Your Blog Has Died and I Really Miss It!
6 Warning Signs That Your Blog Is In Trouble
Has your blog died? Could it be just hanging on thanks to steady injections of guest posts, blog reviews, paid postings, or anything else but original content from you? You may not even know it, but your blog is dead and I really miss it! Yes, it is time for you to resurrect the corpse and breath new life into your blog. Before you do that, let’s identify 6 warning signs that your blog has died or is fast approaching death’s door:
Payola Posts — Not too many people mind the occasional disclosed paid posts, but when ReviewMe and PayPerPost articles appear as frequently as your regular content, then your blog has caught a bad case of pneumonetization and an antiblogadic is the only thing that will save it at this point. Yes, your traffic is still strong as other posties faithfully stop by to copy (read) your arthritis rub on cream review, but your regular readers have long since moved on.
AdSenseless — How is pay per click working out for you? It must not be working out all that well because that new 336×280 mega AdSense unit is sitting squarely above the fold rendering all of your content unreadable. Guess what? Many of your visitors simply cannot be bothered with scrolling down to find your articles.
Widget City — I found more widgets on your blog then content! Okay, maybe that is a bit of a stretch but one or two nasty widgets are taking too long to load and I, out of sheer frustration, have long since moved on to the next blog.
Filler Posts — Market Yourself Mondays, Tribute Tuesdays, Wordless Wednesdays, Guest Post Thursdays, Friday Freak Outs, and other once-weekly “specials” are now dominating your blog. Transplants are for organs, not for filler posts!
Straying Way Off Topic — The one consistency about your blog is inconsistency. You started off blogging about your subject (e.g., mortgages, teeth whitening, male enhancement) but you increasingly have veered away to cover hang gliding, kitchen appliances, and your personal take on search engine optimization. Okay, fine. However, if you re-purpose your blog one more time your readership will avoid it like the plague!
Outright Abandonment — You’re too busy to blog (or no longer interested) and you haven’t told anyone why you have stopped. Well, if you appreciate your readers then you need to show loyalty to them. Either tell people you have quit blogging or consider mercy killing and post a notice to inform visitors that you have terminated life support. Finished. Kaput. RIP.
Please don’t take your readers for granted — your blog is nothing without their participation. The look of death is evident to everyone except, to you, your blog’s undertaker. I mean caretaker.
The widget issue is perplexing. Some of them are very useful to the blogger and the reader, but they take up lots of real estate and can slow the page loading. There are a couple high quality blogs I’ve stopped reading regularly because of the slow loading issue.
Very clever post, Matt!
One question pertaining to widgets. Is it possible that on your computer everything loads quickly, but on another it is very slow? Then what do you do in a case like that? I mean, how do you know it’s slow to load? Oops! Sorry, I guess that was three questions.
Have a great Friday!
Lisa
Brad: — The widget issue is serious business. I’ve abandoned a few blogs because widgets are pushed in front of my face or they simply do not load.
Lisa: — Widgets are slow to load when you pull up a page and you have to wait until everything finishes appearing on the screen. Yes, your computer’s memory can significantly alter loading times. I have one older computer that just stops when I visit some widget-laden pages while my newer laptop can usually handle whatever is thrown its way. Still, if I have to wait 30 seconds to read a page, then I’m gone!
Great post, Matt. I may even crib it, that’s how good it is. Oops! Is my blog dying? Actually, I thought having a schedule would give it some form, shoring up the seeming random meanderings. I agree on the widgets/gadgets/whatsits. I won’t tolerate a page with incessant popups that get in the way of reading the text. But I will blog about those that pertain to writers/readers, just in case someone else wants to try them out.
Georganna, feel free to reference this article.
Your blog is fine, very clean and easy to read. Plus, it is informative — no death or dying there!
Pop ups are also a problem, something that is simply annoying.
Very nice post Matt, cleverly articulated.
“pneumonetization ” priceless!
Thanks, Rob! I had to play around with that word and antiblogadic. I figure the former made sense while I hope that readers comprehend the similarity between antibiotic and antiblogadic.
This is a great post with a clever post. I did enjoy reading. Keep it up.
doh! I meant with a clever title in my previous comment. Cheers!
Ha! I know what you meant, Chessnoid. Thank for the kind words and for stopping by.
adsenseless - Adsenseless is no indication of blog dying but other points you mentioned are really blog killers but i’ve seen many blogegrs takl of them in free time..
Satya, AdSense can kill a blog if I visit it and that is the first and only thing I see. When I find a blog with AdSense above the fold and little else, I am much more inclined to move on.
Great post! I’ve seen a lot of blogs exhibit all or many of these traits. Definitely things to watch out for.
Your Blog Has Died und you didn’t know it!…
This blog post is a great example about what mistakes will lead to the end of each weblog (or website). Don’t forget Provide useful websites and content! There is a enough spam on TV!…
T.V. — ugh! T.V. is just another name for spam with reality shows, news editions, and the like dominating. Never mind the commercials!
This is a very helpful post..^^
I will keep them in mind..Thanks a lot..^^
Joy, glad to help! Hopefully, everyone has gotten a chuckle or two from it too.
Hey doctor, can you prescribe something for my blog, please? Or shall I call the priest directly?
Simonne, I am afraid all is lost. Even the priest will probably advice you to delete your blog’s database and to start afresh.
I hate to be the bearer of such horrible news…
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Thanks Matt, you are sharp. Of course my blog is dead. It’s just haunting the living
Simmone: Ha! That’s a good one. I did enjoy reading the article on your blog about Rosetta Stone. As someone who is language challenge (what, there are other tongues besides English?!) I have often imagined myself actually immersing myself in a language teaching program.
I had heard about Rosetta Stone previously; your article and the subsequent comments have piqued my interest.
Interesting article! As per rosetta stone, it’s a pretty good program for people who have already studied some of the language, but if you’re starting from scratch it’s not really good material.
Sidd, thank you for sharing that information regarding Rosetta Stone. I was wondering if they were over promising as I can’t imagine learning Mandarin with such ease.
Excellent post! I though you where writing about my blog. lol
Dallas, I am sure I covered every single blog, one way or another. Maybe not the way it is set up today, but how it could have appeared to visitors in the past.
I’m sure all of us are doing a mental check of our blogs as we read this. Ouch!
A very clever and humorous post, Matt… a great read! Consider it stumbled!
Yvonne, thank you for your comments. I’ve been guilty of bringing harm to my blog as well: for the first year of its existence I just didn’t get not requiring commentators to register and log in.
Owie! Thanks for the stumble.
This post made me laugh
A little monetization is fine with me–who can blame bloggers for wanting to make a buck?–but the first priority needs to be the readers. If I start to feel like I’m rating second, I usually lose interest.
Jennifer, we should be able to make money off of our blogs. After all, ad revenue is what drives the internet.
I’m glad that you were amused!
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My blog is dead. I’ve been trying to bring it back with posts that may interest people more. I also deleted all my paid posts and hid my meme’s xD Hope it helps.
Jenny, worse things have happened and I am sure your blog will be fully restored and rocking the blogosphere in no time!
Great post, very clever and true. I did that once with my old blog, where I lost interest and got sick of scanning through 100s of spam each day.
Great post, looks like my blog is dying!
very interesting! i get happy when i get more than 3 comments in one day
Pinyo: We call what you did blogicide, the intentional and willful destruction of your blog. Sounds like fun to me!
Al: I don’t know what to say. I am so sorry for your loss….
Tanyetta: I finally figured out how to get blog traffic — write interesting stuff and encourage people to comment. Okay, I still need to work on the first point!
Guilty here. Sigh.
Okay I WILL update my blog now after I emerge from the dark corners of my embarrassment.
Another sigh.
Maryanne, I feel you pain. We’re forming a “Dead Bloggers Society” support group to help everyone out. I’ll post these details when we announce registration.
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6 Warning Signs That Your Blog Is In Trouble…
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The number of subscribers and the direct traffic is number 7 and 8:)
I guess my blog is starting to die. How do I revive it now??
Hahaha.. a blog dies.. great idea
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ha ha. Friday freakouts. Yeah, sounds like grasping after awhile.
I don’t like to have to search for posts by sifting through ads either. Forced sounds drive me crazy too especially if my kids are trying to sleep. Or neon flashing signs when I’m already going bug eyed.
Some excellent points there Matt. Good post.
Thank you, Sandra. I agree — keeping a site as clean as possible is the way to go. I don’t mind the unobtrusive advertisement, but I do mind when the screen quakes or stammers and I can do little about it!
All excellent points Matt! No one can begrudge anyone for trying to earn something from their blog, but I find it annoying when I have to scroll below the fold from AdSense ads etc just to read the content.
Too many widgets make for a slow load, and I’ve abandoned a site many a time for it, which is why I’ve kept mine to a minimum. Unfortunately, few will ever take the time to say anything in a comment to the site owner, just as a the majority of disgruntled customers won’t lodge a complaint. They simply leave to never return again.
As for going off-topic, I’ve heard many say that was a major factor to stop reading a blog.
Even guest posts make me uncomfortable. I wasn’t pleased with results for the few times that I’ve tried it. Very rarely does the author seem to answer to comments on the post, which gives the impression that you don’t care about your readers. You’re left trying to answer for them on something that the writer was responsible for the research on.
Great read, Matt. It’s a good reminder of what to avoid when building a quality blog that has an active community.
Deb @ Life In The Fast Lane — I agree: guest posters don’t add a lot of value to the blog and many do not respond to comments. You have a blog that is healthy and interesting, just the type of site I enjoy visiting.
Sharon @ Get Paid To Write Online — Thank you! The more active a site, the better the administrative side of things should be followed.
Excellent post Matt and very true. Good news is based on your criteria my blog isn’t dead
As for large adsense blocks, I use a plugin called Who Sees Ads. It doesn’t show my regular readers any ad, but shows people coming from search engines which are the ones that general click on adsense anyway.
I think the most valuable thing you said was is our blogs are nothing our readers participation. I firmly believe that. I think my articles are only half of the value from my blog. The comments from my readers is the rest.
I’m sure this is a fear of all bloggers. Thanks for pointing out the 6 things we should watch out for. Great Post, Matt.
Glblyguy — Nah, your blog is alive and thriving. I’m sure mostly everyone who found this article did some soul searching when it came to their sites, if not for their relationship with God. I love comments too, especially when they are spot on and add to what I wrote. Intelligent readers who comment are a blog’s best friend.
Shana — Have no fear, but good blogging is here. I think if people are tuned in to their audience, their blogs will do just fine.
Guilty as charged on the widgets - I’ve gotten some complaints about page load times. On the other hand, I like to have some blogrolls there as a way to network with other bloggers, and because I click on the links myself to see what’s on the other sites.
1389 — Yes, page load becomes a “read drag” when there is too much stuff, such as widgets, holding the page up. Blogrolls are fine, but they need to be managed — I recently dumped several dead links on my automotive blog.