We advocate a “hands-off” approach to this site, so that you — the teens — can feel free to share your thoughts and ideas without interference. So although we don’t “edit” your blogs, we do want them to readable and as error-free as possible.
For those of you who are new to blogging, or just want to be better at it, here are 10 golden rules for blogging. If you follow these rules, you will be much more successful!
- Blog often. The most successful blogs are ones that are frequently updated. If users get used to having something new every time they come to the site, they will come more often to see what you have posted. Blog at least two to three times a week. Daily is best.
- Get to the point. Just as you probably lose interest quickly in a long article, so do other readers. Keep your posts to three or four paragraphs, or less than 400 words. Remember, you can blog as often as you like, so you don’t have to cram everything into one post.
- Break your blog up. Don’t write in one long paragraph. Break up your thoughts by paragraph. Two or three sentences should be the max for any one graf. It’s easier for other readers to digest that way.
- Watch your language. By this we mean be grammatical, spell words correctly and take care of your words. If you know you are a rotten speller, use spellcheck first before posting your entries. You can do so in Word or another program. And read over what you have written before you actually post it. People don’t like to wade through sloppy writing. It gives them a reason not to read you again.
- Write good headlines. You have the chance to grab readers with just a few words, so make them count. Use nouns and verbs, use keywords and make sure your headline says something meaningful. For example, if you write “I was just thinking …” readers really won’t have a clue what the post is about, and if they see that headline on the home page they might decide to bypass it. But if your headline is “I took my ACT 3 times” then anyone contemplating taking the ACT might be intrigued.
- Be creative. Add links (we’ll give you tips on that further down), write lively and have fun. Ask readers for their input or ideas. Include embedded videos or photos.
- Less is more when it comes to punctuation. Too many exclamation points, question marks or quotations lose their impact, so use them for effect — and not in every sentence or paragraph. Use punctuation sparingly in headlines.
- Credit others. DO NOT lift photos or content from other sites or materials unless you have permission from the author. Copyright law is very specific: If you take someone’s work, you are stealing. So use your own words, and if you want to source someone’s work, use a short amount of text and link out to their site. Or ask for permission to use the material. Most people will say yes — you just need to ask.
- Don’t scream. If you tend to use a lot of italics, bold or cap letters, restrain yourself. In blogs and stories, this is considered SHOUTING at the reader, and a lot of people are very annoyed by it. So use bold, caps or italic for emphasis, and sparingly.
- Monitor your comments. If you have a lot of response to your blogs, it’s a great opportunity to engage those users in conversation. Take advantage and comment back. Start a discussion.
More on linking and html