Have you ever had one of those dream sequences where you are forced to be naked at school/work/party? There is something so humiliating about looking “undone” in public– it’s a very normal and natural human fear. I think this is why some common blog problems can drain us so quickly. The site is live, there is an audience watching our every move, and we’re forced to think on our feet or admit failure. Today’s post is all about what to do when your blog isn’t working.
What do you mean “it isn’t working?”
Good question. The simple definition is this: Your blog isn’t performing the way you expected or wanted it to. Here are some common problems that I’ve seen around the blogosphere.
- Your blog isn’t getting enough traffic.
- Your blog isn’t making you any money.
- Your blog is burning you out mentally.
- Your blog subscribers aren’t growing (or in some cases – people are unsubscribing).
- Your blog isn’t getting you the exposure you need for your ______ (book, service, business, etc.).
- No one is commenting on your blog.
Whether or not your blog is working – well that can only be determined by you. I have very different expectations and goals for this blog vs. my personal one. As an example, I consider my personal blog a “success” even though it has much less traffic, subscribers, and shares than Fabulous Blogging. My goals are to write, connect with people, and get exposure for my writing ability. That has happened!
Now, the expectations for this blog are entirely different. I expect ad revenue, high traffic numbers, lots of social shares, and to what end? Well, for my business. I want people to associate Julie DeNeen and Fabulous Blogging with expertise in WordPress and Social Media so I can make a living for my family.
This is why it is so important to have an end goal for your blog. Without one, you have no idea if it’s working or not!
Here are some of the most common blog goals….
- You want to get a book deal.
- You want to make money.
- You want to promote a business, service or product.
- You want to become “Internet” famous.
- You want to build your online resume.
- You want to get to know people from around the world.
- You want to document your life/hobby.
- You want to practice writing.
- You want to learn tech skills.
Okay, so it’s not working…
If based on your goals and expectations for your site, you’ve determined the blog isn’t working, now what? Before you jump to conclusions, let’s make sure your assessment is correct. It’s hard to argue with numbers, but rarely does progress go in a straight line.
This is how we expect success to be.
This is how it really is.
When you’re in that downward slump, it’s easy to think that you’ll be there forever. You may not be.
The trickiest part about this whole blog-not-working-thing is to try and figure out if you should keep plugging along, or if you should change your game.
Mia Voss, a powerhouse Google + user who hosts a weekly chat called the MiaConnect Powerchat, said that for a long time, she did her show and heard the crickets chirping. It was difficult, she said, to keep going when she knew no one was watching- but she pressed on. Now her show is one of the most popular hangouts on Google plus. This is a perfect example of persistence that pays off.
How do you know if you should keep at it?
One way to tell is to measure the positive/negative/neutral effects. For example, if your blog isn’t gaining subscribers BUT you aren’t losing them either, then maybe you need to be patient and keep at it. If you’re losing subscribers or traffic is plunging downward steadily, you need to change your game.
Another way to tell is to measure your level of fatigue. Are you exhausted and burned out with writing and promoting your posts? Time to change. If you are still enjoying the art of writing, but are baffled by how to get people to read it, you might consider getting some social media training but stick to your guns and keep doing what you love.
Did you even have a goal in the first place? If you’re not happy with the way things are going, is it because your expectations need an adjustment? If you thought that a blog was a fast way to make a living, that expectation is built on a lie. Blogs are notoriously difficult to earn a living from, and adjusting that mindset may mean you can keep at your blog without so much frustration.
Yeah, so I shouldn’t keep doing what I’m doing. I really need to change my game.
Okay, first things first. Combat the lie that successful people are successful from the start.
Nu-uh. That’s a very academic term for nope. Successful people are usually the ones who aren’t afraid to change things up, take risks, and boldly go after what they want. Walt Disney was fired from his newspaper job for a lack of imagination! There are scores of stories about the failings of beloved authors, presidents, and inventors before they hit their sweet spot. Most of them had to change their game– multiple times. Switch it up. Do something new. Take a risk.
If you look at the hard work ahead as a result of failure, you won’t have the energy and enthusiasm you’re going to need. Changing your game does not mean your blog ideas or work are in vain!
I’m speaking from experience.
I started Fabulous Blogging in the fall of 2012. I started with a bang, but around December, I got stuck. I had guest posts and whatnot, but I felt tapped out of ideas, traffic wasn’t great, and I was unmotivated. From about December to March, I rarely wrote. Traffic was meh. And to make matters worse, I couldn’t settle on a design I liked, and the database was moving at a snail’s pace.
That sounds an awful like “not working” doesn’t it?
I made some bold moves in order to get back on track. I rebuilt the database from scratch, deleting all my not-so-good posts and getting rid of any and all excess plugins that were responsible for my slow loading times. I bit the bullet and bought the best theme out there. I forced myself to write long-form tutorials and regularly. I started reading other blogs in my niche and taking notes on what worked for them.
And now, here I am – a year later, with a blog that is definitely marching in the successful direction.
How to change it up so you move in the right direction.
We’re going to tackle the six problems I mentioned above. Here are some ideas based on the particular problem your blog might be having. I will say that many of these are not easy fixes. It might require you to invest monetarily, overcome fears of losing traffic (which may happen temporarily), and let go of ideals that are holding you back.
1. Your blog isn’t getting enough traffic.
This is probably the hardest problem of all. What is enough traffic anyway? And when you measure traffic, are you measuring visitors or views? Traffic itself means very little unless it converts into something– be it comments, shares, sales, etc. For a blog about collecting Nutcrackers, 1000 hits a month might be a great milestone. For a blog about social media, that number is puny.
But if you simply want higher numbers (and for people who are trying to get into ad networks, this is an issue), here are some thoughts…
- Get your site verified with Google webmaster tools so you can better track your site’s health.
- Write long-form how-to articles and tutorials, and do a lot of keyword research before you begin.
- Study up on the best SEO practices for 2014 and stick to them religiously (and you’ll see that a lot of what used to work no longer does).
- Get the SEO by YOAST plugin and use it.
- Study the way UpWorthy and Buzzfeed write their headlines. Copy it.
- Join more blogging communities and invest in others so you have a network of people who might share your content.
- Spend money and time building your social media platforms so you have an audience who will see your posts.
- If you don’t have a niche, get one. Blogs without a niche rarely make it in this over-saturated market.
2. Your blog isn’t making you any money.
The most common way people assume you make money on a blog is through advertising. You slap up a few ads and get paid per impression. See problem number 1 above because without a crap ton of traffic, you’ll make very little money doing this.
It’s much easier to make money on your blog the following ways…
- Pitch pitch pitch posts on sites like Cracked (for humor), BlogHer (for lifestyle blogging), and other places that pay for syndicated posts.
- Learn about how to freelance blog.
- Sign up for affiliate advertising (targeted in your niche) and write posts about products and services you love. You’ll get a commission when people click and buy.
- Sell advertising space on your blog’s sidebar (only if you have a lot of traffic will people actually pay).
- Go to blogging conferences that teach you how to get sponsors and brands to pay you for posts and advertising.
- Sell something like an e-book or guide that you put together yourself.
- If you don’t have a niche, get one. Blogs without a niche rarely make it in this over-saturated market.
3. Your blog is burning you out mentally.
Thankfully, this is the easiest one to fix! You need to stop what you’re doing immediately. Get off the computer. Go somewhere that inspires you. Think about the things you could talk or write about for days without growing tired. That’s what you need to blog about.
When you find something you’re passionate about, all the other issues are less important. Your passion will be contagious. You’ll be happy that 10 other infected passionate people are reading with you.
But just one thing – make sure you keep your blog niche narrow. It’s tempting to write about everything, and scary to limit yourself to one overarching topic, but trust me. Niche blogs will blow open your world, not shrink it.
4. Your blog subscribers aren’t growing (or in some cases – people are unsubscribing).
Growing an email list (despite what many gurus say) is extraordinarily difficult. Email inboxes are flooded with promos and spam. People are not so keen on giving out their address, much the way a woman might hold back her phone number at a bar full of creepy men.
If people are unsubscribing, this is probably why…
- You promised something that you aren’t delivering on (you promised emails once a week and send them everyday instead)
- You are sending them too often and without a ton of helpful advice and so there is no incentive to click.
- You offered an opt-in and they signed up simply to get the coupon/download/etc. and then unsubscribed. This isn’t your fault, it’s just human nature.
- People are cleaning out their inboxes and using RSS readers or social media to keep up with you. This isn’t your fault either. You need to give them incentive to stay on your email list (i.e. tips that you include that they can’t get anywhere else)
If you are having trouble getting more email subscribers, you may want to try…
- Offering an opt-in (like an ebook, guide, free coupon, etc.)
- Make your email signup forms more obvious (and in several places)
- If you don’t have a niche, get one. Blogs without a niche rarely make it in this over-saturated market.
5. Your blog isn’t getting you the exposure you need for your ______ (book, service, business, etc.).
I don’t know if you’re noticing a theme here, but I keep saying, “If you don’t have a niche, get one. Blogs without a niche rarely make it in this over-saturated market.” Technology is getting more specific. Here’s what I mean. Facebook used to be one app on your smartphone. Now it’s several. You have Facebook Messenger, Facebook for Pages, and then the regular Facebook app. Other micro-specific social networks like SnapChat and Instagram are growing by leaps and bounds and they are incredibly specific. Marketing trends are leaning towards hyper-specific ads generated to a specific user. Technology is smarter, people are busier, and without a target for your blog- you will be competing against other blogs that can produce content far superior because they are only concentrating on one over-arching concept.
There is one exception I should mention. Bloggers have the distinct advantage of…personality. You are a person and more than ever, people love to connect and build relationships. It is possible to build a readership quickly because people are connecting with you as a person, and with what you are writing. For the same reason people tune into a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy every week, you can get return viewers because they are invested in you.
But I see far too many bloggers relying on personality to overcompensate for their lack of niche. And it’s tempting to do because you see there are some famous blogs who are niche-less. Here’s the problem – they got their momentum when the market isn’t how it is now. You can’t follow their formula for success.
The sweet spot is when you have both personality and niche. Chances are if you are not getting the exposure you need, it’s because you don’t have both working for you.
6. No one is commenting on your blog.
Have you gone to your blog from a phone? That’s the first thing you should do. How easy is it to comment? More and more people are reading on mobile devices, so your comment system better be mobile friendly.
If it is and you still don’t get comments, there may be several reasons why.
- Your content may not evoke conversation.
- You don’t ever respond to your comments.
- You don’t ask people to give their opinion at the end of the article.
- You don’t have a lot of eyes on your site to begin with (see problem #1).
Final thoughts
Admitting failure publicly is difficult. If you’ve started a blog and it’s clear it’s not delivering, changing your game may mean you will lose subscribers and readers…but it’s temporary. Remind yourself that successful people change it up all the time. People rarely knock it out of the park on the first go round.
