Picture this: you’ve poured your heart and soul out into your blog in hopes of being the next Forbes or Neil Patel, only to find out that your blog is just another website on the internet that’s gathering dust. It’s a very common thing for blogs to fail. In fact, 95% of blogs end up dying out, gaining zero traction and failing to keep the readers’ attention. This is because many bloggers who are just starting out make common mistakes that are easily avoidable. From having no content strategy in place to giving up too quickly, identifying these mistakes will help you in your blog’s success.

One of the most common things I find in failed blogs is the lack of time people are willing to invest. Posting one blog a month isn’t enough to gain attention from your audience. Especially, if you’re going head-to-head with websites that are posting several posts a day.

It’s a competitive market that many beginner bloggers aren’t prepared for. This is why I’m exploring the reasons behind why many blogs fail and how you can prevent yours from facing the same impending doom. Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to take some notes as I tell you how to find success in your blogging venture. 

You have no strategy in place:

One of the main reasons why many blogs fail is a lack of a killer content strategy. Having a strategy in place will act as a roadmap that provides you with a sense of direction. Without a solid strategy, your blog will sit aimlessly in the endless void that is the internet. 

Your strategy will help avoid the oh-so-common mistake of typing away and hoping for the best. It’ll give your blog a purpose for what you’re writing and who you’re writing for. It will also outline your goals and objectives so you have a clear aim to work towards. This will make sure you’re allocating your time and creativity in the right places. 

The first step to creating a content roadmap is to understand your target audience. You need to get an idea of who’s reading your content and why they’re reading. This will help you get a clearer picture of what to write about. No point in putting out a blog post for the sake of it. You want to make sure your posts are getting the right attention from the right people. 

The next step is to create SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) goals. You don’t just want more readers; you want X amount of readers by a certain date. It’s all about being intentional and realistic with your goals.

Your main goal is to ‘make money online fast’:

You probably fell down the classic YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled upon a video on ‘how to make money fast online’. One of the recommendations that caught your eye was Blogging. You set up your blog and posted a couple of articles and found yourself getting nowhere near the same amount of success as these YouTubers who are flaunting their success. Spoiler alert: It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. 

While making money from blogging is definitely possible, you need to be in it for the long-haul. There are no overnight success stories when it comes to starting a blog. It’s something that demands your time, dedication, and a couple of extra cups of coffee. You need to put in the effort to build the trust of not only your audience but also search engines. And let me tell you, it’s not as glamorous as the YouTube videos suggest. 

Instead of trying to make money fast, try being consistent and authentic with your posts. Make sure your blog is resonating with the right audience and spend a couple extra hours learning the ins and outs of SEO. Remember: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And once you start shifting your mindset, the results will speak for themselves. 

Picking a niche you have no expertise in or not picking a niche at all:

Picking a niche you have no expertise in or not picking a niche at all is a huge mistake that leads to the downfall of many blogs. 

Picture this: Your reader is scrolling through your feed – one moment they’re reading a chocolate cake recipe and the next they’re knees-deep into a step-by-step guide on knitting. It’s like sitting at an Italian restaurant and seeing sushi on the menu. Talk about whiplash!

This starts to raise eyebrows on what your blog is even about. Your audience will start to doubt your expertise and may mistake your professional blog for a personal one. It can also be a turn-off for many readers as they don’t feel confident in your blog to provide them with the answers they need.

What’s worse that not having a niche, is having a niche you have no clue what you’re writing about. There’s no point in picking a popular niche just because it has a high volume of readers. You’ll find yourself spending all your time researching and understanding a topic before you even put your ideas onto the page. You also run the risk of putting out misinformation and low-quality content. 

Having expertise is key and Google highly rewards websites that showcase it. Google uses E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust) to rank content on the internet. The more knowledge you have on a certain topic, the more you’ll be rewarded by Google. You may want to implement Topical Authority in your blogging strategy to help better establish yourself as an expert.

Passion is the name of the game with blogging and trust me, readers can spot it from a mile away. Passion fuels quality and when you love your niche, your content will naturally end up being something worth reading. Your excitement is going to shine through in your blog posts and readers will be more invested in what you’re posting. 

It also helps avoid blogging being just another thing on your to-do list. One that eats at your time with little to no benefit. It becomes a task you’re excited to do and want to do all the time. 

Writing content for yourself rather than for readers:

Writing content for yourself rather than readers is a blogging trap many people fall for. To create a successful blog you need to stop treating it like the notes app on your phone where you talk about your personal life. While what you put in the notes app is important to yourself, it isn’t important to your audience. 

The good thing about this common mistake is that there’s an easy fix – creating high-quality content that is engaging. It’s all about impressing your readers and providing answers to their questions. 

Poor keyword research:

Poor keyword research results in creating content that doesn’t align with your user’s search queries. This means that regardless of how much time you spend on creating a high-quality piece of content, it’s not visible for the right keywords. This makes it very difficult for your content to be found. 

The quick fix to this is to carry out keyword research. Use tools such as Ahrefs Free Keyword Generator to understand what your audience is searching for. The key to this is picking keywords that have low competition but high search volume. When you’re first starting out, it’s virtually impossible to compete with well-known, high-authority websites, which is why you go for low-competition keywords. Despite having much better quality content than theirs, Google will simply not rank you because you’ve not proven yourself to be a trusted source for information.

The next step is to optimise your content for SEO. This is to make sure your content not only speaks the language of your audience but also of search engines. Make sure to effectively scatter your keywords throughout your blog post and include SEO best practices to start ranking on that first page of Google. 

You may also like: 8 Ways To Generate Blog Ideas To Boost Your Content Game!

Inconsistent posting:

If you want your blog to start seeing some success, you have to be consistent. It’s a common slip-up for bloggers to drop posts with big time gaps in between. It’s like leaving your readers hanging.

Readers appreciate when a blog is consistent. It means they have a go-to source of information and show that you’re dedicated to providing that knowledge. By posting consistently, you benefit from a steady growth of traffic, stopping your blog from becoming a one-hit wonder and turning it into a recurring favourite.

Set up a consistent blogging schedule. Whether it’s once a week, twice a month, or whatever works for you – just stick to it. It’ll help you stay motivated and give you something to work towards every month. This schedule will be your gateway to building a loyal community of readers who keep on coming back for more. 

You may also like: What Is Blogger Burnout And How To Avoid It!

Giving up too quickly:

You get into blogging in hopes of gaining quick results, only to get hit with the reality check that it doesn’t quite work that way. Many bloggers end up quitting when they realise the money doesn’t pour in like they were hoping it to. Blogging success takes time, effort, and a sprinkle of patience. Once you implement a certain level of persistence you’ll start to see an influx of traffic month on month that you can genuinely be proud of. 

If you haven’t made a start to your blog, the key to avoiding giving up is managing your expectations. You can’t expect an avalanche of traffic from day one. We have to be realistic here and the best way to have realistic expectations is by doing your research. Research within your niche to see what kind of traffic newer blogs are getting. Use keyword research tools to get an idea of how many people are searching for topics within your field. This will help give you an idea of the level of traffic you can expect within your first month. 

Remember: just because a keyword has a high search volume, does not mean you’ll get the same amount of traffic. These keywords are usually highly competitive, so you’ll be going head-to-head against the big dogs of your industry to fight for the attention of your audience.

Many bloggers also bail after they face a hit to their traffic due to a Google update. However, there’s a reason behind every Google update and you need to hang in there and adapt your website to these changes. Quick fixes and shortcuts might sound tempting, but real success takes time. Put in the energy to update your old blog posts, optimise your new and current articles, and implement SEO best practices. Stay resilient and the traffic will soon start pouring in.

Poor content quality:

When you’re first starting out you may be tempted to churn out as many blog posts as you can without caring for the quality. More is always better right? Wrong! Google doesn’t care about the number of blog posts you have. It cares about the quality of your posts and how much value you’re adding to readers. If your content is low-quality, isn’t in-depth, and barely answers your reader’s questions. your content won’t make the cut in search engine result pages (SERPs). If your content isn’t being shown on search engines, there’s no chance of anyone reading it. 

Your focus should be on the quality, not the sheer quantity of words you can throw onto the screen. Make each post worth reading and aim for that 1,000-2,000 word count. Trust me on this one – posting one or two killer blogs a week will do you more favours than a daily post that’s mediocre at best.  

Writing content that’s already out there:

Rewording content that’s already out there is another reason why many blogs fail. The reason why so many bloggers do this is because of the vast amount of information that’s already out there. Because of this, they feel that they need to fit in in order to compete. However, what many don’t know is that’s their chance to shine. Be the voice that adds something new to the conversation. 

The worst thing about unoriginal content is that readers can spot it from a mile away. They want fresh, new content. Not something they’ve read time and time again. 

Search engines also love original content and reward those who put out diverse and fresh posts. If you’re just rewording what’s already out there, you’re making it very difficult for your blog posts to start ranking. So, step away from the copy-and-paste keyboard shortcuts and start writing from scratch. Whatever your creative mind comes up with, put it on the page. 

You’re not promoting your blog:

Your website could be a goldmine of information within your niche. However, you’re not making it known that you have all of this high-quality content, you’re not maximising the potential traffic that you could be gaining. You can’t just sit around and hope people magically find your traffic. You’ve got to be your blog’s biggest hype man or woman and tell everyone about your blog. 

The main aim of promoting your blog is to get your content in front of the right eyes. Social media, newsletters, guest posting, and partnerships are all great platforms to start boasting about how great your blog is.  

Backlinko’s Brian Dean’s 80/20 rule is a great technique you can use. The technique involves spending only 20% of the time writing the content and the rest of the 80% on promoting the content. This just shows how important promoting your blog actually is.