Those who are unfamiliar with the blogging world often see blogging as something completely simple and effortless. Create your blog, toss up a few posts a week and watch the magical Internet fame and fortune roll in.
For anyone who actually owns and operates a blog, they know that this is far from how things actually work. In fact, most blogs barely get any traction whatsoever within their first month. If you suspect that your blog is not living up to its full potential, consider these 7 signs your blog is not effective. If you recognize some of these signs your blog is not effective in your own blog, don’t panic – I have 5 ways for you to turn things around.
1. You Have A Readership Of Essentially Zero People
Even small and niche blogs can achieve big readerships. If your readership is extremely low, then it’s a sign that what you’re doing simply isn’t working.
2. Your Blog Looks Funky When You Look At It On Your Phone
If your blog looks wacky when you check it from your phone, then chances are that it looks equally poor to your readers when they attempt to access it on their mobile devices. Five years ago, it didn’t really matter if you were optimized for mobile. Today, however, it’s essential that your readers can access you from their phones.
3. You Bore Yourself
If sitting down to write a blog each week is a task that you absolutely dread, then chances are that your readers feel the same way about reading it. If you’re starting to bore yourself, your readers are probably bored too.
4. You’re Invisible To Google
SEO is an essential part of operating a successful blog. If you don’t come up in any search results, then readers probably don’t even know that you exist. To be successful, you have to be visible in search engines.
5. Your Blog Is Visually Unappealing
If your blog is overdue for a makeover, it’s not really something that you can keep putting off. Ugly blogs scare away readers, even if they contain high quality content.
6. You’re All About The Ads
In the old days, you could shove AdSense widgets just about everywhere without readers being any the wiser. Today, however, visitors know the difference between ads and actual content at first glance. If your site is jam-packed with ads, you’re probably scaring people off.
7. You’re Ready To Throw In The Towel
If the idea of ditching your blog altogether is more appeal than continuing it, then your blog is definitely not effective. If you’re not invigorated and excited by your content and your creation, then you certainly can’t expect other people to be.
If you recognize any or all of these signs your blog is not effective in your own blog, hope is not lost. Here are 5 tips that can turn around just about any blog.
Tip 1: Start With A Makeover
There’s a reason why self-improvement shows always give people makeovers. Improving how you look on the outside can give you a huge confidence boost. If your blog is starting to feel like a tedious chore, a new site design can be just what the doctor ordered. You might need to call in a design expert to help you revamp things, but this can be a game-changing first step. This is also the time when you ensure that your blog reads well on mobile devices. Revamping your design can be tedious, but it’s well worth it.
Tip 2: Sit Down and Brainstorm
At their core, blogs are about content. Everything else – ads, SEO, social media – is secondary. For many bloggers, they find themselves getting caught up in the marketing and money side and forgetting about the content. When revamping your blog, take some time to sit down and really brainstorm your blog’s niche or topic. Let your imagination run wild and find your way to some new topics for posts. This is a great way to reinvigorate your love for your blog’s topic and remember why you got into blogging in the first place.
Tip 3: Create A Schedule
You don’t have to be a daily poster, but you cannot be a sporadic one. To operate a successful blog, commit to a regular posting schedule. If your readers know that you post new blogs every Tuesday and Thursday, they will go to your site on those days. The fastest way to lose readers is by not honoring your posting commitments. Create a schedule, make it known and stick to it. This might take some getting used to, but after a while, you’ll fall into this routine with ease.
Tip 4: Get Back on Track With SEO
If you aren’t getting a lot of new readers, then you probably aren’t showing up in search queries, plain and simple. It’s time to put your focus back onto SEO. It’s essential that you do in-depth research on high-value keywords for your topic and then hit them consistently in your posts. A lot of people get sick of SEO early on and give up, as they grow tired of the ongoing dedication it takes to really dominate a specific search word or phrase. Successful bloggers recognize that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Commit to getting on track with SEO and be patient. This is how successful blogs are born.
Tip 5: Be Excited Again
There’s an old adage: “Love what you do and you’ll never work another day in your life.” While it’s a nice notion, anyone who’s pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams knows that anything can start to feel tedious, even pursuits that are based on personal passions. If you want to revamp your blog, it’s important that you get excited again. If you find a new topic to write about, do it. If you find a new social media platform that seems interesting and inventive, have fun with it.
There’s no such thing as a blog that’s a lost cause; rather, there are just blogs that could use a little push. No matter how dead in the water your blog may seem, if you follow these 5 tips, you can breathe new life into it and finally find the blogging success that you’ve always wanted.
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