Find It Friday: Blog Etiquette Tips

We’re often asked the question – ‘When should I link to other blogs?’ so I decided to do a post on blog etiquette. Many bloggers make mistakes in their early days, and that is easy enough to do particularly if you see inappropriate examples of blog practice elsewhere. However, by paying attention to etiquette on your blog, not only will it be appreciated but you’ll earn kudos points too.

Blog Etiquette

• Credit your sources: Always link to another blog if you are using their image or using one of their ideas or referring to their content. If you aren’t sure how to link, see our post on How to Hyperlink within a Blog Post. Not only is it good manners but it also protects you against being told off by a photographer or another blogger for ‘stealing’ their content.
• Relevance: Link to the relevant blog post rather than the blog in general. Remember that blog posts will disappear into the archives so it will be difficult for other readers to find the relevant post. This is particularly important if your blog post was inspired by theirs.
• Check Guidelines: Many bloggers will post guidelines regarding ‘borrowing’ their images or content so do check them first. If in doubt, always ask.
• Do not plagarise by copying content from another blog.  If you find something interesting on another blog that you feel you could add your own spin to, then by all means quote or paraphrase the relevant section and include a link and then provide your own opinion for the remainder of the post. By linking to the other blog post, he/she will see the link and may visit your blog.
• Commenting: When commenting on another blog post, do write a comment that engages with the topic rather than a vague ‘thanks for sharing’ or ‘nice blog post’. By engaging with the topic, you are paying the blogger a compliment.
• Replying to comments: If someone writes an engaging comment on your blog, it is considered nice to reply (either individually or to a group of commentators depending on how many comments you get).
• Be respectful to others.  If you are in doubt about posting the content (for example, if you are having a rant about something), then save it in draft and reread the next morning. Remember once you hit ‘publish’, it cannot be retracted.
• Take your time: If someone leaves a negative or unsavoury comment on your blog, do not reply when you are feeling emotional (hurt or angry) as it may become a huge storm in a teacup.  Respond in a calm controlled manner.  If you wish, you can elect to moderate all comments before they are published which would prevent anyone else seeing a negative comment or you can always delete it. It is your blog 🙂
• Don’t spam: Do not write a ‘sales-type’ comment on someone else’s blog or include a link to your blog (unless it is really relevant).  If someone wants to find you, the link from your name should work to bring them to your blog.

Blogging is fun and generally, everyone in the blogging community is hugely supportive of each other. Blogging will be all the more enjoyable when you are confident that you have mastered ‘blog tiquette’.

Image created at Quick Meme

If you have any questions or think of any more ‘blog etiquette’ tips, do include them in the comments below.