9 Reasons Your Blog Doesn’t Get Traffic

If you’ve ever thought, ‘My blog has no traffic—what am I doing wrong?’ you’re not alone. A lot of entrepreneurs believe they can just publish a blog and people will come read it. Sorry, but that’s not the case. It takes some work to get significant traffic to your blog. But it’s definitely doable and worth the effort! So, let’s go over why your blog isn’t getting any traffic.

1. You’re Not Targeting the Right Keywords

… Or any keywords. Keywords help search engines find your content and know when to show it in search results. Strategically choosing keywords increases your chances of showing up in relevant search results, driving organic traffic to your website.

When I first started, my blog had no traffic because I didn’t understand keyword research. Many entrepreneurs don’t understand SEO, so they don’t know that they need to research keywords. They publish a post and expect to get a ton of traffic from it. Unfortunately, that’s just not how it works (I wish it were, though!). 

I also see businesses pick these super broad, high-competition keywords because high competition typically also means high volume. They see that they could get thousands of clicks from this keyword but don’t understand how difficult it will be to rank highly for it because of the competition. 

Instead, choose long-tail, low-competition keywords aligned with search intent. Search intent is what people expect to find after they search a keyword on Google. Aligning your content with what they want to learn more about drives more traffic.

2. Your Headlines Don’t Make People Click

Are your headlines enticing people to click from search results? A compelling headline can drive significant traffic. It’s your first impression, and you want to make it good! 

Here are some quick tips for writing an engaging headline:

• Use numbers – people love lists!
• Create curiosity, but don’t be clickbaity.
• Address a problem and speak directly to your reader’s struggles.
• Use power words such as ‘proven,’ ‘ultimate,’ and ‘secret’ to grab attention.
• Ask a question to create natural curiosity.
• Include a sense of urgency to add relevance.
• Promise a benefit and make it obvious.

3. Your Content Isn’t Optimized for SEO

Maybe the content itself isn’t optimized for SEO. Even if you chose a good keyword, the rest of the blog post has to be optimized for search engines. Check if posts are missing SEO titles, meta descriptions, headers, internal links, or image alt text.

A WordPress plug-in like Yoast can double-check that your blogs are optimized for SEO. Install it for free, enter your chosen keyword, and it will give you an analysis of where you can improve and optimize for that keyword.

4. You’re Not Promoting Your Blog Posts

“If you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply to blogging—again, I wish it did! You have to share your blog posts to get more traffic. I spend just as much time promoting my blogs as I do writing them.

Here are some ways you can promote your blogs:

• Emails
• Pinterest
• Instagram stories, Reels, or posts

Just talk about your content! People are more likely to read your blogs if you tell them about it instead of expecting them to find it on their own.

5. Your Content Isn’t Solving Real Problems

Are you blogging for the sake of blogging or addressing your audience’s pain points? Every blog you write should have a purpose. Are you giving value, telling stories, or just writing about surface-level content? Think about what your audience struggles with, doesn’t understand, or needs to figure out. These are excellent blog topics!

6. You’re Not Posting Consistently

I always preach the importance of staying consistent with your content. When you ghost your blog, Google will ghost you right back. Search engines want to see websites constantly updated and adding new, valuable content. Consistency builds authority and trust among users and search engines. You’ll start to see SEO momentum over time.

Set up a realistic publishing cadence, even if it’s once a month. Commit to it and put it in your schedule to complete it.

My blog content calendar template can help you stay on track!

7. Your Website Is Slow or Hard to Navigate

Slow websites are the worst! Slow load times and confusing navigation or user experience drive people away before they read a word of your blog. 

Fix issues slowing down your website. Run a speed test with PageSpeed Insights and fix any issues it points out. While you’re there, check mobile usability. More and more people are reading blogs on mobile! Make sure that the experience is just as good for them.

8. Your Blog Has No Clear Niche or Focus

Who are you talking to? I really struggled with this with my old business. I offered so many different things that I didn’t know what to talk about. I kept everything super surface-level to try to attract anyone interested in those topics. Take it from me—that’s not the way to do it.

Niche clarity helps Google understand and rank your content. And when it knows who you’re talking to, it will send those people to your website. Then, when they land on your blog, those people should feel like you’re speaking directly to them. That’s how specific and niche your blogs should be.

Create content pillars around specific themes to help you stay focused on your content creation. I only write about SEO, blogging, entrepreneurship, and community topics. Imagine if I started writing about real estate—you would be so confused!

9. Your Content is Outdated

Your content might be old and irrelevant. We tend to publish blogs and never give them a second glance. However, old posts can quickly become outdated, and no one wants to read a post that isn’t relevant anymore.

If you haven’t touched a blog in a while but the topic is still relevant, give it a refresh. This will show Google that you’re committed to staying relevant and offering valuable, up-to-date content.

Here are some quick updates you can make:

• Stats
• Data
• Internal links
• Images
• SEO metadata
• Headline
• Dates

How to Get More Blog Traffic

After you address why your blog isn’t getting traffic, you’ll see an increase in your analytics. Give it some time and continually make updates to improve your SEO. You don’t have to stay stuck in the ‘my blog has no traffic’ phase—small changes can bring big results.
And if you want someone else to be responsible for bringing new traffic to your website through blogging, I’m your girl! Let’s talk on a quick discovery call. I’m excited to meet you!