You’ve got a blog. You’ve written some pretty great stuff. You’re really proud of it. There’s only one problem—nobody reads it.
Yikes. Before you get down on yourself, know that you are not alone. Not by a long shot. And we’ve got even better news for you. There is something you can do about it. The first step is to figure out why you have no blog traffic and use that to guide your changes.
Consider these reasons for your blog’s lack of readership:
It’s Visually Unappealing
Yes, that is the nice way of saying that you have an ugly baby. Sorry, but it may just be true. When it comes to designing your site, it matters less what you think and more what your readers think. Consider a fresh design and layout to invite people in.
Your Content’s Not Really That Good
What?! You were an English major. You know how to craft a grammatically perfect sentence. That may be true but that is not really what constitutes good content. Your messages must be targeted to your audience, which means you should be writing about things that matter to your readers in a voice that appeals to them.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Your readers need to trust you. If you publish daily for two weeks, you train people to expect new content each day. When you then choose to go on vacation and skip even one week, your readers will feel abandoned—and they may not come back. Set a publishing schedule that you can actually maintain and stick to it.
Lack of Optimization
You may be among the golden ones who follow the above three rules to a tee, but if you do not take the time to optimize your blog and/or site for SEO, what’s the point? Seriously. Do you really think you’ll get off-the-charts readership by posting a flyer at your local coffee shop?
You’re Too Quiet
Marketing your blog is how you will capture the attention of new readers. Without this, your great content and beautiful design don’t even have the chance to keep readers.
Essentially, the above outlines the elements of any successful business. Develop a great product, market it well, close the deals, provide great service and enjoy repeat business.
It is also important for bloggers to remember that what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Be open to change when and where necessary.
