Why Isn’t Your Blog Taking Off? 10 Likely Reasons
You’ve got an interesting blog. You write about a topic you’re genuinely passionate about. You produce new posts on a regular basis, and you put a lot of time and effort into researching, revising, and polishing your work. And you even go out of your way to promote it on social media.
So why isn’t your blog taking off? What’s stopping your website from getting the traffic, attention, and revenue it deserves?
Common Problems Holding Blogs Back
These are some of the most common problems preventing otherwise high-quality blogs from generating momentum:
1. Your approach isn’t original.
There are millions of blogs out there, covering millions of topics – including some you never know existed. If you’re doing the same thing as someone else, or if you’re copying a style or technique that you saw someone else use, you’re not going to catch on with a major audience.
2. You have too much competition.
Similarly, there’s a chance there’s simply too much competition for you. You might have an original approach to a given topic, but if that niche is already cluttered with other bloggers and influencers, existing fans will have little reason to switch to you – and they may not even realize you exist.
3. You aren’t promoting your website.
Even with the best, most original onsite content, people aren’t going to discover your website naturally. You have to promote it if you want it to generate more attention and traffic, using a variety of strategies like PPC ads, social media marketing, and one of the most efficient marketing strategies – search engine optimization (SEO).
4. You aren’t networking.
How much time have you spent networking with other bloggers? Even simple actions, like reaching out with compliments and asking people for tips, can help you expand your circle. Sometimes, you’ll have new collaborative and promotional opportunities stemming from these interactions – other times, you’ll learn something new. No matter what, you’ll stand to benefit.
5. Your publishing schedule is inconsistent.
You might be writing great content, but loyal fans want to see consistency. Are you posting new content at the same time or same day? Can fans follow a predictable schedule to know when you’re going to publish something new?
6. You aren’t writing to a specific audience.
“Good” content by itself isn’t going to guarantee your success. Instead, you need to write “good” content that matters to a specific audience. It’s in your best interest to research your target market, get to know their values, preferences, and thought patterns, then write content specifically for them – rather than a general audience. Doing so narrows the total number of people interested in your blog, but will sharply increase the interest of those relevant readers (which is exactly what you need). You can always broaden your scope later.
7. Your work isn’t readable.
Just because a blog post is well-written doesn’t mean it’s readable. Readability is an important aspect of your blog taking off. It’s also about formatting as much as it is wording. Readable blog posts tend to have short, concise sentences with simple vocabulary. They’re often broken up with numbered and bulleted lists (as well as sub-sections). They also tend to use bold and italic formatting to make things easier on the eyes.
8. Your work doesn’t provide real value.
Your blog may cover a topic thoroughly, but what’s the bottom-line value? Do your readers walk away with some new strategy they can try in their professional life to make more money? Do they find a new way to relieve stress or manage their emotions? Or do they get a strong laugh? There are many ways to add value, but you have to have something if you want to succeed.
9. You haven’t collected feedback.
How much feedback have you gotten from readers? If you haven’t gotten any comments, reviews, or direct suggestions, you’ll have little way to know what, if anything, is “wrong” with your blog. Go out of your way to get some outside perspective.
10. You haven’t given it enough time.
If it feels like you’re doing everything right, and you’ve covered all the points on this list already, it could be that you simply haven’t given it enough time. It takes months, and sometimes years, for good blogs to take off. Keep doing your best work in the meantime.
Mastering Your Approach
We’ve listed some reasons why your blog isn’t taking off. Your website may suffer from one, some, or all of the above problems, but try not to get discouraged. Remember, blogging is a long-term strategy and not something that becomes a success overnight (no matter what you might have heard elsewhere). Remain patient, analyze your current efforts, and keep making improvements to maximize your chances of long-term success.