9 Reasons Your Blog Struggles to Make Money and How to Improve It

If you're thinking of starting a blog, this post will give you some reasons to get started as quickly as possible.

You'll also learn some interesting facts about the benefits of blogging, industry trends and problems that may limit your ability to earn.

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Under each problem area, we've also discussed some things you can do to improve or resolve the challenging issue. 

How Blogging Can Help Your Business

A successful blog can bring several benefits, including:

1. Increased website traffic: A well-written and well-promoted blog can drive a significant amount of traffic to your website, increasing its visibility and helping to build your brand.

2. Improved search engine optimization (SEO): A blog provides an opportunity to add fresh, keyword-rich content to your website, which can help improve your search engine rankings and drive organic traffic.

3. Establishing expertise: By sharing your knowledge and insights through blog posts, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, building credibility and trust with your audience.

4. Building relationships: Blogging can help you connect with your audience, build relationships, and engage with your readers through comments and social media.

5. Generating leads and sales: By providing value to your readers and directing them to relevant products or services, you can generate leads and sales for your business.

How Do Blogs Work?

To understand how your blog works, you have to start with understanding the internet.

The internet is a worldwide network of computers and servers that are connected to each other.

• It allows people to access and share information, communicate with each other, and perform various tasks and activities online.
• It's like a vast library, where you can find all kinds of information, from books and articles to videos and images. 
• It's also like a global marketplace, where you can buy and sell goods and services from anywhere in the world. 

The internet is a powerful tool that has changed the way we live, work, and interact with each other, and it continues to evolve and expand every day.

How Consumers Find Information

Now that you have a basic knowledge of how the internet works, it's time to think about how consumers (your ideal customers) find information online.

Consumers use a variety of ways to find information on the internet, depending on their needs and preferences. However, some of the most popular ways consumers use to find information on the internet include:

1. Search Engines: Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo are the most common way consumers find information on the internet. They type in keywords or phrases related to the information they need and receive a list of relevant results.

So the big question is are you optimizing each post for the keywords your ideal customers are using to find your content? If not, it's important to know how to optimize your site for SEO so that you can be found when your ideal customers are searching for information.

2. Social Media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide users with access to vast amounts of information and content from various sources. Consumers can search for information, join groups, and follow pages related to their interests.

We have a course that shows you how to use social media to create content distribution systems that will post for you, while you focus on other things.

3. Online Directories: Online directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Google My Business are useful for finding information about local businesses, services, and products.

4. Email Newsletters: Many businesses and websites offer email newsletters to their subscribers to provide them with the latest information, news, and updates related to their interests.

If you don't have an email list, we have an eBook, The Beginner’s Guide to Building an Engaged Email List that walks you through the steps you can take to build an audience for your business.

5. Online Forums: Online forums and discussion boards provide users with a platform to connect and share information with like-minded individuals. They are useful for finding information on niche topics.

6. Video Sharing Platforms: Video sharing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo are popular for finding how-to tutorials, product reviews, and other informational videos.

We have an article that walks you through setting up a YouTube channel called Discover the Best Way to Start a YouTube Channel and Attract a Worldwide Audience

7. Blogs: This is most important if you're struggling to get results. If your blog a great source of information for your audience? More than likely, there are people who are looking for what you have to offer, but they will never find you unless you start posting in the places where they can find you.

Consider that consumers can find blogs through search engines or by following links from social media or other websites.

Interesting Facts About Blogging

There was a recent study, an annual blogging study that has lots of information about blogging from around the web.

I'll talk about some of the results from this study here, but it's worth reading the entire survey because it provides information that can help you grow your blog.

• It's amazing to me that as of 2021, there were more than 570 million blogs on the Internet, based on activities reported by WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Squarespace, and Medium.
• Tumblr is the largest blogging platform, and its estimated to have over 547 million monthly users, 44.6 billion blog posts uploaded, 178.4 million blogs created as of 2021.
  
• Another trend is the growing number of people who use WordPress to build their blogs, with 43% of the web built on WordPress. 
• Blogs affect customers’ buying decisions as 47% of them go through 3 to 5 blog posts before making a purchase.
• Blogs are still one of the main research options when it comes to shopping for products or services. They have credibility with consumers and can provide in-depth information.
  

How Blogs Can Help You Grow An Audience

Here are Some of the Reasons Blogs Struggle to Make Money 

Solution. Put as much (or more) energy into promoting your content as you put into creating it. Actively promote each blog post to a targeted audience who would be attracted to your topic.  

• Not Serving a Specific Audience. New bloggers start a blog because they think it's the right thing to do. And they are right. Blogging is a great way to establish your business online. However, blogs (like any other business element), should serve a specific niche that attracts a specific audience.
  
  As a business owner, you need a plan and a specific niche that your business serves. If you have content that attracts a certain audience, and they you start posting random content, it confuses them. And confused shoppers don't buy. Your audience needs to hear from you on a consist subject that helps them reach their goals.
  
  Solution. Select a niche or specialty for your business, identify your ideal customer and create a strategy to generate leads.
  

• Bloggers Have No Idea Who They Are Writing For.  Kind of ties in with the previous reason. This goes a little further because without readers, you will have a hard time building a thriving business. So it's important to understand who your ideal customer or reader is, and write content for that person.
  
  Solution. Similar to the previous section, write content your readers, potential customers and prospects will enjoy receiving with content that is valuable to your audience.
  
• You're Blogging for Quick Results. These bloggers have the wrong idea about blogging or how blogs work. They feel that blogging can be a quick way to earn money without putting in the work. They don't realize that they need to research various areas of specialty and learn more about the people they are servicing to grow an online business.
  
  They don't realize that it takes time to grow an audience, and an online business.
  
  Solution. Instead of being in business for the monetary aspect only, change your perspective to one of serving a specific audience or area of specialty.  
  
  Looking at your blog and business as a way to serve and help people, helps to improve your business in many different ways.
  

• Posting Happens Inconsistently. Businesses that blog actively get 97% more inbound links. Quality content is rewarded not just by the number of readers and shares. Other sites will also want to link to your blogs as credible sources of information.
  
  Solution. Your audience needs to know when to expect your content. Use our free blogging worksheets to organize your blog and set a regular posting schedule.
  
  If you don't  it will be hard for your audience to really take you seriously as a business owner.
  

If Your Site Is Struggling, Watch This Video

• When You're Using a Mismatch of Tools You Don't Own or Control. If this applies to you, make sure to watch the video above.
  
  Some people are building blogs on platforms that don't allow them to access their data or make changes that will help them grow their business.
  
  For example, if you're not able to access or change the code on your site, it's hard to embed things like the HTML that is needed to create opt in forms. Opt-in (also called lead generation) forms will enable you to generate leads.
  
  Solution. There are platforms that are great for posting your content so that it can be accessed by others. Sites like Tumblr, Blogger, Medium, Facebook, Etsy, etc.
  
  That's where the magic ends for these sites... their traffic and potential to help you find an audience. The bottom line is that they don't have the capability to give you everything you need to be successful online.
  
  You should definitely use these platforms to find potential customers, but not as your central business hub. If you're using these platforms as the central focus of your business it's important to use a blogging platform that you own and control.
  
  On the other hand, there are assets that you own and control like your self hosted blog and email list, that are valuable and critical to keeping your business up and running in the event of an emergency.
  
  You are also the biggest asset in your company so it's important to participate in self care practices, and personal development so that you can be your best for yourself, your family and your business.
  

• According to blogging statistics from the survey, 97% of bloggers report that social media helps them increase traffic. Free social media accounts can significantly boost your blog traffic. And if you're not taking advantage of free resources, you're leaving money on the table.
  
  According to the study, 93% of marketers agree that social media gives them more exposure, and 88% of them say they have more traffic because of it.
  
  Solution. Post your content on a regular schedule, maybe with an editorial calendar, so that your audience will know when to expect you. This helps your business stay top of mind when your ideal customers are looking for what you have to offer.
  

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If you're blogging randomly, you could be hurting your results. Having a plan helps you get into a routine, and when things get off track, you will have a better sense of how to get things back on track.

If your audience doesn't know when to expect you, they will move on to your competition.

Solution. Create a simple, step by step plan for how you will run your business. Try to anticipate any issues that might arise and create a plan for how you will handle those issues. This will also help you find areas that need improvement and can assist when hiring and training new team members.

• You Don't Analyze Your Data. If you have a blog that you own and control, you can utilize tools that will help you track data that will give you insight that will help you understand what your visitors are looking at and engaging with on your site.
  
  Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console can be instrumental in helping you build and grow your business. Social media accounts and email marketing providers have analytics you can review as well.
  
  If you have a sales dashboard you can review to obtain sales data, you can run reports at least once per month and save them to track your progress.
  
  Data gives you a unique perspective on how your business is working and help you navigate, manage and understand fluctuations in your business.  
  
  Analyzing your data can help you turn the corner, because the numbers don't lie.
  
  Solution. If you have a WordPress.org site, install Google Analytics and access Google Search Console and set up your site.
  
  Start reviewing your social media, email marketing and sales data on a regular basis and compare improvements (or not) from one month to the next.