Know the possible reasons why your blog is not growing and some of the easiest ways to fix it.
Let’s face it, there are a lot of blogs out there. A lot of people want to have them, but no one seems to be successful at growing their blog. And hey, starting a blog is easy! What’s hard is making it grow. It takes dedication and work week after week. But before you give up on your dream because you don’t feel you have time for this kind of investment read carefully through our 15 reasons why your blog is not growing and how to fix it.
If you really want to go somewhere in life, motivation alone won’t get you far. At some point in your journey toward success. In this case, having a big and profitable blog, you’ll hit a wall and nothing will make you feel good enough. Why? Because the only way to keep going is through your mistakes, problems and backtracking, at least until you find what works for you.
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If that’s not something you’re familiar with then consider our post as a wake-up call: If motivation alone won’t get you anywhere, it’s time to stop waiting for miracles and start doing things differently. It really all boils down to how bad do want this, because chances are high that if your blog is not growing yet, something or many things aren’t right. In this case, read on!
15 Reasons Why Your Blog Is Not Growing
I have carefully selected 15 reasons why your blog might be not growing and how to fix them. But before you jump into any premature conclusions, consider this: Your blog might not be growing because of all or none of these reasons. There are various other factors that come into play when it comes to making your blog grow, so don’t focus on just one thing at a time.
1) You’re not committed.
Take blogging as seriously as everything else in life and your blog won’t fail you. Set aside a certain amount of time every day to work on it, even if that just means taking 20 minutes after dinner or before breakfast.
2) You’re not giving yourself enough time.
There are dozens upon dozens of blogs out there focused on similar topics to yours so what makes yours stand out? If it’s not a unique style or approach then maybe very specific content could be the thing you want to focus on. Think about it: If your blog is all about crafts then try finding a new, impressive way of presenting how-to’s or tutorials as this will give people who are looking for something different a reason to stay.
3) You’re trying to do things the easy way.
The road to success is paved with blood, sweat and tears (yes, I went full cliche). There’s no such thing as overnight success so get ready to dedicate some serious time and hard work for this journey – but don’t forget to enjoy yourself! We suggest signing up for one of those online courses dedicated solely to blogging. Even though they might be a bit pricey, they usually offer a nice balance between theory and practice. Plus, they usually come with a monthly money back guarantee, so if you don’t like it – simply refund!
4) You’re not spending enough time on your posts.
This can go from choosing the wrong topics to having too many spelling mistakes or formatting issues. Here’s a little secret: people won’t ever comment on how great your blog looks but they will definitely leave a critical remark if they find any of those mistakes. And here’s another one: think about what you want to say before writing anything down – this will help you organize your thoughts properly and save some time as well as precious energy for more important tasks.
5) It takes too much effort to maintain your blog.
If you want to keep people engaged with your content, you’ll have to come up with fresh ideas all the time – for this you’ll need either a very flexible schedule or to be open to spontaneity. Create an editorial calendar containing various topics that interest your readers and try coming up with new things at least once a week.
6) You’re working too hard without seeing any results.
What’s the point of blogging if it doesn’t feed your wallet? It might sound like an over-simplified way of viewing blogging but the fact is: give anything enough time (including blogging!) and eventually you’ll see results – even if they don’t show right away.
7) Your website is not easily found by your visitors.
Remember the last time you googled for something? When typing your search query, Google automatically displays a drop-down menu with a list of suggestions; one of them might contain an entry that is similar to the one you’re looking for! How does this happen? Well, it’s all about SEO and keywords. Learn how to properly use these two things and your blog will be more visible on search engines.
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8) You don’t have anyone to read or comment on your posts.
A simple but very important step in making readers engage with your content is asking them to leave feedback once they’re done reading! Seriously, nothing keeps people engaged like knowing their opinion matters.
9) You have too many ads.
Sadly, the ad revenue seems to be one of the few ways how bloggers can make money – but this usually means that there are just way too many ads on the website! Visitors get annoyed at seeing ad after ad, especially considering most of them don’t even click on any. Get rid of all those distracting banners and pop-ups or, if you want to keep them around, ask yourself whether they are really relevant. Do they offer something your visitors would be interested in?
10) You’re not offering anything new.
If you’re looking for something quick and easy then blogging is probably not your thing – at least not right now. Yes, starting a blog can be as easy as signing up for a free account but the only way to make it really profitable (in terms of money or exposure) is if you commit yourself 100%. It’s like everything else in life, only those who are fully devoted make it through.
11) You’re not being truthful.
A lot of bloggers tend to “hype” their online persona a bit too much. Please remember that, while you do have a real name and an image behind your blog, people aren’t going to take notice if you don’t come across as trustworthy. There’s always room for improvement so try being yourself instead of trying to create this perfect version of yourself – it’ll feel more natural and the people who follow you will appreciate this transparency!
12) No one is reading your posts.
It’s all about stuff that matters! Your blog followers want to know what they can expect from visiting your website: short how-to’s or long tutorials? Pictures included or not? Reading your latest post is like walking into a store where the whole window display is dedicated to one product: you decide whether you actually want to enter (or in this case, go online) and check it out by looking through what’s on offer.
13) You’re not providing any value.
Ask yourself how your content can help others. If your answer doesn’t include “in some way” then there might be an issue with the kind of things you write about! Make sure to look for patterns in visitors’ comments because chances are they want something different than just another list of tips – maybe more in-depth explanations or personal experiences posted in separate articles would do the trick? No matter what, keep in mind that blogging requires upfront investment of time and energy because people aren’t going to come back if there’s nothing of value for them!
14) You’re not sharing your content.
Sharing is caring, remember? It can be as easy as linking to your posts on Facebook or Twitter, but it might require a bit more effort (and time!) depending on how you’ve set up your website. Do you have an about page where you share links to the social profiles that are relevant for your website? Or maybe there could be something in one post that would be interesting for another user who just so happens to follow you elsewhere, might as well tag them in the post.
15) You’re not giving anything back.
Nothing will attract attention faster than helping others. It’s a great way to get more visitors to your website and it can be done without much effort. Just take a look at Quora: every single question and answer can lead you to another, related article or website and if there’s something like that on yours (like, say, “Related Posts” or “Posts You May Like” widgets?), don’t hesitate to use it!
How to Fix It?
First things first is that you know you love what you do and lots of people could benefit from your knowledge. The second step would be finding out which parts to work on:
If visitors aren’t sticking around then find out how you can improve their experience with your blog (better headlines? more images?).
If no one is reading your posts then maybe there’s too much clutter instead of valuable content? Try cutting down on less important things like advertisements to free up space for something new. Keep in mind that not everyone will appreciate changes so try running them by someone else before making any final decisions.
If there’s nothing on the blog that would entice people to come back then put some time and effort into planning your future posts. Create a schedule (with deadlines) for yourself so you always know when something new is coming up – this way it’s like killing two birds with one stone because you’ll be able to keep your readers in the loop!
If no one shares your content then make it easier for them by adding social media buttons (and don’t forget to use hashtags!).
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If there’s nothing of value on your website then start thinking about what you can share that isn’t too self-promotional. Maybe consider starting an interview series where successful bloggers send their questions to someone who needs advice? Or talk to your loyal visitors and find out what they’re struggling with – there might be some good solutions you can provide!
If nothing seems to work one way to go would be using paid ads, but first make sure you have a product worthy of investment. Another option is building your website around an existing platform or network which is already popular on its own. You could also try user generated content – if people are interested in sharing their own experiences, then give them the tools to do it!
Lastly, maybe consider switching your focus? For example, instead of trying to attract readers for everything that’s related to “blogging” you could narrow down your topic? This way, you can give yourself a clear plan of action and make your website feel more focused.
However, if all else fails you’d probably have to resort back to the drawing board, which is pretty much starting from scratch. Fortunately, you’re at least aware of what didn’t work out so that’s progress in itself! Take a look around the blogosphere, know the possible reasons why your blog is not growing and see what others are doing, then pick apart their material one by one until you find something that works for your site.
Read the Entire Making Money Blogging Series
- Can You Still Make Money Blogging?
- Free 6 Month Blogging Cheat Sheet to Make Money
- 21 Great Tips about How to Make Money Blogging
- 5 Income Streams to Make Money Blogging [How I Make $300 a day]
- Making Money While You Sleep: How I Make $6k a Month Blogging