Last Updated on February 3, 2022
As the year comes to a close, I went back through my archives to find what I consider to be the best blogging posts I’ve written this year.
I’m in no danger of being called a world-renowned expert in blogging, but I’m coming up on my 13th anniversary of this blog, so you can at least say I’m quite experienced on the topic.
Here are what I consider to be my 10 best blogging posts. I hope you find them informative.
1. ‘Stop Asking This Common Blogging Question!’
Get a group of bloggers together — in person or online — and sooner or later a newbie blogger (or perhaps one who’s even been at it for a while) will ask the question. You can say there’s no “One size fits all” answer to the question, but somehow that answer seems unsatisfying. So my answer to the question has become another question.
2. ‘Step “Zero” to Becoming a Successful Blogger’
Site after site comes up with a list of steps to blogging success. But it seems to me these lists, regardless of the number of steps involved, often leave off one important step that should come before any of theirs. So I wrote about what I call “Step Zero.”
3. ‘You Don’t Need a Perfect Blog Post Formula’
Alongside those famous steps to creating a successful blog, there are lists of steps to creating the perfect blog post. So here’s why I take those with a grain of salt as well.
4. ‘Does Your Blog Really Need a Mission Statement? It Depends.’
I really have a thing against mission statements. But bear with me because there’s a good reason for it: most of the time, when I’ve been part of a group that formed a mission statement, a great deal of time was spent crafting it, it was then posted for all to see, and then everyone ignored it from there on out. Your blog might need a mission statement, but it’s no guarantee of success.
5. ‘Is It Wrong to Moderate Comments on a Blog?’
I wrote that there are really two separate issues at the heart of the debate over whether to moderate comments on blogs and websites. One involves moderating before a comment goes up while the other, which seems somehow more sinister to some bloggers, involves moderating comments after they’ve been up, even if only for a few seconds. Here’s my take on the debate.
6. ‘3 Things Every Blog Post Series Needs’
From time to time, the subject of creating blog post series comes up, especially when people fear their post is getting “too long.” Dividing a long post into multiple parts also solves a problem (at least temporarily) of figuring what your next post or posts will be. But if you’re going to make the split, make sure each part has these three traits!
7. ‘When an About Page Isn’t Enough, “Start Here”‘
I definitely believe an About Page is the most important page you can generate as a companion to the main feed, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger recently introduced me to the concept of a Start Here page during an episode of his podcast.
8. ‘A Blogger Answers: “Are Blog Comments Worth It?”‘
I hate this question. I always hate this question. Some bloggers complain that dealing with comments on their blog are an “inconvenience.” Others say more “conversation” is happening on social media anyway, so why keep comments open on their blog. Here’s an answer.
9. ‘Stocking Up: Writing Blog Posts for Rainy Days’
No matter how long you blog, there will be “rainy days,” days on which you don’t have an idea for a post. I point out that if you can manage to write at least one extra post per week, that can make a huge difference in terms of ridding yourself of at least a little pressure.
10. ‘Blog For Your Audience, Not For Stats’
No blogger should need to be reminded of these facts, but in this post, I said this: “Stats can be important. SEO can be important. Neither is more important than your audience.” I go on to explain why I’m not obsessive about my stats and how I use them to make the blog better.
There are my 10 top picks for the year. What do you think of the list? Please go back and visit and leave comments if you missed them the first time around!
