Top five tips for new bloggers.

1. KISS You know what that means right? Keep it simple _ _ _. You can fill in the gap but in this case the second s is for startup. If you keep it nice and simple at the start by choosing a generic format and not getting bogged down on gadgets, widgets and themes, you will get your blog up much quicker and can get started on the real guts which is the content you put in it.
2. Tag it. Use your tags on all your posts and photos too where you can. Do it right from the start and continue to do it for the life of your blog. You will get "google juice" for it, your readers will be able to search the blog much easier and if you want to use your blog as part of your portfolio in the future it will be much easier to link your posts to relevant areas in your portfolio.
3. Link it. Linking to other sites takes your readers on a journey and adds to the interactivity of your blog. It also helps search engines like Google to increase your page rank so that more traffic will be attracted to your blog.
   
4. Don't Cram it. Use of photos is good but too much becomes overload. Restrict your photos to one or two max per post. If you want to use more then link to a photo sharing site like flickr or better still chuck in a badge or a widget. Too much in the way of writing will probably be a bad thing too. Make a point, substantiate it with some links to other blogs or websites and then ask for some comments.
5. Comment back. Once you do get some readers, you'll want them to share their thoughts on your musings right? Otherwise what's the point of using a blog? If someone challenges your ideas on your blog, don't hide away from them, comment back and start a discussion. And go over to other peoples blogs and share your ideas on their sites. Chances are they will head to your site then to see what you have to say in your own domain.