Tips on how to run a successful blog.

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Basics.

• Practise your writing by correctly spelling and using appropriate grammar everyday.
• Spell check and proof read your posts, I always spell check mine because I'm terrible at it. But you need proof read because if the word is spelt right it won't correct it, sometimes you can also leave notes in or repeat things. If you proof read and people still point out mistakes then sent your drafts to other people, it's better to get an outside perspective.
• Please break up your posts with bullet points, paragraphs, pictures and lists. Anything but a wall of text!
• Use a title that relates to your post, one blogger I used to follow used lyrics as her titles and I barely read any of her posts. A good title means your post is more likely to appear in search engines.

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Your blog posts.

• Jot down blog ideas anytime and anywhere, you never know it could lead to your best post yet.
• On a good day you're more than capable of writing a few blog posts, it takes the edge off when you need to update.
• Create a blogging timetable just for yourself, leave days during the week to write posts and update regularly.
• If you leave huge gaps your readers will lose patience but nobody wants to follow a blogger who posts several times a day, this isn't facebook.
• Consider what your readers would actually be interested in, would they be intrigued by a tutorial or by a new outfit post? If you're unsure what your audience likes then try looking at your top posts by using Google analytics or creating a poll.
• Don't use your first draft, reread and leave it for a few days. My posts are always better when I go back to a topic with a fresh mind.
• Avoid writing off topic in the first paragraph, in blog lists and update emails people usually read the first few sentences before clicking. I do this all the time and ruin my preview by gabbing about cats, oops.
• Change the subject occasionally, as much as I love hearing about other people's lives/favourite bands/pattern making I don't want to read about it all the time. Use your blog to help others with tutorials or offer advise.
• Add sharing buttons at the end of your blog, this makes it easier to spread your content around. You and other blogs.

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You and other blogs.

• Other bloggers aren't your competition so get to know them and introduce yourself. Good relationships between bloggers means lots of networking and support.
• Make posts that everyone can participate in, you'll discover new blogs and understand your readers more.
• Create a blog roll of your favourite bloggers and get to know them, blogging creates communities.
• Know the difference between commenting and spamming. Comments are a great way to socialise and leave feedback, I appreciate all comments but spam is another thing. Filling out the whole box and including your website is fine, leaving a generic comment and asking a blogger to look at your website is not. It's self-promotion and majority of people will ignore it.
• Always list any sources and credits, link back to the website and make it easy.

Usability.

• Remove the CAPTCHA because it's not necessary, spam isn't as common as you think and it's very simple to remove. If you get spam or unwanted comments then use comment moderation so you can remove with one simple tick.
• Make sure people can actually comment, get a friend to try and comment on your blog to see if it works properly.
• Check that nothing is over five clicks away, your reader will get bored after the third and simply give up.
• Any links should pop up in a new window so your readers don't leave your blog too early.
• Please remove anything unnecessary as many of your readers will experience slow connections, note that I've shrunk my gifs down.
• Check out your blog roll and old posts occasionally, sometimes blogs become inactive or your links no longer work.