I’m very happy that you are enjoying the beginner blogger series, but I’ve taken a look at some of your posts. I see that some of you have followed the tips I gave but still have little traffic coming to your blog.
I took some time out to think about it. I studied some statistics and now I’m here with this post.
WARNING: This will be painful to swallow. If you are not serious about blogging and you are content with only a few followers and views then stop reading this post.
However, if you want to make it big time, this might bring some light on why you are not receiving your desired amount of traffic.
There are not many people who search about the topic you write about
Analyst at google have discovered the majority of blog readers are between 30-55 years old.
Yes, there are bloggers and readers who are younger (like myself) or older like many of my friends on WordPress that read blogs. But if you want to make it ‘big time’ you should blog about a topic that is searched big time.
The size of the audience you blog for is small.
If you google the top 100 most popular blogs, you will see that the amount of people who are interested in the topic they blog about is about 5million. Not 5million people who read their blog daily, but 5 million people who are interested in the topic they write about.
Your blog post are too short
I’ve been guilty of this many times before. I noticed when I wrote shorter post, I would have interaction with my audience more. I would see an increasing ‘likes’ in my topics. However, when I go to my stats I would also discover that many of the people who ‘like’ the post never even read it.
Another reason to write longer post are that it reflects to people you are not lazy and have taken time to write the post. This will resolve people sharing your content or linking back to your content in the future.
Want to stand out among other bloggers? Writing longer post will do that. Many people are too lazy to write longer posts.
You might think people do not want to read long posts, but google favors longer post over shorter posts. It shows the search engine that you have more information on your post.
When you write short posts, people would generally think you are just another boring blogger, trying to blog.
You write when you feel good but not in other situations.
Tired? Sleepy? Moody? Still write. Get started with the first word, the first sentence until you finish your post. It takes discipline to write. Not many people are disciplined in today’s world because we are told to ‘not be too hard on ourselves.’ But the truth is, if you want to achieve something in your life you will need to learn the art of discipline.
You can read books about discipline (like the neuropsychology of self discipline) it can work. However, there will be no book that teaches you self-discipline better than yourself. You already know what the word means. How do you do it? Stop procrastinating and start.
Ask yourself: How badly do you want to succeed?
There are many books available in the stores to teach you about self discipline and I’ve given a lot of money to buying those books. But after I read it, I would feel sleepy and take a nap. Then discover a new and better book to buy on the topic of self-discipline.
The only way I discipline myself is to actually start with writing a blog post. You might fail and fail until you succeed.
You count your success by the amount of likes you get per post
People can ‘like’ your post without even reading it. It happens more often then we think. Actually on a daily basis. So don’t be disappointed if no one in the beginning ‘likes’ your content.
Many people view your blog, read your content and never like or comment.
I have people subscribe to my blog who read my blog via their email. When you post consistent good content, people will come around and let you know they love your blog. The amounts of times when people commented on my blog ‘Chantal, I love your blog. I never commented before but today I just had to’ is so high.
Also, don’t be disappointed if no one comments on your post. Yes, it sucks, but you get over it. Even up until today I post things and sometimes no one will comment, but when I look at my views, it is sky high. Traffic still flows. And traffic is what you want for your blog.
Do you feel like a failure after reading this post?
If yes, then I understand. I was hesitant to write this post because firstly I’m not one to write ‘To-do’ post telling you what to do. Because I’ve paid for seminars that promised that if I did what it had told me , it would work. And most of it didn’t.
Secondly I think in this day and age many of us are like sheep, following other people and what worked for them.
There is something beautiful in thinking for yourself. On the other hand there is something beautiful in being open to other people’s suggestions. There’s a reason many of the people who blog and follow these rules find success. It’s been proven.
In the beginning I only blogged about my cat Shekinah and fashion because those are my passions. But as you grow your passions change.
Over the years my needs have changed. I needed to make money with my blog. Only then I listened to the advice I’ve written down above. And only then I received more traffic on a daily basis.
Blogging is a journey. You are allowed to make mistakes before you grow. I think suffering and mistakes are a necessary part of life.
In the beginning of my blog I thought I had to write about my passion and be true to myself. I was convinced of it. Four years later, and now I understand the wisdom in these ‘rules’ I’ve written in the post today. I can say that it works, but it just depends on what you want out of your blog.
Don’t be discouraged. Keep blogging. Keep learning. Change what doesn’t work for you and keep what does.
Did this post help you? Any questions?
PS: I’ve been thinking that I’m no longer only going to post about the beginner blogger series only on Tuesday and Wednesday because there’s so many questions you asked that I still have to do blog posts about and Tuesday and Wednesday is not enough.
Happy living
Chantal xx
chantalandshekinah.wordpress.com 