When blogging first started decades ago, creators didn’t have to bother too much about blog best practices to rank higher in search engine results. 📊
But we’re well into the digital age, and things have changed quite a bit. Now, there are millions of blogs on the internet, and you can’t just publish a blog and expect to get eyes on it without following a few rules. In fact, SEO, social media marketing, and user experience are only the tip of the iceberg.
We know how challenging it can be to start a blog 🎬 that stands out these days. That’s why we want to help. Continue reading as we give you a detailed list of the 28 essential blog practices to follow in 2024.
28 Blog best practices for blogging success in 2024
📚 Table of contents:
Content creation ✍️
1. Create detailed outlines
The first step in our list of blog best practices focuses on organizing your content before you start writing.
You can begin by identifying reliable sources, taking notes, organizing your key points, structuring your outline with subheadings, and then arranging your ideas logically.
Getting this done before every blog post will help you organize your thoughts and ensure that your content has a good flow from start to finish.
2. Craft attention-grabbing headlines and subheadings
Before a user clicks to read any blog post, the first thing they see is the headline. A well-written headline should generate interest, highlight the main idea of your blog, and be SEO-friendly.
There are multiple tools you can use to help you here:
Once you’ve managed to get a user to click on a link to your blog, it’s time to think about one of the most important aspects – the subheadings.
Did you know that around 80% of online readers skim the content they read? So, while you may take hours to research, write, edit, and perfect your blog post, the reality is that most people aren’t going to read it from start to finish [1].
Knowing this, it’s therefore essential to ensure that you include subheadings that are clear, descriptive, and help to break down your content into digestible chunks.
3. Use an engaging writing style
Third on our list of blog best practices is using an engaging writing style so you can connect with your readers, hold their attention, and make your blog enjoyable.
Here are a few tips to help you write engaging blog posts:
- Write in a conversational tone
- Give examples or highlight relevant sources to help drive home your point
- Break up your text with shorter paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet points for better readability
4. Structure content for readability
A well-structured blog is easy to navigate and allows readers to find the information they’re looking for in next to no time.
To do this, you can use subheadings to break up your content into sections, keep paragraphs concise and focused on one idea, use bullet points and lists, and use visual elements, like images or infographics, to help enhance understanding.
5. Incorporate multimedia elements
Images, infographics, graphs, and even videos increase your audience’s understanding of your blog posts.
They also help to break up large chunks of text with something engaging and visually interesting.
6. Create a blogging schedule
Having a blogging schedule can bring structure, consistency, and help you stay organized. This is why it’s one of the most important blog best practices.
For blogging, the general consensus is that the more you publish, the better. But before you commit yourself to blogging five/six days a week, think about what’s realistic for your current circumstances.
7. Be consistent
While creating your blog schedule, it’s also important to be consistent with the number of blog posts you plan to publish per week.
In addition, remember to maintain the same tone throughout your blog posts. You can’t be business/formal on one post and informal/using slang on the next. Creating a consistent brand voice is all a part of developing trust between you and your audience.
8. Use proofreading tools
There are so many online tools that can catch grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, improve sentence structure, and so much more.
A few of our favorites are:
When using these tools, remember to review your content manually afterward to ensure that the content makes sense and still has a good flow.
9. Include a CTA
A call-to-action (aka CTA) is an instruction you give your readers that encourages them to take a specific action.
CTAs are often (though not exclusively) placed at the end of a blog post. If you have an offer, an email list sign-up form, or something else you want readers to take action on, then you can also include a CTA in other relevant sections of your blog post. Wherever you decide to place it, remember to use action-oriented language that encourages your readers to take the desired action.
Design and user experience 🎨
10. Choose a responsive and mobile-friendly design
Our guide on blog best practices would be incomplete if we didn’t discuss responsive and mobile-friendly designs.
With the increasing number of users accessing the internet through their mobile devices, selecting a design that adapts to different screen sizes isn’t an option but a need.
When choosing a design, ensure that:
- The theme or template is labeled as “responsive”
- You test how your blog looks on different devices
- Optimize images and multimedia for fast loading on mobile devices.
- Select readable fonts and clear navigation menus
11. Use a clutter-free layout
A cluttered layout makes it difficult for your readers to engage with and consume your content.
So, instead, opt for a clean and clutter-free layout. This might mean:
- Choosing a minimalistic theme or template
- Limiting the number of widgets, plugins, pop-ups, and ads
- Organizing content into sections with clear headings and subheadings
12. Ensure fast page load times
In today’s fast-paced world, users expect any website or blog they visit to load quickly.
In fact, studies have shown that site speed has a direct impact on conversion rates [2].
There are a few ways to ensure fast page loading times. You can:
- Get rid of any unnecessary plugins
- Optimize your image sizes by compressing and resizing them
- Consider using a CDN
- Using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to continuously improve your loading times
13. Incorporate social sharing buttons
This point on our list of blog best practices shouldn’t come as a surprise. Social media is an important part of helping you get the word out about your blog.
Before you can expect your readers to share your content, you need to make it easy for them to do so.
Once you’ve created your social accounts, you can place icons within your blog posts to make it easy for your readers to share your content.
14. Include a search function
Sometimes, a user may arrive at your blog, read it, and not be interested in your CTA. They may have a specific type of content they’re looking for.
A search function helps ensure that users get the exact type of content they’re looking for. It enhances navigation and reduces the frustration of trying to find a particular blog post or topic by going through each blog page.
SEO ⚙️
15. Keyword research and optimize your content
Earlier, we highlighted the number of blogs on the internet right now. Implementing SEO strategies, like keyword research and optimizing your content, can help you stand out. This is what makes this point on our list of blog best practices one of the most important.
But where exactly do you start? You can:
- Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs or LowFruits to identify relevant keywords
- Make sure that you include your keywords naturally throughout the text and in key areas like the title, introduction, and subheadings
- While it’s essential to be mindful of your keyword usage, it’s equally important to ensure that you continue to provide value through your blog posts
16. Create unique meta titles and descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions appear in search engine results, and they give users a glimpse of what the blog post is about.
It’s important to include your keywords naturally into your meta descriptions, keep them concise yet informative, and make them accurately summarize the content.
17. Use exact-match slugs
A “slug” is the part of your URL that identifies and categorizes your blog post. It comes after your domain.
For example, let’s say we write a blog post titled “How to Start Freelance Writing,” the slug may be how-to-start-freelance-writing.
This would then result in a URL that looks like this https://www.bloggingpro.com/how-to-start-freelance-writing/.
You can use slugs to create meaningful, easy-to-remember URLS that contain keywords for better SEO.
18. Optimize images
Eighteenth on our list of blog best practices is all about optimizing images, which begins with choosing the correct image format. While most people are familiar with JPEGs and PNGs, in recent years, the WebP image format has grown to become the preferred choice for optimum performance.
There’s a technical explanation behind this [3], but the bottom line for you is that by using WebP on your blog, it can lead to pages that load faster and reduce bandwidth. Having said that, there are some exceptions where using WebP would not be categorized as a blogging best practice – for example photography portfolios with a blog attached to them – but these are few and far between. Most bloggers should opt for using WebP images.
Beyond image format, there are many tools that can help you optimize your images in other ways. Optimole is one of our favorites. It not only automatically converts your images to WebP format, but it also compresses them, and optimizes them based on the device used to view your blog – and much more.
19. Include internal links
Internal links are a crucial part of SEO. They allow you to connect your blog posts to other pages, help search engines crawl your website, and ensure your readers find other relevant content on your blog.
For this tip on our list of blog best practices, always include relevant links, use descriptive anchor text, and regularly review and update your links to make sure you’re providing your readers with the most updated links and content.
20. Categorize your content
Categorizing your content helps you organize your blog posts and makes it easy for users and even search engines to find specific topics.
For this, you can:
- Choose relevant and specific tags that represent the content of your blog
- Include tags in your website’s navigation or sidebar for easy access
- Be consistent about how you name your tags for clarity
Marketing 📈
21. Share your blog posts on social media
After creating your blog, it’s now time to market it. Using social media is one of the best practices that can help you connect with your market.
After hitting the publish button, you should promote your work on social media platforms that align with your target audience. In addition to sharing, it’s also important to engage with your audience and start building a community.
22. Use email marketing
You don’t have to stop at social media when it comes to marketing your blog.
Once you have subscribers, you can also email them every time you publish a new post. Using email is a great way to directly reach out to your audience, nurture relationships, and drive traffic to your blog.
23. Collaborate with other bloggers and influencers
Collaborations are a great way to tap into new audiences and build valuable relationships. You can collaborate by cross-promoting each other’s content, guest posting, working together on webinars, or any other relevant content.
For this route, it’s essential to ensure that you reach out to content creators that are most relevant to your audience.
24. Monitor blog analytics and make data-driven decisions
Analytics is one of the most essential components for any blogger. They help us understand our audience, where they’re from, what content they’re reading the most, and so much more.
With this information, we can move forward and create more of what’s working and less of what isn’t.
Set up an analytics tool like Google Analytics right at the beginning of your blog and track key metrics such as traffic, engagement, and conversions.
25. Engage your audience
Engaging your audience through comments and discussions can help foster a sense of community, build relationships, and help encourage them to return to your blog.
So, at the end of each blog post, ask your readers questions and encourage them to communicate with you in the comments section.
Little things like these show that you value their input, which can lead to increased loyalty.
Monetization 💰
26. Explore different monetization options
There are so many different ways to monetize a blog. You can display ads, add affiliate marketing links, do sponsored posts, create membership and subscriptions, sell digital products, and more.
But not every method may work for your blog.
When you’re ready to monetize your blog, remember to find the most relevant monetization option for your blog and brand.
27. Maintain transparency and disclose sponsored content
Blogging best practices dictate that you should disclose what content is sponsored or influenced by partnerships.
For this, you’ll need to:
- Use a visible disclaimer at the beginning of the post
- Educate yourself on legal obligations regarding disclosing sponsored content in your region
- Still remain honest about your reviews, regardless of whether or not you’re being sponsored
28. Avoid compromising user experience
Cluttering your blog with too many ads can compromise user experience, and ultimately, how users view your blog.
You can:
- Limit the number of ads per page
- Consider user-friendly ad formats like native ads
- Opt for relevant and non-intrusive ad formats
Blog best practices to get started on the right foot 🎯
As you can see, there are many components to creating a successful blog. But, reading this comprehensive guide should get you going.
By embracing these blog best practices, you can create a successful and thriving blog that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your goals for 2024 and beyond.
If you want more guidance on starting a blog, check out our article on how to write a blog post that turns heads and our blog launch checklist.
