It breaks my heart to see so many bloggers pour their heart and soul into creating blog content, only to have it completely fall flat.
Womp womp.
It sucks! Content creation isn’t easy. And it can be sooooooo frustrating to spend the time and energy to create a good post that seems to go, well, nowhere.
If this has ever happened to you, I bet it’s for one of these 7 reasons. The good news is, these are so easy to fix!
Here are 7 reasons why your blog posts aren’t being read, and how to fix it.
Your Headline Sucks
One of the biggest reasons your blog post may be falling flat is your headline just isn’t resonating.
If it isn’t clear, concise, interesting, emotional or makes people curious, no one will click.
Ok, your Aunt Jill may click. But I’m sure you want more than just your Aunt Jill reading your blog.
The Solution:
You should be spending nearly half the time you spend writing your blog post just working on your headline!
That’s how important your headline is. It must be enticing, or it won’t make someone want to click through and read your post.
Need some headline help? Try these three free resources:
Your Blog Design Is Cluttered
I remember when I first started blogging and working on the design. I loved All. The. Things.
From glitter and scrapbook-style stuff (hey, it was on-trend!) to hand-lettered things my blog design was all over the place.
Unfortunately, that’s not the best for creating a memorable brand.
It’s essential to have a clean, beautiful design that’s cohesive in order to build a memorable brand.
Do a quick blog audit and ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have consistent colors?
- Do you always use the same fonts?
- Is your sidebar uncluttered or is there a lot going on?
If you aren’t sure, set up a blog consult and we’ll evaluate how to improve your blog, attract readers and monetize your blog.
Your Font Is Too Hard to Read
You’d be surprised how many blogs I encounter that just aren’t legible.
Make sure your font isn’t too small, too light in color or in some fancy, scripty, handwritten font that’s impossible to read.
You know the kind: they’re pretty and feminine but have way too many curls and swirls.
I like a fun font as much as the next gal, but if your content is too hard to read, people won’t read it!
You can tweak your font settings and sizes right within WordPress until you find one that’s easy on the eyes, and the right size.
Your Blog Loads Too Slow
I can, and probably will, write an entire blog post on how to increase site speed because this is SO important!
If your blog loads too slow, people will not stick around. That will drive your Bounce rate up and Pageviews down.
So what are some easy ways to make your blog load faster?
First, make sure you’re with a good hosting company. When I switched over to Siteground, both of my blogs experienced a dramatic increase in site speed. I’m talking immediate, friends.
Siteground touts themselves as one of the fastest hosts, and since they’re a WordPress partner I can see why.
They also have amazing tools to help your blog load faster like the Siteground Optimizer plugin.
If you’re on the Grow Big Plan like me, you’ll get free Cloudflare CDN, which also helps with your site speed.
If you already are on Siteground, here are a few other things you can do to increase your site speed:
- Always compress your images! I do this before uploading with ImageOptim (free for Mac users). You can also use a plugin like EWWImageOptimizer or WPSmushIt to compress your photos.
- Upload images in the correct size. When you don’t and re-size within WordPress, the server has to serve the full-size image and then scale it down,
slowing down your entire site. It’s best to upload the right size from the get-go.
- Minimize ads. Do you really need that many banner ads? If you’re making a ton of money off of them, then by all means keep them. But if they’re bringing in pennies, and slowing down your site, consider shelving them for a bit.
- Try a plugin like Nitropack. I use this in conjunction with technical support from iMark Interactive and my site speed increased dramatically.
Your Blog Post is A Giant Novel
Writing for the web is not like writing for magazines or newspapers. Online, giant paragraphs are an eyesore.
So, how do you avoid this?
Break up your paragraphs into smaller lines and use techniques like incorporating subheads, bolded content
When your articles are easy on the eyes, they’re also easier to digest!
RELATED: How to Write the Perfect Blog Post
You Aren’t Promoting It Enough
If you think blogging is the kind of thing where you build it and they will come, you are sorely mistaken.
Writing is definitely not enough. In fact, you should be spending 80% of your time just promoting your content!
That means yes, you’re sharing more than once on your social channels and constantly seeking ways to drive traffic to your site.
Not sure how to do that? Here are a few ideas.
- Share on your FB/IG/Pinterest/Twitter
- Share in FB share groups
- Write a newsletter sharing your post
- Re-share your popular posts at least once a month
- Create an IG Story sharing your post
- Create a YouTube video on the subject of your post
- Submit your post to mix.com
- Re-purpose your post on medium.com and LinkedIn
- Schedule your Pins to Tailwind Communities
These are just a few of the ways you can share your blog post. As you can see, there are plenty of ways to promote your post. But the key is to keep promoting it!
You Don’t Know What Your Audience Wants
Blogging isn’t about you: it’s about solving your reader’s problem. And if you don’t know your reader, or what they want, then your blog post can easily fall flat.
The first thing you need to do is really niche your blog and understand your audience.
Hint: Women ages 25-35 who like to travel is NOT a niched audience.
Women ages 25-35 who are looking for tips on how to travel with small children and have a discretionary income is MUCH more specific.
RELATED: How to Define Your Blog Niche
One of the best ways to know what your audience wants is to simply ask them!
You can do this in a FB/IG story or your weekly newsletter
You can also send out an annual reader survey. There are plenty of free tools like Survey Monkey and Typeform that are easy to use.
Bottom Line: If you’re blog posts aren’t being read, do a mini audit and see if tweaking any of these things help. And if you want an outside opinion, message me for a blog consult session.
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What great insight and ideas. Thank you so much.