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There's not too much philosophy in having a blog, basically anyone of us can make one. There is quite a difference between having a personal blog (the kind that states "I'm thinking about" or "I did this or that") and a specific one, focused on a specific domain or niche. What sets apart a good blog from a lesser good one, from the visitor's point of view, is the quality of the post, but search engines don't think that way.

Regardless of the nature of the blog, there are some small tricks that can help improve its performance on search engines and make an interactive and social blog.

• The first step when creating a blog it's choosing very carefully the domain/niche in which you want to contribute. You should be able to express the mail theme/idea of the blog in one or more keywords/key-phrase. A blog that covers several subjects becomes harder to optimize, especially if they are not interconnected. To illustrate this idea better, a blog that writes about cartoons and financial news, can be harder to optimize, and the traffic will be generated by brand recognition and popularity rather that keywords. The blog should be relevant to the chosen theme and keywords. In conclusion, to keep things simple, my advice is to write what you know best; if you are experts in one field, the world will be interested in your opinion.
• In very close relation with choosing the right domain is defining the target audience. It doesn't hurt to ask yourself: Whom am I addressing and why would they be interested in what I am writing? By answering these questions, the concept of the blog becomes clearer and it becomes easier to find the right tone towards your readers.
• Once you've made up your mind about the domain and target audience, you can choose the title and URL for the blog (they can be different). The title should be catchy, easy to write and to remember. Choosing the most convenient platform is another important step. The most popular blogging platforms are Wordpress, Blogger and Tumblr. Personally I recommend Wordpress from various reasons; one would be that Blogger leaves a lot to be desired from an administration point of view. Wordpress expands its functionality and options on design if the blog is not hosted on their server, so it is a good idea to buy a domain and hosting. Tumblr is a very interesting and appealing option for a very social blog; let's say a happy mix between a blog and Twitter, fast and easy. Nevertheless, from a SEO point of view, I think Wordspress is still the best solution.
• According to your preferences it's a good idea to take some time when choosing the theme and design. You can choose custom designs for photo blogs, newspaper layouts, themes that allow multilevel comments and blogs with 2, 3 even 4 columns. It's good to always have in mind your personal needs from the blog and the type of information you offer, so as to publish it fast, efficiently and user-friendly.
• If you can custom the design of your theme, go ahead and do it. No one wants all blogs to look the same. A blog, just like a house, needs a little "personal touch".
• In case you want to buy a domain for the blog, this is highly advised especially when you notice a considerable growth in your traffic.
• The next step is to improve the aspect, performance and usability of the blog by adding plug-ins. My general recommendations include: All in One SEO Pack, Contextual Related Posts, Feed Statistics, Google XML Sitemaps, Sociable or SocioFluid for Mac lovers, Tweet Meme Retweet Button, Wordpress.com Stats, WP-reCaptcha, WP Super Cache, WP to Twitter and more. It is important to keep a right balance of plug-ins and do not add too many as they slows down the loading time for the blog.

• The advantage to having an SEO plug-in is that you can make a clear distinction between the title of the post and the SEO title. The first one allows you to be creative, attract and engage the readers, the second helps you indicate search engines what the post is about by using rich keywords phrases. If your intention is to attract visitors then it doesn't hurt to use a keywords suggestion tool (WordTracker, Keyword Tool) and even Google Trends.
• Use photos, not just text. Images make the post more attractive. My advice is to use good quality images, not too big though, relevant to the subject and definitely SEO. In other words do not forget to fill out the "title and "alt" for any picture with suggestive keywords.
• Because socialization is the word of the day, let's not forget to make our blog more social. I've mentioned before some of the plug-ins we can use for this:
  • Sociable allows us to publish a post, a photo or a page on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon and other social bookmarking website;
  • Tweet Meme Retweet button is exactly what it says, a button in the post with which you can tweet or retweet that post;
  • WP to Twitter sends an automatic feed to your Twitter account when you make a new post.
• The feed of a blog plays a very important role. Because there are already loads of contributors to content on the Internet, it becomes a difficult task to follow all and enter on every site or blog to see what's new. The most convenient option is to use a reader which you can organize any way you want. The Feed Statistics plug-in offers you stats on the number of your feed subscribers. The way you wish to present your feed to readers it's your own choice. If you publish a full feed, a major disadvantage would be less traffic to your website. If you publish a partial feed, the disadvantage is that you might lose readers that do not engage with the title and abstract.
• Let's not forget that it's not enough to have an interesting blog, it needs also to be out there. For traffic and exposure you need link building. Blog Catalog is a good source of traffic and a blogger community, but the possibilities are endless.