Are you thinking about launching your blog but now sure where to start? Or perhaps you already have on and are looking for guidance on how to optimize your results?
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned blogger, you’ll perform better with a clear understanding of what makes a blog succeed or fail.
That’s where blogging best practices come in.
Blogging best practices allow you to skip past the guesswork. It protects you from the pitfalls many beginners and, sometimes, even pro-bloggers make.
It provides you with repeatable techniques and processes you can implement to enhance your chances of success.
So what are the latest and greatest blogging best practices?
Glad you asked.
In this post, we’ll list the best blogging practices in 2021.
If you’re interested in learning more, keep reading.
1. Begin With the End in Mind
I cannot stress enough how important it is to begin your blog with the end in mind. This is crucial if you don’t want to spend your precious resources on all the wrong things.
If you’re reading this, I am guessing that blogging for the sake of blogging is not your end goal.
You’re likely here because you want to use your blog as a way to generate income.
If so, then ask yourself: How do you intend to monetize your blog?
Do you want to be an influencer and make money working with brands?
Do you want to offer services such as coaching, consulting, marketing?
Or do you want to sell your own products?
How you answer these questions will determine which blogging strategy would work best for you.
For instance, if you want to make money as an influencer, then focusing on growing your social media followers may be a good strategy for you.
However, if you want to sell your products and services, your time is likely better spent growing an e-mail list and creating content that will showcase your expertise.
Just like on any journey in life, once you know where you’re going, you can start plotting your road there.
By clearly defining your end goal, you’ll have a better idea of where to focus your energy every step of the way.
2. Know Your Why
Once you have a clear goal in mind, it’s essential to figure out why you want it.
It’s not sufficient to focus on what you need to do. Knowing your “why” is about having a clear understanding of what’s driving you towards your goal.
Why do you want to build an online business?
If your answer is “so that I can sleep in all day and still make money,” then you’ll have to go back to the drawing board and dig deeper.
Because if comfort is the main reason why you want to build a blog, then will not be able to to put up with the tremendous discomfort that comes with building one.
So really ask yourself: Why do you want to start a profitable blogging business?
Is it so that you can spend more time at home with your kids? Maybe it’s because you’re dissatisfied with your current job and want to live a purposeful and happy life? Or is it because you have a deep need to serve and make an impact?
Whatever your reason may be, you must take the time to identify it.
Without your why firing your actions, it will be challenging to move towards your goals.
There may be plenty of hardship that comes with blogging. But, if your sense of purpose is greater than the difficulty of your challenges, you’ll be unstoppable.
Your “why” will keep you moving forward despite all the challenges that comes with being a building an online business.
The stronger the connection you have with your why, the better you’ll perform.
3. Choose An Ideal Niche
A niche is a specific topic you’ll write about on your blog.
While it’s possible to create a profitable blog without sticking to a particular niche, choosing one will make it much easier to grow loyal readers.
This is because when you don’t have a niche, your audience is not guaranteed to be interested in all of the topics you write about.
In contrast, if you stick to one particular niche, then it’s likely that a reader who’s interested in one of your posts will be interested in all of them.
As a result, having a niche makes it much easier to find and serve an ideal audience.
If you are having a hard time choosing a niche, ask yourself these three questions:
- Are you passionate about the topic?
- Are you knowledgeable about the topic?
- Are there other people who are interested in the same topic?
Are you Passionate about this topic?
Blogging requires a lot of time, patience, effort. So choosing a topic that you’re genuinely interested in is critical if you want to go far. If you can’t see yourself writing about a particular subject a hundred times, then you should probably reconsider.
Are you an expert on this topic?
Your expertise about a subject will not determine whether or not your blog will succeed, but it will make it easier to get there. If you can’t think of any topic, you’re an expert in, don’t worry.
Choose a topic that you’re interested in and write about what you learn. In the blogging world, more important than how much you know is how much you are willing to share.
Are there other people who are interested in the same topic?
If you want to make money with your blog, then you have to make sure that you choose a topic that other people are interested in. Otherwise, it will be impossible for you to build an audience, let alone earn an income,
4. Get To Know Your Ideal Customer
Regardless of what niche you’re in, your job as a blogger is to serve your readers. And to do that effectively, you need to have a clear picture of who your customer is.
What type of personality do they have? What motivates them? What do they fear most? What do they want most?
These questions allow you to understand your customer’s behaviors better as well as to predict their needs.
To nail this concept down, I recommend working on your customer avatar.
An avatar is a representation of your ideal customer. It focusses on one customer and outlines everything about that customer.
When creating an avatar, remember that he or she is a real person.
To help, start by giving your avatar a name. Then identify other traits such as gender, race, hair color age, and do on.
Once you’ve covered the demographics, take a deep dive into your avatar’s personality, beliefs, and values.
Use your avatar as the basis for everything you do around your online business.
5. Invest in Your Blog
If you want to make money blogging, then you’ll have to treat your blog like a business.
I know you’ll find plenty of blogging “gurus” who would tell you it’s possible to make an income blogging without spending a dime.
But the reality is, just like any business, you’ll need to be willing to invest both time and money on your blog for it to be successful.
Imagine starting a restaurant and spending money on things like rent, stock, and insurance. Your business will not be able to run!
The only difference between a brick and mortar, and blogging is an online business will not cost you as much money to start and maintain.
At the very least, you should be willing to spend on a good theme and hosting.
If you are looking for a budget option for hosting, Blue Host is your best option.
Blue Host is one of the most affordable hosting services available with a monthly price as low as $2.95 or $6.95 if you upgrade your plan. Blue host is a great budget option that offers speed and reliability at a fraction of the price.
Divi is a great theme option that is inexpensive yet fully customizable and responsive.
One of the things that make Divi affordable is that they offer a one-time fee without any recurring costs, while other themes typically include a yearly cost.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, be ok with spending some money on your education. Buy books, courses, or membership that will help take your blog to the next level.
6. Do Keyword Research
Keyword research means to research words or terms your readers will typically type in search engines for their questions.
Keywords are important in content creation for three main reasons:
- Keywords give you a clearer picture of how you can better serve your audience.
- Keyword research makes it much easier to come up with topic ideas.
- Keyword research will tell you the monthly search volume a particular keyword gets as well as how difficult it is to rank for that search term. By researching your keywords before you create your content, you’ll get more return on investment in your writing effort.
There are several ways to go about keyword research.
The first thing that you should consider is whether you want to invest money in a tool or you would prefer to use free tools online.
When I first started my blog, pixelsandwanderlust.com, I only used free tools since I didn’t want to invest too much money. Here are some that I used:
- Keywords everywhere
- Google Console
- Ubersuggest
Eventually, I did invest in keyword tools, as I find that they help make the process much easier.
That said, these tools can get very expensive, so I suggest using free tools until your blog is big enough that you can invest.
Here are my recommended paid keyword tools:
- Ahref
- Semrush
- Buzzumo
Whatever you do, don’t clutter your article with keywords in hopes that it will help you rank in Google. This strategy may have worked with blogs before, but it doesn’t work today.
As mentioned repeatedly in this article, the best way to write an article is to serve your audience and enhance readers’ experience.
Don’t worry about how many times you’ve mentioned your keyword in your paragraphs. Place your keyword in your URL and title; write the rest of your content to benefit your readers.
7. Write Long In-Depth Articles
Back in 2010, people could get away with typing less than 1,000 words per post and still have a large reach. But, unless you’re Seth Godin, that strategy is unlikely to work today.
As of this writing, there are 600 million blogs on the web. This means the blogosphere is much more competitive today than ever before.
If you want your blog to stand out, you need to write noteworthy content.
When I tell people the average article in my blog, pixelsandwanderlust.com, is 3500 they look at me in amazement. But the truth is, this is not difficult if you write to serve your readers the best you could.
Once you’ve chosen the topic you want to talk about, take the time to do research.
Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask yourself: what kind of information is the person reading this looking for.
Once you know the answer to that question, go above and beyond. Anticipate what questions your readers would ask next and include that in your article.
When you write this way, it’s almost impossible not to reach 3500 words per article.
It’s no wonder higher word count is directly correlated with higher social shares. When you write to serve your audience, they will notice, and they will take action.
Plus, Google loves quality work for its users. If ranking high in Google is your goal, investing in proper research and producing in-depth content is a must.
That said, don’t write a 3500-word article if the topic doesn’t warrant it. If the query only requires 1000 words, then that’s what you should do.
Always prioritize your readers’ experience over blogging tactics.
8. Keep Your Titles Short, Accurate and Intriguing
While creating fantastic content is crucial to building a successful blog, crafting an amazing title to go along with it is just as important.
Your blog title is the first part of your content that your readers will see. It is what encourages readers to click on your article and read the rest.
So, what does it take to create a compelling title?
Here is a simple rule that I follow: blog titles you’d be short, accurate, and intriguing.
1. Short
Google’s title tag has a display limit of 70 characters, so you’ll generally want to keep your title below this number.
A great way to simulate what your title tag will look like is to use the Manga Tools Title Tag Simulator.
When cutting out words from your title, remember to leave relevant keywords. This way, you can rank for the queries the content was written for.
One caveat for this rule is when your target audience is on social media.
A study conducted by HubSpot found that title lengths between 12 and 14 words have the highest average Facebook likes and Twitter links. When sharing on social media, longer, descriptive titles are often more effective than concise ones.
In the end, always think about your prospective readers and your overall goal with your post.
2. Accurate
Don’t write sensationalist headlines that can’t live up to expectations.
In other words, don’t write a title that has nothing to do with your content just because you think it will get more clicks. This will only lead to higher bounce rates, poor engagement, and loss of trust in your content.
3. Intriguing
You don’t have to be in-accurate or clickbait-y to write an intriguing title. You can do this by adding powerful words such as outstanding, hate, epic, secret, and brilliant.
Of course, how you write your title depends on your core buyer persona. Think about which words would resonate best with your audience, what type of language will likely turn them on or off, and which words will trigger their emotions.
9. Make Your Content Scannable
Making your content scannable is vital to hold your reader’s attention as well as to communicating your message.
Most people won’t spend more than a minute on your website. A statistic from Newscred found that on average people spend around 37 seconds reading an article.
So, although we would all prefer that our readers read every word in our entire blog post, the reality is that they won’t.
Your modern reader wants to find the answers to her questions and solutions to her problems as quickly as possible.
So, you must make your content as easy to consume as possible.
Here are some ways you can do this:
- Use headings and subheadings.
- Provide lists and bullet points
- Bold important words and sentences in your paragraph
- Use images.
- Write Short Paragraphs
The idea is to make it easy for your readers to break down and extract key information without having to overthink.
By presenting your information in a scannable, visually appealing way, you’ll retain your reader’s attention longer as well as elevate their experience
10. Use Images and Illustrations
No blog post is complete without images.
We’ve already established that modern readers want to absorb information as fast as they can.
They want to get value from your content as quickly and easily as possible. And adding images allows them to do just that.
Images enable readers to process information up to 600 times faster than text. They also help break paragraphs in your article to make points easier to digest.
Also, visual content helps make your content more exciting and arrests your viewer’s attention.
According to a study, articles that include visual content get 94% more views than post without them.
When using images, make sure to optimize your images so you can keep the quality high, but the file size low.
Using large-size images can significantly slow down your site and increase your bounce rate.
Specifically, 53% of users exit a mobile website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
The easiest way to optimize your images is to use a compression plugin. There are several great plugins you can use my favorites are ShortPixel and WP Smush.
But, if you would prefer to optimize your images before you upload them to your site, you can use websites like ImageCompressor.
One final note on images is always to make sure you only use images you are legally allowed to use.
Don’t just take any image from the internet and upload them on your site. There are many quality images, both paid and free, that you could use legally.
Great sites that offer paid memberships for stock images are Canva, Adobe Photostock, and Shutterstock. These sites provide a vast selection of high-quality stock images that cover nearly any topic.
If you are looking for some free options, then Pixebay and Pexles are great. You will have less of a selection and lower quality compared to paid membership sites, but you can still find quality images if you take the time to look.
11. Keep Your URLs Short and Concise
Your blog’s URL works as it’s address on the web. It’s that thing that begins with either www or HTTP.
Good URLs are concise. While Google prefers in-depth content, shorter URLs are more valued in terms of SEO.
A study conducted using data from Ahrefs and Accuranker found that, on average, pages on the first pages of Google have a URL length of under 60 characters.
Do not fill your URLs with unnecessary words. Avoid stop words such as the, so, and, or, but, among others.
You’ll also want to make sure that your URL is readable and isn’t filled with strange characters.
The cleaner your URL reads, the more trustworthy and authoritative your website will be.
Make sure your keyword is on the URL. But avoid keyword stuffing. Repeating keywords in your URL will simply make it longer but carry no weight for SEO.
12. Invest in Evergreen Content
Let’s start with the basics: what is evergreen content?
Evergreen content is content that is always relevant and valid. The word “evergreen” pertains to the timelessness of a range. Like a plant that stays green regardless of the season
An example of evergreen content is a post about “10 Tips To Getting Six-Pack Abs.” No matter what day of the year it is, the basics of getting a six-pack remains the same: exercise and diet. So, regardless of how old the blog post becomes, the information will still be valid.
In contrast, if you write about “Top Make-Up Trends in 2020” then your content will be irrelevant a year from now since trends continuously change.
Producing an evergreen content brings you the best ROI since you don’t have to update it constantly.
Evergreen content requires little maintenance and will help drive traffic to your blog for years to come.
13. Stay Consistent
If you ask successful bloggers what the most crucial tip they have to grow a successful blog is, you will hear one resounding answer: consistency.
As a blogger, I couldn’t agree more. By being consistent with your blog, you will benefit from the following:
Trust and Loyalty→ writing quality content consistently increases the chances that your readers will return for more content. This is key if you want to grow loyal readership. You cannot make them trust and fall in love with your blog if you tend to go silent for months.
Momentum→ Staying consistent is essential to build momentum. When you’re relentless with your goals, you inevitably make a forward momentum that will keep you on track to achieve your goals.
SEO→ When you follow a consistent publishing schedule, you make it easier bots to know when to crawl your blog. This can help your new content be indexed quickly by Google.
13. Have a Set Schedule
Having a schedule is vital if you want to succeed in blogging.
As a blogger, you’re also a marketer, designer, editor, social media manager, and graphic designer, among others.
So, to be able to produce quality content consistently, you must have a planned schedule you can follow.
Having a schedule will not only keep you organized and efficient, but it will also help you get things done on days when you don’t feel like getting things done.
It is what makes the difference between blogging as a hobby and blogging as a lucrative business strategy.
Don’t treat your blog like a hobby that you work on during your spare time.
Show up and give your 100%. Treat your blog with the respect it deserves, and the reward you will reap in the end will be unbelievable.
14. Learn About Social Media Strategies
Your social media strategy can be one of the most critical parts of your growth as a blogger.
When you publish your article, it can take anywhere from several months to a couple of years before it ranks in Google search engine.
So, unless you want to wait before anyone can read what you write, you’ll want to share your work on social media.
To drive traffic to your content, the best social media platforms to use are Pinterest and Youtube.
It may also benefit you to learn about running social media ad campaigns. You can use this strategy to market your products as well as to grow your e-mail list.
Before crafting a social media strategy, you must analyze which social media platform your ideal customers are spending time on. This way, you can focus your efforts more efficiently and run your ad campaigns more effectively.
15. Grow Your E-mail List
Ever heard of the mantra, “the money is on the list?” It is so true.
But before I tell you why let’s start from the beginning: what is an e-mail list?
An e-mail list is simply a list of e-mails that you have gathered from your readers who want to get more information about what your business offers.
E-mail list building is the act of growing your e-mail list using different strategies.
It’s not uncommon for bloggers to underestimate the importance of building an e-mail list, especially when they’re just starting.
But, if you’re not collecting e-mails, you’re leaving a lot of money and opportunity on the table.
Here’s why:
On average, e-mail marketing sees a 4300% ROI for businesses in the USA.
And this shouldn’t be surprising if you think about it.
Sending an e-mail about your product or services to your list is a more personal and targeted way to do marketing.
By giving you their e-mail, your subscribers are already telling you that they are interested in what you have to offer. As such, subscribers are more likely to convert into paying customers than someone who just landed on your website.
Another reason for building a list is that, unlike your following on social media or your ranking on search engines, your e-mail list is yours.
You do not own Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Google.
This means all your SEO efforts and social media campaigns can go to waste when these decide to change their algorithms and policies.
Over the years, we’ve seen Google, Instagram, and Facebook updates affect the livelihood of many content creators.
Don’t build your business on a foundation of sand. Build an e-mail list and have a way to get in touch with your audience in a way that is not influenced by the decisions made by other companies
If you want to know more about how to build an e-mail list from scratch, check out this article.
16. Open Up Your Comment Section
If you want to know if you should allow comments on your blog, the answer is it depends.
If your goal is to build an utterly passive blog and have no desire to build a relationship with your readers, then I would say no.
However, if you intend to monetize your blog by selling products and services to loyal readers, then the answer is most definitely yes!
The comment section makes it easy for your readers to voice out how they feel about your content. This is an excellent opportunity for you to know how you can better serve them.
Plus, by allowing your readers to comment, you’ll open up an opportunity to cultivate a relationship with them.
Most readers will appreciate that you take the time to read and respond to their comments. Some of them will even try to come up with a creative response to your comment so that they can get you to respond again!
Here are two ways I use to encourage my readers to comment on my blog posts:
1. End your blog with a question
Asking your audience a question at the end of your post shows your audience that you want and value their opinion.
Here are some example questions you could ask:
- What do you think about (blank)?
- Do you agree or disagree?
- Would you handle the situation differently?
- What ideas did I miss that you could add to the list?
2. Challenge your readers
Challenge your audience to take action and ask them to share their experience.
For example, if you’re writing a blog post on “Tips on how to potty train your dog,” ask your audience to let you know how it goes if they try any of your tips.
17. Optimize for Mobile
In 2019 51% of all website traffic worldwide was on mobile, whereas in 2016, it was 46%. Trends show that mobile traffic is only increasing; in 2020, mobile traffic has increased to 53%.
And as time passes, likely, the percentage of people who use mobile to surf the internet will only increase.
So it’s critical to make sure your website is fully optimized to work on mobile.
Design your website so that it’s mobile responsive.
What this means is that your website should have a flexible layout on a wide range of platforms and screen sizes.
A responsive design also allows your users to navigate your content on mobile easily.
Another thing to consider when optimizing for mobile is site speed. How fast your site loads can vary drastically from mobile to desktop.
Google offers a great tool that allows you to test your mobile speed and also provides recommendations on where your website needs improvement.
18. Utilize Audio and Video Content
Just because you’re a blogger doesn’t mean you have to stick with text-based content to drive traffic to your site and engage with your audiences.
Those of you who have been paying attention to the newest marketing trends know that video and audio content has been on the rise.
A report released by Statista found there were a total of 88 million U.S podcast users in 2019, and they forecast 140 million podcast users as of 2022, which is a 60% increase in listeners.
Another study found that in 2019 adults spent an average of 86.23 engaged with digital video content, which is an increase of 41% or 25 minutes since 2015.
By just sticking with text-based content, you’ll miss out on being able to reach and connect new audiences for your business.
Another benefit of creating video and audio you also give your audience a choice on how else to consume your content. Some of your audience may be interested in getting to know your brand but are not keen to read blog posts.
Video and audio content are also a great way to build familiarity and trust with your customers.
Video is so effective in building trust; they can help increase consumer interaction by 51% and sales conversion by 500%.
So don’t limit yourself to creating text-based content. Create video and audio content and watch your blog and revenue growth.
19. Be Active in Your Community
Few successful bloggers can say they made it to the top without the help of others. When asked, most of them would tell you they owe their blog’s success to the generosity of their fellow bloggers.
That generosity can come in various forms, such as interviews, promotions, guest posts, backlinks, and advice.
It can also come in the form of inspiration and motivation.
Blogging is not easy and can often be a lonely journey. But when you connect with people who share your passion, you get the benefit of having your goals and dreams sustained every day.
When you surround yourself by those who understand your fears and struggles, you can boost your confidence even in days when you feel like throwing in the towel.
So, start making strides to be involved in the community. Make an effort to send an an e-mail, comment on blog posts, or participate in a forum. If you can, consider attending live conferences and events. Show up for your community and watch them do the same for you.
Conclusion
Blogging is a “long game” strategy. It takes a long time to see results.
As such, many bloggers often learn the hard way. They spend hours upon hours doing the wrong things before they can get any feedback and course correct.
That is why best practices are important. It allows you to skip the guesswork and optimize your chances of success.
However, keep in mind that best practices are guidelines and not rules set in stone.
Don’t forget; you’re an entrepreneur. A visionary. And you are allowed to think outside the box.