5 reasons why no one is reading your blog & how to fix it

You spend hours thinking of the perfect blog post. Crafting it, writing it, and putting together the perfect Pinterest graphic.

Then you hit publish, and crickets.

It’s been days, weeks, and even months, and no one has left you a comment nor have you seen your web traffic increase.

Any blogger can tell you the feeling of defeat that starts to settle in you when a blog post you’ve worked so hard on seems to have been written to a brick wall.

Why even blog at all? Why put in all the effort for nothing?

Trust me, I know the feeling all too well.

Being a blogger for my businesses for over 6 years, I have been through the ringer when it comes to blogging with a purpose.

From not getting comments to my blog traffic not growing, I know what it’s like to have a blog chirping with crickets.

But, I also know how to remedy it with a few simple tweaks & I am sharing them with you now!

You aren’t inviting anyone

Once you hit publish, that’s it, right?

All that work is finally done and now you can sit back and watch the traffic and comments roll in.

I only wish it were that simple!

But, hitting ‘publish’ is just the first step to getting your blog seen and read by your audience – there’s much more to do, so stopping now will only lead to blog post failure.

So what can you do after you are ready to share it with the world?

Invite others to read it of course!

You can do this a multitude of ways, but social media should be the first.

Schedule it into your social media schedule and share it on all the platforms that you are utilizing.

Related: The steps I take to schedule a week’s worth of social media posts in 1 hour

Also make sure that you share your Pinterest graphic right away & schedule your secondary pins for later times during the week.

Another way to shout it from the rooftops is to share it with your newsletter subscribers.

This is the GOLDEN way that I get traffic to my site and comments left on my blog almost immediately – otherwise, it can take time to build by just using social media alone.

Another way to share your posts is through Facebook groups.

There are loads of blog & business sharing groups on there to share your latest posts and social media handles to get fresh eyes on your content.

If you’re a Mom in business, come join our Facebook group to connect, collaborate, and share with other Mombosses like you!

 

 

Your posts are too hard to read

Nothing is quite worse than going to read a blog post only to find it’s 3 large paragraphs of text lumped together.

I’ll be honest with you on this: if I come across a blog that is formatted this way, I usually close out immediately.

Why?

It’s because it’s hard to read!

Reading paragraphs in a book or report is one thing, but a blog post is a whole different beast.

Your posts should be engaging, easily digestible, and eye-catching –and there’s nothing remotely eye-catching about long paragraphs of text.

Instead, keep it simple with a lot of line breaks (notice how I formatted this post?).

Add in subheadings, bold text, and quotes to keep the post fresh and engaging to your reader.

I hate to tell you this, but most of the time, blog posts only get skimmed, so the majority of your posts won’t even be read!

Bummer, right?

That’s why it’s important to break up your topics within the posts with subheadings, and sprinkle in bold and italic text to your most important parts of your post so that they get read!

And if you’ve never done this before it’s not too late to refresh your old posts to generate new traffic.

Related: How to get new website traffic from old blog posts

There’s still plenty of opportunity to get fresh eyes on your old posts, so work on re-formatting those posts now & you could start generating new traffic today!

 

Your posts are too short

Yes, you read that right. No one is reading your content because you content is lacking.

You might think that keeping your posts short & sweet is just the ticket to get others to read your posts and come back for more, but that couldn’t be further from the mark!

When your post is over before your reader gets anything out of it, then it’s no wonder there’s a family of crickets living on your blog.

You need to give them some value!

And they aren’t going to be getting value with 400 words (generally speaking).

Shoot, the intros to my posts are around 400 words alone, just enough to reel in & excite readers for what’s to come. Just enough to ‘wet one’s whistle’,  so to speak.

So what’s the magic number to getting your readers enticed in your posts?

Well, I honestly don’t believe there is a magic number that exists, but you want to make it long enough to go into detail about what you’re saying, but not too long that they lose interest and click out sooner than they finish.

I have read some amazing blogs over the years that halfway through I get bored – not because of the content – but because it’s so long.

So if there is a magic number, I would say it’s anywhere between 1200-1600 words.

Just enough to provide a lot of sound value to your posts, but not too long that your readers start to wonder why they started to read it in the first place.

But what if I can’t think of 1200 words to write?

Then your topic isn’t ready for a blog post yet! Before I start writing any blog post, I make sure that I outline it first to include all the sub topics I will cover throughout the post.

This makes it easier to go into more detail with posts and really rack up major words at the same time.

So before you start typing, get out a notepad and brainstorm at least 4 subtopics that you can tie in with your blog post and write those down – those will ultimately become your subheadings.

This blog post has 5 subheadings – 5 reasons why no one is reading your blog.

I could have picked any number that I wanted, but I chose to focus on these 5 main things and go into detail with them. Just make sure you are doing the same with your posts too & you’ll have no trouble providing value to your readers!

 

Your titles aren’t eye-catching

What’s worse than a boring blog post? A boring title.

If you can’t get anyone to click on your posts, then you are going to have a hard time getting them to read it.

This is why choosing the perfect title is so important to your blogging game.

If you do it right, you’ll get more clicks. Do it wrong, and those crickets aren’t going anywhere.

So how do you write an eye-catching headline?

Well, that’s a whole topic in and of itself, but for starters, it has to be something you’d click on without question.

Think of click-bait blog titles and how they instantly reel you in.

They instantly instill curiosity in your mind that you cannot help but click and read – even if the post ends up being a bust (which is not what I advise by the way).

While you might not be a professional copywriter, there are tools out there that can help!

I use this headline analyzer before I label any of my blog posts. I work on a title until I get at least a score of 75 according to their process.

For example, say I want to write a blog post about writing your about page on your website.

Initially, I would name is something like “How to write an about page for your website”. But honestly, is that an eye-catching title?

Umm, no!

So instead, I could sprinkle in some curiosity and name it “How to write a killer about page that compels your readers fall in love with you.”

Would that title entice you to click on it?

I’d say it definitely has a higher chance of being opened than the first title option.

So if you’re having trouble coming up with catchy headline, try out the headline analyzer – it’s free to use and worth trying!

 

You aren’t giving your readers a reason to come back

Once you’ve crafted the perfect blog post and you’ve got a solid audience starting to show up to read your content, what’s next for them?

Are you giving them a reason to stay on your blog & come back for more?

If you aren’t really sure how to answer that question, then most likely you aren’t giving them a reason to come back!

So how can you achieve this?

By many, many ways!

It really depends on your goals though. Are you wanting your readers to stay on your site to read more posts or buy a product/service you’re offering?

Then using a related posts widget in your blog or linking to other posts and your products in your posts will help with that!

Also, try adding a small pitch at the end of your post about the product or service you’re offering – it certainly can’t hurt and your readers most likely won’t know about what you can offer them unless you flat out tell them.

Another way to keep connected with your audience is to have them opt-in to your newsletter or a private Facebook group.

Not only is this a great way to keep the conversation going, but it also helps build your following with your free content.

Whatever your blogging goals are, make sure you monetize them with the proper ways to follow through and reach those goals – otherwise you are just blogging to blog without a purpose in mind.

It can seem daunting at first to turn your blogging habits around, but once you figure out what your audience wants and how they respond to your content, you’ll be well on your way to creating a space where it’s buzzing with life!

Did any of these tips help you with your blog crickets? Start the discussion below & let’s chat about it!

If this post has been a game-changer for your blog, then please share the love by pinning the above image on Pinterest & make sure to follow me for more business and blogging tips!