Why Do Most Blogs Fail and How to be a Blogging Success

Blogging is a popular way to create content to connect with your audience and earn more website traffic and visibility from search engines. Many business owners aim to use blogging to market their business. Unfortunately, many blogs end up failing.

I don’t want to get too negative, but I think it’s important to warn business owners about the potential pitfalls of starting a blog. Being aware of why most blogs fail can help you avoid it and become a blogging success. 

So why do most blogs fail? Keep reading to find out! 

Unrealistic Expectations

Blogging and SEO are long-term strategies. It takes time to see progress and results from your efforts. It’s totally normal and happens to everyone who blogs!

These are some common unrealistic expectations I see from people who want to start blogging:

• Instant Success: People assume that traffic, form submissions, and conversions will come quickly. Building a successful blog takes time and effort.
• Quick and Easy Money: There is a widespread belief that blogging is a quick path to financial freedom. While some bloggers make money, it usually takes time, a large audience, and a monetization strategy. 
• Viral Content: Many business owners believe every post they write will go viral and attract thousands of readers. Viral content is rare, and most posts will attract traffic over time.
• Minimal Effort Required: Some people think blogging is easy and doesn’t require much effort, especially with the rise of AI. Successful blogging requires regular content creation, research, and promotion.
• Everyone Will Be Interested: Entrepreneurs sometimes believe their content will appeal to everyone, but the best blogs have a specific target audience. Not everyone will be interested in the same topics!
• Immediate Recognition as an Expert: Some people assume that starting a blog will immediately position them as an authority. It takes time and consistent effort to build credibility with your audience.
• No Need for Promotion: Some believe great content will naturally attract readers without the need for promotion. While SEO does part of the promotion for you, all content needs to be promoted via email and social media to reach a wider audience.

Lack of Consistency

Whew, there are so many reasons why it’s important to be consistent with your content creation. Honestly, this rule applies to any marketing channel you choose to focus on. The frequency doesn’t matter as much (at least once a month is great!) as long as you can stay consistent with it!

First, it helps you build trust with your audience. Readers know they can rely on you for new content. When they know you provide a ton of value in your content, they’ll be excited to read new posts.

Did you know search engines favor websites that are regularly updated with fresh content? Simply staying consistent with posting blogs can improve your SEO. Your posts will appear in more search results, earning you more traffic!

Not only is consistency important for SEO and your audience, but it’s important for you! It helps you create a habit and routine around your content creation. I know when I skip a part of my content creation process, it’s hard to get back into it. I convince myself it’s okay to skip again, which hurts my motivation in the future. I just tell myself I need to put out content and build it into my schedule so I get it done!

Targeting the Wrong Keywords (or none at all)

A huge part of blog writing is keyword research to align your topic with what people are searching for. Selecting a keyword to target influences your blog’s visibility. You can optimize your blog posts for this keyword, which helps search engines understand the point of the blog and when to show it in search results.

You should only target ONE keyword per blog, meaning this is the keyword you put in your metadata, alt text, headers, and body content. You’re putting this keyword in strategic places to increase your chances of ranking for that keyword. You may naturally appear in search results for other keywords you aren’t targeting, and that’s great! It’s important to have one focus keyword in those strategic places within the blog, though.

Then the other part of this point is targeting the wrong keywords. Targeting keywords that are too competitive or have the wrong search intent won’t earn you much traffic. When you’re doing keyword research, find keywords that are:

• Low competition
• High volume
• The right search intent
• Longer phrases (more specific and less competition!)

Not Writing for Your Audience

Why do most blogs fail? You aren’t writing for your audience. You should be clear on who you’re writing to. I like to imagine one person in my target audience I’m writing to. What questions do they have about this topic? What parts would be confusing? What challenges are they going through right now? Ask yourself these questions when you’re writing blogs for your clients.

Knowing your audience allows you to create personalized content. You know exactly where they’re at in their business and where they need support. Readers will feel understood and valued, which keeps people coming back for more. 

I think a common pitfall of bloggers is writing what THEY want to write about, not what their audience wants to read about. You might think a topic is interesting, but will your audience? If your audience doesn’t care about the topic, no one will read it. You won’t get much traffic or conversions from it. Always keep your audience in mind when brainstorming topics and writing blogs!

Make Your Blog a Success

As you can see, there are many reasons why blogs fail. Blogging success requires more than just creativity; you need a strategic approach and consistent effort. By addressing these common risks, you can increase your chances of thriving in this competitive space. 

And if you’re not ready to commit to all that yourself, let’s chat! I help creative entrepreneurs increase website traffic through blogging and SEO strategies. I’d love to hop on a free discovery call with you to see how we can work together!