Are These The Reasons Why You’re Losing Blog Traffic?

Do you remember those halcyon days of blogging when your hit counter was high?

Visitors would flock to your blog, engage with what you had to say, and offer their own words of wisdom in your comments section.

Good days, and as a blogger, the regular traffic to your site probably uplifted both your financial situation and your self-esteem.

And then…

Those numbers on your hit counter started to go down. Where once you had a consistent flow of people visiting your blog, suddenly the tide turned. Just where did they go?

Had they been abducted by aliens? Did Google turn against you? Had your blogging competitors conspired to overthrow you?

Well, the truth lies within one of those answers, and no, it has nothing to do with aliens – we think!

Here are some of the reasons why you might be losing blog traffic.

this is why you are losing blog traffic

#1: You have lost your place on Google’s search rankings

Assuming you rated reasonably highly on Google to begin with, there are reasons as to why your place on the search engine may have slipped.

As discussed in the following linked article, it may be because you have played into the Google Bear concept.

You have made too many changes in too short a time, such as migrating your website to another domain or committing to a major redesign of your site, and Google has been slow in processing the changes you have made.

Another reason for losing your place on Google is because the websites you have used to place links to your site have gone down, or they have lost their appeal.

On the other hand, your competitors may be outranking you because they have made more of an effort with following the latest SEO practices, or because their blog is simply more appealing than yours.

Or it may be because Google has updated their algorithms, meaning you will have to check SEO news sites to find out how to keep up with any changes. These are some of the possible reasons as to why, but continue your research online to find out more.

#2: You have made keyword mistakes

If you have started to spam your blog with the same keywords, Google might have penalised your site and pushed it down the search engine rankings.

On the other hand, you may have added irrelevant keywords, meaning you will have a harder time attracting people to your site.

You should always use a keyword tracker to find out what words are trending with web users,  as you need to use searchable terms that web users are likely to use.

While your previous keywords may have been effective, they might well have become ineffective over time.

There are more keyword mistakes here, so have a read, and if any of them appear relevant to you, do the sensible thing and make the necessary changes to the content on your website.

#3: You have stopped writing for your audience

If you have changed tack with your blog, then you may have alienated your regular readers.

So, if your blog began as something to educate new moms, for example, you may have turned them against you if you have gone widely off topic with your posts, such as focussing on themes that are of little interest to their needs.

The same applies to the style of your posts. If you started out educating others with the content you posted, but have started to write posts that are personal rather than educational, then you might have deterred those people who craved knowledge rather than an insight into the comings and goings of your personal life.

Now, it’s okay to cover a wide array of topics on your blog – you need only look at our blog as an example – but you should add equal weight to each to ensure your content remains relevant, and you should segregate your blog into specific sections so as not to confuse and deter your readers.

#4: Your competitors are better than you

You are but one voice on the internet, and no matter what niche your blog covers, there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of other bloggers talking about the same.

Now, while it’s near-impossible to post content in a blog that is widely different to what others are posting, you should still do what you can to stand out from other bloggers online.

You see, if you don’t, then your competitors probably will be, and that is why your past readers may have migrated over to the side of your rivals.

So, how can you stand out from others? For starters, you should focus on professional-looking web design.

If your blog looks decidedly shoddy and outdated compared to better-looking blogs online, then any new visitors might assume your content follows suit.

Look at the latest web design trends, and make the relevant changes. Improve your content too, perhaps by finding new angles to your niche that are rarely covered elsewhere.

You might want to add new voices to your blog as well, inviting guest writers to create content for you, as this might create more interest in what you have to offer. And vary your content in other ways, perhaps by adding competitions or by using videos and podcasts to communicate with your visitors. The more you can do to make your blog stand out, the better.

#5: You’re all about the money

why you are loosing blog traffic

Your priority should be your readership and not the money you can earn from your blog. But if you have veered away from the needs of your readers to build your bank balance, then you may have irritated the very people that matter to you.

You might have too many ads on your site, for example, or your posts may be too heavily geared towards pushing an advertised product, with written content that has little value for the average reader.

You need to take care. Make money from your blog by all means, with affiliate links and sponsored ads, but don’t let them take precedence over your readers, as they might well take umbrage with you and leave.

Finally…

These are just some of the reasons as to why you might be losing blog traffic, so consider how they might apply to your situation.

Then continue your research online. We haven’t covered everything here, so if we haven’t provided the relevant answer, you should be able to find other explanations elsewhere.

Take care, and thanks for reading!

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