Of the 1.7 billion websites in the world, more than . And the number of US bloggers is over .
Clearly, blogging is competitive. You‘re constantly vying for people’s precious online attention. But for many, the benefits of running a blog outweigh the time, cost, and effort involved. That's because in 2023, blogs are tied for having the highest ROI (9%) of any marketing channel alongside social media shopping tools and influencer marketing.
Beyond revenue, blogs are a great way to raise brand awareness, share engaging articles, and bring in new customers. Seems like an easy marketing win, right? Not quite. Before you hit ”publish” on that first piece, it's important to consider why blogs fail.
To figure out what causes blogs to flop, let's look at a handful of blog statistics — and simple ways to make sure yours is a success. But first, let’s answer that nagging question in the back of your brain:
What percentage of blogs fail?
A 2020 survey by Orbit Media found that just 21% of respondents either didn’t know if their blog delivered value or found that their blog was delivering disappointing results.
Why is blogging so hard?
Anyone can , but many don’t realize how hard it is until they get started. Your blog requires a lot of research, strategy, and brain power in order to become a successful part of your business.
A hobby blog is one thing, but when you want to grow or monetize your blog, there are several things you need to focus on. Namely, you need to identify the goal of the blog, know your target audience and what moves them, build a blog site that is easy to navigate, and choose a writing style that resonates with your audience.
Why Blogs Fail
Blogs fail because bloggers don’t realize that it is a business that requires effort, time, and attention. Some bloggers fail because they don’t research their audience, they don’t tailor their content accordingly, they blog inconsistently, they don’t use SEO best practices, or they don’t promote their content.
Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why blogs fail, and what you can do to overcome these hurdles and success.
1. The blog lacks a content strategy.
Do you know why your blog exists? If so, does your content support that raison d'être?
One of the main reasons why blogs fail is a lack of a purposeful content strategy. A content strategy outlines the goals, objectives, and roadmap for your blog. It also helps you better understand your audience, align with business goals, effectively allocate resources, and measure performance
Without the guidance of strategy, your blog may lack a clear purpose. This can result in aimless content creation and missed opportunities for growth.
How to Fix This:
If you’re struggling to get your blog off the ground, developing a thoughtful content strategy can help you realign your blog with your business goals.
A strategy may sound like a simple solution — but it works. In fact, only 29% of B2B marketers say their business is very or extremely . Of those B2B marketers, 64% have a documented content marketing strategy.
When creating your content strategy, you’ll want to do the following:
- Establish your goals.
- Define your buyer persona.
- Conduct a content audit.
- Determine what kind of content you want to make.
- Brainstorm blog ideas.
To learn more about developing a winning content strategy, check out . Once your plan is in place, you’re ready to craft engaging content.
2. The blog isn’t optimized for search.
Let's just say it — search engine optimization (SEO) can be frustrating. Just when you think you've done all you can to optimize your blog, the algorithms change. But ignoring SEO altogether is another reason why blogs fail.
You need people to find, read, and share your blog, yet that's nearly impossible without any optimization. Across all industries, search is the second highest traffic source for blogs, behind direct traffic. In 2023, web professionals reported that 17% of their website traffic came from organic search, beating out channels like social media (16%) and email (14%).
How to Fix This:
Fortunately, certain SEO rules continue to ring true. So, if you focus on the following practices, your blog will be better poised for success:
- Research keywords. Keywords are a short string of words that help search engines understand what a web page is about (e.g., “Why do blogs fail?”). While experts debate whether or not keywords are still relevant for SEO, they do share the intent of your blog and improve rankings. Take a look at our SEO keyword research guide to pick up the best practices.
- Focus on User Intent. User intent is the underlying motive or purpose that drives a user to perform a specific search query. There are four types of user intent: informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial. When choosing keywords to target in your blog posts, you’ll need to figure out what the user is looking for and how you can optimize your content to align with their intent.
- Write descriptions for images and videos. Text is the foundation of search, so you'll rank well if you create copy that algorithms can easily understand.
- Optimize for voice search. With aged 12 and older using voice-operated assistants, optimizing your blog for voice search is a way to get ahead of the SEO game.
- Prioritize E-E-A-T. As AI continues to impact SEO, Google is placing more importance on content that follows the E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) framework.
3. The blog is not well designed.
Imagine you click on a blog you‘ve never visited, only to be met with low-quality images, slow loading times, and an unorganized layout. You’re likely not staying long — and you're not alone. is believed by 73.1% of web designers to be the top reason why people leave a website.
While the look of your site is important for reader retention, a well-designed site architecture helps search engines organize and inde