This is a guest post by David Smith who is a Freelance Writer working for Conversion Rate Optimization company Invesp. Click to download free landing page templates from Invesp. If you are interested in guest posting on Sam’s Web Guide, please visit our guest post guidelines page here.
Millions of blogs are being added to blogosphere every month and many of them fail and eventually die within the first few months of their launch. Why? Basically, there could be thousands of reasons for this. And in this article I’ll try to cover few of them.
Here are 24 deadly signs that your blog may be dying:
1. When Money becomes your top priority and you found yourself spending most of your time in doing research about latest affiliate programs rather than thinking about creating high quality content.
2. When you update your blog very rarely.
3. When you lose your motivation and start ignoring your blog or start taking it as granted.
4. When you create high quality content, hit the publish button and then go to sleep without making any efforts to promote it.
5. When you start writing long posts in small fonts and don’t even have time to break your text into short paragraphs.
6. When it becomes very difficult for search engine crawlers to crawl your content (may be due to weird themes or some complex blogging platform).
7. When you don’t do any kind of SEO or link building for your blog.
8. When you don’t have any knowledge of the niche you are going to blog about (unless you are newbie who want to share his personal learning experience with the community)
9. When your readers have to wait for more than 30 seconds to get your blog loaded.
10. When you’ve filled every white space of your blog with advertisements.
11. When you don’t have time to reply to the comments/ questions of your readers.
12. When the contact form of your blog is not working and your readers don’t have any other option to contact you.
13. When you are using the default WordPress setting for your blog like default about page, default URL structure, etc.
14. When you start believing that blogging is only about taking and earning and not about sharing.
15. When you start giving preference to the quantity over quality of content.
16. When you think that networking with other bloggers of your niche is not at all important.
17. When you start fooling your readers by recommending them to crappy affiliate products.
18. When you start selling links to poker and casino websites from your Blogroll.
19. When you start blogging about everything minus the information useful for your readers.
20. When your readers have to fill complex captchas or to register on your website to write comments.
21. When you claim that you earn $9,999 from your blog every month but still use a free WordPress theme.
22. When you start scraping content for your blog from the other blogs of your niche.
23. When you start expecting overnight results and dream of becoming a millionaire in first two months of blogging.
24. When you start spending your hard earned cash in buying $9.99 products entitled “How to become a successful blogger”.
So, these are 24 reasons that I can think of as the tell-tale signs of when a blog starts dying. If more than a couple of these signs apply to you, it means that its time for a major overhaul in your blogging strategy or your way of thinking.
Discussion: How do you keep your blog alive? Want to add something to the list? Feel free to share it in the comments below.
Great list David. I’m not in any of these (lucky me) but I think that these are also some mistakes that newbie bloggers are more likely to do. It seems to me that these signs are more about why and how your blogging strategy is killing your blog. I think that if any blogger finds at least one positive answer in your list, s/he has to rethink the strategy.
I would add one thing that would cover a whole lot of these items: when you don’t feel the passion.
.-= Sachin @ Web Design Mauritius´s last blog ..Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for “coming soon” pages. =-.
Hey Sachin,
Passion is a huge determining factor for the success of any venture. Even if a new blogger does not have all knowledge for a successful strategy, his passion will drive him to learn and think in more effective and creative ways. Whereas the “ordinary” blogger would be fed up easily and the blog would suffer.
Thanks for commenting
.-= Sam´s last blog ..How to Build an E-Commerce WordPress Site in 5 Minutes =-.
I like point number 24. Its hilarious. Yep most self proclaimed “Super Star Internet Marketers” do that. Spot on. Awesome post.
.-= Ed´s last blog ..Top 18 Tech Enthusiasts To Follow On Twitter =-.
Thanks for commenting Ed
LOL!@21 – i could go on for days man. Awesome list.
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Blog Subscriptions – Methods to my Madness part 2 of 2 =-.
Definitely Dennis! I could post a list of sites that do that..
Nice post with killer points.Impressed.Thanks for the article Robyn.
.-= Lakhyajyoti´s last blog ..30 Ways To Drive Targeted Traffic To Your Site =-.
Thanks for reading Lakhyajyoti
Many newbie bloggers do make the mistakes that you have listed while many recover from their mistakes, many others fail to do and at last their blog fails. Thanks god I have not done any of the mistakes listed above. By the way 21 and 24 are quite funny even though true
.-= Shiva@Web Magazine´s last blog ..8 Great Microsoft Word Replacements =-.
Hey Shiva, thanks for stopping by.
The truth is, we all make mistakes but the most important thing is to learn, recover and change. Once you give up, that’s the point where you experience failure.
David,
You made many great points, but this post seems targeted at probloggers or wanna-be probloggers. Most bloggers are not interested in having many people read their posts. They don’t care about traffic or promotion. They blog for themselves. I don’t think their blogs are failures.
.-= Chuck Edwards@Weight Loss Tips´s last blog ..The Special K Diet and Challenge =-.
Hey Chuck, thanks for taking the time to comment
That’s an entirely different case. That type of blog would be more like a personal journal, so their view of success or their aim would be different. Their goal would not be to please an audience. So the article is in fact about wanna-be probloggers who are not humble enough to learn and change.
Great list.
For me, I tend to write and post my blog entries at night or the following morning. I do my best to promote as post them. But I can’t get the time to promote them, I try and promote them within 24 hours of posting it.
.-= element321 @ evolutionary designs´s last blog ..6+ New CSS Tutorials You May Not Have Read Yet =-.
Hey thanks for commenting
As long as you make the effort to promote then that’s the first step towards your overall success. Keep doing your best!
This is very helpful to new comers that are starting a blog or want to be come bloggers .
.-= ron´s last blog ..2010 bad habits of blogging . =-.
Hey Ron, thanks for reading.
Glad it could help
What a good list. It warns me to do such thing on my blog. Thanks for sharing this great article. Many have said that a lazy person could earn money in the internet but I actually don’t believe on it.
It’s just like what we do in our daily life that if you only sat down, you will gain nothing.
.-= Real Blogging Advice´s last blog ..How to Choose Profitable Keywords Using Google Keyword Tool =-.
Hey, thanks for reading.
Lazy people do make money on the internet but the real question is “How much?” You can make a few bucks here and there while being lazy but never a worthwhile sum.
These are really some great points. You should do a follow up post on how to save a failing blog
.-= Kharim´s last blog ..How To Increase Google AdSense Revenue =-.
I’ll definitely do that Kharim
Just awesome points! since i am also running two blogs now, pheww makes me busy all the time lol.
.-= Kimi´s last blog ..Free SEO optimized wordpress themes =-.
Thanks for reading Kimi
Many people go on repeating the same mistakes without knowing that they are doing the wrong thing and it is a serious problem.
Anyway, nice tips friend.
.-= Bimal Roy´s last blog ..How to Install Apps on iPad =-.
Thanks for commenting.
Yeah, lots of people are making some serious mistakes in blogging and are at the same time wondering why success eludes them. That’s why it is very important to constantly evaluate ourselves, learn and ask others for feedback.
Good post. It’s good to do a check in like this every once in a while. Keeps me motivated by knowing I am blogging for the right reasons! My top reason – passionate about education and arts integration. And my important first realization – not in it for the money. But I do enjoy it!
Hey Eliza,
Thanks for commenting
Enjoying what you write about is the first way to go to become successful at blogging. Having that passion is what will create excellent opportunities for making money while providing continuous value for your audience.
Good post. I see myself almost falling in one or two points. But well, I’m newbie, my blog doesn’t even have 1 month
.-= David´s last blog ..Video: Keynes Vs Hayek "Fear the Boom and Bust" =-.
Thanks for commenting David.
All the best with your blog
Nice list, Robyn!
I especially like the ones where you mention the fact that you can earn so much money, yet pay for nothing. Bloggers need to realize that their readers aren’t idiots. If you are still using the ugly default blue WordPress theme, yet claim to be able to make a thousand dollars a day, will anyone believe you? It’s like me saying I’m a millionaire as I’m being kicked out of my box on the side of the road. Is it believeable? No.
Thanks for commenting Joe.
You definitely get the picture. Real content is becoming more valuable than the get rich quick stuff out there. If someone is serious about their blog, then spending a few hundred bucks over a period of time should not be a problem. Spend money to make money.
I think that the true bloggers who consistently produce rich and unique content are the ones who will ultimately survive and make the big money.
This is a great list Robyn. Our blog has been losing traffic gradually over the past year and I can see where we are guilty of several points you’ve made.
=-.
.-= Colleen@Kennewick Real Estate´s last blog ..Happy Mothers Day, ~ The Lane Real Estate Team
Hey Colleen,
I’m glad my post has shed some light. Wishing you all the best
I cringed at sign #1, but it’s hard as a new blogger to find a good balance between creating content and trying to generate even a tiny bit of revenue. For me it’s oftentimes a vicious cycle…I need to make some money so I can pay my designer to set up a drop-down nav bar knowing it will make it easier for readers to find the content I’m proud of. But then taking the time to do sponsored posts takes away from time I could be spending on generating more good content. It’s hard to know where to draw the line.
Thanks for a great post – its made me really think some things through.
Hey Jenn,
Thanks for taking the time to comment
The backbone of a blog is definitely the quality posts it produces. So I would say spend more time creating unique and useful content and as traffic and a more dedicated readership improves, more opportunities for monetization will become available.
A steady flow of quality content that engages the audience is key to keeping a blog alive. The best content in the world without audience participation is about the worst thing that can happen to a blog. If people aren’t emailing you and/or commenting on your posts it can get very discouraging. When that happens your blog is in it’s death throes.
.-= B. Durant@Ball Pythons´s last blog ..How to identify a snake =-.
Hey Durant,
Thanks for taking the time to comment
Its very important to study and know what your audience needs so that you can cater to that need. This is necessary to attract readers and keep them coming back.
I agree! The last two posts on my site (one from me and one from a guest blogger) has generated a lot of comments. (well, a lot for me!) It’s very exciting and motivating!
.-= Elizabeth Peterson´s last blog ..PLCs and PLNs – Go Us! =-.
Great long list, all in all you should blog about something you are passionate about, blogging should be a pleasure. You should choose a topic you are passionate about then creating content can be both easy and enjoyable.
Hey Sam, what about Tip#25: Reading an article about the top 24 things to avoid when blogging and then doing nothing about it.
These are all great points and with the passion you speak about above, attention to detail and focus on a few key goals, even if a blogger makes a mistake or two, he/she will pull through and experience success.
.-= Michael Pedzotti@Blog with passion´s last blog ..Approve your own comments!!! =-.
Awesome addition Michael
You’re right when you say that the blogger will pull through to success even if a couple of mistakes are made. As long as the blogger has the knowledge and will to improve then things can only get better.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Michael.
.-= Sam´s last blog ..The 3 Essential “Don’ts” of Guest Blogging – Make it Work for You =-.
21 st point seems funny but true.
I agree with others here, #21 is quite amusing. I don’t even know how to determine quickly if a certain blog uses a free theme or not. This is a good checklist for us bloggers to read once in a while.
In your blog post, you ask about the best thing we the readers do, to keep our blogs alive, mine is quite simple… I just try to update it on a consistent basis. Also… I keep a careful eye on Google Alerts… It’s a great way to check to see if your blog is still considered relevant by Google, is to setup yourself in Google Alerts. Here’s how I do it, I often take a word that is often the theme of my website, and have it on Google alerts, and I set it up under the fastest possible notification possible. What do I look for? Well, I know my blog is performing well, when I get an email in less than 15 minutes informing me that Google has crawled my content, and the article has been “alerted” to me.
Till then,
Jean