The 5 Most Common Reasons Why Blogs Fail

How many of us have been attracted by the idea of creating a blog? After all, start-up costs are minimal and we have all heard stories of bloggers who managed to turn their blogs into money-spinners that allow them to quit the day job.
The potential to make some extra money is the reason that many people decide to start a blog, but very few of those bloggers manage to generate any real money and most fall by the wayside.
Here we are going to examine five of the most common reasons that blogs go bust.
1. No passion for the subject
One of the biggest mistakes that new bloggers make is committing before a single word has been written.
Choosing your topic wisely is important. But doing so based purely on what you believe will be the most commercial subject rather than one you are passionate or knowledgeable about is a dangerous choice.
You are going to have to write hundreds of posts on your chosen topic, which is a lot easier to do if the subject matter is close to your heart.
2. Not setting targets
If you are serious about blogging then you need to start imposing some targets from the outset. The first of these should be the quantity of blog posts you intend to write.
Quantity and quality are both important considerations, and neither should be neglected. Find the sweet spot between how much you can write without getting burned out and not leaving it too long between posts.
Two or three quality posts per week is a very realistic goal and should allow you to see your views increasing sooner rather than later.
Think about setting goals on how many page-views or visitors you want to see on your site too, and make sure to include the date by which this should happen.

3. Not paying attention to SEO
In case you are not familiar with the acronym, SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization, which is a way to give your blog or website the best chance to rank highly on Google and other search engines.
This can mean little things like making sure to include an Alt text on all the photos you use, as well as identifying popular searches in your area and including appropriate keywords in your posts.
You need to understand what your audience is looking for when they come to your site, and write the kind of content that will make them keep coming back for more.
Read also: How I Made $3,440 Blogging in 1 Month
4. Inability to come up with new ideas
There is always going to come a time when you just can’t think of a suitable topic. For many new bloggers that time arrives sooner rather than later, often as a result of making the mistake outlined in the first point and choosing the wrong subject.
However, there really should be no excuse for running out of topics.
Inspiration can be found in all sorts of places: your competitors’ sites; Twitter; Quora; Google searches and good old-fashioned brainstorming can all be a source of new ideas.
5. Your blog doesn’t have a USP
There are millions of blogs and websites out there, all of them competing for attention online. If you don’t do something to make your blog stand out from the crowd you are just not going to get noticed.
Try to let your personality shine through in your writing. If you can bring something of yourself to the blog then you will at least be offering something other than a ‘cut-and-paste’ style site which is indistinguishable from the competition.
The best advice for anyone new to blogging is to keep writing.
If your content is of a high enough quality it will be discovered and you will start to grow an audience. Just don’t expect to be cashing cheques for millions within a few months.
If you persevere while others are losing interest and dropping out, you can become one of those success stories that make money online.
