5 Reasons Blog Posts Fail

Last Updated on March 22, 2020 by Nathaniel Tower

We’ve all been there. You think of a great idea. You spend hours researching and writing. You meticulously work to get the formatting just right. You hit publish and wait for the shares and comments to flow. And you wait. And you wait. And nothing happens.

That’s what I call the failed blog post. It’s not all that unusual. In fact, I’m going to estimate that 98% of blog posts ever published have been complete and utter failures. And it happens to every blogger. It’s definitely happened to me a few times.

Here are common reasons why blog posts fail:

The idea really wasn’t that great

News flash: just because you thought it was a great idea doesn’t mean it’s actually great. If no one is sharing or commenting on your blog post, then there’s a good chance it just wasn’t compelling.  

You didn’t promote it at all

Are you still operating under the “build it and they’ll come” principle? It almost never works. You have to do something to promote your work. Share it on social media. Send it to your email list. Open your bedroom window, lean your head out and shout, “Hey, I just published a new blog post!” Do SOMETHING after you publish it.

It wasn’t presented in a compelling way

You know what people hate? Giant walls of text. Even people who really like reading don’t like seeing giant walls of text on their computer screen. You need:

• Headings and subheadings
• Bullet points
• Images
• Anything other than super long paragraphs that are only broken up by other super long paragraphs

No one is going to read or share your blog post if they hate the way it’s presented on the screen.

You didn’t connect with your readers

Okay, so maybe it was a great idea, but maybe the execution was lousy. You didn’t connect with your readers because you didn’t make it relevant to them. You didn’t address their needs. You didn’t play to their emotions. And you definitely didn’t try to engage them. You have to write for your readers, not for yourself.

Your timing sucked

Sometimes you do everything right but it still doesn’t work because of the timing. Maybe you’re writing about a super hot topic after it has cooled off. Maybe you published your post on the same day as a big event or news story that completely overshadowed what you posted. Or maybe you posted a topic that had just been done better somewhere else. This isn’t always your fault, but proper planning can often overcome this failure.

Don’t fail

The moral of the story: most blog posts will fail. The odds are against you. So what does that mean? It means you need to be at the top of your game with every post you publish. Don’t just throw shit out there and see what sticks. Plan ahead and put out your best work in a way that connects with your readers. Sounds pretty easy, right?

I want to hear about your failed blog posts. Tell your story or share your biggest failure in the comments. Feel free to link to your stuff. I want to read your failures!