6 reasons no one is reading your blog

This post is a part of our digital audits series – a closer look at what it takes to improve your digital strategy.

Maintaining a blog takes a lot of work. We’re talking content brainstorming, planning editorial calendars, writing, editing, sourcing photos and graphics, and finally publishing on your platform of choice.

And then the process starts all over again.

If no one is even reading your blog, it’s hard to justify all the work that goes into it – which is bad news, because a good blog can be very beneficial for organizations.

If your blog’s performance is a little underwhelming, a blog audit could make all the difference. Before you come up with solutions, you’ve got to identify the real problem first.

6 issues that could affect your blog’s performance:

1. You’re not paying attention to your top performing posts.

Who are you writing for? Before you create your next editorial calendar, make sure you thoroughly understand your target audience’s interests – what topics are they Googling? What kind of headlines do they click on? Take time to determine which of your blog’s posts were top-performers – this will provide some big clues as to what topics you should write about in the future.

2. You have no idea how to increase blog traffic.

Does anyone even know you have a blog? The numbers don’t lie – if your blog isn’t getting web traffic, you’ve got to do a better job of getting the word out. Increase your blog’s reach by promoting it on your social channels, linking to posts in your e-newsletter, and improving your SEO strategy.

3. Your audience doesn’t care about your content.

Maybe your blog’s traffic isn’t too bad, but that doesn’t mean your readers are actually sticking around and engaging with your content. Are people clicking through to other posts on your blog, or are they bouncing as soon as they arrive? Bounce rate and time-on-page will tell you everything you need to know about audience engagement (or lack thereof).

4. Your tone is off.

This is a blog, not a thesis. Are you keeping the tone casual and conversational, avoiding big chunks of copy, and using bullets, subheadings and photos to break up the text? The idea is to get your readers in, out and on their way – they don’t have time for much else.

5. You’re posting at the wrong times.

If all your blog posts go out at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays, there’s a good chance no one’s going to read them. Neil Patel reports that Monday at 11:00 a.m. is the best time to publish if you want to increase traffic, and early Monday and Thursday mornings are ideal if you want to get more links.

6. You’re not doing enough guest posts.

Guest posts are a great way to increase your blog’s reach, network, and to build backlinks. When’s the last time you created guest posts with other bloggers in your industry? Source established bloggers to publish posts on your site; offer to write posts for blogs you respect. In return, you’ll increase your brand’s reach and access a ton of built-in audience members.

 

If you need help identifying your blog’s weak points, you could benefit from a digital audit. Give your digital strategy a major upgrade – or get ongoing help with your blog – by getting in touch with us.