7 Tips to Mastering The Unwritten Blog Etiquette

Whether you are one of the top bloggers in the fashion industry or recently launched your Best Bistro and Wine Pairing Guide to San Diego website, there are a long list of rules that each blogger abides by that is known as blog etiquette. Most of these rules are unwritten, but hold a permanent place as a code of conduct.

Congratulations! You have just launched your blog! You most likely have kept a journal your entire life and a passion for writing that you wish to share with the world. As a noob blogger fresh on the scene, there is a large learning curve process that you must master quickly: WordPress, plugins, sharing, social media, blog SEO, All of these factors drive traffic to your blog and make sure your are growing your audience to be successful.

After those skills are mastered, there is long list of guidelines or “code of conduct” that governs the blogging community and their online reputation called Blog Etiquette. Just like meeting your significant other’s parents, you want to conduct yourself as a respectable human being, and not an unfavorable, belligerent boob. Making a good first impression with your first post will set the tone for the rest of your. So without further ado, here are the 7 tips to blog etiquette.

     1.     Back scratch blog etiquette:

You have all heard of the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” line. Blog etiquette was built around this cornerstone principle that has grown this hobby, grassroots style marketing approach to the influential and highly followed industry that it is today. If someone mentions your blog in a comment, shared your post or followed your blog, it is blogging best practices to return the favor. Since what they are doing will drive more traffic to your blog, it is good karma to do the same for them.

2.   Sharing is caring:

The true love of a post is shown when it is shared by someone. When post is shared, you place it in front of the faces of all of your followers and friends saying that you think this is a great piece of writing that needed to be seen. It is highly likely that the blogger of the original post will not only have visitors to her blog to read the original piece, but they may grow followers that wouldn’t have knew that blog existed. This is considered the highest form of respect and should be reciprocated by the original blogger with a thank you comment or a share of one of your posts. At the bare minimum, the blogger should like your shared post, but a “thank you” is part of blog etiquette best practices.

3.   Guest blog posting:

Guest posting is a great way from two bloggers to boost traffic and blog seo authority. When both blogs are linked to each other, their link juice will flow between them (learn more about blog seo and link juice). If you approach a highly followed blog, make sure you have established yourself as a respected and legitimate blogger in the community. Asking a top blog specialist like Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad to post on her fashion blog after your 4th entry is not realistic, just as asking Rihanna for a singing lesson when I cannot carry a tune. Our best advice? Be active posting on your blog, writing thought-provoking comments in fashion forums (if your focus is fashion),sharing, liking, and following before asking a lower tiered blogger to guest post for them. Also, do not sound desperate when reaching out to them. They’ll see right through it…

4.   No fishing Zone:

Do not get this confused with the internet term Phishing: or scamming someone into providing sensitive information. The term “fishing” here refers to someone inquiring, asking or begging for another blogger to like, follow or share his/her blog posts in exchange for them doing the same. Doing this will stamps a sign across your blog saying “DESPERATE” in the eyes of the person you ask. No matter how politely you structure you beg, it will always be seen as that, a beg. It needs to be their decision to take action on any part of your blog. Be professional and let your writing/pictures/branding do the talking. That being said, there are many ways that you can increase the exposure of your posts without begging through post blasting and optimizing your blog SEO to specific keywords to show up higher in search engines. This is where Wip Marketing can lend a hand.

5.   Zero room for negativity:

Trolling, negative comments, unfavorable comments, cyberbullying or threats have no place on anyone’s blog. In today’s society, states recognize both misdemeanor and felony forms of harassment, so yes this is considered a “no-no” for blogger etiquette. If you have a comment or want to offer a piece of advice, make it constructive. That being said, if you a fresh on the blog scene, do not offer advice or constructive criticism to a veteran blog specialist like Chiara Ferragni.” Again, I would not tell Rihanna I thought her e-sharp was a little flat on her new track, even if it needed another take. Just use your head.

6.   Spamming someone’s blog:

I know you have all seen those posts by fake accounts saying that they have cheap flights to mexico or buy followers for your instagram or blog by “CLICKING HERE”. Just remember that spammers and people that argue with others on celebrity instagrams and twitters are human beings that have nothing better to do than spread hate. Enough said.

7.   Inspired by another post? They deserve credit:

Ecclesiastes 1:9 “That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun”(Ecclesiastes 1:9). At one time or another, almost every bloggable topic has been blogged, however that doesn’t mean that if you were inspired to write a specific post after reading someone’s post, you don’t have to give that blogger a shout out. When I came up with the idea to write a blogger etiquette post, one of the first thing I did was Google “Blog Etiquette”. An post that I found interesting was written by Jennifer Hall on her blog “Dancing in the Rain.” I thought she shared a similar perspective on blogger etiquette that I did and is very entertaining to read.
I chose to highlight my top 7 tips to mastering the unwritten blog etiquette, but there are several others to pay attention to. My advice if you want to delve deep would be to use the world’s top tool, Google. Many of these unwritten rules will come to you through your experience blogging, so keep your eyes open, and thank your inspiration.