Home » Blog » Blogging » The complete guide to Do’s and Don’ts of blogging

Is blogging a good, promising career?

Before Listing our do’s and don’ts of blogging, let’s check out if it is still worth it.

Blogging is not dead. Over 600 million blogs on the internet produce 8.28 million blog posts daily.

All bloggers or site owners compete in this tournament that has no end.

Guess what?

Blogging will keep evolving as long as questions exist.

Not all blogs have the chance to live or become huge, but as long as we have this number, it means that a lot of money is made and that blogging is a real career.

However, blogging needs dedication and persistence. 

Being a productive blogger keeps your blog evolving, and to do that, you must learn the do’s and don’ts of blogging; otherwise, your blog is sentenced to death, and you are on your way to finding another job.

I’ve compiled a list of do’s and don’ts that are somehow “blogging tips and tricks” for you to consider as you grow your career.

Do’s and don’ts of blogging

Do’s of blogging, blogging for beginners

1- Choose the right host

This is normally the first step in building your business. It includes:

• Choosing the right domain name
• Finding the most suitable hosting company
• Having an SSL certificate to protect your website
• Owning a custom domain name (like “yourname@domainname.com)
• CDN to deliver your data to readers through the nearest servers.

Luckily, there are few companies that can afford all of the above for free. With Hostinger, the only thing you have to pay for is hosting, which costs less than thirty dollars a year. It is a fast and secure host that I recommend and use.

To know more about how to start a blog from scratch, read this post that will help you step-by-step create your website in 10 minutes.

READ MORE >> Hostinger web hosting, quality for an affordable price

2- Choose the best design you can afford

Designing your website is crucial. It is the first thing that catches the eye. That’s why it must be appealing. Choosing the right theme takes some time (it took me 10 days). WordPress offers a variety of free and paid themes. Choose a simple, attractive theme, or hire someone to develop one for you.

3- Install the must-have plugins

If you want to lose what you’ve built, then ignore this title. There are some plugins that are a must in order to keep your site safe, secure, and performing well. One of these plugins is Updraft. By having this plugin, you can automatically set a backup to keep your work stored either on Google Drive or other options available to you.

I have compiled a list of the best plugins for bloggers for you in this post.

4- Create a navigational site

When developing your site, make it easy to use. It is not only about choosing a simple, responsive theme but also about making it simple for readers to search and navigate it. You can add a search bar and add categories and tags so that your readers will not get confused and misread your posts.

5- Write evergreen articles

Evergreen articles are articles that stay relevant years after their publication date. They will continue to receive traffic for a long time as traffic increases. To make your articles evergreen, consider some formats to use, like “how-to” questions, listicles, and product reviews. How-to question types are the most popular.

6- Keep a content ideas list 

All bloggers face what we call “writer’s block.” A prepared list of content ideas for your blog is invaluable for staying on track for the right publishing time. Although it takes time to dig and find content ideas for a blog, having them ready when needed is vital. To learn how and where to find content ideas for your blog, read this post.

7- Plan for one year of blog posts

When I first started my blogging journey, I thought I could write a post daily, and that was a big mistake. It wasn’t about my ability to write words but rather about coming up with topic ideas relevant to my niche.

What I’ve learned so far, and what I recommend, is that having topic ideas prepared for the coming year is a big relief and an act of productivity.

Plan, prepare your list, and enjoy the flow of posts you are ready to deliver.

READ MORE >> how to plan 1 year of blog post ideas in a day?

8- Consider search intent

According to Backlinko, search intent is the main goal a user has when typing a query.

This is an invitation to understand search intent (also known as User Intent) and write about what exactly people need to know.

Google suggestions are the most effective method for me. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes and type the keyword you are targeting. Google will display suggestions that are people’s most-asked queries. Use them to write your blog posts around.

9- Write quality content

There are numerous factors that Google considers when ranking a post. We may not know all of them, but writing valuable content is at the top of the list. Valuable content doesn’t only mean writing stuff but also optimizing it for users and search engines.

Always write good content that competes and gets results, do your on-page optimization deeply, and check for technical issues that may prevent this great content from being crawled and indexed by search engines.

READ MORE>> What is on-page SEO? The ultimate guide

READ MORE>> What is technical SEO? The full guide

10- Consistent blogging

Inconsistency is an act of irresponsible blogging.

In order to keep readers visiting your website, you need to be consistent. Readers have millions of results to choose from and a lot of other websites to visit. They don’t like to see the same stuff when they expect new content.

Believe me, the worst scenario happens when your loyal audience abandons your site for other sites. There is a lot to do to prevent this, starting with publishing consistently and then applying the next “To-Do’s.”

11- Schedule your writing and publishing time

Scheduling is a productive blogger’s act. It takes some time at first, but it saves a lot of time in the long run.

Choose the time that is best for you to write. It might be in the early morning or late at night. Then choose the best time for publishing. This requires knowing your audience’s location, time zone, reading habits, and more.

Once you know this much about your readers, select the best publishing time that matches their active time, then publish and send your email campaigns at this perfect time.

12- Craft a catchy title for your blog posts

Writing a catchy title is art. You can’t imagine how having a nice, appealing title affects open rates. This is applicable to both posts and emails. A better title would tell the reader to make a decision and click the link that leads to your site.

In email marketing, you run an A/B test and make two versions of different titles (and sometimes different text) to see which works better.

You know what? The most clicked version is always the one that is more appealing and touching.

To learn how to craft catchy titles for your blog, I highly recommend reading this post.

13- Use visuals

If you are using the Yoast plugin, you know that one of the SEO recommendations is using images. The plugin will display an SEO issue to fix if you don’t use at least one image. It will also highlight an issue if you don’t include an alt text for the image that is relevant to your topic.

Videos are very important as well. Use them for more educational topics and illustration purposes.

Always include visuals in your posts to enhance the user’s experience and keep your readers hooked to your blog.

READ MORE>> How to keep readers hooked to your blog?

14- Use a conversational tone

Writing is the same as talking to your readers. The more human and simple your tone is, the more they are attached to you. 

A conversational tone means an informal style, something human, not robotic.

To do so, you need to use simple, informal (not business) language and reduce the use of passive voice to a minimum.

That’s why SEO plugins like Yoast allow 10% passive voice usage and highlight an issue if you go beyond the limit.

Be simple, human, and direct to increase the readability score, which in turn will enhance the user’s experience and ranking.

15- Include infographics and statistics in your post

In addition to including visuals in your posts, statistics and infographics are of great importance. They give you more authority and help you rank over your competitors. They also send signals to search engines and readers that your posts have great value and deserve more attention.

Statistics are all over the net. Get some relevant statistics and create infographics using Canva or other apps, and you’ll become a trustworthy blogger.

16- Use examples to clarify your ideas

This is my best practice. I always write my posts in video style. I do this because there is a reader somewhere who is looking for more illustrations about an idea. This leads to more clarification and builds trust with readers.

Writing your ideas in words doesn’t mean everyone is capable of understanding them, so use examples whenever you feel the need to.

17- Write short sentences

Long sentences kill concentration.

Remember how many times you had to go back and reread a sentence?

Long sentences indicate complexity, whereas short sentences help readers understand what you’re trying to say simply. Blog sentences are recommended to be under twenty words.

Always write short, direct sentences as if you were talking to a friend face-to-face.

18- Write short paragraphs

An ideal paragraph should include 100 words or less. The more words you use, the more pressure you put on your readers. The paragraph should cover one idea, but if you feel you need to expand more, use subheadings before your paragraph becomes too long.

19- End your post with a conclusion

Not every reader will continue reading your post to the end. Some readers just want to check on a particular idea. Some others are just lurkers. They keep skipping ahead to find out the conclusion.

Your conclusion should be the summary of your post. Write down the main ideas of your post in order and finish it with the next “do.”

20- Do include a CTA

At the end of your conclusion, you have to write a call to action. This is like an invitation to readers to engage and come back soon.

Ask them a question and let them comment on your post. Ask them to suggest other tips or something to add to your text. You can also invite them to share, upvote, and join your post on social media.

Using a CTA is not only a must in blogging but also in email campaigns. It is also recommended in titles, paragraphs, and email preview text.

Use a CTA whenever useful and build more relationships with your readers.

21- Do a lot of proofreading

After you finish writing your post on a draft, editing is the next step.

But it is not the last step before publishing. What’s more important is proofreading. Whether you are a native English speaker or not, this step is highly recommended. We all make mistakes when we write, and their presence in our blog has a bad influence on the whole user experience. Consider how much time you spend writing, adding media, editing, and optimizing your website. You don’t want your readers to find grammatical, structural, and punctuation mistakes.

Proofread your title, text, and meta description to eliminate any mistakes.

You can use the free version of Grammarly or Quillbot to help you get your job done.

22- Build awareness on social media

Social media is the first place you should think of when you think about promoting your posts.

Who doesn’t use social media these days?

In order to be successful, you should build brand awareness.

It’s like shouting in the real world or distributing brochures to promote a product or a service.

Be more active on social media: create pages and groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and also create accounts on Quora, Reddit, Medium, Twitter, Pinterest, and others.

Engage, give more than you take, and promote your posts.

23- Act as an expert

My final piece of blogging advice (to do) is to act as an expert from the start. I’m not telling you to deceive readers; I personally hate deceivers. I am telling you not to publish anything that shows your weaknesses. Not all readers will have mercy and disregard your lapse.

Instead, read more and learn from others, then act as they do until you gain more authority and become an expert yourself.

Do’s and don’ts of blogging

Don’ts of blogging, What to avoid in blogging?

1- Copy other’s piece of content

Do not ever copy and paste another person’s piece of content into your blog. Search engines are much smarter than you think. They have developed their own smart software to catch any plagiarism or black-hat methods.

This is a reason why Google put your blog in the sandbox for months so it could check it and understand it better before allowing your posts to rank.

Peering into other people’s content is a good and legal way to get content ideas and see how their websites are structured. It also assists you in determining what is trending and what keywords they are ranking for.

This is legit until you decide to break the rules and copy their content and paste it into your blog.

Borrow ideas, write in your own style, and avoid getting penalized.

2- Don’t write about irrelevant topics

When you started your own blog, you thought you could write about anything you liked because you knew a lot about many things. 

You remember, right? Now wipe this smile off your face and get back to reality.

Do not write about irrelevant topics just because you know about them.

Think about this! What if my next tip of “don’ts” is about “don’t add pepper to salads”?

I’ll leave this to your imagination and move on to the next tip.

3- Don’t be robotic, be human

With the increasing use of AI writers, posts are becoming more robotic and less human.  AI writers are a great aid, but they cannot be left on their own. 

We need to put our human touch on it because we are learning from each other.

Even if you write for search engines using AI, you’ll not be noticed.

Do not write as a machine to address machines, but rather as a human to address both humans and search engines.

4- Do not underestimate the readability value

Readability walks shoulder to shoulder with SEO. It is of great importance because of its relevance to user experience, which is, in turn, a ranking factor.

A high readability score means that your post is easy to understand and is geared toward all people. On the other hand, a low readability score means that it is geared toward experts and highly educated people.

Always keep high levels of readability, and if you are not yet a user of Yoast, I recommend you try it. It doesn’t only highlight readability issues but also suggests solutions.

5- Do not overestimate research tools

Research tools are good, but not ideal.

The wide spread of these tools comes from the high commissions given to affiliate marketers.

I am not saying they are not helpful but overestimating them is a total exaggeration.

Most, if not all of these tools take their data from Google and other search engines. What if I told you that all my ranking posts’ keywords were researched and optimized for free?

Sounds crazy right?

Always depend on Google’s suggestions where you find the exact queries you need to answer and the keywords used for that purpose.

Use research tools to help you along with user search intent.

6- Do not start without setting your goals

This is the step you should take before creating your website. But it’s always better late than never.

Setting your goals starts by asking yourself:

• What do I really want to achieve from this business?
• How much traffic do I aim for in the first year?
• How often do I want to post?
• How many followers do I want to get?

Such questions and others keep you on track and turn you into a more productive blogger.

Set your goals and make a plan for each one. Stick to your plan and enjoy your career. 

7- Do not hesitate to show yourself

I know we all tend to play the perfection role. But hey, we’re not perfect.

Trying to be perfect at blogging consumes a lot of effort and time, and again, it is not going to be perfect.

Let me help you overcome this odd situation.

The people to whom you are speaking are not perfect either.

Do not feel shy or afraid when expressing your thoughts; we are all humans coming from the same origin.

Do not be afraid to record a video; you are beautiful regardless.

Show yourself, build your brand, and spread the word.

8- Do not keep orphaned pages

I despise the word “orphan” because it causes me great pain. 

Orphaned pages are posts (or other pages) that are kept without links to them from other pages.

And because Google crawlers use links to crawl your website, orphaned pages have little chance of being indexed by search engines.

In addition, readers cannot access an orphaned page unless they know its URL. This is because there are no links from other pages that drive users there.

To address this critical issue, use a lot (do not stuff) of internal linking to connect all of your pages.

This will help in building a rigid site structure as well as allowing search engines to index your pages.

Another benefit of internal linking is that it keeps your readers hooked on your website.

READ MORE >> How to keep readers hooked to your website?

To know more about internal linking, I recommend reading: What is internal linking?

9- Do not ignore to conduct a site audit

Conducting a site audit is necessary from time to time. By doing this, you are eliminating all the threats and issues that prevent your website from growing.

Broken backlinks, CSS files, JavaScript files, page speed, and a lot of other issues appear when you run this audit.

Many bloggers hire professionals to conduct their site audits. But what if I told you that you could do it yourself?

Subscribe to my email newsletter to receive my free ebook on how to run your own site audit, step by step. 

10- Do not buy backlinks

Many scammers offer bundles of backlinks for $10. They falsely claim to have high DA backlinks.

Do not fall into this trap; instead, build your authority consistently.

I know it is hard to get backlinks in no time, but once you start getting some, this means that your content appealed to someone who linked back to your site.

Buying backlinks wastes your money and hurts your SEO. Search engines are smart enough to know the relationship between your site and others. A hundred backlinks from “pet” niche websites to crypto-trade-based websites do not make sense; instead, they hurt.

11- Do not stop learning

A flashback to the first time you published a post, compared with now, will tell how much you have learned so far.

The foundation of your knowledge and fluency is learning. Do not take your leg off the pedal; keep learning as long as you are alive.

12- Do not ignore building an email list

Building an email list is your blogging savings account. Your subscribers are your assets. Whatever social media platform you use, you may at any time be banned for one reason or another.

While you own your list, no one can take it from you.

I understand that some subscribers may unsubscribe, but many others will always come and add to your numbers; they are your loyal audience.

Every blogger should have an email list; to know more about why you should, read “9 reasons why every blogger needs an email list.”

13- Do not expect revenue too early

One of the biggest mistakes that all beginners make is expecting money to come quickly and easily.

If this happens too early for you, then you are lucky.

But!

If you really care about building a real business, then making money should not be your priority.

There’s no doubt that we blog for money, but first, we need to build a career that makes continuous money and grow it every day.

14- Do not give up early

Now to the last DON’T

I like to quote this from Neil Patel 

Blogging is easy, but quitting is easier.

Neil Patel

There will be days and nights you wish you had never created a website. You will examine your performance analytics and say, “Dear God, what did I do wrong?”

Believe me, you’ll be in this situation sooner or later. But are you going to quit? Don’t.

Blogging requires patience and persistence.

Success cannot be measured on a standard scale because every situation differs. 

Believe in yourself.

You can do it; others have done it.

Do not give up early; do not give up at all.

Conclusion

We all make mistakes during our blogging journey. Good bloggers always try to be proactive and find solutions to issues that they are not yet facing.

Blogging starts with choosing the right platform, designing it well, and installing the proper plugins.

Always choose conversational language and be prepared with a list of content ideas as well as a list of blog posts.

Write catchy titles and valuable content, and use visuals and infographics to help with illustrations. 

Write short sentences and paragraphs, and finish your post with a conclusion that includes a call to action. Proofread a lot before publishing and sharing on social media and other platforms.

Do not steal others’ content and publish it. Choose one topic for which you will use your “human touch” and link it to other posts.

Keep learning, and don’t expect money too soon. 

Always fix your site by running a site audit occasionally. If you want to succeed, show yourself and be afraid.

Do not buy backlinks because you will hurt your SEO.

And the final advice is to keep persisting and never give up.

Now, it’s over to you

Which of these do’s and don’ts were you applying to your blogging?

Do you have any other tips to add?

Have you found this post helpful? If yes, why don’t you help others by sharing it?

Let me know in the comment section below.

Until next time