Anyone that has ever tried keeping a regular blog maintained and populated with great content knows the heartache of having very little audience to enjoy their creation. Even the best blogs out there had a stumbling period in the beginning when they had to draw traffic to their brand new blog.
This is an issue for blogging rookies and veterans alike. What are the reasons for people not being drawn to your blog and why is no one reading it?
Some of the answers are a little simpler than you might think, while others read like a list of Biblical sins, For instance:
ENVY
The worst way you could possibly approach writing blog content and maintaining a blog page is to do it with envious intent. Don’t compare your blog to others with unrealistic expectations. Like most professional things, using envy of others as your driving force usually ends up in frustration and failure.
Don’t ask yourself why a certain other blogger is getting all of the attention. Instead, ask what you can do to later your blog in order to get that same sort of attention. Don’t envy others for their success; use them as a motivational tool that will help get you to the next step.
YOUR BLOG TOPIC IS NOT UNIQUE
If you have a common topic as the focus of your blog, you’re going to run into the issue of over-saturation. For instance, if you are going to be operating a blog about health eating and recipes, you had better have a unique approach or something that your competitors can’t offer. If you are blogging about a topic that thousands of others have already started blogging about, you need a catchy hook that will get you to the top of Google searches.
In cases like this, even a dedicated social media attack sometimes won’t yield many rewards. The magic in a situation of over-saturation comes down to your ability to make your blog interesting without the tricks behind social media and creative tailoring of keywords.
YOU’RE LAZY ABOUT POSTING
Establishing and running a successful blog requires dedication. This means regular posts that your readers can come to expect with some degree of consistency. If you’re only posting once every two weeks, you’re not going to get a large readership—blogs that even only post once a week have a hard time establishing a sturdy readership.
Try to post at least twice a week. A post every day would be even better, but reality has to step in at some point, especially if maintaining your blog isn’t your sole source of income.
One strategy you can take if you have problems posting regularly is to write your posts in advance. If you can keep a stockpile of 8-10 blog posts that are written, polished, and ready to go, you’ll stay ahead of schedule and won’t find yourself rushed or stressed to get that next post up.
IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
Sure, your readers are going to want to know about you. But that’s what an “About Me” page is for. No one is going to want to re-visit a blog where every post is all about you. Besides, the point of keeping a blog is to inform readers and to give them content they want to read.
If you want to write about yourself for others to read, you need to make it clear from the start that your blog is more or less a journal. This will basically ensure that you lose the majority of your readers, but transparency is the best approach when blogging.
It is perfectly okay to include personal reflections, opinions, or experiences in your posts form time to time. However, there is a very fine line between an occasional personal reference and a blog that has a “me, me, me” feel to it.
YOU”RE BORING YOUR READERS:
This can be linked to the previous reason but has a flavor all its own. When writing your content, make sure you aren’t just retreading or rewording the same old thing you have written about in the past. Also don’t bother writing blog posts on information that is common knowledge. Unless you have groundbreaking information on why the sky is blue, do not write a blog post about how the sky is blue.
Your readers want to identify with your content. If they don’t, they’re going to find it hard to carte about your writing, no matter how good it might be. Try to ask them questions that will get them thinking. Encourage discussion of those questions in your comments. (FYI…this is also a great way to get people to share your links with others).
YOU’RE PLAYING IT TOO SAFE:
If you keep posting generic content, people are going to notice after a while. Step outside of your comfort zone and stir things up from time to time. Controversy can sometimes be a good thing, especially when it comes to attracting new readers. While you certainly don’t want to polarize your audience, you also want them to know that you are willing to offer something new when the need arises.
Taking risks will also make you a better writer. Don’t be afraid to rile people up from time to time (but, on the other hand, make sure you aren’t being purposefully rude). Striking a nerve with your audience simply means that you have been successful in showing that you are passionate about the topic your blog is centered around.
NO CONNECTIONS:
Participating in social media as a blogger is the equivalent of a small business owner hitting up a bar after worked to talk shop with people that he hopes might be interested in his industry. It can be awkward, unsatisfying, and downright miserable at times. Yet, on the other hand, it can also prove very successful and is a necessary part of attracting new readers to your blog.
You need to make friendships and connections in social media circles—particularly on Facebook, Twitter and, depending on your industry, LinkedIn. Becoming involved in these kinds of circles means that you will increase your visibility among like-minded individuals. And once your name is seen enough, your blog should start taking off.
You also need to make a point to network with other bloggers. Participate in the comments on their blogs and mention them on your social media platforms. Having connections in the right places can do more for your blog than any other item on this list.
YOUR WRITING SUCKS
Let’s face it…we weren’t all born to write. If you dream of one day running a successful blog, you’re going to have some decent chops at crafting content. If you don’t, you can always hire a ghostwriter to do the writing for you. There are many successful blogs that go this route. Be warned, though: ghostwriters can be expensive. There are some out there that charge incredibly low rates, but with ghostwriting, you usually get what you pay for.
The other route is to take some online courses in writing to see if you can improve your skills. Do whatever you need to do to get good writing on your blog because if it is riddled with errors and makes no sense, you’ll be sinking before you put the proverbial boat in the water.
Chances are that if you are suffering from any of these issues, you can work towards changing them pretty quickly. Maintaining a blog can be fun and rewarding when you have all of your priorities in order and can give it the attention it needs.
It is hard work, though. Not everyone has the time, talent, and energy to make a real go of it. Think about some of the chances you’d have to make in your life to ensure that you would be able to consistently churn out great content and keep readers interested. If you come up with a solution without much of a problem, you shouldn’t have an issue ins drawing readers to your blog.