I’ve seen blogs come and go for various reasons and recently I really started thinking about why some of the blogs out there fail and shut down and what these blogs could do to avoid failure.
Here are my10 Reasons Why Blogs Fail and How to Avoid Failure:
Get discouraged that they aren’t seeing the results they want and shut down the blog
Nobody said blogging was going to be easy but you can’t get discouraged and shut down. Ask any blogger out there and one of the biggest tips they will give you is don’t give up and keep the content going. There is a critical mass hump that you need to get over. I started off with 0 readers and 0 subscribers it took months and months to build up a name.
Don’t market or promote themselves or their blog; both online and offline
You can have the best content in the world but if nobody knows about that you don’t exist. You have to market yourself and your content both online and offline. Without marketing you are dead in the water. A little while ago I wrote about 11 ways you can drive traffic to your blog, I recommend that you read it.
Don’t have time to keep blogging and maintaining their site
This is an excuse I hear a lot and quite frankly it’s B.S. we’re all busy people, suck it up and turn off your t.v. for an hour shut off your xbox and get to work. If you want to succeed then you have to get the job done.
Spread themselves too thin in terms of blog focus and end up losing their audience
You have to focus on a particular topic, area, or niche. If you start talking about everything under the sun then you are going to lose your audience. Become a specialist and OWN your niche.
Don’t maintain a steady posting schedule and let weeks or months go by before posting
When you start off especially, creating constant fresh content is essential. Posting once every 2 weeks or once a month is not the best way to go about creating an audience and establishing yourself as an authority. Post quality and post often.
Run out of topic or post ideas/get burned out
This is where reading and research comes into play. Alltop.com is a great resource for information for virtually any topics. Also try to branch out of your niche sometimes and read about other things to get ideas. For example if you focus on tech read an occasional post on art and culture or history. You can also try keeping a posting schedule (I don’t).
Let harsh criticisms and negative comments get to them, creates low morale and lack of confidence
I get criticized and called out all the time, and it’s nothing to get upset over. It’s the nature of the game. Some people will like you others won’t, it’s how you deal with the negative feedback that matters, but don’t ever let it get you down to the point where you want to quit blogging. You might want to check out my posts on maintaining a positive online presence and repairing a negative online presence.
Start a blog about something they are not passionate about and eventually they just stop caring
Starting a blog just for the sake of starting a blog is probably the worst thing you can do. If you are not passionate about what you’re blogging about then eventually you will stop caring and you’re readers will pick up on it. You don’t want blogging go turn into a chore or a homework assignment, do what you love and love what you do.
Failing to provide unique and/or valuable content OR censoring to the point where the “voice” is killed from the blog
Reposting what techrunch or wired magazine said isn’t going to get you anywhere. Try to provide a unique spin on things and make sure you’re voice is heard. You can write about what’s hot but don’t be scared to voice your opinion or disagree about something. With millions of blogs out there it’s oftentimes impossible to be the only one talking about something, it’s not always what you say but how you say it.
Trying to over monetize something to the point where it’s just ridiculous
There’s nothing wrong with trying to make a few bucks from your site, but never do it at the cost of your users. You can stick all the ads you want on your site but if nobody is visiting then you won’t make a penny. I don’t recommend new blogs to start advertising until they have established a name, then slowly, they can begin introducing unobtrusive ads into the mix. Just remember, users come first, ads and everything else comes second. Check out my post on how and when to monetize your blog.
Can you think of any other reason why a blog might fail and how to avoid failure?
Thanks for reading
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