blog starts to die

It’s a horrifying thought, isn’t it? All those hours spent writing blog posts, emailing subscribers and developing your blogging skills only to see your site start to die. So what do you do?

Unfortunately this is a really common event and can happen to any blog in any niche. It might be Google penalty or maybe the topic of your blog is no longer trendy.

In this post I’m going to fire up the defibrillator paddles and press them on to the chest of your dying blog! Or… something like that.

Let’s hope it helps someone out there.

What are the symptoms of a sick blog?

What is something you hear from doctors and health professionals all the time?

Prevention is better than cure.

That same philosophy applies to our blogs as well.

It it so much easier to treat a sick blog than it is to try and revive one that has pretty much totally died. Some of the symptoms include:

  • A big drop in traffic
    Are you seeing your traffic from organic search drop off or trend downwards?
  • A decrease in engagement
    Are you getting less comments and discussions on your blog or related social media accounts?
  • Bad open rates on emails
    Have your email open rates gotten worse or perhaps never been that good?
  • A decrease in conversions or sales
    Are you seeing less conversions or money in the bank despite everything else looking good? Hmmm.

Seeing one or more of the symptoms above on your blog? These are the symptoms that can indicate a blog illness. Some illnesses are much worse than others.

How can I definitively tell if my blog is sick?

What I want to do now is show you a few ways you can tell whether your blog is sick or not and the tools you can use for a proper diagnosis.

1. Check your traffic stats problematic downturns

If you’ve got a good analytics program you’ll be able to tap into some nice data that will give a good base for determining problems.

clicky stats

Clicky has a really nice and simple comparison tool which you can see above. I’ve just selected a random 28 day period and compared it to the same time frame the previous month. You can see that I’ve had an 11% increase in visitors since the previous month but a 1.4% decrease in actions.

You need to be a bit careful when looking at raw stats like this. For example, that 11% increase in traffic that I had might have been due to hitting the front page of Reddit for one article, even though the rest of the site has had a big downturn. Make sure you dig, and then dig a little bit deeper.

2. Check your Google Webmaster Tools (Search Console) for SEO insights

Google Webmaster Tools, which is now called Search Console, can give you some incredible insights into how your blog is appearing in Google Search results. This is a must-have for anyone who cares about their blogging SEO practices.

search console

In the screenshot above I’ve done a comparison between two months on a key phrase that I’m targeting. If you go Search Traffic > Search Analytics you can then see the keywords that Google is indexing you for. Click a keyword and you’ll get a date range option.

As you can see here, I’ve had a 2% increase in click through rate (CTR) from the previous month. This is good. You want to watch out for both a drop in search position (where you appear in the results) and CTR (how many people click your link). A drop in either one of those can cause huge problems for your organic Google traffic.

So what can cause a downturn in these essential stats? It could be an algorithm update, a loss of links, an increase in bad links, a manual penalty, a change in your titles, an increase in competition, etc. These are quite advanced topics which we can cover later if there is interest.

3. Check your email sign up, open and opt-out rates

Another symptom we want to take a look at is our email subscribers. The blog itself could be wonderfully healthy but if there is a major issue with the subscribers then we are going to run into some major illness at some point.

open rates

The above screenshot shows my Follow Up series in my AWeber account where you can see that the first email has an open rate of 70% and the second of 49%. I’m quite happy with these numbers in and of themselves, but I’d like to figure out why there is a big drop between the first and second and if I can remedy it.

It’s quite normal to see a decrease in open rates from when you start a mailing list to when you start to see it get bigger and bigger. Initially you can have rates up around 80% that gradually drop down to 15%-30% for a list over 10,000. But if you start to see inconsistent drops within those ranges you might have a sick blog.

4. Check Google trends

Google trends is a neat little tool that allows you to punch in a keyword and see whether or not it’s a trend on the up or down.

google trends

Here is a trend graph for the keyword “blogging”. As you can see, it kind of hit it’s height back in 2008 and is now slowly trending down. This is probably due to things like Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat and instagram where people are “blogging” without actually calling it that. It’s not an ideal trend and would probably concern me if I was starting a new business.

That being said, this is also a good example of how trends can be misleading. Many people are still making a very decent living from blogging and related concepts. It just indicates that you want to do your research first because if your blog has seen a downturn then maybe people are calling your topic something different.

5. Check your keyword search numbers

The next thing you’ll want to do is keep an eye on how many searches are being made for your keywords each month.

keywords

There are many other tools that do this really well but, for me, I like to use Google Keyword Planner to see how many people are searching for the phrases that I want to target. As you can see above, this is the monthly searches for the term “blogging”.

The idea is to monitor the topics that you are going to write about in the future and just make sure they are reaching the number of searches and competition level that still makes them worthwhile. For example, I don’t really write about topics that have only a few hundred searches each month.

How do I save a dying blog?

Alright so the next thing we want to look at is how we can press the defibrillator paddles onto the chest of our dying blog and bring it back from the dead!

Learning by doing is still my favorite method of fixing things! Doesn’t always work out perfectly but it’s a lot more fun.

1. Re-engage your existing audiences

The first thing you want to do is find a way to get your existing audience to get interested with your content again. There are several ways we can do that.

Start off by conducting a blogging survey or two.

blogging survey

Here’s an example from a survey that I did with Survey Monkey a few years ago where I asked readers what types of posts they’d like to see more of. This is a good one to do because you can then find out what people like reading and call on them to engage once you start producing more of that type.

facebook survey

Another way to do this is by asking people on Facebook. Up above you’ll see an example of where I asked Blog Tyrant’s Facebook Fans whether they’d like to hear an interview of how my fiancee got such good results with Facebook Ads. It had over 60 likes and a lot of comments from people who thought it was a great idea. This is also an excellent way to build suspense and expectation for future content.

When you do produce this content make sure it’s as valuable as possible and comes in the form of long form content with added resources, bonuses and as much useful information as possible. The aim is to impress.

2. Naturally build back links through networking

The next thing you’ll really want to do is start building up build back links in a natural and authentic way.

If you’re following my blogging strategy you’ll remember that we want to have a narrow keyword focus and then aim to get guest posts on blogs that fall within that category.

But what is also important to remember is that you can build back links and get mentions on other big blogs in a variety of ways other than guest posting.

Networking at this stage is absolutely critical because it is often the shout outs, mentions and promotions that you get from other bloggers in your niche that will help rescue your dying blog.

One way to do this is offer some sort of free advice to blog owners that really helps them out. This is really good for getting on their radar but also increases the chance that you’ll get a mention if they ever decide to write about that tip or topic.

email idea

For example, I once sent Pat Flynn a tip about a little affiliate trick that I used and he implemented it on his blog and ended up writing a post with a little thank you to me. That kind of a mention is really the best kind you can get because it is a natural and honest endorsement.

3. Narrow your call to actions and focus on email subscriber value

The next step is to do a bit of a blogging audit and minimize the number of actions you are encouraging your blog visitors to take.

The classic marketing idea of the Paradox of Choice applies here – the more choices you give your readers the less likely they are to take any action at all.

It’s best to focus in on trying to get more email subscribers.

And the best way to do that is by creating something of immense value and giving it away for free and then promoting it through long form content that really solves problems for people in your area.

If you can “marry up” your long form blog content with your mailing list offering then you are on to a huge winner.

born fitness

If you have a look at Born Fitness (and I encourage you to subscribe he’s endorsed by Arnie!) you’ll see that all of the content is aimed at helping people with no-BS fitness information and then “funneling” them towards the coaching program. The landing page for this is absolutely stunning and one of the best I’ve seen – I’d be fascinated to know how well it works.

The idea is simple – stay on message, provide value, promote your free offer, provide value, stay on message. This is a strategy that works for almost any online business. If you’re not doing this now it might be time to do it. If you are doing this already then you might need to refresh the offer based on the survey we did above.

Figure out exactly what you want your readers to do and then remove other distractions.

4. Professionalize your approach to running your business

Sometimes a blog starts to die because the owner doesn’t approach it in a way that is prolific enough or professional enough.

It’s a very common thing among small business owners (and that’s what we are) to avoid spending money for fear of not having money. But in reality you need to back your business and invest in vital things like good staff, a decent website, advertising, etc.

It’s a little bit hypocritical of us to want to succeed as a blogger but then not really invest the resources into making sure that our blog is up to date from a branding and design point of view, for example.

go pro

One really simple and affordable way to do this is invest in apps like WordSwag that let you manipulate text and images and create beautiful quotes for instagram and other social sites. I made the one above in about one minute.

You can also start engaging people on Fiverr to create videos, graphics and PDF files that can accompany your content and supplement it in a really professional manner. Here’s a few suggestions I wrote about last year.

Try and think about some ways in which your blog and your approach to blogging could be professionalized and taken up to the big leagues. Even if you don’t feel like you are there yet, it’s important to position yourself in a way that will allow the change to happen.

5. Get some help from an expert in the field

This would be a perfect time to pitch a service where I come along and save your blog for the cheap price of $9,999 but, lucky for you, I’m not going to do that.

That being said, this type of service can be an extremely valuable investment for the future of your blog or your blogging business. Of course, not everyone who has a blog is trying to make it into a money-making behemoth. But for those who are using blogging to promote a business, product or service, it can be a good idea to get fresh eyes on it.

Now there are people like Neil Patel who can do this and will absolutely revolutionize your business. But he’s expensive.

Another option is to go to expert communities and ask for help.

One great place to do this is at Inbound.org where they have a section called Ask Inbound. Actually, as of literally today that section looks to be no longer promoted but you can still start a discussion and ask for advice. This is a fantastic community of marketers founded by Rand Fishkin and as such there is always some incredible insights to discover, especially if your question is technical or about promotion.

Is your blog healthy?

I’d love to know how your blog is going because this is an issue that can and will affect most bloggers. Is yours healthy and happy or are you noticing some downward trends that might be worrying you? Please leave a comment below and let us know if you are going to try anything new.

I’d be more than happy to discuss any problems that you might be having.

Top photo: © Ladiseno.

66 Comments

Join in. The comments are closed after 30 days.

Add a Comment

We're glad you have chosen to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our privacy policy, and all links are nofollow. Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. James Ifinwa on November 11, 2015

    WHOA!!!

    What I really needed now

    1. Hope it helps!

  2. Yordi van Dijk on November 11, 2015

    Awesome post Ramsay,

    Have to agree the clicky plugin is super in combination with Google webmaster tools!

    cheers,

    Yordi

    1. Agreed!

  3. Extreme Sports Blogger on November 11, 2015

    What a place to be in. Gotta get there to come back I suppose.

    As someone who is just starting this blogging journey I can’t yet see that far ahead to even think about what to do if it dies.

    Prevention is definitely the cure if you know what it is you need to cure and this post helps to see the wood through the trees.

    Having something that has legs from the beginning is always good start and would help avoid many of the issues some face along the way.

    Researching your niche or market seems to be a stumbling point that doesn’t rear its head until some are too far down the line with no audience and no income.

    Years ago if you wanted to start a business in the high street and you needed the banks help, the bank would insist on a well thought out business plan and a long term business strategy.

    Due to the ease that we can start a blog or a website and the relatively minimal costs and risks involved I suppose many more people see it as an easy in – easy out scenario so the planning stage either doesn’t exist, isn’t as in-depth as it should be or is simply viewed as that boring aspect of online business that requires some troublesome thought.

    But of course, no matter how much planning and preparation is done and no matter how good your content is or indeed how passionate you are, there are no solid guarantees of any success. Each to his own.

    I think i’m fortunate in that I will continue to jump from airplanes, dive with manta rays and banzai down a triple black run regardless of if my blog dies. It would help if I actually got the bloody thing started first but time will tell.

    Thanks Ramsay. More food for thought as usual.

    1. Sounds like this is going to be an awesome blog! Stay safe out there and thank you for contributing such an amazing comment. Appreciate it.

      1. Extreme Sports Blogger on November 11, 2015

        Thanks. I aim to make it a really awesome blog and I know that the people I meet on the way will do so too, once I get it started. You will see me one day in my sky blue VW campervan, unshaven, dreadlocks, surfboard, skis and skydive rig. (perhaps not the dreadlocks but you get the idea).

        Something else I would like to add in response to what can be done to stave off that blogging death.

        There are those little personal subtleties that can be placed in and around a blog that can help increase your list. I like your thank you page from sign up. Not the normal format and a very subtle affiliate link. Nice and it works.. did for me anyway.

        I do have one little niggle about your own navigation though Ramsay that could even help you out.

        I get to a page with a menu that has ABOUT – GET UPDATES – TOOLS – BEST OF.

        All good but not easy at all to get back to the home page or posts. Perhaps I missed something but repeatedly pressing the back button is a pain.

        1. Yeah I do that navigation to try and keep it as tight onto the landing page funnel as possible. Sorry if it annoys.

  4. Great advice as always Ramsay.

    Funnily enough all these tips are relevant (and great advice) whether your blog is thriving or failing! I’d love to know whether you think a blog can always be revived/revamped or what it looks like when it’s time to let a blog go.

    1. Honestly I do think some people need to let go on some blogs. But whenever I try to figure out a concrete reason it always just seems to be a gut feeling. What about you?

      1. Sarah Beeson on November 11, 2015

        A gut feeling is never a bad thing. I’d suggest a good time to move on would be when you’ve lost the passion for it or can’t give it the time it deserves…..though if it’s a business I reckon when you’re consistently not making what you need to survive that’s when you seriously need to chat with your business manager/the mirror.

        1. Yeah that’s the thing. Some people carry on for years on a doomed blog. It’s a tricky thing to know when to keep going or throw it in.

  5. Is my blog healthy? Time will tell. Last month I took the plunge and changed my domain name. It was unavoidable (when readers tell you they love YOU but hate your NAME, you can’t just ignore it). As a result I’ve gotten the Google smackdown – currently a 30% reduction in organic search traffic. It’ll take time to develop native backlinks to the new domain so they aren’t simply redirects from the old one. I haven’t found good case studies for how long it takes to get out of the Google penalty box.

    Side tip: I haven’t used WordSwag but am a huge proponent of Canva. There are tons of great free layouts or at most $2. And unlike PicMonkey it’s got a really helpful grid feature so you can easily line up text blocks.

    1. Have you emailed your old back link websites to see if they’ll update for you?

  6. Ahhh, to have actually had success in order to worry about loosing it! That’d be nice.
    I’m banking on the idea of “built and they will come” all the while working my butt off in the background doing all the SEO stuff, setting up social media and learning literally everything from scratch!
    While I feel like a toddler learning to walk, I must say it is nice to have an outlet and at this stage the only way IS up.

    1. Extreme Sports Blogger on November 11, 2015

      Ditto. I hear you loud and clear. Like twin ships passing in the night. I think the frustration felt is a rite of passage.

    2. Extreme Sports Blogger on November 11, 2015

      Looks good so far to me CC.

      At least you have something up and running.

      You can certainly write and the products are in demand. You just need Santa to bring you a large bag of traffic. Have you been a good girl this year?

    3. You’re doing amazingly well CC. You’ll go far.

      1. Thank you! Filing that under ‘warm and fuzzier’ for the next time I doubt myself x

  7. It is sad to see a blog die 🙁 Having these tips hopefully people can catch it early enough and save it!

    Another tip I would suggest is to really look at your content lately. If you notice a drop in traffic and a drop in traffic maybe your content is not resonating with your audience?

    If it is the content you want to be producing and really enjoy, then maybe you need to find a new audience!

    Thanks for sharing,
    Chris

    1. Totally agree!

  8. I’ll skip my story on how I almost gave up on my blog – I’ve posted it before – and how it turned around big time. Suffice it to say your stuff here is all excellent advice. I will mention the whole CTA thing.

    At the bottom of my blog posts, I used to have nothing – well, no links to related articles. Then I added a plug-in for that. My average time-on-site increased as did engagement and sales. Several months ago, I removed that plug-in and went au natural (blogging naked…just kidding).

    I added links within my content to pages both within my site and outside my site. Also, at the end of each post I now have a “Next Steps” content block where I list a few directly related links. This way, with each post, I’m giving them a new blog post to read that relates directly to what they read. Sometimes, it’s a call to sign up for my newsletter or to check out a product.

    Ending each post with a clear Call-to-Action keeps visitors reading, building trust, and then they’re more likely to subscribe to my newsletter.

    1. Love it. Simple, effective.

  9. Hi Ramsay,

    Thanks for this post, you’ve highlighted some really useful areas that us bloggers can turn too.

    I’ve recently started my own blog and it’s really going to take some time to build it’s authority and readership up.
    I’m still trying to find my voice, it’s a lifestyle blog so not very niche. There are many lifestyle blogs out there, i’m just for-filling a passion and learning at the moment and hope that along my way i’ll find a USP.

    My focus is to grow it for now but if I find it taking a downward spiral then i’ll be returning to this post!

    Thanks again for this post, you put a lot of effort into your writing and research. Keep up the good work!

    Best,

    Becky

    1. Hey Becky.

      My best tip is to focus on telling stories, helping people and doing it in a way that is distinctive. Just find a way to stand out from the crowd, even if the content itself isn’t unique every time.

  10. Lori English on November 11, 2015

    Hello,

    Yes, Your post was helpful for my strategies.The blog is about a year old and put a lot of time into this, but need to get more followers, true ones. If you have any suggestions for me please let me know I REALLY want this to work.
    Thank You,
    Lori

    1. Try to do more writing on other websites, forums, etc. and less on your own blog.

  11. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 11, 2015

    Thanks for your post. After reading it, I printed a couple of reports from Google Analysis. My blog has a small steady increase in Sessions, since April 2013. I was excited thru March 14th and Aug 15th of this year as I got a significant bump in traffic. I thought I’d finally been noticed by Google. However after that it went back to my usual pace. I’m not sure what went wrong. My pace and topics have been fairly consistent.

    1. Where did the bump in traffic come from?

      1. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 12, 2015

        I’m not sure – I don’t really know what went right or what went wrong. My first thought was that I got a bump because my site was mobile friendly.

        1. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 12, 2015

          There was definitely more organic traffic to my site for that short period of time. Where new visitors were spending time on my pages.

        2. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 12, 2015

          Thanks for your response!

          1. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 12, 2015

            One more post – I also change my blog (Genesis) themes frequently and thought maybe one theme may have been more noticed than another.

        3. Your stats will tell you on that month what the source was. You can compare it to a previous or subsequent month to see whether it was referrals from another site, search traffic, etc.

          1. Pat @ Posting For Now on November 13, 2015

            Thanks!

  12. Hi Ramsey!
    I have read your blogs, bookmarked your site and I love your advice. I will definitely implement your ideas into my site (with my own kick added to it). When you have a moment can you look at my site and let me know what you think. I can’t figure out how I’m not converting. Thanks very much

    1. Hi Eva.

      I took a quick look and my main suggestion would be one that I gave in the article above – narrow down your focus. You cover a lot of topics on your blog and it might be a little confusing for new visitors to figure out the main purpose, what actions they should take, etc.

  13. Hi Ramsay.
    The incidence of decay in blogging is quite high. Bloggers who start blogging as a hobby seem especially prone. Serious bloggers, as you have rightly said, too get frustrated when they find blogging not giving them the results they had expected.
    You have given life-saving tips for bloggers suffering from a burnout. I am going to share this with many blogger friends who visit our site, ITB.

    1. Thank you!

  14. Excellent as usual.

    One thing you missed though which I think is important.

    Know when to quit.

    I’ve started blogs, sold them, ditched them and sometimes never even launched them.

    Learning from failure and knowing when to ditch, switch or evolve is a crucial skill to learn.

    Jay

    1. It is so hard. How do you know when to do it? Gut feeling? Why not stick at it forever? What’s the clinch point?

  15. Vishal Ostwal on November 11, 2015

    Hi Ramsay,

    You’ve shot it again. I totally agree with #5 (I’m not talking about paid services, but learning from experts instead. A good company definitely helps in bringing up good results.)

    Since my blog is still a small one, I cannot see many things affecting it much. It’s the usual graph going up and down.

    However, I’ve noticed a few habits that are capable of bringing a blog back to life.

    1. The more I post (Good content!), the more readers I get.

    2. Many people agree to help me grow my readership (but only if they are asked. They’re willing to help.)

    3. If I just interact with people more humanly, instead of pretending, they like my work more. Thanking them for likes and shares motivates them even more to help me on Facebook.

    4. Updating content helps in revealing the same content in a new avatar. It seems more relevant then and becomes more engaging.

    Two major reason why most blogs are turned to ‘online skeletons’ (I guess) are:

    1. They are motivated by outcomes instead of work.
    2. They don’t adapt themselves to change. (Darwin’s law)

    One more thing, I prefer Canva or Powerpoint (It does it’s job quite well) for image creation.

    Hoping to see some list posts and more philosophical (non-technical) content from you.

    1. Great comment!

  16. Extreme Sports Blogger on November 11, 2015

    I’ve had a website for some time as a ‘bricks and mortar’ business and the ‘rules’ for this type of business don’t necessarily gel with a ‘blogging’ business rules.

    In my offline industry I see old, bland and stale websites and blogs on page one of Google that have not had any fresh content published for years. Those old school business owners just promote, promote, promote the content that they have, which isn’t very exciting but it appeals to those who need it.

    I read all the time how content is important and how we must focus on producing fresh content to satisfy the search engines etc.

    I agree to a certain degree but I think it is more important that you promote the content that you already have rather than bashing yourself writing more stuff that nobody reads.

    After all, a new blog post today pushes the previous 30 out of sight and if you don’t have the readership then a new post is pretty pointless.

    Concentrate on writing something that is good, useful, helpful and current but then spend your time actively promoting it to death.

    Beef up the content you already have if necessary and inject a little more life into them.

    Don’t be afraid to write 1,500-2,000 -2,500 words.

    Then promote.

    But don’t promote where your competition is. Which is usually what most bloggers tend to do. Unless of course your target audience are other bloggers.

    as an example, I see travel bloggers posting relentlessly on other travel blogs. Why? You are a kipper in a sea of sharks and you are entering someone else’s reef.. Your audience ends up being other bloggers when your real audience is the travelling public. There are plenty of places where the travelling public hang out where you won’t be clambering for attention over other travel bloggers.

    The same scenario can be seen for every niche. Bloggers feeding bloggers. No wonder so many fail.

  17. Hey Ramsay,
    I’ve really been enjoying your content. I’ve noticed that u have these awsome graphics in a lot of your post, like the one above.
    Do you make them? And if you do, how? They are very nice and I would really want to learn how to make them.
    Thank you

    1. Hi Shawn. Thank you. I have some of them made for me on sites like Fiverr and 99Designs and others I buy from Dreamstime.com.

  18. Matt Banner on November 12, 2015

    Hi Ramsay!

    Thanks for this important message! Looks like you’re saving sick and dying blogs, one reader at a time!

    Thanks for the tip about Google Trends. That’s a tool I haven’t previously used, so I’m definitely going to check that out.

    I also really like your idea about conducting a survey or two. Usually if some of our loyal readers stop dropping by, there’s a good reason for it. Sometimes it even goes beyond our blogs to our actions on social media (too much self-promotion) or through our email broadcasts (too many irrelevant messages).

    We can turn off our loyal readers by how we act off the blog, too.

    Great post, Ramsay! Keep up the great work.

    Matt

    1. I’m really glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting.

      1. Yeah, best watch those Google trends though as they don’t always tell a full story.

        If you search for ‘Start a Blog’ or ‘Start Blogging’ you’ll notice the opposite trend.

        The peak for blogging ended when Facebook started, and quite rightly so because people now use Facebook to tell the same story as they did with their blogs.

        Blogging is now a business and not a past time. IMHO.

        Great post as always. 😀 We should do coffee sometime.

  19. Joep van der Poel on November 12, 2015

    Hi Ramsay,

    Great tips that you give away here. Another point I would like to add is that some bloggers often put earning money before providing value to their audience. Sure we all have to eat but we should be careful with how we deliver our message.

    We don’t want to give our audience to feeling that we are pushing products or services to them, or that we are selling out. This is especially important when you are looking to build a sustainable relationship with your audience.

    If we put our audience first and always aim to provide them with honest and valuable content, the rest will follow. Consistency and hard work pay off. Ultimately starting and running a blog is a marathon and not a sprint.

    Thanks for this post!

    Cheers,

    Joep

    1. That is such a good point. You really want to try to help people as much as possible if you want it to get anywhere and also seem worthwhile.

  20. thanks and well done for the article. I am learning from your strategies and advice every time i read your blog posts. Cheers.

    1. I’m so glad it is helping!

  21. Starting a Blog Checklist - Ultimate Edition - Tropical U.P on November 14, 2015

    […] for your blog and to add additional value to your audience. You also want to make sure that your blog doesn’t slowly die over time and that you keep up your […]

  22. Theodore Nwangene on November 15, 2015

    There are indeed so many ways to tell of a blog is dying Ramsay,
    And for me, one of the most important factors to look at is your traffic and engagements.

    Once you start getting poor traffic and low engagements on your posts then, it’s a red sign and should be investigated to know why.

    Yes, carrying out a simple survey to figure out what your readers wants to be hearing from you is one good way to remedy this because often time, it might be that you’re not giving them exactly what they bargained for and as a result, they’ll simply go look elsewhere for better stuffs.

    1. Have you ever done a survey that was particularly useful? I’d love to hear about it.

  23. Tauseef Alam on November 17, 2015

    Hi Ramsay

    I have gone through with this situation when my blog was about to die.
    I was not active on my main blog because of my full time job. I was running that blog since past 2 years and had around 200 articles on my blog.
    The blog got hit by some Google Algo update and I lost my ranking. I was about to close the blog but had a little hope in mind that the ranking could be recovered.
    Luckily one of my co-blogger shared a case study on his facebook wall that he recovered his blog ranking by changing the domain name using 301 redirect.
    I follow the same and delete some articles from the blog which were not much relevant to my blog topic. After just 20 days I start seeing the improvements and I got my ranking back.
    This is how I survived.

  24. Ryan Biddulph on November 17, 2015

    Hi Ramsay,

    In the past my blog died down when I ceased having fun. I shifted my energy toward NEEDING to do stuff versus doing things for the joy of it, built resistance, and numbers dropped like a brick. I always knew before I checked metrics; the feeling just mirrored back to me what I’d see on the stat side well before I saw the diminishing stats.

    2 minutes ago I checked my metrics for the first time in 2 months and it was just my opt ins. I added 102 in a 2 month period after adding 473 in a 9 month period. Why? I had fun again starting 2 months ago, and bought an opt in form, and I grew my list with ease, with little effort, because I enjoyed the process. Have fun, and things will grow through your joy and detachment. Awesome tips Ramsay.

    Ryan

  25. Sometimes, your blog can get sick because of a high quality link. Why? Because one turbo link can lead to an enormous peak of traffic, which can cause Google and other search engines to misunderstand your backlink structure.

  26. Thanks for the tip about Google trends, I think that is quite powerful. Even as very much a rank amateur blogger.

  27. for what it is worth, to me at least, the biggest reason people do not stick around and keep reading a blog is when the blogger has nothing authentic or unique in their writing voice… if i do not feel like they are being honest and vulnerable, i get turned off pretty quickly…

  28. Is Blogging Finally Dead? | Create My Home Business on November 18, 2015

    […] week we talked about what to do when your personal blog is dying but this week I’d really like to know what you think blogging as an industry or format is […]

  29. Hi Ramsay!

    I have a blog that I believe it has great content but may be my problem is I don’t know how to reach people… How could I reach more people who would like to read my posts?

    When we started, we had lots of views and then it decreased. Do yo know why this might had happened?

    Thanks for the opportunity to chat with you!

    1. You have to spend more time producing content for other blogs in the form of guest posts, etc. Tap into new audiences that way or try advertising.

      1. Thank you very much for your help Ramsay!

  30. oDesk Live Chat on December 5, 2015

    Dear Ramsay, Thank you for your excellent article on “Survival Guide: What to Do When Your Blog Starts to Die”. By the way, I wish you could add some information in this article but the article is awesome. I want to know about Fiverr Shortcuts. Can you assist me on this topic? Keep the great writing skill up. Thanks again for giving me a good resource. Waiting for your reply!

BlogTyrant on Tablet and Mobile
Free Ebook Guide
Ultimate Blogging Toolkit + Bonuses

Join our 30,000+ email subscribers for blog updates and get instant access to a 10,000-word guide on how to start a blog and build a sustainable business using keyword research, Google traffic, and a lot of tested strategies. Let us help you build a blog to support your family's income and help the community while you're at it!