7 Reasons Nobody Reads Your Blog
Craig note- We have passed our 700th blog post (2,000+ overall). There are reasons we have grown and prospered over the past five years on our current blog (Grey, Grizzled, and Gaijin (GGG)).
(Enjoy!)
ON YOU ARE BORING
I know.
That’s harsh.
It is the worst thing in the world to believe you are interesting enough to carry a blog. Trust me, you aren’t. You have to give your audience more than “Hey, let me tell you what I think about…” if you want to keep them coming back to your blog.
GGG BONUS TIP- TIE YOUR PERSONAL STORIES INTO A WIDER LESSON OR TIP FOR OTHERS TO USE IN THEIR OWN LIVES.
THAT’S BLOGGING GOLD!
ON YOU DON’T USE ENOUGH VISUAL MEDIA IN YOUR BLOG POSTS
I see some wonderfully written blogs. But, they are devoid of any eye-catching logos or photographs. You have about 15 seconds to grab a reader and keep them on your blog.
You don’t have to use magazine-quality photographs. Any photograph that is in focus will do. But; no, your words no matter how great are not going to consistently draw a crowd without some visual help.
GGG BONUS TIP- EVERYTHING IN YOUR DAILY LIFE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE GREAT CONTENT.
BE SURE TO TAKE TONS OF PHOTOGRAPHS.
TOO, EMBEDDED VIDEOS WITH SHORT WRITTEN CONTENT MAKE FOR AN AWESOME CHANGE OF PACE FOR YOUR BLOG.
ON YOUR BLOG TITLES ARE TERRIBLE
You can read a ton of articles about SEO title words and the like. And, there is some merit to that stuff. But, honestly, I create titles with two goals in mind.
The first is “Does it tell the reader what I am going to talk about in the post?” And; two, I ask myself, “Would I click it?” If that answer is ‘yes,’ I don’t sweat too much over my blog post titles.
I will say, numbers, lists, quotes, and question-phrased titles do well for my blog. It is not the end all be all for me. But, I do notice an uptick in traffic when my title is a bit more clever or uses numbers.
GGG BONUS TIP- IF YOU WOULD NOT CLICK ON YOUR BLOG POST, DON’T EXPECT ANYBODY ELSE WILL EITHER.
GET CREATIVE AND DRAW POTENTIAL READERS IN WITH YOUR TITLES (AND HEADINGS).
ON YOU DON’T LINK YOUR EARLIER BLOG CONTENT
You have to keep the reader on your blog. I post a bonus food picture and three archived posts with every new blog post. I keep the bonus posts related to what day’s theme is, but early on in your blog that is hard to do. Either way, the goal is to keep people reading and engaging your stuff as long as possible. And, the great thing is that it does not have to involve new blog content.
There is nothing wrong with repackaging your most popular posts as a new blog post. As well, you can repackage your underperforming blog posts with new photographs. It is a super way to give your content a second chance. This is very important as you grow a Twitter following.
New engagers are not going to read your entire blog. You have to highlight content for them to easily access. You cannot expect any (new) engager to spend hours reading through your entire blog. You have to make it as easy as possible for someone to click and read your blog.
GGG BONUS TIP- LINKING OLD POSTS IS A GREAT WAY TO PROVIDE IN-DEPTH DISCUSSION ON A PARTICULAR ISSUE/THEME WITHOUT WRITING A 10,000 WORD BLOG POST.
ON YOU TALK AT YOUR READERS NOT TO THEM
My goal with every post is to give readers something to think about for the day. I am not preaching to my audience. I am having a dialogue with them on a given topic.
I am as polished as possible. But, I don’t sit around stressing out over small errors in grammar (or format). I have better things to do, and so do my readers. In fact, you can be too perfect.
I keep most of my vocabulary and writing style like I am writing a letter to my friend. I am not looking to get an ‘A’ in English class. If a reader knocks me for a bobble here or there, they are not the kind of person I am looking to attract to my blog.
GGG BONUS TIP- TAKE TIME TO GO BACK AND READ YOUR OLD CONTENT.
ARE YOU STILL AS EXCITED AND ENTERTAINED BY YOUR BLOG POSTS AFTER SEVERAL DAYS, WEEKS, OR MONTHS?
BE UNAFRAID TO TWEAK OLD CONTENT TO IMPROVE IT.
ON YOUR BLOG HAS NO REAL DIRECTION
It is important to summarize the theme or content at the top of every new blog post. You cannot expect a reader to read your whole blog post to the end without giving them a reason to do so.
This blog offers insights on a variety of topics. But, every reader knows they are going to get plenty of bonus food pictures and a daily quote. This means even if the day’s blog post is not of interest to a reader, they still have a reason to click on it.
Your blog should must-click for everyone even if it is not always a must-read.
GGG BONUS TIP- CAN YOU GIVE A ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR BLOG?
IF YOU CAN’T, IT IS UNLIKELY YOUR CORE UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO EITHER.
AND, THAT’S A PROBLEM FOR LONG-TERM BLOG AUDIENCE GROWTH.
ON YOU DON’T MARKET YOUR BLOG ENOUGH
A lack of marketing is the number one thing that crushes new bloggers. They write one great post. The novice blogger slaps it up on Twitter. They might even use a hashtag. But, the blog post is never seen on Twitter again.
There is no way you are building a blog following on Twitter doing that as a non-famous person. People are not going to be lining up in droves to read your latest musings. You are not special enough to not put your blog content out there ad nausem.
It is paramount to give your Social Media audience every opportunity to engage your blog posts new and old. I recycle 10–12 old blog posts every day on Twitter. Of course, some of them don’t get a lot of interaction. Still, several blog posts have seen a bounce from being retweeted over and over again.
To that end, it is also important to ask people to retweet your blog content. You would be surprised how effective simply asking for a retweet is on Twitter is for bloggers. I tag people I engage often on Twitter.
The vast majority of them like if not retweet my new content. Most bloggers worry too much about being annoying on Twitter. People are used to getting tagged and engaged on Social Media. One person in all the time I have been on Twitter publicly groused about getting tagged in my tweets.
He never minded getting tagged when I was plugging his books. But, I was tagging him no more than one a day as I posted a new blog post. He lamented “…tagging is not really my thing…” That angered me.
I unfollowed and blocked him. His stuff never appeared on my feed again. I added about 4,000 more followers after that, and last time I checked he hawks his books once a year to 1,000 Twitter followers. That’s his choice, but I believe blogging (writing too) to be a business.
I don’t have to time to cater to people who are not 100% supporting me. There is far too much competition on Social Media for that. I am in blogging and Social Media to “win it.”
It is important to remember, “Good bloggers post. Great bloggers get people to read the posts. And, the best bloggers engage their core to ensure they come back for the next post.”
GGG BONUS TIP- SET ASIDE TIME TO PERSONALLY ENGAGE PEOPLE WHO LIKE, COMMENT, AND RETWEET YOUR BLOG.
THEY ARE A SUPER RESOURCE FOR HONING YOUR MESSAGE AND EXPANDING YOUR READERSHIP AND SOCIAL MEDIA REACH.
Grey, Grizzled, and Gaijin
“It takes discipline not to let social media steal your time.”- Alexis Ohanian
