Ten Tips to a Better Blog

Greetings, dear friends.  I've had this post in draft for awhile, because I didn't want anyone to think I was haranguing them.   However, you know and I know, that you've most likely seen all of these (what I'm calling) blunders here.  I'm not even sure the post title is the best--maybe Ten Reasons Why I Don't Read Your Blog, Ten Ways to Receive More Comments???   So, the idea is not to hold myself up as a smarty pants, since I've probably been guilty of most, if not all, of them, (maybe even in this very post!) but ponder over some points you/I may want to consider.  Okay, these are my bug-a-boos.  They are in no particular order.

Ten Tips to a Better Blog

Dos:

1. Make sure you blog doesn't take too long to load. 
2. Check that photos are large enough to see details.  If a photo of an entire room or table scape is about the size of four postage stamps, it's probably too small.  Go for the gusto--if it's a great shot, give it all you've got (My max. width is 610px, do you know what yours is?).
3. Evaulate if the font is big enough to be seen clearly.   Consider 14 px or so.  (Check THIS chart.)  Small fonts cause eye strain.  (I know I'm getting up there in age, but for whatever reason, my eyes can see the distance of a computer screen perfectly.) But who wants eye strain?
4. Make sure the font is not overly light.
5. Show off a good "After" photo first or early in the post, so I can anxiously await the how-tos.
6. Foster commenting.  Since Blogger messed with threaded comments, some blogs will not allow comments.  (See instructions below*) 
7. Neaten up those sidebars.  To the best of your ability, center the buttons and gadgets.  You can center a button by placing the coding between <center> and </center>

Don'ts

1. Bother with an overly cutesy font.  I'm not against "cute," but again, it just makes text more difficult to read.  Please save the creativity for your projects.  The most readable font has little "feet."
2. Center all of your text, or at least reconsider doing it.  This may work well at times, but if one or two words are consistently left alone on their own line, please think about left justifying.
3. Use bad grammar.  Okay, I'm no grammarian, and I almost never remember the proper place to use lie vs. lay.  I'm sure I leave participles dangling frequently.  We all make typos.  I'm talking about blatant nails-on-chalkboard bad.  If you know you are not strong on grammar, enlist a buddy to proofread for you.
4. Make up words.  For instance:  "This is a rufflelump.  Is that even a word?"  Please take a moment to open a new tab and check to see if "rufflelump" is a word.  If you're going to make up a word, own it.
   

After I made my list up all nice and neat, I added another tip, so there are really eleven, but I liked the sound of "ten" so much better.  Maybe I need to add a twelfth and say "12.  Truth in Post Titles!"  At least it will help to keep me humble.  Maybe.

What would you add?

Edited to add (already!):  The HUGE annoyances of word verification and music.  I originally didn't include them because so much has been said against them already.  Although, apparently not enough!

* To change your comments go  Design -->Settings -->Comments The 3rd option can be switched to Pop-Up window. Good luck!