7 Useful Blogging Rules For New Bloggers
We are naturally scared of the unknown, which is why it can be a very daunting prospect when taking your first steps into a new industry. Many people like the idea of starting their own website or blog online but the vast majority never will for fear of failure.
Admittedly there is a lot to learn about blogging when you start out, but that should not put you off, instead it should inspire and drive you to create the best site that you can. After all, every blogger at some point was in the exact same position when they started.
I thought that I would put together a useful list of some blogging rules for you to follow when first starting out to ease some of those nerves! That way, you have some clear pointers to follow whilst you continue to learn about the other aspects of blogging.
1. Quality Over Quantity
One question that I often get asked by new bloggers is “How often should I post?”
Whilst there is no definitive answer, as a lot can depend on what you are writing about or even who you ask, many would agree that quality is always better than quantity. Instead of simply trying to publish as many blog posts on your site as you can, spend more of your time creating high quality content that people actually want to read.
Many new bloggers fall into the trap of thinking they need to publish every day (or even multiple times a day) because they see big sites doing that. What many forget is that these types of sites tend to have lots of writers writing for them on a regular basis.
When you first start out you will likely be doing everything yourself, so alongside producing content you will need to help maintain your website, as well as things like social media marketing, product creation, branding, etc.
It is perfectly fine to publish a couple of posts a week (maybe even just 1 a week) as long as you make sure that you are producing quality posts. At the end of the day people just want quality information on the subject that you are writing about. If you can give that to them then they have no reason to go looking for it on another site and, better yet, are much more likely to revisit your site in the future.
2. Size Does Matter
Another common question that I get asked a lot, which kind of links in with the previous question, is “How long should my blog posts be?”
Once again, there are differing opinions on this depending on who you ask, but most bloggers would agree that longer posts are significantly better than shorter posts.
Without trying to repeat myself, quality is a keyword that you will hear a lot when it comes to blogging. People want quality posts full of quality information, so it makes sense that longer posts will be more beneficial for your site.
There certainly isn’t a magic number that you need to hit for in terms of word count for each of your articles. Posts should only be as long as they need to be, just try to always remember to put more emphasis on the quality aspect as that is what ultimately counts.
3. Don’t Be Afraid To Link To Other Bloggers
A big misconception new bloggers have is that they think it is wrong to link to other bloggers or blog posts within their articles. Whilst it may initially sound counterintuitive – I mean why would you want to potentially send traffic away from your site? – it actually makes sense when you begin to understand how the internet works.
Search engines (like Google and Bing) view sites much more favourably when they can see that they link out to other, high quality, relevant sites in their niche. It shows that they aren’t trying to hog all the traffic for themselves and, more importantly, it helps them determine what your site/article is about.
Linking out to other bloggers isn’t only to appease the search engines, you are much more likely to get links from other sites when you share the love yourself.
4. Reply To Comments
Whatever subject you choose to blog about, THE most important thing that you should focus on is trying to build a community around your site. No matter how good you are as a writer it is people who dictate whether your site will be successful or not.
Now there are many ways in which you can help build a community around your website, but one of the easiest is through the comments section.
Every good blog allows readers to leave a comment after a post, yet what most don’t realise is that the comment section isn’t just for readers to use, it is for you the writer to use as well. The comment section of a site is simply a way for people to communicate with you, which is why it is vitally important that you reply to people.
Whether people ask questions, ask for advice or help, or just want to say that they liked/disliked an article, it is important that you reply to that yourself. Not only is it just polite, but it shows that your site is an active one where people can get help/guidance from you.
5. Leave Comments On Other Sites
Just as it is important to comment on your own site to help build a community, commenting on other people’s sites can also benefit you. If people can see, or even recognize you, commenting on other sites then that can help to reinforce the idea that you are someone that knows what they are talking about in your chosen subject.
If you can answer people’s questions or offer them helpful advice, then they will be much more likely to come and visit your site next time they need help with something.
6. Share Other Peoples Work
Social media is a great tool to help market and make people more aware about your own site, but that shouldn’t mean that that is all you use it for. In the same way that it is beneficial to add links to other peoples posts within your own articles, it is also beneficial to share (Tweet, Like, +1, Pin, etc.) other people’s content with your own followers.
People online tend to people/profiles that just self-promote. If you can share with your followers links to other high quality, relevant posts, then they will appreciate that and see you as an authority figure within your niche. Not only that but other bloggers will be much more willing to share your posts with their audience if you do the same.
7. Ignore Your Stats (For Now At Least)
Every new blogger seems to fall in love with checking their website’s stats. It is very easy to do and I will be the first to admit that I did the very same thing when I first started. Statistics (such as number of visitors, site duration, bounce rate, etc.) are definitely important in the long run, yet when you first start a site they are practically meaningless.
It probably takes the average site a good couple of months to get going online before you can read anything into what your stats mean. If anything, if you are the type of person that feels the need to check your stats regularly when you first start out, then it could put you off.
I barely got any traffic the first couple of weeks online, yet I was putting in a lot of work to building up my site. Had I taken that to heart I may have given up thinking that I was wasting my time. Thankfully I didn’t and eventually the site started to grow and grow.
You have to realise that blogging is quite different to many other professions. The work you put in today may not pay off tomorrow, but it will pay off a week, a month, a year, a decade on and continue to do so.
Those 5 hours you toiled over writing that great post of yours not only attracts traffic the week you publish it, but people a year from now will still be able to find, read and enjoy that article, along with the countless others that you have published on your site since then.
Stats are very important, but when you start out it is more beneficial to just ignore them until you have got up and running.
In Summary
I’m sure if you ask other established bloggers they would each be able to come up with a totally different set of rules for you to follow. These are simply some that I have found very useful when I started out online. Hopefully though, they should help you to focus on what is important when starting out in the blogging world yourself.
Your Turn:
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What blogging rules do you live by?
What good advice have you been given to do with blogging?
I’d love to hear from you so please get in touch below.
Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon, Flickr.
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Written by Catherine Holt
Catherine Holt is the founder of Blogging Tips 101. She has been an internet marketer since 2012. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Google and Pinterest.
I’m doing all of these, apart from linking to other sites, which I haven’t done yet. I will do that though, when there’s content relevant to my own content. I’m enjoying discovering so many wonderful blogs! I definitely relate to the sitestats temptation. I do check mine. I think it would be too hard to resist! At the end of the day, however, the number of readers doesn’t make any difference to the need to write good quality content. Every reader deserves having the best that I can offer. some people will like that and stick around and others will find that it’s not for them. I just offer up my life, experience and thoughts. It’s a journey and it’s great to meet with others along the way.
I follow these 7 rules too Catherine. I am especially partial to “do what works for you” when it comes to frequency of your posts and not getting hung up on the numbers. Another I would add is to pay attention to your graphics. First, make sure you are not using anything where copyrights can come back to haunt you. Then second, using good visuals will not only help you when you share your article to sites like Pinterest, FB, etc., it will add a lot of interest to your post! I will be sharing this article for sure!
Great tips for any newbie blogger but I would like to tell all beginner bloggers that during the first 6 months of so focus on developing quality content then after some time you will see that your blog traffic will increase as well as you will get more readers for your blog
Cheers
Rohit Singh
I do all of these, and I must admit checking out the stats is something I don’t do all the time, but it’s pretty interesting to see what posts do the best. After not looking at my stats for a month I went on just for fun and saw I had over 3,000 page hits in one day. I couldn’t find a correlation with the page views against reviewing my individual page views for the day so I just figured it was a glitch somewhere.
Hey Catherine,
I absolutely can’t disagree with you on this list. All the points you mentioned are the must haves and if one is looking for success in blogging then he has to follow these rules.
I have said it a number of times and I am saying this again. Blog commenting is what determines your future as a blogger. Not only it helps you to drive traffic to your blog but also it helps you build reputation.
Now for those who run before money, here is an advice for you. Money and reputation are interlinked. If you have a good reputation in the Blogoshpere then you are likely to get more contracts. So always keep in mind that reputation plays a really big role in blogging.
Nonetheless, thanks for this wonderful piece of writing Catherine. You always come up with amazing content.
Have a great week ahead!
Cheers!
- Rohit
Hey Catherine,
These are all excellent, really fundamental tips all bloggers should know. Thanks for sharing them, I know your readers will benefit from them, especially if they’re new.
P.S. Nice image! I think I’ll pin it! =)
Brittany
Lol, thanks for the pin Brittany
Glad you liked the tips, and thanks for sharing
Hi Catherine
Very informative post both for newbie and struggling bloggers.
It happens to most of the new bloggers they in frenzy to be number one all of a sudden just post even more than once in a day. Soon after awhile they suck and eventually rationalize their posting frequency up to one or two posts per week.
This is one of the biggest blunders they do. Otherwise they should have done other way round. Initially one post in a week then two and lately daily one post and that’s all. One of my blogging mentors even went to the extent to publish one post fortnightly during first three months of blogging and do promotional and link building chores with more concentration.
Thanks a lot for this tutorial with a lot of wonderful points to follow.
Being in a frenzy is a great way to put it Mi. Bloggers start with awesome intentions, but also become quite impatient to get going and as a result think they need to post practically every day. As a result they run out of steam. Start slow but strong and build up as you go along. This will help you survive the distance.
I appreciate you sharing here today
Hi Catherine,
All of these are excellent tips. I think one that is missed by many new bloggers is linking to others. Networking should be a priority for any new blogger, and linking out to other bloggers is one of the better things you can do if you are looking to make some connections. You can link out in your regular post content, publish weekly or monthly link roundups to link to certain bloggers, or publish interviews or group interviews. All of those will give you opportunities to link out, and than contact the other blogger to let them know that they have been featured on your blog.
That’s an awesome point Marc. Networking is certainly an important part in blogging and linking to other bloggers is also crucial. Networking is something that take time and hard work so the sooner you get started on it, the better. The more network, the more rewards you will see for you blog in the long term.
Thanks for co tributing here Marc
[…] Many people like the idea of starting their own website or blog online but the vast majority never will for fear of failure. Utilize these 7 blogging rules. […]
Making the blog popular is a tedious process for newbies and I hope that these rules would assist them to stand out from the crowd. Nice tips Catherine, keep writing
Thanks Nirmala. It certainly is a lot of work, and I think that can be unexpected for a lot of. Es bloggers. Hopefully these tips can help get new bloggers off the starting block.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here
Hi Catherine,
I use each tip – some daily – to accelerate my growth by the week. #3 just plain rocks. As a new or veteran blogger you want traffic, or you want more folks to read your blog each week. Easy way to get traffic; help other bloggers get traffic. This is karma in action. Promote others freely. Link to your friends and new authority bloggers in each post. You can’t help but to attract traffic because many linked up bloggers will promote your post and more folks will feature you on their blogs.
Newbies lose this idea. They believe doing it all yourself is the way to go, or that no authority blogger would care that they’ve linked into a pro. Not the case. Unless you’re world famous or never check comments you’ll note backlinks. I do. I check ‘em daily, and when I see somone linking in I either tweet them, comment on their blog and that post, or thank them in some other way. I’ve built more bonds and have driven more traffic on Blogging from Paradise using this strategy than you would ever believe. Brilliant approach, and oh so easy.
I publish twice a week now; too busy writing eBooks, as #5 is going live in 1-2 days. Im going heaver on blogger outreach too. But each post will be 3,000 words or more. Quality over quantity. You’ll make a greater impact publishing once a week, if that post knocks people’s socks off, versus writing five, 600 word posts. Nobody really cares, until you get a name, and a rep, and writing in-depth posts, gets you a rep fast. Set aside time to write, write, write. Start at 1000, work your way up from that many words.
Know why you want to blog. I’m free, and I want to take my readers – and new readers – with me. I’m blogging from paradise, and I’m churning out so many eBooks – yep pick em up folks – to help you be free, to help you blog from home, full time, wherever home is. If you are blogging to be free your growth will take off as a newbie blogger.
Thanks Catherine, excellent points! Tweeting.
Ryan
Ryan, you are a perfect example of all these tips in action :-). The way you connect with other bloggers is awesome and it certainly makes you stand out. Your right, I think newbie bloggers often don’t understand how powerful this can be, but they also don’t really understand how to do it. Connections is something that you build upon over time and also learn how to do effectively.
Knowing why you want to blog and the purpose of your blog is what will help project yourself forward. Unless you know this, you will be fighting a hard slog.
I really appreciate your indepth comment here Ryan
Hi Catherine,
What a great way to illustrate quickly and concisely how the internet really works!
I’ll share a couple of really quick stories.
I started commenting on blogs about four months ago with the launch of me new site. What was amazing was how much traffic started coming to me just from leaving comments. Now, admittedly, I don’t like to just through garbage quotes out there either. Subjective, I know.
Here is what has happened though… I left some comments on a Adrienne Smith’s site and apparently her readers are stalkers, lol… I mean that in a good way.
One day another influencer her reads her blog reached out to me. I had no idea who she was and now we’ve talked on the phone are looking at some joint marketing opportunities.
How cool is that?
But what sealed the deal were comments back to here when she came to my site and started leaving comments. Again, I didn’t know who she was.
One of the things that impressed her was how free I was with sharing other high quality blog articles that were relevant to my article.
Those two things right there have been golden all by themselves. I have even more stories but that suffices.
I also tend to write 2,000 – 2,500 word blog articles. Not because I have to but because I just do, lol…
I have a philosophy that if anyone reads my blog and they don’t walk away with at least one idea they can implement immediately in their business or in their marketing then I’ve failed them and me.
You’re points are all awesome!!!! I haven’t seen it said better anywhere else!
I’m sharing your article and I hope you have an awesome weekend Catherine!
~ Don Purdum
That’s awesome Don, and just goes to show your commitment not only to your business, but also to your readers. The fact that you reach out to other bloggers without expecting anything in return just shows that you get back what you give. We will follow this space to see what comes of these new ventures
I love that you also want to give readers at least one thing that they can implement when they have read your post. If bloggers can out something into action when they have read your post, it means they are going to make instant improvements to their blog and are highly likely to come back for more. This is a smart move!
Thanks for taking the time to share with us today
I would say this post is must read for all new Bloggers. It is better to learn from someone who has already gone through what you are going through right now.
Quality is indeed more important than quantity. Because Internet is already filled with tons of content, what is needed is “High Quality Content”. Which can make the difference and provide value to the readers.
To write a high quality content, you will have to work days on your content. Nobody says that you should write daily, not at all. Daily means regularly, you should post regularly. May be once after every 3 days or maybe once in a Week.
Just make sure that you write High Quality content.
Thanks for writing this useful post
Thanks Your Friend. When you start blogging it can be a bit of a minefield, so I’m pleased to be able to help people out with the basics.
Writing high quality content is an absolute must and this should be high priority for all bloggers, new and experienced. If you fail to write quality, then it’s going to be hard to survive in the blogging world.
I appreciate you sharing with us today
Thanks for the tips. I’ve just started blogging, so these are really useful.
Fantastic Craig. Good luck with your blogging and let us know if we can help
[…] 7 Useful Blogging Rules For New Bloggers […]
Hi Catherine.
Nice article. These are useful tips for any blogger. We need to get these right as we start out, but only the disciplined and consistent are truly successful.
These serve as great reminders, because as with everything that works well the rules are always important.
I’m in the process of putting my strategy together in a mind map, which I will contiunue to add to as I keep learning. But it will serve as a template for every blogging related task that I do.
Thanks for sharing the tips.
Nathan.
Having a strategy and goals are so important Nathan. Unless you are completely clear about this, it will make life incredibly hard. Whether you are a new or seasoned blogger, coming back to the basics is always going to be useful. Having a solid foundation will only serve to build up a bigger and stronger blog.
I appreciate you sharing your insights here. Have an awesome week!
Hi Hi Catherine,
I am so glad to be here, i here today via Brittany’s IBA pages,
Nice that I found you there, these tips are though basic ones
its a must follow thing to any new blogger, of course the seniors
are surely went thru these stages but still follow it religiously,
I am sure these are fundamental things to follow by any blogger.
I like the one at the end of the page I mean the 7th one!
Pl. don’t worry about the statistics~ I am sure all newbies first
worry is that! this sugestion/tip is really important to note
Thanks a lot for sharing this,
Have a great weekend
Best Regards
~ Philip
Welcome Philip, it’s great to have you here
It’s not uncommon to want to check your stats every 5 minutes. I have been there for sure! The important thing to remember is that whilst your stats can teach you a lot about what is happening with your blog, when you are just starting out you just wont have the information available and it can be incredibly disheartening if you have put a lot of work into your site. Yes stats are important, provided that you don’t loose yourself in them when you are just stating out.
Hope to see more of you here Philip, thanks for your comment
Hi Catherine – First time stopping by your blog.
While I wouldn’t consider myself a new blogger, these are all great tips, and was a good refresher for me. I like the wide variety of topics on your site, and I’ll be sure to keep stopping by.
Welcome Craig, lovely to see you here! Even when we have been blogging a while, it is nice to have those refreshers once in a while. If nothing else it helps keep you focused and on track.
I look forward to seeing you back again soon