Not a Pro Blogger…. Yet (Part 2)

Continued from last time…

• Paragraphs and Spacing.  It seems obvious and trivial, but I have had to point it out to almost every ‘new’ blogger I know.  Just having paragraphs doesn’t cut it, make sure there is a space between each paragraph.  Also try break big ass paragraphs up a little into more digestible pieces, it makes actually reading more palatable.
• Don’t have music, sound, or video play automatically.  You might think it’s neat but it’s very irritating when you go to the page and have to search for the off button for the sound, especially if you are not at a private computer.

• Buy a domain name.  You don’t have to, but if you’re serious about your blog you should consider it.  You can just be lazy like me and just have it forward to your existing blog, but it still makes it super easy for people to remember and find your blog.
• Learn about keywords, Tags, and Categories.  The oversimplification is that tags are what search engines use to search, and Categories are more contained sections of your blog. See [here] for a better explanation on the issue. Learning about key words [here].
• If you have something to say, say it don’t save it.  Too many times you think, wow this is a great topic I should save it for when I have more readers.  Don’t do that, if it’s really that good, you can re post, or rewrite it with your new thoughts on the matter later.
• Appreciate your readers. Just because someone is only an online, blogging etc friend doesn’t mean they have no value.
• Reply to comments.  Unless it’s a thread of comments and there is just nothing to say.  But I really hate it when I go through the effort to comment and there is no response, commenters like replies just as much as you like their comments. (obviously this changes a little when you start getting 200 comments a day, but unless you’re Tim Ferriss or Seth Godin this shouldn’t be an issue for you just yet 😉 ) (side note my sister disagrees with this 😛 that’s her opinion not mine)
• Use a RSS Reader.  I personally like the Google reader, as it’s attached to my Gmail but any one will do.  I’m assuming if you are writing a blog you must also read some, and it’s so much easier when you have one place that tells you of updates.

• Make the address for the RSS feeds easily available.  For both your blog and the comments, it’s really irritating trying to figure these things out when you’re not so sure.  Just providing this information on your blog for your readers is a great courtesy.
• Colours and Formatting.  Try to keep things simple, clean and organized.  Make sure everything is easy to find and read, I used to have white type on a black background, and while it looked hella cool, it was a little hard on the eyes when reading a long post.

These are things that I have learned and found to work so far.  I’m learning as I go so I’m sure there will be many revisions to this list as I go.  And in a few months I’ll probably have a much clearer idea, but for anyone who is just starting out this will probably help you out :).