practices you can implement to be successful in the blogosphere. Much of this should be common sense, but alas, common sense is not so common.

DON’T plagiarize other people’s work. If you’re not creative enough on your own, you don’t need to blog.

DO come up with fresh, creative content to blog. Even if it’s an “old” topic, analyze it from a new angle or differing perspective.

DON’T regurgitate the same tired information found all over the web. It won’t help you gain readers or fans.

DO study other successful blogs, and see what gives those bloggers the “it” factor. Decide how those qualities translate into your own, unique blogging style. Be innovative.

DON’T be an abrasive, offensive jerk that nobody will read because they hate you. If you reek of oral defecation, you’re not going to be a good blogger.

DO be a controversial and brave blogger. Don’t be afraid to tackle the heavy topics if you have firm beliefs about them. People do love a good controversy, after all.

DON’T blog about your cat, dog, or baby all the time. Save that stuff for friends and family. Yes, I know you have the most adorable cat/dog/kid alive, but if you want lots of readers, understand they simply do not care about that stuff.

DO blog about your cat, dog, or baby if it’s part of a humorous memory or story that readers will appreciate. If you’re taking a family trip, include a little about your non-boring kid. If you took Fluffy to vet and he went nutso and it was funny, share it.

DON’T do a vlog (video blog) if you have a face made for radio, or one that only a mother will love–especially if you actually think that way and have horrible self-esteem. Your issues will translate into an awkward, painful vlog.

DO a vlog if you don’t give a sh*t what anyone thinks about you, because you are a friggin’ rockstar. Be comfortable in your own skin, and you’ll make awesome vlogs.

DON’T write terrible blog posts with spelling, grammar, and style no-no’s up the wazoo. Nobody wants to read crap in their free time. Give them a reason to want to read you.

DO use a spelling and grammar checker when blogging. If you know your writing sucks, and you still want to blog, take a refresher course on basic grammar and spelling tricks. There are tutorials and people handing out lots of free advice all over the internetz.

DON’T crank out ten post in a week, then two the next week, one the week after, then skip a week, and crank out five the week after. Readers hate too much inconsistency.

DO implement a weekly schedule and post consistently. Bad days happen and sometimes you’ll miss one, but your readers will be a lot more forgiving if your overall blogging style is consistent. As much as people claim to love spontaneity, they are much more content with familiarity–at least in their reading styles.

DON’T whine or be emo or depressive in every single post. Everyone has bad days and sad circumstances, and it’s okay to put that out there sometimes, but if you make your readers feel borderline suicidal with your dark and twisted Poe posts, they’re going to eventually go somewhere else to find rainbows, sunshine, fluffy kitties, and possibly unicorns.

DO be open about your feelings, but try to inject a little humor into your posts if you’re an overall angry person. If you have tough lessons to teach, that’s fine, but remember what Mary Poppins says, “A spoon full of sugar…”. Amberr Poppins, on the other hand, says, “A spoonful of humor will allow your blog readers to more easily digest angry or hard-hitting rants.”

DON’T have a blog with 20 different topics where there is no real focus if you are trying to seriously monetize your blog through product or service sales. Whether you are paying attention or not, SEO does exist, and there are people using it effectively to sell their stuff.

DO let your blog be all over the place about anything and everything if you’re not selling anything, and you’re simply wanting to be entertaining. If you build enough traffic to your blog, you can still find ways to monetize without compromising your free spirit.

DON’T treat your blog like a telemarketer treats a wet vac. No begging, pleading, or forcing your links on anyone in hopes that someone will read your blog.

DO leverage social media to drive traffic to your blog, but do it in an effective manner (yep, there’s a post coming up about that, too).

Those are some of my do’s and don’t’s for blogging. Have anything to add to the list? Tell me in the comments!