Every writer knows the feeling. Hours staring at a computer, trying to create content that people want to read. The only problem is after spending six hours on the computer, writing up the storm, the blog they worked so hard on has no traffic, no visitors, and no income. Let’s see why that is.
Why do blogs fail? Blogs can fail for a multitude of reasons, but the main reasons are:
- The blogger doesn’t take it seriously and treats it as a hobby.
- The blog does not deliver the information in an appropriate way.
- The blog and blogger are not promoting anything.
- The content is not engaging.
- The blog is not generating revenue.
Contrary to the very possible reality that blogging is the key to financial freedom and an escape from the daily rat race at work, in order to help a blog succeed, and not fail like so many others it is important to understanding that the most successful bloggers treat blogging as a business and have put extensive amounts of time and resources into mastering their craft. In this article, I’ll talk a little about each reason to help you succeed and help you avoid these pitfalls.
What Are Bloggers Doing Wrong?
To drive the point home, the mistakes that cause blogs to fail are actually easy to avoid but hard to follow through. We have people thinking they are going to be the next great blogger but don’t understand that you have to put time and effort into it.
If you are serious about blogging as a career, you can’t do it sporadically and it can’t be treated as just a hobby. It has to be treated as a business. If you don’t put the time and effort into it, it will fail like anything else.
Bloggers also need to understand their audience and know how to deliver information in a way that suits their target audience. When writing about the topic, imagine that you are speaking to these people individually. Are you in a board room or talking to a friend or casual passerby about your topic? Based upon what you are writing about, and who you are wanting to listen to you, pretend you are in that environment and write accordingly.
Their content is not engaging and isn’t promoting anything. A blog should operate as a call to action. If the content is not engaging enough or promoting what you arrived for to begin with and the writer isn’t taking steps to be an authority in the field why would anyone listen?
If you are going to write for a living it is important to understand how successful blogs generate revenue. It could be from promoting a product, a company, or a service. It depends on the writer, what they are trying to accomplish, and what partnerships they may have developed to grow as a blogger. Whatever the reason, knowing how to generate revenue as a blogger is of utmost importance.
How Do You Avoid These Fatal Blog Mistakes?
You want to achieve financial freedom, right? Work in your pajamas? Sip on some fruity drink while sitting on the beach with your laptop? Of course, you do! Why else would you be here? While blogging can be an enjoyable experience, it is very important to understand that you cannot treat it like any other hobby. As mentioned above, you have to put in work on your blog. The more you post, the more successful your blog will become.
Frequent posting is important for many reasons but the reason that I am going to focus on is relevance. Think of your favorite singer or author of your favorite book. How often do you look at or listen to anything they say? If they are your favorite, I would imagine that it would be quite a bit.
Sure, there are one-hit wonders, but that is exactly what they are. ONE. HIT. WONDERS. Build your audience with frequent posting and incorporating social media when you post. That right there will help ensure success.
The Blog Does Not Give Information Properly.
The way that you share information with someone is extremely important. I’ll give you a real-life experience I had that I will never forget. My family and I saw what we thought could be a satellite in the sky and asked another gentleman in the parking lot about it.
What I didn’t realize I was about to get a long-winded and kind of annoying response to the question. I nearly forgot why we were talking, to begin with. Try to be direct and to the point with information being provided.
Another thing on this subject that is important is the tone of the information being provided. When people visit your blog, they are looking for information whether it’s in regards to a purchase or they just want to know how to do something.
While it is great to have a personality, and you should when you are writing, you can’t spend too much time telling jokes or going around the subject. Answer the question personably, like a friend, but get to the point. People don’t like reading long texts.
The Blog is Not Promoting Anything
I cannot stress the importance of this. Honestly, this section actually deserves its own article. I alluded to this earlier but when readers come to your blog they are looking for information on these things:
- A product.
- A service.
- A task.
- An interest.
If your blog does not do any of those things and you’re only writing about your missing shoe, you probably won’t be seeing a lot of traffic to your blog posts. When writing independently on a blog, think about the topics that truly interest you. Then, take some time to contemplate on what you would want to know about that subject if you don’t know already or even if you do know and are an expert in it think about what someone new to it would want to know. Make sure you post relevant content on the subject regularly to become an authority on the subject.
Remember this as well, it is also important to promote yourself as a blogger. Look for guest writing positions, post to social media, look at your emails to friends and businesses and invite them to your blog. Self-promotion is just as important as promoting on any other topic.
Content That is Not Engaging
This ties in with properly giving information and promotion but I feel it’s necessary to speak a little more in-depth on this. While the content you are giving may be relevant to what the reader is there for, if the content is not engaging, as in, able to hold their attention, don’t expect to get very many readers. Make sure you know your target audience and how they look to receive information.
Every reader is not the same. Some readers may be looking for the most detailed information step-by-step that can be provided and would probably just get an instruction manual instead. Most other individuals just want a quick read or a bit of information to help with a quick question or trying to make a purchasing decision and looking for recommendations.
Whatever the case may be, make sure you convey that information according to your desired audience. Too much information at one time and you might lose your reader. Too little information and you may have not provided the assistance they were needing. Take care when writing to avoid this.
The Blog is Not Generating Revenue
Here is the biggest reason outside of the others of why blogs fail and aspiring bloggers give up on the blogging career path. “I’m writing my butt off. Why don’t I have any money coming in?” Now, if you haven’t realized most bloggers, unless they are guest writers or have other arrangements for writing content do not get paid for the actual blog they are writing.
The way to look at blogging really is as a form of marketing. It is bringing awareness to a particular subject or product that people are inquiring about. Make sure that you took a few minutes to look over the product, or even use it. That will give you the ability to write engaging content to help promote the product, yourself, and generate revenue.
The most successful bloggers, the ones that don’t even have to put actual clothes on to go to work and can spend all day on the beach have mastered the art of affiliate marketing within their individual niche. Affiliate marketing is when an individual or business gets paid commission to help promote and sell another business’s product. That is actually one of the main reasons a blogger needs to make sure their content is engaging.
If a blog cannot maintain a reader’s attention with great, relevant content and provide valuable information to the reader, they can’t build their affiliate business or subscriptions. Make sure the reader is getting something of value from you. If they are, building that “Life on a beach” dream isn’t too far away. I hope this post answered any questions about why blogs fail and also gave you the information to help you avoid the same fate as so many other bloggers.
