These are my recommended top 8 essential elements to include on your blog page.
Title
Make the title as catchy and relevant to your blog content as possible. Consider what people may be searching for and use words that will help the search engine identify your blog as having the necessary content.
Author Profile:
As with a book, readers like to know a little bit about the author. Write a few short lines about yourself to give a brief overview. I would advise against giving out any details that can allow people to trace you to your home address, such as a real name etc. I would recommend choosing a pseudonym when you begin blogging and stick to that.
Author Photo
You may wish to add to the personal touch. I myself use a photo that while recent would not easily identify me if out and about. It is my intention to be recognized on the Internet only and not while out shopping with the kids!
Blog Introduction
Let your readers know what the blog is about and what your blogs aim is. Again this is no different to what an author may do with a book, except the introduction for a blog should be considerably shorter, perhaps no longer than 4 short paragraphs.
Categories and table of contents
With blogs you tend to only display a few at a time (perhaps 8) and as new posts push old posts further down the line (and off front page) having a table of contents with posts separated into categories is a great way for readers to be able find other posts they may be interested in. Also you could have a section, which highlights your most popular commented upon posts.
Links
Swapping blog site addresses (links/URL's) with other bloggers and displaying them on your blog could help improve your search engine ranking but only if the linked blogs are similar topics to yours.
Blog posts – blog content
Your blog is not a blog without content! My advice would be to write about what you know.
Reference sources properly with links. Read up on copyright law and do not use images or directly copy text without seeking permission of the author or artist or referring to their terms of use, which should be displayed on their web/blog pages. If there is no copyright message, assume NO copying is allowed without their prior permission.
Copyright message
Some writers on the Internet will prohibit all copying without seeking prior permission. I am one such writer. But others may be happy to share their work as long as you clearly credit the work to them and provide a link back to their site. Details of their restrictions and uses are usually displayed somewhere on their blog. Decide for yourself whether you allow or prohibit copying and then detail these terms accordingly on your blog.
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