A method to reduce noise and vibration between separate blade segments of a jointed wind turbine rotor blade includes determining an actual offset at a chord-wise joint line between the shell members of the first and second blade segments at a load condition on the jointed wind turbine rotor blade, wherein the offset is any one or combination of a flap-wise offset, a twist-wise offset, or a yawl-wise offset. The method defines a modified configuration of the joint structure at a no-load condition on the wind turbine rotor blade that compensates at least partially for the actual offset at the load condition, and the first and second blade segments are connected with the modified configuration of the joint structure.