BLOGGING ETIQUETTESBY: ADWOA FRIMPONG

WHAT IS BLOG?

• A BLOG IS A FREQUENTLY UPDATED ONLINE PERSONAL JOURNAL OR DIARY. IT IS

A PLACE TO EXPRESS YOURSELF TO THE WORLD. A PLACE TO SHARE YOUR

THOUGHTS AND YOUR PASSIONS. IT’S ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO BE. ITS

BASICALLY YOUR OWN WEBSITE THAT YOU UPDATE ON AN ONGOING BASIS.

# 1 DO UPDATE YOUR SITE REGULARLY. DON’T EXPECT A GROWING READERSHIP UNLESS YOU PROVIDE NEW FRESH CONTENT FREQUENTLY.

• YOUR BLOG POSTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE AND

INTERESTING ENOUGH TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO RETURN TO READ MORE.

PUBLISHING BOTH SHORT “MEATY” POSTS FREQUENTLY AND LONG POSTS

OCCASIONALLY IS A SUCCESSFUL BLOGGING STRATEGY. WHAT’S CRITICAL IS THAT

YOUR READERS KNOW HOW FREQUENTLY YOU PUBLISH AND WHEN TO EXPECT

YOUR NEXT POST TO BE READY TO READ.

#2 DO RESEARCH YOUR SUBJECT MATTER. DON’T RELY ON OUT-DATED REFERENCES.

• READERS EXPECT YOUR BLOG POSTS TO CONTAIN UP TO DATE AND RELEVANT

INFORMATION. IF YOU DISAPPOINT THEM THEY MAY NOT RETURN TO YOUR

BLOG. BETTER BLOG POSTS ARE BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF COMPREHENSIVE

RESEARCH. BE SURE TO USE MULTIPLE SEARCH ENGINES TO LOCATE THE MOST

CURRENT TOPICAL CONTENT. THEN BE SELECTIVE. LIMIT THE SOURCES YOU

REFER TO AND QUOTE FROM TO ONLY THE MOST RELEVANT TO YOUR TOPIC.

#3 DO CREATE YOUR OWN ORIGINAL CONTENT. DON’T PLAGIARIZE.

• CITING SOURCES IN YOUR POST AND INCLUDING QUOTES IS IMPORTANT BUT IT’S

CRITICAL THAT YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

# 4 DO USE SPELL CHECKERS AND GRAMMAR CHECKERS. DON’T ALLOW ERRORS TO HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT YOUR REPUTATION.

• SPELLING AND GRAMMAR COUNT. MISSPELLED WORDS AND IMPROPER

GRAMMAR ARE JARRING AND OFF-PUTTING. MOST READERS WILL NOT RETURN

TO BLOGS WHERE GLARING SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS ARE EVIDENCED.

#5 DO CREATE AN EXPLANATORY TITLE FOR EACH ARTICLE. DON’T MAKE YOUR READERS GUESS WHAT’S IN YOUR POSTS.

• CREATE AN EFFECTIVE TITLE THAT TELLS READERS EXACTLY WHAT TO EXPECT.

PLACE A KEYWORD OR KEYWORD PHRASE AS CLOSE TO THE START OF THE TITLE

AS POSSIBLE.

#6 DO FORMAT YOUR ARTICLES WITH READBILITY IN MIND. DON’T PRESENT READERS WITH LARGE BLOCKS OF UNBROKEN TEXT.

• NOTHING DECREASES READABILITY AS MUCH AS BEING FACED WITH A LARGE

UNINTERRUPTED BLOCK OF TEXT. SHORT PARAGRAPHS WITH BLANK LINES

BETWEEN THEM, ORDERED LISTS, BULLET POINTED LISTS, QUOTATIONS, BOLD

LETTERING AND ITALICS, IMAGES AND ILLUSTRATIONS CAN BE USED TO

IMPROVE READABILITY.