15 Reasons Why Your Blog Will Fail

Everybody and their brother seem to be blogging these days.  According to pingdom.com, by the end of 2010 there are 152 million blogs on the internet with many more blogs created each day.  Obviously there is no way that all of these blogs will succeed on the internet.  As a matter of fact, most blogs will not live to be a year old.  Why is that, you ask?  There are so many reasons a blog will fail, that I have chosen the top 15 to write about today.  I warn you, this is not the shortest post I have written, but at least I have broken them down to points so you can scan the headlines and find the reasons that interest you.

You Don’t Write Often or Consistently

You have to look at this from the reader’s perspective.  Most loyal readers will expect a steady stream of writing in order to stay committed.  Think back to the old days.  How happy would your parents have been if they received their newspaper on Monday of the first week, Thursday of the second week, and Wednesday of the third?  So stay consistent.

The other point to mention is the frequency.  If you write a post once a month, you better write a Pulitzer winning article to keep a loyal following at that rate.  Writing an article daily is optimal, but you should try to at least write two or three articles a week so your readers don’t forget you.

You Don’t Participate in the Community

Just like a business, you have to venture out into the online community in order to bring readers back to your blog.  Leave comments on other blogs in your niche, participate in social media, and let everyone know that your blog is out there!  Networking is essential to promoting your blog.

Your Blog is All over the Place

You need to pick your niche and stick to it.  Write on your expertise and you should be fine.  Stray from your niche for any reason and you risk losing what audience you may have.  Also, you may find that your content quality will diminish.  Think of your fountain of knowledge as being a fountain in the desert.  Go too far away from your water source and your blog will die.

No Passion

For some people blogging is just a job.  Whether told to do it by their company, or just trying to tackle the blogging world to generate income, blogging for the sake of a means to an end will never be successful.  Readers are smart enough to tell the real experts from the fake internet marketers who are just trying to make a buck.

You Have No Business

The Blogs that are the most successful are the ones that have years of experience being in business in their field.  I myself have been working in Website Design, Social Media Management, and Inbound Marketing for many years, so these are the topics I write about because that is what I do.  What is your business?  For example, there are a lot of people out there that drive me nuts because their whole business is to sell you the “Network Marketing Package” that will make you rich.  The sad part is THEY got rich by convincing you to buy the package.  They do not have a business.  Blogging for the sake of blogging is not enough to make a blog survive.  Be Genuine.

What Strategy?

Anything in the world that is done well has a strategy.  Blogging is not any different.  Blogs without a strategy have to rely on luck alone, and the market is so flooded with blogs that the stock in luck has plunged.  Make sure you have a strategy for every single aspect of your blog (social media integration, topic choices, blog layout, networking, etc.).

Ineffective Titles

There are two parts to this failure.  The first part has to do with the user experience.  If your titles are not thought provoking, insightful, or attractive to the reader’s sense of curiosity, then your article will just be another link in the web, another tweet in the timeline, or another status in the Facebook newsfeed.  The second part has to do with search engines.  Search engines are a big factor in driving traffic to your blog, and the right keywords that aptly explain the content of your article is very important.  Are your titles captivating, helpful, or keyword rich?  I certainly hope that you answered “yes” to all three.

6 Months of Due Diligence

Don’t even worry about a year.  If you haven’t developed the strategies your blog needs to succeed, designed a well planned layout for your blog, posted good content regularly, and networked like mad, your blog will fail within the first six months.  If you can stick with executing all of the things mentioned previously for six months, you may find that you have developed habits that will keep your blog going for years.

Poor Content

This may seem obvious to some people, but most people are not willing to admit that their content is not up to the reader’s standard.  The fix for most people is to re-evaluate what they are writing about, and how far they have strayed away from writing what they know.  Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to write well, and there is not a cure.  The only suggestion is to find someone else that is good at writing.

Poor Blog Design

People like aesthetically pleasing and well designed blogs with easy navigation, and well laid out content that is easy to read.  If you find that nobody is staying on the blog for more than a few seconds, than this may be the culprit.  Try a different template if you are experiencing this problem.

You’re Dreaming

A lot of people go into blogging with high hopes of receiving lots of traffic, enjoying all of the wonderful praise, and making tons of money through affiliate advertising.  When this doesn’t happen right away, a lot of people can be deterred from continuing all the work involved in maintaining and promoting a blog.  Stick with it.  If you enjoy blogging as much as I do, the dreams will come in time.

The Same Old Story

Try to stay away from all the “Pulp” topics when it comes to writing your blog articles.  If I read another “Make Money Online” article with a link that takes me to a squeeze page with a “One Time Only” price on an eBook “That will unlock all the secrets to financial wealth” I think I will puke.  Make sure your content is important, helpful, but most of all, genuine.  The most important thing to keep in mind when you are writing is this question: “What value do I offer to my readers?”

All the Wrong Reasons

Blogs that start on the wrong foot will not hold up to the competition.  If you are writing the blog because you want to make money through affiliate advertising you don’t have much of a chance.  Blogging is a labor of love.  Make sure you start a blog because you enjoy writing and want to share your knowledge with the world.  Your readers will share in your enjoyment, but only if it’s there.

Just Plain Laziness

Like anything else that takes time and development to realize its potential, blogs that fall into disrepair from lack of attention will vanish into web obscurity if they are not maintained.  Most of the time, laziness is the sin responsible for this.  If you are thinking about starting your own blog, make sure you have the time and resources to do so, or don’t bother at all.  Otherwise, you will waste your time.

The Little Things Kill

Sometimes the small mistakes add up to become a really big problem.  Do you have spelling mistakes in your posts?  Do you use university reading level words in your blog, when you are appealing to a large audience?  Do you use Search Engine Friendly URL’s for your blog links?  These may seem trivial by themselves, but small mistakes pile up quickly, and may end up killing your blog.

So if you have read my entire article so far, you may ask yourself:

Why should I blog in the first place, with all obstacles that may happen?

If you are, then my suggestion is: Don’t.  For those of us that do blog, the answer is simple:  We love to blog, enjoy reading comments, and hope that we can make some money on the side, but we don’t count on it.  The rest of what happens is decided by the online community.  If they read, the blog thrives.  If they share, the blog grows.  If they ignore, the blog dies.  I hope your blog grows and thrives.