Rules are everywhere and to everything. Blogging is no exception. Once upon a time when it all started new and fresh there were no strict rules; no- there were rules actually but I didn’t know them. But as time moved and as I was reading to learn about stuff in the blogosphere I thought that there are some rules that run the blogosphere.
Those rules were not mentioned to me by some A lister blogger or any other friend. The fact is that as I observed successful blogs I tried to follow their pattern. So I thought those were the rules that I need to follow if I want my blog to become as successful as the A lister blogger I was looking at.
I followed those rules strict and tight with my blog Find All Answers. Time went on but then I found that I just couldn’t cope up with those ‘rules’. Why? It is because they aren’t for me! I just can’t follow them. And if I do, I am not being ‘me’ and I am imitating some one else.
Well before you get lost, I will tell you 3 traditional blogging rules that I once followed but then stopped following. And, I found that it was good that I did so. The main reason I am writing this post is to tell all those newbies and established bloggers who still think that there are rules in the blogosphere: “There are no rules”. Now on to bullet points-
1. Post Daily
I am more than happy to publish once everyday or even more than once everyday, spontaneously. Yes, but only when I have got something useful, to the depth, to entice my readers with some new technique or a tip to try out. But if posting everyday happens to be a blogging rule, I am sorry I can’t follow it. This wasn’t my mindset right from the beginning, sadly.
When I saw big blogs like Mashable, Problogger etc. I wrote rule #1 inside my head: Update blog once or multiple times a day to be successful.
How I used it:
When I started out Find All Answers I did post everyday. Do I sound ironical? Quite not. OK you know I was a newbie and so was my blog. I had to have enough content to please the readers as well as the search engine bots. So even before I launched the blog I had about 50 articles on the topic ready to go for about a month and a half after the launch.
So the everyday posting was not squeezing my little brain for ideas, neither did it squeeze my time. The articles I wrote at those times were quite about 500 words or so, to the point, giving out tips and tricks and of course, original.
But then there came a time when I had quite enough content and my blog had a good number of pages indexed by the bots. So then was the time to make a transition.
I planned to write three articles per week. The articles are longer, explanatory and had more indepth analysis of the theme. My writing has improved a lot. So you see I broke the rule.
Takeaway:
There is no “right” or “wrong” frequency to update your blog. It is what suits you. Of course it is very important that you commit yourself to a particular frequency to show your commitment and passion towards blogging. But don’t try to follow a rule to set this frequency.
The bottom line:
If you think that you can only make one good post per week that is fine. However, stick to it whatever happens.
2. Blog about one topic
I know I know. I might be contradicting many of the established bloggers when I say this. But it works for me. So I don’t think that there is anything wrong with saying it.
I completely agree that choosing a narrow niche and one niche for a blog makes it easier for you to brand your blog, rank higher for target keywords, make good conversion of the list you have built and so on. It also makes it easy for you to choose domain names with appropriate keywords so that you brand your blog AND make it rank well at the same time.
But Find All Answers is a multi niche blog. I blog about Blogging Tips, Relationships and Self Improvement over there.
These niches are not just different narrow niches of one broad niche; rather these are themselves widely varied broad niches.
How I made it to work:
I have found that things work great when I recently decided to make one post per category per week. I also have decided to give away one freebie per niche for my subscribers. Two are out and one is on the way.
And, for choosing the domain name for Find All Answers, which is a multi niche blog, I adopted this strategy.
Takeaway:
There are no boundaries as to what you should blog about and what you shouldn’t in one particular blog. But don’t get me wrong. Don’t name your blog “Blogging Tips” and write reviews on bicycles.
The bottom line:
Ya you can be successful in running a multi-niche blog provided your blog gives equal weight to all the niches in terms of content, treatment, freebies and services.
3. Post length about 500 words
I don’t know where I learned it first, but this is one of the worst rules I had followed for quite a while. It is said by many people (I don’t want to refer anyone here) that an ideal blog post should be around 500 words. Anything more than that will make people lose interest in reading your post till the end. Anything less will not deliver what you intend to.
This is totally wrong. A blog post with much less than 500 words? You think that you can’t believe this? Then you should read Seth Godin’s blog.
A blog post with more than 1000 words? You can’t believe? Read Celestine Chua’s blog.
How I used it:
Ya I was ignorant. I used to have an eye on the word count while I am writing a post. So even when I am not done yet but if the word count goes beyond 500, I usually stop (ya I did that; hard to believe na?). Similarly when I have finished with what I have got to say in about 400 words, I used to wonder if I should publish that post. Well those were the days I think of now and laugh at myself.
Takeaway:
Never put your eyes on that little word count while you are writing a blog post. Just go with the flow. Choose a comfortable voice, add some humour (if you have that nerve), add the necessary details, let your post have a good intro, and most importantly let your blog post be complete. Do not trade the quality of the blog post for length.
The bottom line:
Write as much as you want or as little as you want as long as you stick to the point. There is no such thing as an ideal blog post length.
To sum up, ya I am doing great by breaking these three rules. I can see a big difference in my blogging journey after I broke these rules. Rules are constraints, and with blogging, these kind of rules kill your creativity and freedom. Furthermore, knowingly or unknowingly, you lose your originality by following these rules while at the same time trading the quality of your blog. So stay away from rules when it comes to blogging.
What have you got to say? Please comment.
Jane is the founder and author of Find All Answers which is a multi-niche blog featuring high quality and useful articles on Blogging Tips, Relationships and Self Improvement. Don’t forget to grab her two free ebooks Pro Blogging for Newbies and Your Guide to Better Time Management.
Twitter: yuliawan
says:
Hopefully this article can motivate me to be more active in writing and the writing quality is better than before.
thank you
Bang Iwan´s recent blog post ..Foto dan Video Terbaru Tsunami Jepang
I’ll be glad if your writing improves and if I stand as a motivation for you.
Cheers,
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..4000 In Cash Prizes- Will Ya Support Me As Crazy As You Can
Twitter: R_Arblaster
says:
When I blog to me the only rule is, there are no rules. I did the same when I started out, stuck to one subject blogged every single day.
My blog may only have a handful of readers, I’m OK with that, I now tend to blog when I have something to say or I have something to share, sometimes I can go a month without blogging, sounds bad, but that’s the way I roll.
Don’t blog for the sake of blogging.
Richard Arblaster´s recent blog post ..Negative YouTube Commenters
very interesting..
I blog when I think its appropriate, to post everyday? That’s going to be very hard ahax !
I also write with the flow.. writing very long post makes my readers goes away ( well, when its OVER long )
Ya I do agree. When the post goes really over-long, it can make a series. Bite-sized posts are good, but again that is not a rule
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..My Twitter Breathes I Can Now USE Twitter Ultimately!
I never even tried to keep up with the post a day thing, as I have way to many blogs to be able to do that. One tip I did learn though, if you are on a writing spree, then go ahead and write 20 posts or so, and if you are using wordpress, then you can just put the posts on delay and have them automatically post on the day you want them too
Fit Dave´s recent blog post ..Where To Buy P90X Cheap
Yes, the thing you mention about writing spree and scheduling posts is what I do. I just write, write and write when I am in the mood. Thanks to the calendar I can schedule my posts.
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..SEO Chatter And Finding A Missing Blog
Twitter: benwaynet
says:
Good post and I couldn’t agree more.
I’ve had my blogs for quite awhile now and they’ve gone through a lot of changes.
I blog when and how I enjoy it, not because I feel I have to. I love my readers and but blogging is not my life its a hobby.
benwaynet´s recent blog post ..Compression Error Can Lead to Partition Inaccessibility – Data Recovery Tips
Twitter: wongjiajun
says:
I don’t too bother about the length, as for me, writing great content is the key thing here. If I got many things to share which I believe it’s useful and helpful for my readers, I will write it long. Instead of a blog hanging without enough points to support the topic, saving readers’ time on a part, while waste readers time of can’t getting any point down the road.
For me I prefer to write less post, focus more on quality than quantity, cause I know how important readers’ time are, so providing great value within my content is the key thing.
Jia Jun´s recent blog post ..FOCUS – Get Rid of Distraction to Achieve More
The post-a-day thing is possible, but why? Everyone needs to take a creative break, so each week I allow myself a one or two-day reprieve. I usually spend my “off days” wandering to other people’s blogs to comment. Not only is doing so fun, but it helps to foster relationships and is a great form of PR
Adult Awkwardness´s recent blog post ..Lament for Japan
You are doing a very useful thing at your offtime. Commenting on other blogs is one of the most vital aspects when it comes to blogging success. As you say here, it has at least a couple of benefits- backlinks and PR, and bonding with other people.
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..Should You Be Organized In Order To Be Productive
Twitter: jrtayloriv
says:
I totally agree with you here. Locking yourself into rigid rules like “X words per post” or “Y posts per week” often lowers the quality of your work. Sure it’s great to be able to fit a complex topic into 500 words for impatient readers, but when you just can’t fit it in there, it’s best to just “go with the flow” as you said, and write it as long as it needs to be. If it’s well written, people will read it — even if it’s 550 words!
Twitter: wpbloggingtips
says:
Actually, all the rules are for new bloggers and new bloggers must follow some rules so that they can gain experience, get moderate success initially and know how things work. Once you gain experience and know all about it, there are really no rules to be followed.
Amit Sharma´s recent blog post ..How To Solve Duplicate Content Issue On Pages With Replytocom Parameter In URLs
Twitter: techcrates
says:
Very well written…An inspiring article !!Motivates me a lot to present more interesting stuff
Tech Crates´s recent blog post ..Nokia C101 Review- 32GB Expandable
Twitter: techwork_dk
says:
Rules are made to be broken
Nice post, I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do, but I do lisent to people who know that they are doing.
Thomas´s recent blog post ..Follow your twitter stats with twittercounter- part 1
That a nice policy Thomas. So have you listened to me or not?
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..5 Must Have Cool Thesis Customization Tips
Twitter: techwork_dk
says:
Sure Jane
I think you have some very good points in this blog.
I think I will take a look at your blog now to see what else you are doing.
Thomas´s recent blog post ..Follow your twitter stats with twittercounter- part 1
Twitter: BlazingMinds
says:
I’ve always been a blogger that blogs about whatever I want to in a range of subjects, if it interests me then I’ll blog about it. No one should have to follow the blogging rules, after all if everyone did, what a boring world the blogging world would be
Karen´s recent blog post ..Album Review- Remergence – Wide Open Space
very interesting..
I blog when I think its appropriate, to post everyday? That’s going to be very hard ahax !
I also write with the flow.. writing very long post makes my readers goes away ( well, when its OVER long )
I’m not a big fan of an arbitrary word count. The main goal in my estimation is to get the point across. It feels unnecessary to pad an article out to get to a certain word count or cut out useful information to make it shorter.
Amber´s recent blog post ..GoDaddy Coupon Code
Twitter: astrojo
says:
Hmmm probably a good thing I hadn’t read the “rules” before I started…I can safely say that I have & do break every one of them. I love the idea about longer category posts & the schedules for these…thinking cap on for that.
Jo Tracey´s recent blog post ..Ask AstroJo- The Pisces Files Pt 1… Underneath the Radar
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
I do so agree with your point 2. “Blog about one topic”. I see a lot of blogs blogging about anything and everything. It would be very difficult to build a following of loyal readers if your subject is all over the map.
netshop01´s recent blog post ..Google SEO Tip 105 – Is Comma A Separator In A Title Tag
In my experience, short posts can rank well, but only for low competition terms. I have a few short posts that do well in Google, but usually I try to make my posts at least 500 words.
Abbie Waters´s recent blog post ..How Much Does IVF Cost
Point 1 is a great piece of advice: Don’t obsess over having to write a blog post a day, especially if you end up forcing your writing which can make for less interesting posts.
One great idea is to encourage guest bloggers to write posts for your site. The more great writers you attract, the more top quality content you have for your blog.
David´s recent blog post ..nbseouk- Should you invest in local seo http-wwwnbseocouk-blog-should-you-invest-in-local-seo 5 considerations for small business owners
You have to find what works for you. Sometimes I blog everyday, sometimes they are short articles, sometimes long.
markbrian´s recent blog post ..
Twitter: alphabetix
says:
Going with the flow is so important. I’ve seen a ton of great blog posts that are barely a paragraph or two, and a few that were more than 2000 words, that I read completely without even noticing how long their truly were. The point being, that the writing was so engaging, you sort of lose time in the information. I always say, write with your reader in mind!
Alphabetix´s recent blog post ..5 Places To Pimp Out Your URL
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
says:
You are absolutely right – there are no rules (for real) to follow). I tell people to “Just Do You”
I never look at how many words I’m writing (until I’m done and if I feel it’s too much, I’ll break it up into 2 posts).
I also don’t post daily because I have other work to do. I don’t have time to post that often. My rhythm is 3 posts a week and that works for me.
So, again, just do you! Great post!
Kesha´s recent blog post ..One Killer Best Practice of Marketing Is…
Twitter: partner_dancing
says:
Hello Jane,
Good points. I have been writing that way from the start. The main thing is to have something to say. If I think it is worth saying, maybe someone will find it worth reading.
Thanks,
Andrew
Twitter: sunkcosts
says:
I occasionally violate the topic rule, but I regularly break the word length rule. It just doesn’t make sense to be so confining. You either become too wordy or too parsimonious trying to get word count perfect.
slug´s recent blog post ..KulaMula Review- Interact and Get Very Little
Some great tips for newbies like me – Im very relieved that I shouldn’t be following the post every day rule as I was starting to seriously wonder how I was going to ever sleep again! : )
womanseeksworld´s recent blog post ..Cocktail Drinking Around The World
Everything you write makes sense. Maybe instead of rules, they can be called guidelines. Good to follow, especially for those starting out, but they are just that – guidelines.
One thing I do disagree with is that constraints kill creativity. Not always. Sometimes constraints force you to be creative.
Say you do have to stick to a 500 word post. If your natural flow wrote 1,000 words, you have to be creative and smart to disseminate the same info in half as much words.
Another example is Twitter. 140 characters. That has forced people to be creative in their writing.
On the other hand, one of my favorite series is Band of Brothers. This was produced for HBO and instead of being constrained to a certain length of time, as much of television is, the producers were able to produce the 10 episodes at the length they felt right. This worked for them and I would have hated to see their story cut short by TV’s regular time limits.
smallbusinessdoer´s recent blog post ..Using LogMeIn to Remotely Access Your Computer
Oh ya I agree with your point about increasing creativity. Sometimes constraints do improve our creativity and yes Twitter is an excellent example.
It is a trial and error thing to find out what works right for us. When we feel that a particular constraint is killing our creativity, we should get rid of it and on the other hand if we find out that some constraint is boosting our creativity then we should better stick to it.
Nice addition.
Cheers,
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers´s recent blog post ..4000 In Cash Prizes Will Ya Support Me As Crazy As You Can
Twitter: jackie861
says:
Jane,
I enjoyed your post. You’re absolutely right about “Rules”, it reminds me of Roger Bannister who broke the four minute mile rule. Where would we be without pioneers? Keep writing your post and continue breaking the rules!
Twitter: smcopywrite
says:
i am so happy to see someone “break the rules”. breaking the rules every once and a while has resulted in a lot of great things.
thanks for being brave enough try it.
Hi Jane,
You have pretty much thrown how I blog out the window! what would you suggest for a relatively new blogging page to gain traffic, I am struggling to get genuine readers to my page :S
Ash
commentluvdofollow´s recent blog post ..web video
Awesome post indeed. I will follow this. I’m really tensed about visitors to my blog. I get very few
pavsh7´s recent blog post ..Final version of IE9 released and available for download
third rule is hard to follow for me as if I am writing a tutorial or something like that I have to finish it even if its more than 1500 words
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