If you are new to the blogging world, then this article could be for you. Not only will it feature useful tips on how to get started, but perhaps most importantly it will provide you with ideas on what to write about. We will use examples from many different sources, but obviously it will not cover all the places where inspiration and ideas spring from.

As you know effective blogs can drive traffic to your website, and let the world know about your opinions and your genius, but only if you have the commitment and the ideas to make it happen. The theme’s role is to enhance your posts, and add to the ideas that you are trying to convey. Sometimes, this may just be a simple way to make the text easy to read, other times, it is to set a scene. If you think of the blog as your weapon, and your theme as your armor, you are on the right lines.

The content of this article can either be used to research and write major blog posts which if you are blogging about a specific industry, say design or photography, will help you write an originally crafted article, and it can also help you write smaller, off the cuff articles. In this case just follow the tips that you feel are relevant.

There are several sources that are always worth checking for blogging ideas. Digg is one, and as a general rule, anything popular on Digg makes a good topic to blog about. If you can, try not to blog about the article directly, but something related to it. This way you are not just repeating what a lot of people have already read, as you are offering something new.

If you are blogging about an industry, there are normally specialist blogs that are always good sources of inspiration. For example, Smashing Magazine and Mashable, are very good sources of web design inspiration.

Delicious too, is a good place for inspiration, and if used well, can be stored for future use should you come across something that you feel maybe useful.

After you obtain your idea, research is the next step in the blogging chain. Google is a good place to begin, and this should help you determine if your blog has been done before, of if it is unique enough to warrant a post.

Digg, can also be used to determine this, and sometimes it can show you an angle that nobody has used. From this you can determine the direction of your blog.

A few good questions on Twitter can help you as well, and if you are feeling ambitious ask people to complete questionnaires about the topic. You can always thank them by posting links on your blog to their website.

Once you have completed all the research and you feel ready to write your article, the next step is to brandish your sword and start writing it. There are some useful tools to bring your genius alive, and sharpen that blogging sword. Scribefire, is a Firefox extension that maybe worth considering if you wish to quote directly from the web. It allows you to grab text from websites, take notes, and drop it directly into your blog.

This brings us on to the mighty blog itself, and how should it be configured. Well, when writing it, make sure that you make the text easy to read, and easy to scan. A simple rule is putting a space between the paragraphs, and try and ensure that you give something of value to a reader from each article. This is key. Bullet points, sub-headings can help too, should the blog be on quite a dense subject, and are always worth considering.

Many believe that blogs should contain images. People do love pictures after all and they are a very good way to break up text, and to draw someone’s attention to the blog. You can either use one of your own, or get them from picture sites. Flickr, is a very good site for Creative Commons-licensed photos, can be used freely on your blog, providing you credit the photographer and provide a link back to their Flickr account. iStockphoto, is a resource which features stock photographs . The quality here is a little higher, and you will have to pay to use it. The cost however, can be as little as £1.

Pictures are worth bearing in mind for the reasons above, and they can also add a talking point and be the direction of the blog itself.

So now you have been blessed with inspiration, written the text, chosen the photos, it is time to put it all together. Place the photos so they are in logical positions in relation to the text. In other words so it makes sense when someone reads it.

Before you publish, it is worth running through a few points just to make sure everything is just as it should be. Preview the post to make sure the layout is right, then spell check it. Use this time to ensure any links work, and that there are no grammatical errors.

Depending on the kind of post it is, it could be an idea to schedule it if you are looking for it to hit a specific audience. Weekend traffic is normally low, so scheduling posts for weekday publication can often be good practise. A point to consider here, is that to take into account time zones. What can be the middle of the night in one country, can actually be early morning in others.

Once you have reached this stage, add tags, select a category, and if it applies, add snippets and “More” links. If you need to, edit the URL.

Ok, so now your blogging sword has cut a hole in the bloggosphere and it has nestled its way into the big bad world, it is time to consider promoting the post. This should be something you should think about, especially for a new blog, or a blog with few visitors.

Twitter is a great way to promote your blog, and if used well will push traffic to it. Bare in mind, that when you use Twitter, it is a good idea not to be robotic about it, but to bring a sense of individuality to each tweet. Robotic tweets are the tweets that get ignored. It could be an idea to add a plugin that automatically updates twitter every time you add an article to your blog?

For specific industries, some industry specific websites carry a news feed or section, and will add your blog to it. This can also be a good way to promote your blog.

Now your blog is out there and promoted what next? Well the next blog of course, it is not going to write itself. If you come up with a good idea for a blog, write it down so you do not forget it. One final tip for your blogging sword, is try and promote discussion. This brings people back when opinions clash providing it is not contrived. On that note, do you ever think you will write a blogging post as good as this one?

If you think about it, most blogs are positive, or at least informative. The blog will tell you how to accomplish something, inform you of a new product, and at the very least aim to steer you in the right direction.

In its own way, this blog is the same, but as it is telling you what not to do, you could argue that this article is a negative one. Either way, if you can avoid making these common errors, by not following these 11 blogging mistakes to avoid, you should be on the right track.

Don’t give up, as blogs take time to become established. You do not want to quit, before your moment of glory takes hold.

Don’t put off the first blog. The first blog will not be your most important blog to your reader, but will probably will be for you. Many writers and bloggers, wait for everything to be “just right”, before kicking off with that first blog. We both know that day never comes.

Don’t blog on a different domain from the rest of your site. Some swear the opposite is true for the prestige of the blog, but having the blog on the same domain as the rest of the site, means the blog is intrinsically linked to you.

Don’t post erratically. A blogging mistake to avoid, is posting at irregular intervals. You do not have to post everyday, but try and be consistent about when you do.

Don’t apologise too much. If your blogs always hi-light the negative sides to it, that is what your readership is left with. So be positive, and only apologise if you really have to.

Don’t loose your focus. Getting lots of traffic to your blog is fantastic, but only if it comes back the next day. It is better therefore, to get a loyal reader that comes back day after day, than a hundred readers for an afternoon. In short, focus on your reader.

Don’t clutter. Millions of widgets, buttons, and kitchen sinks, will annoy your readership, and ultimately, drive them away.

Don’t skimp on the title. In the blogging world, the title is everything. The better titles will attract attention to the blog, as well as wave flags at search engines. A lame title will not bring the world to your brilliant blog.

Don’t write about irrelevant things. The most read blogs are ones that have been targeted to a certain audience, or at least a demographic. If you want your blogs to be read, use this technique.

Don’t run out of steam. The ideal blog will be endless, and never come to a halt because the blogger has nothing left to share with the world. Therefore, it is a good idea to write about something you know, or love. That way you can keep the blog going, and share with the world.

Don’t overload your blogs with ads. I know this is kind of repeating the previous step, but the fact is that if your blog is ad ridden, then your blog becomes secondary to the ads. When that happens, guess what your readership does? Keep the blog the most focused thing on a page, and the ads a little more in the background.

We hope by using these as good pointers on what not to do, your blogs will get off to a good start in life, or if they are already out there, improve. These are common errors, and ones that are easily made. Fortunately, they are easy to correct and improve on, should you find that no one is reading your blog.

By taking heed of these 11 blogging mistakes to avoid, your blogs will be talked about for many years to come.