Last updated on November 30th, 2020 at 03:47 pm
If you are a beginner in blogging (or feel like it) and want to increase your blog traffic and engagement but don’t know how you need to read this. Growing your blog audience and keeping it engaged can help you make more money online, build good relationships and create new opportunities for you and your business. Find out what you could be doing wrong and how to fix it.
I talked about how I grew my blog traffic from 800 to 19.000 page views in one month, but what you might have missed is that it took me over a year to come to that place.
For that whole year, I didn’t have ANYBODY visit my blog.
It was weird. On the one side, I felt safe that nobody can judge me and my blog, but on the other side I wanted to actually get traffic, so people see what I have to share & so I can start making some money (even if not a lot). The moment I decided to be very honest with myself, see what I’m doing wrong & change it, was when my traffic exploded. And it never went back, it grows more and more each month as I’m learning new things and creating new content.
Now I know many would tell you you don’t need traffic to make money blogging…but the truth is: You do. Maybe not millions of monthly page views, but over 30.000? Yes, you do.
More traffic means more ad revenue, more affiliate sales and more product sales, more potential clients. More of everything. So don’t make this excuse. Make it a point to grow your audience and don’t be lazy about it – it can never hurt to have more visitors to your blog.
If you haven’t started your blog yet or struggling to grow your blog, make sure to work through my step-by-step guide here.
So, from what I’ve learned, here are 11 reasons nobody reads your blog.
12 Reasons Nobody Reads Your Blog & How To Fix It
1. You’re waiting for “them” to come to your blog.
One of the things I didn’t do and the biggest reason for me not having ANY traffic for over a year: I didn’t promote my blog anywhere. And I mean nowhere. I would write my blog post, publish it and expect it to get a lot of traffic without me doing more.
This never happened.
Even with the 800 page views I had already started promoting my blog posts a little bit. The leap from 800 to 19.000 page views? A ton of promotion on Pinterest for a month.
There are so many websites and blogs out there that getting traffic by chance/ or by being found randomly simply doesn’t happen anymore. You need to make it happen. And the good news? You can!
Pinterest is in my opinion the best way to get traffic to your blog for free, especially when you’re a brand new blogger and nobody knows about you. By promoting I don’t mean pin one of your pins to one board and wait for it….Well, you can wait for it all you want, but getting traffic like this is very very rare. What I mean is to create multiple pins for each blog post and pin them to different boards every day.
2. You’re not using keywords
How do you usually find anything on the internet? You search for it. You put in some words into Google or Pinterest and then they give you a huge list with options to explore.
So the things you put into the search bar? Those are keywords. From my experience the more specific you go with a keyword, the higher chances you have to be found on the Google.
So if you’re sharing a recipe for gluten-free brownies, the keyword gluten-free brownies is ok, it’s not awful. But you can be more specific.
For example those brownies might also be refined sugar-free, vegan, healthy, easy – or all of those.
So your keyword can be “Easy vegan gluten-free brownies”. That’s specific and gives you higher chances to come up in search results when people search for this specific keyword.
Great, now I need a brownie.
Make sure to put the keywords in your blog post’s title, alt tags for your images and throughout your blog post (without overdoing it though – there’s something called keyword stuffing and it’s a bad thing that Google hates you for, ah that google).
OMG, now google will think I’m keyword stuffing for google, trying to come up higher in search results when people google “google”. I am dead to you, aren’t I?
SAVE MEEE, save me.
Anyway. I’m working right now on getting on track with the whole SEO thing, as I’ve ignored for the longest time and thought it’s more overrated than Taylor Swift (OMG now I’m also dead to Taylor Swift and all her fans).
I’m already seeing some improvement for Google, but not quite where I want to be. Once I see real results, I’ll make sure to share more tips here, maybe in a small guide.
For now, in any case, make sure to have the Yoast SEO plugin installed and activated and follow everything it tells you to do to each one of your blog posts (or as much as it makes sense, sometimes it’s a little crazy!).
3. You’re not creating the “right” content.
Have you seen the movie “Welcome to me“? It’s about a woman who wins the lottery and makes a show about herself called “Welcome to me”. It’s an insane show, but people eventually start watching it. Because, what are you going to do when there’s an insane show on TV.
Well, the chances of that happening to a new blog? Not high. Sadly, online nobody cares about what someone they don’t know is doing or feeling. People search online to solve their own problems, not someone else’s. You need to create content that solves a problem and you need to create it consistently.
So take an honest look through your content and ask yourself for each post:
“What problem am I solving here?”
If can answer 100% without much explanation & fluff – you’re on the right path!
4. You aren’t actually putting in the work.
Another reason that you’re not getting visitors to your blog might be that you’re not working hard enough. That sounds horrible, but I’m honest and I’m saying it, because I’ve been through this. Don’t get me wrong, you’re thinking about your blog most of the time, you should finally publish that blog post, should be pinning more. You’re preparing for it, but you aren’t actually doing it.
In the end, you’re publishing content once, maybe twice a month just to pop in, promoting from time to time. Overall in reality you spend less than 5 hours/month working on your blog. Again – this is something I’ve done as well.
This is actually what’s been happening to this blog right here lately – I’ve been super inconsistent. When I get in this “rhythm” my traffic drops.
So find a good rhythm, make a plan and stick to it! I’ve found that publishing once a week can be enough for some blogs (like this one). For my blog I try to publish 2-3 times a week. As for promoting on Pinterest, I use a scheduler called Tailwind. It’s easy to use and I can batch pin all of my pins. (you can get a free trial here)
I discovered that it’s gotten popular to pin manually and that’s what I was doing for over a year, mainly because I didn’t want to spend money on a scheduler. To be honest with you I don’t know if there’s a big difference between pinning manually or with a scheduler and I’ve done both. The fact is, since I’m using Tailwind (8 months) I’ve doubled my traffic and am able to focus on more things.
I think the biggest reason for this is that I can ACTUALLY stay consistent with pinning. If I don’t have the scheduler, I pin from time to time or let it take over my life and start to hate it. I seriously can’t see myself pinning for one hour every day anymore. 15 minutes manual pinning here and there are fine and I do it most days of the week.
If you’re having a hard time staying consistent with pinning and sick of spreadsheets and pinning for an hour, I highly recommend you look into a scheduler like Tailwind – you can schedule everything ahead and analyze what worked and what didn’t. Yet a free trial for Tailwind and see for yourself here.
So: be consistent, publish at least once every week and promote your content on Pinterest regularly.
5. You’re promoting products way too much (before you have an audience).
Okay, so this hurts a little, but I see a lot of new bloggers focused primarily on promoting affiliate products on their blogs and not actually trying to grow an audience. (*this again goes back to: you don’t need traffic to make money blogging*). So much that it’s hurting the quality of their content.
Yes, we all do want to make money blogging, but it’s getting too much. Nothing wrong with promoting things you love & believe in, but it shouldn’t be the purpose of your blog. Make it a part of your blog, not the focus.
Nobody will follow or come back to your blog if your content isn’t helpful and is only about promoting stuff. It’s like being invited to a jewelry party by a “friend” who makes a commission off of you. When you meet up, they’re only talking about their new line. You might meet that friend once, maybe twice, but you’ll say no the next time. Why? Because you feel like someone’s using you.
Don’t be that friend. Be genuine & focus on growing an audience first! Of course, use affiliate links where it makes sense and would help, but don’t make it the focus of your blog.
6. You’re doing the same thing over and over again & expecting different results.
This is huge, HUGE!
If you’re doing something over and over again and it’s not working (or not working anymore), it’s about time to change it! For example I talked about how I was posting every day on Instagram for over a month trying to increase my blog traffic. That went nowhere.
And I saw it, I saw it from the first week. Still, it took me a while to admit it, to finally get over my need to get discovered on Instagram and start using this magical tool called Pinterest. That exploded my traffic in a month.
So if you’re doing the same thing over and over again, whether it’s being inconsistent, not creating the right content or too little promotion, maybe SEO, maybe design – change it! Often you know what it is and what to do about it.
7. You’ve been around for only a month.
If you’re brand new – here’s the truth. Blogging is not a quick fix. I wish it was. Most people make it seem like it is. 3 months in, and BAM I’m making $5,000. Eerrr. No, it takes time.
It doesn’t have to take years, but it could take around 2-3 months for most bloggers to really see a change in traffic and even longer to make money. So if you’re blogging for a month and nothing happens: stop stressing about it, stay consistent and be patient! Traffic is coming.
8. You’re trying to be like someone else.
Having a successful blog is super rewarding, but getting there takes a lot of hard work, commitment and TIME. And when you’re constantly looking at what others are doing and how well they’re doing it, you’re wasting time and you’re not working on what you want.
Seriously, I love reading other blogs, even though I don’t comment often (or at all). But, whenever I start doing it too much, looking at how beautiful their blog design is, how genius their writing is or how successful they are at something I’m not – I freeze.
I start doubting everything I do, I feel like it all sucks, what’s the point anyway and I do nothing. It’s very sneaky. You see a pin on Pinterest about something you want to do, maybe you even had a similar blog post idea. You click on it, it’s awesome. Actually, you know what – it’s better than yours! Yours sucks compared to this genius right here.
So you check their whole site and then someone else’s and then the day is done. I kinda sound like a psychopath, but I’m honest. This has happened to me many many many many many times and it sucks.
The way I fixed it (and constantly fixing it) was to start with my blog first. I would write my blog posts, schedule them, pin them and then if there are enough hours left in the day – I would check out other people’s content.
9. You’re obsessing over stats instead of building your blog.
This one’s right next to comparing yourself, and it’s here for a reason! If you’re checking your stats and analyzing what you’re doing right or wrong 20 times a day, you’re wasting time. There’s no need to check your stats more than once a day, if that. Do what needs to be done and let go of these numbers! They change ALL THE TIME.
10. Your headlines are not what they could be.
A good headline is everything! If your headline is not AMAZING, if it doesn’t solve a burning problem – there’s very high chance you won’t attract many readers.
11. Formatting
While I don’t think you should spend your precious time making every small design detail on your blog perfect, I think you need to spend some time formatting each and every single one of your blog posts. That means using bullet points, breaking long paragraphs apart and adding subheadings, making it easy to scan for people who find your blog.
12. You’re not in a niche that drives a lot of traffic.
Finally, some blog niches are very specific and don’t drive a lot of traffic. There just aren’t many people with that particular interest.
However, if you’re very niched down, this also means there’s higher chance for the right people to find you, so you can actually make money by offering a service or product. And this is where the “You don’t need a lot of traffic to make money” is true.
When there isn’t much “competition”, there also isn’t enough information out there – thus you can charge higher prices and make good money even with a smaller audience.
That’s it. If you’re doing any of these things, get real with yourself and fix them.
Great post full of great ideas.
Thank you for this! Great tips and I appreciate your honest voice and real experience.
Thank you, Stephanie!
At least you’re been real with you’re
I’m guilt of almost half of those points above and I must say that this has been a wake up call, peach.
I tend to check on my stats a lot and starting today, I’ll stop because I don’t want to hurt myself with stuff that don’t really matter.
I’ll make sure to enhance the quality of my headlines and if I see that my page on Instagram isn’t working, I’ll just let it go and completely focus on Pinterest.
Thanks for posting this ?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Nicole! Yes, checking the stats is definitely something I had to stop myself from doing MANY times in the past. It’s amazing how much you can get done with all that time 🙂
Great post! The title is harsh but also perfect, loved all the tips in here! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Thank you, Kelsey! The title is harsh, I know! But glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the info. I have not started my blog, I have the plan, I’m skeptical. It has a cool name, content, but I’m clueless. I think I will dive in and learn as I go. I need the confidence. Continued success to you.
Thank you Marie! I was also pretty skeptical in the beginning, but if you stay consistent and are willing to learn as you go, it will actually work!
Love it! You’re funny and genuine. Thank you for this inspirational post! I will get off my butt and get to work and stop overthinking .
Aww, thank you, Kay! I hope my post helped
Nice post thank you for share with us
Great blog post. Lots of helpful insights and ideas. I’ve done a few blogs and just launched a brand new one. The biggest mistake I see people making is to expect their traffic to leap up overnight. It takes TIME and lots of WORK. So yeah, great post !
I absolutely agree about the unrealistic traffic expectations (I used to have the same ones haha)! Thanks for your comment, Emma!
The title got me, so just that shows how important titles are. I feel like I am better at some of the things you mention than others. I check Google analytics 10 times a day, not good. I mainly focus on Pinterest, but I just started Instagram yesterday. I do pin manually but I don’t mind that. I try to post about 5 times a week. Honestly I’m still not great at designing pins; I do them through canva, but like with everything else related to blogging, it’s learning a whole new thing. But thanks for all the honest info!
Amy
Thanks for sharing your experience, Amy! These things do get easier!
I have read what seems like hundreds of blog posts about new blogs and starting a blog and so on and so forth…..this is the single most informative and motivating post I have read, bar none. Thank you for the kick in the pants that I needed!!
Thank you, Courtney! I really hope it helps!
Great tips for any new blogger, The Rome was not built in a day. having a great blog with rich contents is a dream of every newbie, but the sacrifice to attain it is what must people don’t want to know. I nothing good comes easy but gradually. Regards
Great post! Made me giggle a bit – guilty of #4. Well, probably more than just that, but especially that one. You get sucked it to reading, learning, planning… and not actually doing! Thanks 🙂
Thank you!
I started blogging a few months ago and am a great believer in ‘less is more’ so I publish posts only twice a month. After reading your post, I am motivated to increase the frequency of my pots. I love how you have addressed so many mistakes we novices make – thank you ever so much.
Great tips
I LOVE this post, thank you so much for being honest! I needed that. Haha
This post is spot on! Thank you for being honest about starting a blog. I’ve been at it for about 6 months and haven’t seen much traffic and those posts that are like “make $1000 your first month of blogging” are misleading and it’s frustrating not seeing the payoff that others see so quickly. I needed this today. Thank you!
Hey Sarena! Yes, it’s not easy at all, especially during the first year! However once you figure out what works for you and your niche, it gets easier and it’s so rewarding. The key is to stay consistent, try out different things and then do more of the things that you see work really well. Keep going!
So well explained – big thank you!!
LOL This is me to a T!! I had to comment because I was literally giggling my way through it thinking ok, she nailed it and then the next one was dead on again and again. I am dying right now 😂I needed this. Thank you!!
Totally love the authenticity of this blog and you actually made me laugh a couple of times with some of your funny comments. Great post. Thank you. I’m in the process of building mine and I do feel so overwhelmed. At least I know now what not to do!
Thank you for your sweet comment, Nomes! Take it one step at a time and let me know if you do need some help (I might take long to respond, but I will!).
Thank you for being honest about starting a blog
Thank you so much for these great pointers. I’m new to blogging (2 months in) and thinking about doing some promos. How do you manage your promoted vs the pins you don’t promote?
Hi, Shaneek! I usually don’t promote pins on Pinterest, so I can’t answer that! Glad you found the article helpful!
Great post! Thank you for the reality check – I’ve read so many posts that make blogging seem easy and cheap. Nipa
Oh I am struggling with number one for sure! I’m new to blogging and haven’t told a soul yet. I keep thinking “my next post will be written better, I’ll tell people then.” Fear of judgment can be so powerful. You may have convinced me to share it on social media. Maybe. 🤣 Thanks for all the helpful tips! I appreciate it.
hahaha, that’s normal! Some of my friends still don’t know about this blog after 6 years, start with strangers first, it’s easier!
Ok, so your post was a HUGE reality check for me. I’ve been having really inconsistent blog traffic and blog income for the past months now and I’m looking for ways to change that. I mean, I’m not a newbie blogger anymore, but I’m also not a pro. Your post was super helpful and has got me thinking of ways to attract consistent traffic and consistent income with my blog. Thank you for sharing, Stella. I definitely learned a ton from this.
Hi Stella, thanks for the great and engaging post! Very useful. I just started a blog on well-being and self-care last month and I am hoping to increase my traffic and provide information that people will find useful. I am going without any ads and affiliate links at this point before I grow traffic. Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing so honestly.. I love reading other people’s blogging journey.. My blogging journey seems quite like yours.. For almost a year I too had hardly few hundred people visiting my blog.. But I also had been doing all the things you wrote above and was the reason why I wasn’t gaining any traffic.. But after a year I finally decided to take my blog seriously.. It’s been my third month of taking my blog seriously and just in two months I went from less than 500 to 30,000 all with Pinterest and it seems this month I might surpass 50k 🙂 blogging is actually achievable if we don’t give up! Feels great 🙂
That’s so great to hear, Vishaka!
Thanks for this.
I recently returned to my poor old, scattered, sparse, and forgotten blog but after finding this post it inspired me to setup pinterest and make some improvements.
Cheers,
John
Hey! This was a really good post and super informative. Some of the things were hard to hear but surely needed. Thank you!