Blogging advice

As I read through comments and deleted spam this morning, I thought it was time for some tips and questions. Please feel free to chime in with your comments or suggestions.

Advice

Create and/or update your Gravatar. Upload a photo. It does not need to be of you, but upload a photo. Also, put a link to your blog in your Gravatar profile.
If you hope to have a global readership, add a Google translate widget.
If someone leaves you a thoughtful comment, leave a thoughtful response.
Think about mobile users. If you display every post on your home page, it will be almost impossible for a mobile user to scroll to the bottom to see your sidebar or to find the follow button.
Refrain from leaving comments asking a blogger to follow you. Most likely they will not.

Questions

For all my fellow bloggers, I thought these questions and your responses might help new bloggers along the way. Pick one or two or answer them all! Respond in comments or create your own post and create a link back to this post.

Do you respond to every comment, even if it is just an emoji?
Are there styles, colors, or fonts that make reading a blog more difficult?
Under what circumstances would you block a user?
Are there certain topics you refuse to engage with?
How do you feel about blogging awards?
How old is your current blog?
Do you respond to prompts?
Do the number of your blog followers matter to you?
What motivates you to follow or unfollow a blog?
What is your blogging pet peeve?

My responses:

Do you respond to every comment, even if it is just an emoji? I try respond to every comment, but if they are simply emojis I will just ‘like’ the comment and move on.
Are there styles, colors, or fonts that make reading a blog more difficult? I find white fonts on dark backgrounds harder to read and I like an average size font. Too small and I squint too much, too large and it makes the flow of reading more difficult.
Under what circumstances would you block a user? I would block for constant spamming, or offensive behavior.
Are there certain topics you refuse to engage with? I try to stay away from arguing politics or religion. I will post my own opinions on my blog from time to time, or write about my life experience. I will comment on those topics on other blogs, but I try to keep a rational and cool head.
How do you feel about blogging awards? In the beginning, I felt validated as a new blogger. Now I do not give them much credence but I am happy for those who do.
How old is your current blog? 3 years plus.
Do you respond to prompts? Yes, from time to time.
Do the number of your blog followers matter to you? Not really except as a way to see if new people are finding my blog and following.
What motivates you to follow or unfollow a blog? The subject matter and the writing style usually draw me in. I unfollow bloggers that are unjustly rude to other bloggers, or whose content I personally find offensive. I like kindness.
What is your blogging pet peeve? WordPress unannounced or unwelcome change and glitches.