We often get asked what our top tips are for running a good blog, especially by people who are just starting out and want advice on how to write good posts, what they should be writing out and how to make sure people want to come back again and again. We thought we’d throw it out to you by asking what one piece of advice you would give to someone starting a blog. Here’s what you said…

Will McInnes

Writing regularly is better than writing perfectly. Blogging is easy to put at the bottom of the to-do list. Writing a blog post is rarely urgent, and requires concentration and thought. The best way to get your blogging mojo going is to write regularly, so don’t be afraid to keep it snippety. In time your style and rhythm will find itself and perfection will flow. Keep it totally mexico

Tim Hoang

Say something interesting and new. Don’t just repeat what I’ve already read somewhere else unless you’ve got an original opinion. One of my favourite blogs at the minute is http://escherman.wordpress.com/ just because his content is so fresh compared to many of the other PR/comms blogs. And question everything.

Dominic Campbell

be yourself – if you do relaxed and conversational, great be relaxed and conversational. If not, don’t try it, it won’t work. Although it might be worth giving it a go, posing some questions and giving a story a new angle to engage people and encourage them to comment”. Other thing would be about linking up with twitter and network of people to drive readership as there’s nothing to encourage you to carry on otherwise! Arse – another one! Good blog titles! AND track hits and see which style/content appeals to your readers the most and work with that.

Stephen Waddington

Be original. Be opinionated. Don’t rehash content from elsewhere unless you can add significant value to the ongoing conversation.

Chris Brogan

Be helpful. Write the blog for other people’s use, not your own vanity.

Robin Grant

Only around 10% of a blog’s success is down to the posts themselves – in fact if you only worry about the content of your posts and the design of your blog, it is doomed to failure. The other 90% is the hard work most people forget – being part of the community. You do this by reading other relevant blogs and commenting on their posts in a substantive way. Likewise on Twitter – following those that are relevant to your chosen topic and engaging them in conversation. You’ll find that over time some of these people start reading and commenting on and linking to your blog. Once you feel you know them well enough, there’s no reason you can’t email them asking them politely if they’d add your blog to their blogroll (especially if you’d already added theirs to yours). And remember that success does not come overnight, you have to be committed for the long term…

Jordan Stone

Seems obvious, but I would probably suggest ‘don’t be afraid to give your opinion’. The blogs that I find the most interesting are the ones that don’t simply regurgitate or duplicate content, but offer comment and observations. An author’s thoughts and opinion are what keeps readers coming back again and again.

Dan Thornton

Don’t get too distracted by the design or the technology – focus on creating content that you enjoy creating (because you’ll be more inclined to keep going), and that people might find entertaining or useful. And to judge if it’s working combine listening to your readers if they comment with looking at the analytics to see what brings you traffic or lowers your bounce rate, but don’t be tempted to move completely away from what you enjoy doing to try and get a few more readers – it’s better to really connect with a smaller number of people who really love what you are doing.
And never give up – you never know when something can pick up some links and suddenly take off.

Poppy Dinsey

Don’t be boring. Write as if you’re having a chat with a friends, not as if you’re trying to get the top mark from your stuck up secondary school English teacher. People like people, so be you! There are zillions of blogs and you’ll never be the only blogger covering a particular subject, so stand out by injecting a human element.

Ged Carroll

Visualise your audience understand who they are and write to that person: what do they look like, what do they read, what brands do they associate with. If you can’t write about your subject with passion then reposition and visualise a different audience.

Beth Granter

If you are having a good day and have lots of ideas for posts, write them all but only publish one today. Save the others for later so you have some in reserve for when you’re feeling less inspired. That helps to keep your posting regular, as inspiration tends to be less predictable.

Gary Andrews

Be unique. Most bloggers feed off the mainstream media, so if a new blogger is just parroting what’s being said elsewhere then there’s little incentive for a reader to return. This doesn’t mean that the blogger has to go out and find their own original content, but a well written post that brings something new to a topic, no matter how much it’s been discussed elsewhere. Bring something different to the party and have your own voice, and it gives readers the incentive to return

James Whatley

It’s your blog, write about what *you* want. Think about visual style, what makes it different? How is your next post different from your last? And remember – HAVE FUN WITH IT

Michael Kane

Be true. Be open and honest about why you’re blogging, who you are communicating with and, most of all, be yourself.

The Daily Spud

Be true. Be open and honest about why you’re blogging, who you are communicating with and, most of all, be yourself.

Tommy Collison

Decide on a posting schedule – be it every day, every 2 days or whatever. This form of structure is better than blogging “whenever I feel like it”. Write about 5 quality posts in advance. You want to make a good beginning because if readers like their first look, they’ll keep coming back. Images, images, images: Nobody wants to read a huge block of text – back it up with pictures – either your own or someone else’s (legally, of course). Jazz Biscuit’s CC Search has been hugely useful to me, I’d highly recommend it.

Emily Tully

1. Always aim to ‘give’ your reader something with each post, whether its free advice, tips or information they can use
2. Use pictures/videos/audio to enhance your post
3. Always respond to comments, even the bad ones, either publicly or privately
4. If you are making a claim, make sure you can back it up!

Ben Chapman

The best way for a blogger to improve their blog is to publish quality
content less frequently than bad content more frequently! The blog can
be made more appealing to people is to include multimedia content like
audio or video. Even the inclusion of a photograph can make the blog
post look a bit livelier.

Frank O’brien

Keep the content rolling on to your blog – dont think becuase you have launch a blog that they will come streaming to your site like the pied piper. Get out there and get involved in the community – through twitter/facebook whatever.
Engage with the community – people continue to amaze me with their willingness to help whether it has been what type of twitter platform I should use to all the way through helping with wordpress coding.
Finally believe in what you are saying – Vaynerchuk is so right when he talks about this “half pregnant” status – be one thing or another – but own that. I believe in my own palate and my reviews are my own opinion as a critic and wine enthusiast. Trying to appease people and be “plain spoken” doesnt work for me in conjunction with blogging. Believe it, type it, own it !

Read other posts related to this topic:

1. Thank God The Bloggers Are Coming Back From Twitter For the last couple of years I have had a nagging feeling that the...
2. Who Reads Blogs? Is It Other Bloggers? One of the most common questions I get from people who are not familiar...
3. How To Think Of Great Blog Posts Writing new content for you blog and finding the ideas to base your new...
4. How To Write A Blockbuster Of A Blog Post – A Challenge I wanted to start a collaborative blog project and have been asked by lots...