Discussion Post | Advice for new bloggers!

Hey everyone! So, in my blogiversary post, I had given some advice in general for new bloggers, and well, a lot of you found the advice helpful! Now, I am no expert at blogging, but I thought that I would share some of my learnings and experiences with you. Let’s get started!

Note:
1. I have included the advice I gave on my blogiversary too.
2. I might sound a little brutal, so sorry for that in advance!
3. This advice is for all bloggers and not just book bloggers.

1. INTERACT:
   Interact with other bloggers as much as possible. This I think is the most important piece of advice of all. The more posts you comment on, the more people will know about you and your blog, and will like and comment on your blog.
   Also, when people comment on your blog, try to reply as soon as possible, and be nice.
   
2. Ensure that the link embedded in your name links to your website:
   So, when people click on your name when you have commented at some place, they are redirected to your website, only if the link you have entered is correct. To check if the link is correct or not, go to your profile by clicking on your profile picture on the top right corner, go to My Account, and there you will find a place to enter the web address of your site. Check if the web address is correct and correct it if it is not. Believe me when I say this, a lot of people (including me at one time), have an incorrect web address entered, which cause a hindrance when people try to find your blog.
   
3. Have an aesthetically pleasing website:
   Have a website of a colour that doesn’t strain the eye and is pleasing to it. It might sound like bragging, but I love how colourful yet soothing to the eye my website is. Like, it’s basic template is black and white, but the featured images end up making it more colourful.
   
4. Have an accurate, but good profile picture (especially if it is a bitmoji)
   Your profile picture gives your reader their first impression, so make sure it is something good, and appealing. I am not saying that if you have a bitmoji on, make it something you don’t look like, all I am saying is, make it pretty generic. Like don’t make it a winky one, because that is irritating. If you have a bitmoji, make it say hello or something.
   
5. Don’t like a post without reading:
   You might think that the author doesn’t come to know when you don’t read the post and comment, but they do. They know when you comment without personalizing it a bit. And that hurts.
   
6. Don’t spam:
   Ugh, there are these people, who spam bloggers, without even reading the posts! They hit that like button on the reader without opening the post, and that is just the worst! I would like it if they liked two posts, after reading them, rather than liking 10 posts without reading them.
   
7. Don’t expect a follow back from every blogger:
   Not all bloggers necessarily will like your blog, even if you think it’s the best your blog can be. Your content might not be as per their taste, and that is okay. Not everyone will like your content.
   
8. NEVER EVER ask a blogger to follow you:
   It just irritates the blogger , and even if they follow your blog, they won’t interact with you. I literally feel like blocking the site of a person who asks me to follow them. I check the sites of almost all people who follow me, if I don’t follow you back then, that means I don’t like some aspect of your blog, which is fine! Your blog might be to your taste, but not to mine, and that’s okay.
   
9. Be a genuine follower:
   If you follow someone on WordPress, and they follow you back, but they don’t like or comment on your posts, don’t stop liking and commenting on their posts. This shows that you genuinely liked their posts, and didn’t like their posts just because they hit the like button on your posts
   
10. Grammatical errors are.. ugh!
    I hate the posts with major grammatical errors. These people flaunt their English as though it’s awesome or something, but it sucks! Just use Grammarly or something. I don’t mind when the posts have minor errors, but when the flaws are major, it is just plain BAD.
    
11. Writing a different language in English is bad:
    Okay, it is a little difficult to explain this, but I mean to say that if you type in say, Hindi, in your posts, use the proper script- that is, use Devanagri script! Or, at least provide a translation or something! I know Hindi in this case, but not everyone does!
    
12. Don’t use GIFs excessively.
    There are certain bloggers who use so MANY GIFs, that it hurts. If you have been on the blog for sometime, you know I don’t mind usage of GIFs, in fact, I use them myself! But there are certain people, who use nothing but GIFs to react to stuff! Do you not know how to form sentences of your own? Do you feel uncomfortable doing that? TELL ME WHY NO TEXT!
    
13. Add tags to your posts:
    Tags are really useful, as a lot of people (including me) follow tags. For example, I follow the tag- discussion posts, so I find a lot of blogs that I follow that way. Do add relevant tags, otherwise you will just end up pissing off the reader. Don’t add too many tags though, as WordPress might consider it spam. I would advise using 4-10 tags.
    
14. Add an attractive featured image:
    This is pretty much self-explanatory. A blogger gets attracted visually more often than not, so it’s important to have a visually pleasing featured image.
    
15. Think out of the box as much as possible, while creating content:
    Take inspiration from other bloggers, booktubers, and whatnot. But do not forget to credit them, if you do use their ideas for your own post.
    It has happened a few times when I have seen people say that the idea is brand-new and stuff, when it has been done a gazillion times! Like what’s with that, are you too arrogant to admit that the idea is used?

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And that’s all for this post! Did you find the advice helpful? I hope you did!! Let me know in the comments!