I’m asked by bloggers all the time why their blogs aren’t growing. My answer is to let go of unrealistic expectations, give generously, and be patient so you can enjoy your blogging journey. Starting a blog, being a blogger should be a fun adventure.
For many bloggers, this isn’t the scenario. The things that do matter often get missed. Making some relatively simple changes can make the world of difference to your blog growth.
If your blog isn’t growing, it’s time to change your blogger mindset. The good news is it’s never too late to do things differently. Implementing the several practices listed here can help your blog grow!
Blog Design and Navigation
Is your blog over-designed with fancy flare, difficult to manage, or not easy for your blog visitors to navigate?
During my years as a blogger, I’ve seen many blogs by now. Quite a few of them over-designed these days. Consequently, these blogs are cluttered and difficult to navigate. I visited such a blog the other day. It was designed to the max but when I clicked blog… nothing. Some links didn’t even work and it took a long time to load the homepage. In less than a minute … I left!
We all want our blogs to visually look great, but a cluttered blog drives away site visitors rather than attracts them. A simple blog design makes for an attractive, clean, and easy-to-navigate blog. Simple and cleanly designed blogs allow your content to pop! There is no need for a long page scroll to your homepage. People don’t stay too long on one page.
Most site visitors leave before getting to the bottom of the first page. For this reason, make it clear right away what your site is about. . Doing this will ensure your blog is easier to maintain and attract loyal readers. If you are new to blogging or not
Not building a tribe of friends and followers.
Our blogs don’t grow in isolation. They grow through establishing long lasting connections and friendships. These people will become your tribe of friends, readers and followers. Read and comment frequently on other blogs.
Share the posts and works of others in your niche area. Be helpful, loving and generous to other bloggers. Give without expecting anything in return.
Generosity grows blogs! I love my blogging friends and am so thankful for them! These friends all give generously and are influential bloggers! Follow bloggers like Ryan Biddulph, Sue -Ann Babcuz and Greg Narayan.
To expand your reach to a larger audience try guest posting. I highly recommend guest posting! Add value through giving guest blog posts to other bloggers. The doors to guest posting opportunities open by connecting with other bloggers in your niche.
Generous bloggers succeed
Blog from a place of generosity, love and let go of perfectionism. When blogging from a place of freedom you’ll enjoy your blog growth process. Mainly because you won’t have failed expectations, which leads to disappointment and frustration. Eventually, your blog will grow abundantly. All leading to future blogging success!
Do you have unrealistic expectations?
There are many reasons why blogs don’t grow. Many new bloggers expect quick blog growth. Disappointment comes when expectations are not met. The important thing to remember is blogs take time to grow. Too many bloggers get impatient with this process.
Remember that giving generously grows blogs. Offering something for free to your readers is a wonderful way to keep them coming back. People love getting free offers. When you do this, often they will begin to see you as an expert in your niche. The more you give, the more people are attracted to you and your blog.
Conclusion
If you have fun growing your blog and enjoy the journey you’ll blog with energy and enthusiasm. When you struggle with blogging this energy shows in everything you do. Your blogging prosperity comes when you let go of unrealistic expectations. Happy blogging friends!
Let’s hear from you!
What are a few things you’ve done that has helped grow your blog?
Helping you to establish a successful online presence.
Hi Cory, Firstly thank you for the follow on twitter I have reciprocated and its good to see my buddy and client Ryan here, I have worked with Ryan for nearly a decade now and designed and developed many of his previous and current blogs.
Totally agree with you about cluttered blog designs and I am wondering what you are going to think about mine? One thing I have noticed is that the font while writing out this comment is all bunched up but when published there is a decent gap between the line-height anyway (feel free to email me and I will point it out with a fix).
One thing I am obsessed about especially when developing custom WordPress themes and websites is page load speed. I aim to get my creations to load in under a second using various techniques, a decent WebHost and of course a really good CDN. Sometimes though I also use Cloudflare for added security.
Problems arise though when my clients go to town and add loads of plugins without consulting me before then sometimes breaks my custom theme and really impacts on the site speed and usually design as well. At the end of the day, I am here to help and keep things running smoothly. One of my gripes is when I go to fix a WordPress site and it’s not been updated in years and there are over 50 plugins most of which are out of date.
Well, that’s my end of rant, sorry about that. I am trying to get back into blogging again after spending a pretty penny on a new domain that I love and adore but alas my more lucrative side of the business is taking over and am finally in more demand than ever, however, I need to blast out a post at least once a week.
Was good to be here Cori, stay safe during these very weird times,
Phillip
Hi Philip, thanks so much for taking the time to read, comment and provide feedback about my website. Ryan and his posts are awesome. Happy to have him here. You’ve done a super job with the design on Ryan’s blog. Blogging from Paradise looks great!
Had a chance to take a look at your new website. Looks good and you must be happy to have it live now! Appreciate you mentioning about your experience with the comment text bunching up when typing it. I’ve since fixed it. Thank you!
I notice same with my clients about their plugins. They don’t often realize how too many plugins and ones outdated can mess things up! Many of websites I work on are often clogged up when I get there. Have to clean things up before I get to the meat of the work. Guess that’s why they hire us! Not everyone understands the WordPress platform and aren’t tech savvy.
Happy to hear you’re getting back into the swing of blogging again. In time you’ll be back to the habit of posting regularly. Enjoy your new blog and thanks again for the comment Philip. You too… be well and stay safe!
You are awesome Cori 🙂 Cyber hugs for all you do buddy. We are nothing without tribes. Even if in the rarest case you became highly skilled at manipulating people and things, all of your worldly success comes wrapped in misery. Seen this happen many times on the Warrior Forum when 6 figure earners who manipulate people with less than savory copy, who go solo, and who succeed just by using things, share their blanket depression. The journey is fun when we take it with fellow human beings, serving, befriending, doing it together.
Ryan
Thanks Ryan…cyber hugs to you as well friend! So true that with worldly success comes misery especially when manipulated. Seen this happen many times as well! We blog better when out of isolation. A tribe of blogging friends enriches our blogging experience and keeps things fun!