12 Blogging Best Practices, The Ultimate Guide [2023]

By: | December 1, 2019 | Tags: , , |

Blogging best practices.

Some bloggers believe knowing how to have blogging success is a mystery. No secret!

Peter Nyiri explains 11 effective blogging best practices that will work in 2023.

Blogging Best Practices, The Ultimate Guide

This report is on the state of blogging best practices and its profitability at the end of the 21st century. You will see the best strategies to follow if you want to successfully market your blog in today’s highly competitive internet.

Albert Einstein on Blogging’s Best Practices

What does Einstein have to do with blogging?

Well, once Einstein FAMOUSLY SAID THAT…

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again

…and expecting a different result.”

And Albert was a pretty smart guy.

Are the methods you are using right now bringing you results?

Then you need to listen to Einstein and start doing something different.

I am going to show you what that “something” is.

Bring on the blogging best practices for 2020!

12 Blogging Best Practices for 2020

1. Easy Mode Is Over

This is the first thing you need to understand as a blogger in order to master blogging.

Why am I saying this?

  • Currently, there are 1.7 billion websites in the world. Out of these, there are more than 500 million blogs. Over 2 million blog posts are published every single day.
  • Social media platforms are competing with each other for attention. This means they have to show their audience’s quality content or the people will go somewhere else. They’ve devised ways to make it harder to game their systems and are experimenting to see what they can do to increase engagement of their platforms.
  • More and more people are aware that you can make money online therefore more people are competing for the same audience. 

2. Narrow Your Content

You may have heard about content-focused micro-niche sites. In many instances, they outrank big authority sites because Google loves “topic clusters”. For example, you may want to blog about a particular region. The travel blog Aussie Tourist only discusses Australian Travel.

But let me give you a different view on this. How about a site like NameSilo? The only thing you see on their site is domains, domain market place, setting your DNS, free domain privacy, etc. They have 3.3 million registered domains. If you count just $8.99 per domain per year (use promo code privacy0 to get free privacy and $1 off), that is millions of dollars of income a year.

Yes, I know that there are sites like Medium, eBay or Amazon that are all over the grid. But those are not the norm. Instead of being all over the place, concentrate on one thing and sell it to everyone by ranking on top and being an authority. 

3. Target Long Tail Keywords

Highly specific multi-word phrases tend to be far easier to rank for than the more generic single keyword or double keyword phrases.

The following diagram is from Ahrefs:

blogging best practicesAs you can see, targeting keywords with very low search volume (<11) can bring a lot more traffic than targeting their short tail version. Yet this is where most bloggers fail. When your blog has no authority, this is pretty much the only way you can get your foot in the door and start getting some initial traffic.

Blogging On The First Page Of Google, a course in Mostly Blogging Academy will teach you how to use long-tail keywords to increase your website traffic.

4. To Improve SEO, Build Authority

You will not be able to apply SEO mechanically (game the system) and get results. SEO is a lot more than just DA, CF, TF, keywords, title tags, URL, meta description. User experience, search intent, expertise, authority & trust are the new SEO.  

This is what Google says in How Search Works:

Beyond matching the words in your query with relevant documents on the web, Search algorithms also aim to prioritize the most reliable sources available. To do this, our systems are designed to identify signals that can help determine which pages demonstrate expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness on a given topic.

Google wants to show content that’s been written by legitimate experts in their field. This applies a lot more to YMYL (Your Money Your Life) subjects, such as make money and health.

google guidelines creating high EAT medical advice

So if you want your content to rank, it needs to be written by people that know their stuff. But did you know that a lot of this gets decided off-site?

“When the website says one thing about itself, but reputable external sources disagree with what the website says, trust the external sources.”

So what is reputation based on? Experience of real users, as well as the opinion of other people who are experts in the topic of the website.

Blogging Like A Pro will show you how to build more authority. (You can read the first 3 lessons.)

5. Site Age Is Important For SEO

New blog owner asked on Quora, “How do I drive decent traffic to my WordPress blog (it’s been a month since I made it and have only managed to get 231 total views with 11 posts?”

In 2017, SerpWoo published a study about how no new sites (with a few exceptions) were ranked in the top results. “Big brands have won the SEO war. Your domain has to be at least 5 years old to get some serious long term rankings going.” I don’t agree with this statement 100 percent, but there is a lot of truth in it.

If you were Google and had to make sure that the results you show are high quality, what would you do? The fact is that very few people look past Page #1 of the search results. Therefore if you put brands and aged sites to Page #1, chances are high that spam content is pretty much kept out of view of searchers.

I’ve seen case studies of several new sites that, with proper strategy and management (UL), are getting thousands of page views at the age of 9 months. Still, the “standard” advice from about blogging best practices from the blogging gurus and courses to come up with a new domain name and register it needs to be questioned. 

Even if your blog is only a few months old, you have an executive decision to make. Are you going to suffer through the Google sandbox or are you better off buying an under-performing, but somewhat aged site on Flippa and build that further? This option could save you a lot of time.

6. Content & Copywriting

When I say content, most people think about content length and in-depth articles. But that is not everything.

Video is EXPLODING right now. If video isn’t part of your digital marketing plans, you’re missing out. 

So if you want to get more traffic from SEO, create and optimize content specifically for YouTube. Also embed video content into your blog posts. This can significantly improve your time on page and bounce rate.

Video & Webinar for Newbies will show you how you can create simple videos with free tools.

7 figure marketing copyInteresting/persuasive copywriting is an additional factor you need to pay attention to. It is the most profitable skill you can ever learn. Every serious entrepreneur must understand it’s principles if they want to reach their goals.

Check out the simple 1-2-3-4 formula for persuasive copy.

7. Support SEO With Social Media

The relationship between social media and SEO isn’t at all clear cut… but it does exist, and it can help you rank #1 if you understand it. Research seems to show that social media helps SEO rank.

The reality is that social media plays a big role in helping companies get their content in front of a larger audience. That leads to many things that benefit SEO, including more backlinks, improved engagement signals, and more owned SERP real estate for branded queries.

The use of social media and similar high traffic sites is the main reason that made Mostly Blogging the success it currently is. It is detailed in this post about high DA content submission sites.

8. Build Links

Many site owners find it too painful to build links, because they hate begging for links. There is a mental barrier to overcome before you can be successful at link building and outsourcing is not a cost-effective option.

Yet not building links is the biggest strategic mistake you can make. Content with links ranks much better. In fact, it is wiser (and more effective) to write a bunch of guest posts than publishing content on your own blog that no one reads.

9. Avoid Fake Footprints

This is very often forgotten in the heat of the action, but your metrics need to be justifiable. What do I mean by that? 

You may have 1,000 backlinks… but are they justified by traffic and social shares? In other words, if your site has close to zero traffic and no one shares your content, those backlinks are fake for sure. And Google knows that. This is why you need to have a balance of traffic, social shares, and baclinks. This is a reason why building links sometimes “doesn’t work”. 

10. Build An Audience

While an email list is considered to be a preferred audience, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook groups are also a way to build one.

The NameSilo example above clearly shows how an audience translates into income. You don’t need millions of people though. If you can get 1,000 people to give you $100 a year, you are already making $100,000. 

Effective Email Marketing will show you the basics of how to build an email list and how to write emails.

11. Build Your Sales Funnel

Traditional websites don’t convert well these days. They are like a sieve – visitors’ land, then disappear, never to be seen again.

Therefore make sure you upgrade your blog with a sales funnel. Take a proven funnel structure and figure out how to tailor it. That is the best way to monetize your traffic.

12. Your Blogger Education

More important than ever, it is necessary to learn blogging best practices that actually work. It is also helpful if your education doesn’t cost a fortune. This is why we created the Mostly Blogging Academy.

To make it even more affordable, we created an All Access Pass where you get all courses for a low price. There is also a $1 trial available.

Want To Create Your Own Online Course?

We have a tutorial on how to easily create an online course on your own blog.

Readers, please share so bloggers discover these blogging best practices and have more successful blogs in 2020. 

If you have any questions, leave a comment below.

I look forward to your views in the comments section. Can you suggest any blogging best practices bloggers should apply in 2020? 

Author: Peter Nyiri

This post was made possible by the support of our readers.

  1. Nicole Valentin

    Great list here! I’ll try to work through these things in the new year. Thanks!

    • Peter Nyiri

      Hey Nicole,
      These points are definitely for application.
      Don’t forget to check out our Academy!

  2. Beth Havey

    I just did some research on E-A-T. As an RN, do I need to include that in any post that touches on health? Is that
    what E-A-T- is about? Thanks, Beth Havey

    • Peter Nyiri

      Hi Beth,
      You don’t necessarily have to include on every blog post, but it should be on your About Page. Also you can put it into your bio.

  3. Morgan

    Morgan here from SLC, UT – Entrepreneur. Trying to build a startup blog and greatly appreciate the post. Gracias!

    • Peter Nyiri

      You’re welcome, Morgan. Don’t forget to take a look at our courses!

  4. Agnes Mugo

    These tips are very helpful. I need to put more effort into link building. I think I have not done enough to gain links. Thank you for the tips.

  5. Lisa Sicard

    Hi Peter, it is amazing to see how many blog posts are published each day! Yikes. At first it makes you feel like why bother? But then when I think about the traffic I do receive, that’s good for that many posts being published a day.
    I certainly agree it is getting harder. I like your point about going after more long tail keywords. Something I will focus on more for 2020.
    I think I would add to build relationships, that is still the most important thing you can do in blogging today and in the future. It’s all about relationships with others and your audience.

    • Peter Nyiri

      Hi Liza, Yes, there is a way. And if you work on it every day, it is becoming more and more crystal clear.

  6. Ryan K Biddulph

    Easy mode is definitely over Peter. We need to put in real work to prosper. Fabulous points all around.

    Ryan

    • Peter Nyiri

      Unfortunately a lot of people are still looking for ways to make money with zero work…

  7. Moss Clement

    Hi Peter,

    Your tips and insights are fantastic. Blogging nowadays involves creating helpful content that adds value to the reader. So if a blogger chooses the easy way out to blogging, I guess the results will not be encouraging. I also love the concept of building links and leveraging long-tail keywords. This keyword type helps in improving one’s chances of ranking higher above the competition because the keywords are more descriptive. It means that your competitor is less likely to use the same keywords as you.
    Thanks for sharing, Peter, and than you too, Janice for publishing!

    • Peter Nyiri

      Hi Moss, Thanks for the feedback. I really believe in super helpful content. Unfortunately a large percentage of the internet is crap…

  8. GetAppsPC

    I think Your Article will help me to rank my website in Google first page. You wrote very good article on it and I will try to follow it. It will be good if you wrote an article about Main Factor or Reason Why a Website is loosing Ranking from search console.

    Thanks for sharing your great thoughts.

  9. Lorenzo Gutierrez

    Solid list +1 for narrowing your content and longtail keywords. I also use SEMrush or Ubbersuggest to find keywords with low search competition.

    This strategy has helped me get some good results.

    • Janice Wald

      So happy to hear our strategies are helping you get good results. Ou Mostly Blogging Academy gives you instructions on how to effectively raise your search engine stats and keep them high. We are having a limited-time offer this Thursday, a free blogging course. https://mostlyblogging.com/academy is the link.
      I also use SEMRush and Ubersuggest. I also like KWFinder.
      Thanks for writing to us.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Lorenzo,
      Thank you for the compliments. I also use SEMRush and Ubersuggest for those purposes. SEMRush is limited on the free plan, so I also use KWFinder.
      Janice

  10. Claire

    I must add, everything seems to change so quickly. It’s so hard to be a step ahead, but thanks to articles like yours, we can atleast get all the known basics and principles right. It feels like a long road, for the little guy!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Claire,
      We’ve started an Academy where we teach those principles like SEO and marketing. It’s exciting to see the Academy grow as we add more courses.
      Janice

  11. Peter Mark

    Blogging is one of the best ways to make money for those who think Blogging is only for making money but apart this, Blogging is actually everything for Blog lovers.

    People think Blogging is very easy and anyone can reach the top but there is much work behind getting to the top on Blogging.

    This post shares such wonderful tips for blogging best practices and these shared practices are useful.

  12. Alison Wright

    Hi! It’s an excellent post! I really like your tip about the fake footprints. There seem to be so many sites that appear out of nowhere and suddenly have thousands of backlinks.
    It’s surprising how many sites still think it’s okay to pay for links.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Alison,
      Thanks for commenting on our article. I appreciate the compliments and I’m glad the tips resonated with you. If you ever need any blogging or marketing help, let us know.
      Janice

  13. Rob Dodsworth

    This is really good stuff. Those numbers at the start are mind boggling! Lots of notes taken and food for thought. Thanks!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Rob,
      Thanks for the compliments.
      Regarding the numbers: Article author and Mostly Blogging Academy Director Peter Nyiri really knows his stuff.
      Thanks for writing to us to tell us you found the information valuable.
      Janice

  14. IB Elite tutors

    This article is very informative for me as I’m a fresher in this blogging field. So, by following these strategies I can increase my blogging traffic as well as will help in my keyword researching. I use Semrush for keyword research now I can improve my research through your useful tips.
    Thanks for this you did a great job.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi IB Elite,
      Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! I’m glad you feel these tips can help you.
      If you need more assistance with keyword research, we have a course starting for less than $8.00.
      http://bit.ly/KeywordSanity
      Janice

  15. Bella D. @ Self-Publishing Made Easy Now

    Thank you for sharing this wonderful article about the best practices in blogging. This is very helpful for all the bloggers out there. Keep on creating informative articles like this.

  16. Ramontj'

    Thanks for this highly informative piece. About avoiding fake footprints, many of us new bloggers get carried away with the idea of building links to our new sites, forgetting that it may work against us if the sites do no have any traffic at all. Looking at this I tend to feel somewhat down, realizing that it’s not as easy as it looks. It becomes obvious that there should always be a feel authenticity and balance. At least, now I know!

  17. Bella D. @ Self-Publishing Made Easy Now

    This article is truly amazing. It can inspire bloggers to really do best in writing. Thank you so much for sharing these best practices when blogging.

  18. Steven J Wilson

    Hi there,

    “Easy mode is over” Ha, so true!

    #4 is everything. I am building my business around building E-A-T for my clients. It is the New SEO strategy as I like to call it. It will help with everything from backlinks, to social shares etc.

    And almost as important as E-A-T is Content! Strategically building both is the key to everything digital marketing related.

    Take care
    Steven J Wilson

  19. Deon Christie

    Thanks for an outstanding post and useful advice, well done! Blogging is indeed hard work, but it’s also rather exciting right? Especially once you get the hang of all the technicalities. Readability, design and presentation. All perfect factors to inspire curiosity.

  20. Rishad

    this guide is really amazing, found useful info that i wanted. i have build a blog now i am focusing on two thing, keyword research and link building, both are important as i found in this article

  21. Sophie Leonard

    Hey Peter,
    You have very well elaborated all the points regarding best blogging practices. I have learnt many new points which I would definitely like to include in my next post.
    Thanks for sharing!
    This is really very valuable and helpful information.

  22. mubarak wishes

    I like your point about going after more long tail keywords. Something I will focus on more for 2020.

    • Janice Wald

      Peter teaches this in his blogging course.
      Thanks for contributing to the discussion.
      Janice

  23. mubarak wishes

    i also focus on long tail keywords thank you for this useful information

  24. Paulo Gilberto Gonçalves

    Thank you very much Peter. For months I have been studying strategies to increase my traffic. Your post will certainly be very useful to me, I will try to apply the techniques you described as much as possible.

  25. Said_Hustlr

    My deepest regards to you both Jane & Peter, I found these blogging best practices very lucrcative especially point 3 and 6. As a fresh new blogger, I was really taken up by the fact of aimaing for mult-word phrases rather than single word ones results in significant traffic growth for starters. Cool !
    Also yes ! video content is the new trend nowadays, I say youtube and friends are humongous ressources and play a crucial role for traffic generation increase.

  26. http://www.townscript.com/o/rickson-111330

    Thanks for sharing this post. This content really helps me to do further action for my blog site. This makes a lot more sense. wish you to write more on this topic. Waiting for your next article

  27. Rickson producer

    Great post.
    It’s given me several ‘ahah!’ moments.
    Thanks.This is so helpful!good to know…

  28. Fariha Iqbal

    I was not aware of some tips mentioned here especially use of long tail keywords as i was doing mistake of using short and generic keywords. Will make use of all these best practices.
    Thanks for sharing.

  29. davidmalan

    Informative blog article really helps me a lot…I have also found some awesome blog post articles on the internet which I would like to share with all of you… Techno Sid

  30. Leandro Freitas

    Excelente artigo! muito obrigado por compartilhar essas excelentes dicas, foi de grande ajuda, muito util.

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  32. sushil kumar singh

    You have made a very good guide for new bloggers, this blog is our favorite and we always keep on learning something by coming here. Inspired by such posts, we have also written a post best hindi blogs

  33. Sri Astro Vastu

    We also follow blogging and would love to know more about how our astrology site in India can benefit from Blogging. We are Sri Astro Vastu | a Reputed Astrology site for all type of kundli services.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Sri,
      Thanks for reaching out. Our Blogging Academy can teach you how your website can benefit from blogging. Our low-cost prices begin at $7.95.
      Janice

  34. Ahtesham

    Beautifully written, I would like to share this blog on my Twitter account.

  35. John

    Thank you for a great post! Long tail keywords, SEO support from Social Media, and quality backlinks are more important than ever.

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