Don’t Give Up On Your Blog
There are a number of blogs that are created every single day and only a handful of them become very successful. How many times have you thought of quitting your blog and how many times have you actually quit your blog?
If you are a new blogger, you understand how it is important to stay motivated to continue blogging when you don’t see the results that you aimed for.
I have had multiple blogs over the past many years. Some of them did not take off at all and some fizzled out gradually while a few blogs did see some growth and success. Now, after many years and many blogs, I can put a finger on why my initial blogs failed.
Here are the Top 5 reasons why my blogs failed:
1. Giving up
One of my very first blog was a platform where I published poems. I would publish multiple poems as and when I wrote them. There was absolutely no rhyme and reason to how often I would post. If I felt like it, I would post and then few weeks of no activity on the blog. This was a blog that I thought would stay with me for a long time. But because I was not committed to it and by not prioritizing it slipped away. When even after a few months I did not go back to it, I knew it was not going to be my forever blog and I quit.
2. No Strategy
Even when I had my first blog, I had multiple blogs simultaneously that focused on multiple topics. And this means that I did not have any focus on any blog. I had no direction in which way I was headed. My blogs had no strategy, I did not have goals that I wanted to accomplish from my blog. I ran all over the place and quite frankly, it was exhausting.
3. Unrealistic Expectations
Though I had expectations, I did not put in the effort to drive the traffic. Let’s face it, it is sometimes demotivating when your blogs have no visitors and I set some unrealistic timelines and deadlines and when these were not met, it was easier for me to look the other way.
4. Start too Many too Soon
Just like many of you, I had too many ideas and started too many blogs almost at the same time. I did have a calendar and schedule for posting. But as I previously said, I had unrealistic expectations and unrealistic deadlines. And boom. Nothing happened on any of the sites. It was hard to keep up and eventually I gave up.
5. Social Recluse
I was not a very social media savvy person and allowed that to affect my blogs as well. I would delete posts and hide posts and save them back to drafts and did not share on any social media. Almost as if there was fear of being judged. No one knew of my blogs and let’s face it, it felt like a safe space. Well, until I stopped going back to those blogs as well.
Here are some of the things I wish I could tell my self at the very onset of my blogging journey.
1. Have a Strategy
Write down all the ideas that you come up with. Don’t act on every single idea. Prioritize. Pick one that resonates with you. Create timelines and article ideas. Create a repository of article ideas for when you feel like you have nothing to write about. Analyse what other bloggers in your niche are talking and writing about. Think of your blog as a community you are trying to build for your audience.
2. Start One Blog at a Time
Instead of trying to juggle and post 2 to 3 or how many ever articles every week on the blogs, focus on one blog. Generate quality content that your audience is interested in. Don’t start your second or third blog until you start driving a steady stream of visitors to your first blog.
3. Be Social
Create content that you can share on social media platforms. Know what social media platforms your audience is using and be more social on those platforms. Take some time to interact with your audience. Reply to comments and answer their queries. Listen to what they have to say and you never know, you might get your next article idea from a comment.
4. Don’t Give Up Just Yet
Driving traffic to your blog takes time. It is not rocket science, but it takes some effort to drive the traffic to your blog site. Sure, it sucks to have no one care about what you have written but don’t let that be a reason for why you are quitting your blog. Try something different. Have your friends share your articles and get their opinions. Always be ready to adapt and move ahead.
Be consistent and be social. You will first notice the traffic starting to trickle to your website before the traffic starts to flow. Have patience and nurture your blog as you would nurture any business that you start.
Be Consistent and Happy Blogging
image from Pixabay