If you've had a blog for at least a year now, you would probably have noticed that your blog stats are not the same. There has been a significant drop in traffic to blogs in the past months. Most bloggers are noticing that people don't read blogs that much anymore and this has discouraged quite a number of them who have either turned to YouTube as well or stopped blogging.
Many bloggers are wondering if they should keep on blogging and those who want to start wonder if they should try it at all. In fact, the big question is "Is blogging still worth the energy this 2019?". Especially when people are reading blogs less and bloggers are not getting approached that much for work.
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Some people even ask: "Is blogging dying?"
To answer the big question let's examine why we are experiencing a change in blog traffic and engagement. Let's answer the following questions:
Why are people no longer reading blogs?
Blogging just like any other career or industry experiences changes which could be positive or negative. When it all started, it was for fun, and then it gained more value and pulled lots of attention from readers and brands who wanted to work with bloggers because of their growing faithful readers.
As time went on many more bloggers came along with much more content to read. The tips and lifestyles they shared attracted lots of readers.
The readers began to have less interest in blogs as time went by.
Why do readers have less interest in blogs?
- Most of the blog content is similar and doesn't contain much information.
Most of the blogs or content readers came across are the same even though they are written by different bloggers. Similar content or blog posts flooded the internet as more bloggers came up. This discouraged more readers who assumed from the blog titles that it will be the same type of content they once read. Readers seek unique content.
- Bloggers are no longer relatable to their readers.
Readers come back to blogs which they find relatable content. Over time bloggers no longer shared content that they could relate to and this made them no longer read as much.
- Reduction in readers' attention span
Readers no longer have a long attention span as before. They no longer want to spend much time reading one content so they tend to prefer very short content on platforms like Instagram and other social media platforms.
- Addiction to Instagram
Instagram has become an addiction and an obsession to many more people and the community over there is growing. Content previously shared only on blogs is being shared on Instagram and this doesn't encourage the readers to move to blogs when they know that they can see it all on Instagram.
Where are bloggers going wrong?
Putting out empty posts/content.
To be honest, some bloggers don't put much effort into blogging and put our empty words in the name of blog posts.
They may be going through writer's block or just a bad phase with their blogs but will put out content which doesn't seem to have any extra information from what already exists on the internet.
Other bloggers deliberately do this and this floods the internet with the same information which readers don't find useful anymore because everyone is talking about the same thing.
Over time readers started losing interest in blogs because most of them have content with nothing new or different in it.
The beauty niche has the same content flooded on the internet. When makeup was still a mystery, most beauty bloggers got lots of views because they showed people how to do makeup and which products to use. But most women have learned how to do their makeup already and it's no longer as 'mysterious' as before. Adding another beauty post may not earn you many views if it's something that many others have talked about it and if you have nothing extra to say in that blog post.
This is the same with fashion bloggers who only post pictures without writing and who have titles like 'how to style a jumpsuit or 'how to style a trouser'. There are so many fashion bloggers who have already shown people how to do that. How is yours different?
Lack of originality.
Most bloggers want to be like the successful bloggers they admire so they try to blog like them or blog about the same things as their favourite bloggers. Almost everyone is writing about the same thing using the same style and taking the same kind of pictures with the same kind of poses. Everyone seems to be producing similar content these days and readers are no longer inspired to read.This is common with fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers. The same outfits, poses, flat lays, filters, places and topics are used by them on their blogs.
As I mentioned in another post, it's ok to learn from and copy from others from the beginning of your creative career. But it's smart to learn from others and then apply what you learned in your own unique way.
You show your readers that it's all about the money
Bloggers have become a lot more money minded. Which is not a bad thing at all. But the problem with this is that they let it show to their readers in a bad way.
There are some bloggers who only share sponsored content. Even though you have lots of people following your blog and you are monetizing it as much as possible, it's not fun for your readers who followed you originally for your non-sponsored content. They may feel used when they see you sharing only sponsored content.
You are micro-blogging on Instagram
Some bloggers now microblog on Instagram since they have a bigger audience there. This doesn't encourage readers to go over and read their blogs. They write the content of their blogs and refer readers to their sites. Fashion bloggers share their outfits on Instagram and ask readers to go over to their blogs to see the post they published about them. Most readers don't go to read because they've already seen the outfit on Instagram.
The effect of Instagram on blog traffic.
Is Instagram stealing your blog traffic?
When Instagram came, most of us were excited to use it just like every other social media platform.
Of course, as long as a social media platform allows you to grow your blog and followers it's welcome. But little did we know that with time it will become a great competition with our blogs.
Instagram gave the audience what they wanted; visuals and short soluble content which they happily consumed within seconds considering that their attention span has greatly reduced.
Instagram diverted people's attention from blogs by providing what people see on blogs in attractive shorter and smaller bits every day.
The more Instagram made it possible to share more information on their app, the more people don't see the need to go to blogs. People get news, beauty tips, fashion looks, DIYs, travel tips, and lifestyle tips in the form of text, images and videos all on one app. While this is amazing to experience, it is detrimental to blogs because people don't want to leave the app most of the time.
I for one thought I could get traffic from Instagram to my blog. That's why I was excited to be on it. But I realized the hard way that no one else clicks the link in my bio except for me when I am testing my link.
It also taught me that Instagram is a world on its own and should be treated as such. While growing your Instagram, you should put in twice the effort on your blog because they both have different roles to play to readers.
Instagram really changed the game for blogging by making content more visual and instantaneous and I think that it's only raising the bar for bloggers to work harder and stay in the game.
Are all bloggers experiencing low reader stats?
Not all bloggers have complained about a drop in stats on their blogs but most bloggers are experiencing this new trend.
Bloggers with a bigger following may not experience it much because they may have developed a very strong and large community of faithful followers.
But most growing and new bloggers are suffering from the low blog traffic trend.
Which blog niches suffer from this change in traffic the most?
- Fashion blogs
- Beauty blogs
- Lifestyle blogs
- Personal development blogs
These niches have the highest number of bloggers so there is already so much content on these topics for readers to choose from. As bloggers increase in these niches, the bloggers will have to share the readers' interest in these topics.
Does this mean you can't make it if you want to start blogging in these niches?
The fact that most bloggers in these niches complain about a fall in traffic to their blogs doesn't mean that new bloggers can't grow successful blogs in them.
It will need a lot of work and most of all original content. Something different, unique and true to you and your personality.
What should bloggers do to remedy this?
Share relatable content with your audience.
Life and levels may change but your content still needs to be relevant to your audience in order for them to want to keep reading. If you know who you want to inspire with your blog then keep writing content that is relatable to them.
When your life becomes better or levelled up as a blogger, instead of making all your content only about your new property and achievements, also share content that you used to share before to keep your audience. Most of them are inspired by and happy with your achievements but may not be able to relate to all of them. So keep sharing content that will keep them around.
If you want to change your focus or your audience then make your content relatable to your new audience.
I read a blog post where a blogger explained that she was moving to YouTube because of the present low blog traffic trend and in her comment section, one of her faithful readers said that she doesn't read her blog as much as before because of her content was no longer relatable to her.
That could be one of the reasons why your blog traffic has been reduced. Find out how your blog content has changed over time and ask yourself if 70% of it is still relatable to your audience. It may have happened consciously or unconsciously.
Show your audience that you genuinely care.
Remember when all you wanted to do is a blog? You need to go back to those times, my dear blogger. all you wanted to do was to share great content with your readers and you were willing to go to any length to do so and even spend money to give them content for free. That's why they stuck with you because you genuinely cared.Bloggers need to make money with their blogs no doubt but don't make your readers feel like all you care about is the money. Your readers have problems too and trust me money is the biggest one.
Share valuable content with them for free alongside your sponsored content. Be honest when you are making money from your blog or when a post is sponsored. It makes them trust you more and come back to read.
Start producing original content.
Don't make it a goal in your blogging life to copy and be just like your favourite bloggers. It's easily predictable and gives a feeling of deja-vu. Your readers are intelligent enough to spot that and trust me they also follow your favourite blogger. It can lead to them comparing you to the person that you are striving to be like.
Implement your own ideas no matter how insecure you feel about them. Let your personality show in your blog posts, develop your own voice tone and just be yourself because that's the only way that your readers will distinguish you from others, remember you and stick with you till the end.
Share longer, detailed and more informative content.
People are more used to shorter content but that is a trend that will fade away with time when people will need longer and more detailed information to solve their problems.
I realized that bloggers tried to compete with Instagram by producing content which is short and straight to the point. But that is not really working as readers somehow expect blogs to have more detailed content.
When the reader is in need, he will read the longest post as long as it solves his problem and is helpful to him. So don't be afraid to write longer posts, dear blogger. Make it easy to assimilate by breaking it into sections and making it entertaining and personal. They will love it and want to read more.
"We need to show our readers that blogs have their place and that it provides them with detailed information that Instagram can't provide."
Use catchy titles
Make your titles catchy to your target audience. To write a blog title that will make your readers click quickly, ask yourself 'what questions does my audience have in their minds about this topic, issue or problem. You can write your title in the form of that question or as a response to that question. Also, ask yourself what they want to know or feel when reading about what you are writing about.
You should also make sure to include the keywords they would use to describe or identify this problem or topic you are writing about. Let the reader think that he/she will find what he/she is looking for in your post. And make sure that you deliver and make him/her feel the way he/she expects to feel.
What should bloggers and future bloggers expect in the future?
Bloggers should expect the best in my opinion. Every career or industry experiences some regression at some point and blogging isn't an exception. Times like these help to redefine the industry and those who stay consistent and restrategize will succeed when the bad phase is over.
So what should we really expect as bloggers?
- Instagram will become normal to people and blogs will still be needed for a very long time.
- People will need detailed and useful information in a place where they can find it anytime. Most apps don't provide that. They just pack up one piece of information over another and this makes people lose useful information on apps.
- People will miss reading blogs and connecting with bloggers on their blogs.
And what is expected of a blogger?
- To stay consistent.
- To make people fall in love with and value blogs again by providing original, valuable, relatable and detailed content to readers.
- To be more creative and diversify our blog content.
Here's what we can do during these trying times to revive our lovely industry of blogging, trusting that everything will turn out fine again.
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