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1. Make sure a new visitor can discern the who, what, where and why of your blog within three seconds


2. Write original content


3. Make your posts scan-able


4. Use pictures and other visual content


5. Use a custom theme


6. Have easy and multiple subscribe options


7. Include blog author information


8. Don’t use too many categories


9. Reference old posts and topic history


10. Use spell check


11. Link out to other relevant material


12. Have an opinion


13. Use humor


14. Write lists


15. Make sure your blog’s top post has content that will appeal to a first time visitor


16. Use categories and keywords that actually describe your posts


17. Identify the look for your blog, e.g. whether you want a corporate or informal look


18. Market your blog content


19. Encourage community building with third party services


20. Respond to comments in the comments section of your blog


21. Give links to other interesting blogs and articles


22. Don’t overload the site with ads


23. Have a blogging strategy


24. Use a unique domain name


25. Brand your blog


26. Don’t steal or duplicate other people’s content


27. Organize your categories


28. Cite your sources


29. Join conversations on other blogs and continue them with follow up posts on your blog


30. Be controversial, but courteous


31. Use a personal voice


32. Write with passion


33. Tell stories


34. When writing about tips, show examples


35. Try to merge advice with examples and stories whenever possible


36. Write series of posts


37. Write consistently


38. Don’t apologize for your opinion


39. Provide resources to on topic sites


40. Update your old posts and pages if possible


41. Post updates to old posts and pages in new “update” posts


42. Join on-topic communities and get involved in other conversations


43. Be friendly


44. Moderate spam comments


45. Moderate overly negative or flaming comments if it’s a business blog


46. Don’t go off on religion (unless it’s a religious or strictly personal blog)


47. Don’t go off on politics (unless it’s a political or strictly personal blog)


48. Talk to your readers in second person occasionally, e.g. “what do YOU think?”


49. Use humor to liven up dull material


50. Use personal anecdotes to liven up dull material


51. Get the audience involved


52. Ask for contributions


53. Listen when you get contributions


54. Encourage user generated content


55. Always have comments turned on


56. Check your anti-spam software for false positives (everyone hates it when they spend time to comment and it disappears)


57. Link to direct sources


58. Give credit when you reiterate other people’s ideas


59. Recognize other quality bloggers and sites


60. Don’t be afraid to critique low-quality competing blogs or companies; the Blogosphere thrives on conflict


61. Use catchy titles and keyword strings so you have sexy content as well as posts that can be found via a keyword search


62. Use bulleted and numbered lists


63. Use the bold and italic styles, but only one sentence or less at a time


64. Use offbeat sources as well as the MSM (it’s the Blogosphere; talk about other people’s opinions)


65. Write about what you know


66. Write about what you’re learning (just make sure to disclose that you’re still learning to avoid backlashes if you misrepresent something)


67. Write about where you think things are going.


68. Write about where you think things have been


69. Simplify complicated concepts, use easy language


70. Cut the fluff


71. Enable full feed


72. Write content that isn’t completely disposable


73. Don’t Overdo the sensationalism


74. Provide easy social bookmarking options


75. Provide easy social media voting options (e.g. digg, reddit, netscape)


76. Manage your blogroll


77. Change things up once in a while


78. Leverage new technologies


79. Change your blog’s look and theme at least every few years ( web design trends change )


80. Keep the same naming conventions


81. Have consistent navigation


82. Use sub-navigation when appropriate to break general categories and pages down into more specific ones (categories pages, etc.)


83. Use breadcrumb navigation


84. Comment on press, links and awards the blog has received (let the readers know how you’re doing)


85. Disclose sponsorship or paid advertisements


86. If you provide top ten lists or link lists please include why you found those resources valuable compared to the infinite other sources online


87. Put sources, posts, and other information in context for new users / visitors


88. Don’t assume readers or visitors understand every acronym and neologism. Link niche words to Wikipedia or other references.


89. Make your links stand out so they’re easy to find


90. Make your call to action stand out


91. If you don’t have a call to action, then make the blog’s purpose very apparent.


92. Monitor the Blogosphere for news and info on your blog’s topic; information moves faster through blogs than in the MSM.


93. Avoid sweeping generalizations


94. Check facts; they’re online and easy to find.


95. Don’t blog pissed off; remember your words are permanent, so least attempt to calm down or be rational


96. If you need to rant (we all need that sometimes) label it a rant so visitors know what to expect.


97. Bait people when appropriate to encourage discussion and conversation


98. Promote yourself (hey, it’s your blog) but don’t over do it.


99. Don’t be overly commercial unless that’s what you want your blog to be.


100. 100. Appeal to multiple audiences (customers, other industry professionals, other bloggers etc


101. 101.Disclose potential conflicts of interest when you write about a product or service to which you’re connected


102. 102.Be social and have fun!

Have anymore that you would like to share? Please leave them in the comments! And make sure to leave a name and url and I’ll add the best ones to this list and cite the source!

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