Why Do Some Blog Fails.
Whether you are just starting to blog or you have been blogging for a while, I’m sure you have pondered the question “Why do some blogs fail?” The answer to this question can be just as important as “What makes a blog successful?”. I’m pretty sure that most bloggers do a little research on how to make their blog successful before they start to blog. I wonder if just as many contemplate on what could cause their blog to fail. I speculated on it and did a little research to educate myself on what can keep blogs from being successful. I found some common mistakes that can cause some blogs to fail while others follow the path to success.
I’m certain when someone decides to start blogging, they want everyone to be interested in what they have to say. When you are sharing valuable information about something that you are passionate about, you naturally assume there are other people passionate about reading about it as well. So you usually start blogging with the mindset that you have much knowledge about your passion and you want to share it with everyone ready to learn about it. How could everyone not be interested, right? This is most likely true but it’s also sound thinking to follow a few guidelines so you will be blogging in a way that will make people want to read it without growing bored or disinterested. You also want your writing to be easy to understand and follow. It’s important to think about why blogs don’t fail as well as why they do fail. I have listed a few common mistakes that can cause a blog to fail and ways that you can prevent it.
Table of Contents
Not having a sense of purpose or proper direction
This is why it is important to take the time to examine what topic you want to blog about and select a “niche” before you establish a website. You don’t want to blog about one topic this week and blog about something totally different next week. You want each blog to have relevance to the prior one so your blog has a direction. Then your readers can gauge what type of content they can expect in your future blog posts and you will hold their interest so they will return to experience your upcoming blog posts with great enthusiasm.
Having a website that is cluttered and hard to navigate
You want your website to be organized, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. The first page your visitors see is your homepage. Your homepage should contain what’s on your site, where to find it, and how to contact you. You want your website easy for your visitors to navigate and find what they want to read quickly so they don’t have to click on a million things to get to the content they are interested in. Taking the time to set up your website properly is definitely worth it in the long run.
Not being consistent with the frequency of your blog posts
Whether you decide to post daily, weekly, or even monthly, you have to be consistent in the frequency of your posts. If your readers expect your blog to be updated at specific intervals and they return to find nothing new, you will lose followers because your readers will think your blog is dead and won’t bother to return. So random, sporadic posts are not a good way for your blog to become successful and will ultimately cause your blog to fail.
Having titles that are irrelevant to the articles themselves
Sure, you want to capture your reader’s attention but you want to do it with an interesting title that relates to your post. That way, your post title will attract your reader while also having relevance to the content. If your reader doesn’t feel the content delivers what the title promised, they will lose interest.
Poorly written posts
By this, I’m not speaking about content but about writing form. You don’t want your post to be filled with grammatical errors, such as word misspellings, improper word forms (such as their vs there, your vs you’re, and its vs it’s), and poor sentence structure. Your visitors want the content they are reading to be clear, concise, and easy to interpret. If your posts are filled with grammatical errors, your readers won’t bother to finish reading them. It turns me off to encounter misspelled words and improper word forms when I’m reading something. I end up focusing more on the grammatical errors than the content itself. You want your message to come across clearly. So, you should proofread 2 or 3 times, use spellcheck, or have someone reliable read it before you post it. A set of fresh eyes might notice something that you missed. I feel this is one of the most important tips to follow when writing your blog.
Not making your content easy to share
This one should be a no-brainer. When your followers read something valuable and interesting, they want to share it with friends, family, and co-workers. Make it easy for them. Include relevant share buttons for Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Lots of people will share on Facebook as well as “Like” it. Make sure these buttons are easy to access. Sharing with social media is a great way to expose your blog to new audiences and gain new followers.
Not engaging your readers
Try to follow up and reply to every comment, if possible. Responding to comments can help you gain loyal followers because they will relate to you on a more personal level. Also, acknowledging helpful comments will send your readers the message that you feel their input is valuable and makes them want to return to your blog.
Losing interest and motivation
Whether you are just starting to blog or you have been blogging for a while, I’m sure you have pondered the question “Why do some blogs fail?” The answer to this question can be just as important as “What makes a blog successful?”. I’m pretty sure that most bloggers do a little research on how to make their blog successful before they start to blog. I wonder if just as many contemplate on what could cause their blog to fail. I speculated on it and did a little research to educate myself on what can keep blogs from being successful. I found some common mistakes that can cause some blogs to fail while others follow the path to success.
I’m certain when someone decides to start blogging, they want everyone to be interested in what they have to say. When you are sharing valuable information about something that you are passionate about, you naturally assume there are other people passionate about reading about it as well. So you usually start blogging with the mindset that you have much knowledge about your passion and you want to share it with everyone ready to learn about it. How could everyone not be interested, right? This is most likely true but it’s also sound thinking to follow a few guidelines so you will be blogging in a way that will make people want to read it without growing bored or disinterested. You also want your writing to be easy to understand and follow. It’s important to think about why blogs don’t fail as well as why they do fail. I have listed a few common mistakes that can cause a blog to fail and ways that you can prevent it.
Not having a sense of purpose or proper direction
This is why it is important to take the time to examine what topic you want to blog about and select a “niche” before you establish a website. You don’t want to blog about one topic this week and blog about something totally different next week. You want each blog to have relevance to the prior one so your blog has a direction. Then your readers can gauge what type of content they can expect in your future blog posts and you will hold their interest so they will return to experience your upcoming blog posts with great enthusiasm.
Having a website that is cluttered and hard to navigate
You want your website to be organized, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. The first page your visitors see is your homepage. Your homepage should contain what’s on your site, where to find it, and how to contact you. You want your website easy for your visitors to navigate and find what they want to read quickly so they don’t have to click on a million things to get to the content they are interested in. Taking the time to set up your website properly is definitely worth it in the long run.
Not being consistent with the frequency of your blog posts
Whether you decide to post daily, weekly, or even monthly, you have to be consistent in the frequency of your posts. If your readers expect your blog to be updated at specific intervals and they return to find nothing new, you will lose followers because your readers will think your blog is dead and won’t bother to return. So random, sporadic posts are not a good way for your blog to become successful and will ultimately cause your blog to fail.
Having titles that are irrelevant to the articles themselves
Sure, you want to capture your reader’s attention but you want to do it with an interesting title that relates to your post. That way, your post title will attract your reader while also having relevance to the content. If your reader doesn’t feel the content delivers what the title promised, they will lose interest.
Poorly written posts
By this, I’m not speaking about content but about writing form. You don’t want your post to be filled with grammatical errors, such as word misspellings, improper word forms (such as their vs there, your vs you’re, and its vs it’s), and poor sentence structure. Your visitors want the content they are reading to be clear, concise, and easy to interpret. If your posts are filled with grammatical errors, your readers won’t bother to finish reading them. It turns me off to encounter misspelled words and improper word forms when I’m reading something. I end up focusing more on the grammatical errors than the content itself. You want your message to come across clearly. So, you should proofread 2 or 3 times, use spellcheck, or have someone reliable read it before you post it. A set of fresh eyes might notice something that you missed. I feel this is one of the most important tips to follow when writing your blog.
Not making your content easy to share
This one should be a no-brainer. When your followers read something valuable and interesting, they want to share it with friends, family, and co-workers. Make it easy for them. Include relevant share buttons for Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Lots of people will share on Facebook as well as “Like” it. Make sure these buttons are easy to access. Sharing with social media is a great way to expose your blog to new audiences and gain new followers.
Not engaging your readers
Try to follow up and reply to every comment, if possible. Responding to comments can help you gain loyal followers because they will relate to you on a more personal level. Also, acknowledging helpful comments will send your readers the message that you feel their input is valuable and makes them want to return to your blog.
Losing interest and motivation
I realize it’s hard to stay motivated at times especially if life gets busy. But if you want your blog to be successful, you have to be ready to put in the time and effort. You should ask yourself a couple of questions. Am I totally ready to commit the time to making my blog successful? Am I up to date on the topic I’m blogging about? How can you hold your reader’s interest if you are losing interest yourself? Make sure you are committed to having a successful blog before you start. And give it time to gain a loyal audience. As your fan base grows, your blog will get livelier from comment activity and get more traffic from social media shares. Then the rewards will be more evident. This can help you stay motivated to blog, so give your blog time to build an audience.
In closing, starting a blog about something you are passionate about can be an enjoyable experience, for both you and your readers that follow it. You get to share what you enjoy and your readers get to discover valuable information. One of the keys to a successful blog is to gain a set of loyal followers that will return time and time again, knowing they will experience fresh, interesting content on a topic they have grown to enjoy. If your blog offers your readers this, how can it possibly fail?
