Have You Ever Watched a Blog Go Out?
28 Jul
Have you ever followed a blog, loved the content, connected with the writer, kept coming back to read more, only to find one day that’s it – KAPPUT – FINITO – NO MORE ?
I’ve experienced it a couple of times now, and I have to say I find it a little sad but also more than a little intriguing. There are myriads of reasons for a blog to finish but we are often left hanging in suspense wondering what on earth happened.
Affiliate Progress doesn’t usually venture into the “blogging tips” arena, but I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the reasons behind blogs that go bump in the night, both as a thought provoking exercise for existing bloggers and as a bit of a heads-up for those planning to start blogging.
Why do Blogs Die?
So what are the main reasons that an owner would turn out the lights on his or her blog? After all, even a fairly young blog may have cost its owner a considerable investment in time and effort and possibly also money.
Leaving aside life’s tragedies that could put a stop to any kind of work and not just blogging, here are my main possibilities:
- Ran out of things to say
- Too stressful coming up with good content
- Needed to concentrate on other things
- Didn’t earn any money
- Simply lost interest
I’m sure you can probably think up a few more of your own, but let’s have a look at each of the above five reasons.
Running Out of Content
Running out of things to say often comes down to lack of planning when setting up your blog in the first place. You need to thoroughly think through what you will be writing about, and crucially what is happening in your life that will expand your opportunities for blog content. It is also important to ration your content. There is no point in setting yourself a target of posting three times a week if you only have enough good content for a single post a week!
Too Stressful
Some people are just natural writers, others may produce less quantity but still find it fairly easy to come up with ideas. However, there are also people who agonise over every idea and every sentence that they write, for them blogging can really be a stressful business.
I suspect that this is essentially a character trait and is probably quite difficult to overcome, but it is worth remembering that after all, it is only a blog post! It’s not the end of the world, and it is not really worth getting stressed out over and losing sleep. There are well known bloggers that make every single post a masterpiece, but they don’t post often! Others post more often but with a lot less meat in their content. Deciding which of those types of blogger you are will hopefully lead to a much more enjoyable blogging career.
Taking a Break
Most people trying to establish an online career for themselves will have many irons in the fire and a whole heap of conflicting priorities. It is only to be expected that sometimes you have to concentrate on one blog or project over another. It really is worthwhile letting your readers know what is going on though. They get used to the frequency of posting on blogs they regularly read and you will stand a lot more chance of winning your readers back after an extended break if you explain to them beforehand.
What No Money?
Fuelled on a diet of promises of six figure earnings, plenty of bloggers start scratching their heads two months down the line and wonder where all the money is. Throwing in the towel early due to lack of earnings is often down to being given bad advice at the outset so that unrealistic expectations are set.
You really need to enjoy blogging for what it is, because for the majority of people it takes a long time to see any significant financial return at all.
I Don’t Want to do This Anymore!
Lastly, some people simply get bored or decide that blogging is just not for them. That’s OK, it’s not for everyone, and there are many other ways of making money online. But if you have developed your blog over a period of time, don’t just leave it hanging there! Remember that your last post may be the first post someone may find. Sign off properly as a mark of respect to your readers, and who knows it may just lead to a sale!
Have you ever abandoned a blog? (I have in spite of my advice above!) Please tell us why by leaving a comment, I’d love to hear other reasons for all those ghost ships of the blogosphere!
Nice post! I’m following an unconventional schedule myself…. but I can see how it’s stressful to come up with content. Sometimes it flows, sometimes it doesn’t.
I enjoy it a lot though
Moon Hussain´s last blog ..Tools of the Trade- Do You Choose to Spend or Not
Thanks Moon.
I think it’s that enjoyment that keeps things flowing during the difficult times. And I doubt we would get half the satisfaction out of blogging without those difficult times!
I’d say the last two are the most common, and more often then not, they are connected.
They lose interest because they chose a niche topic they heard will make them lots of money, yet they know little about it.
When the cash doesn’t flow in the first couple months, there goes the interest.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Last Post and Current To-Do List
Hi Dennis,
exactly right. You might get away with that for a pseudo blog or a mini site, but for a true blog you need a pretty deep well of ideas to dip into, and a true interest in what you’re writing about.
Good points, Des. I can definitely relate to them but not to the point of closing down. In fact, I’ll be doing a revamp of my site to make it “a better place.” Like Murlu, I don’t follow a schedule. Well, not yet anyway.
Have a good one.
Gines´s last blog ..A New Journey Will Begin Shortly
Hi Gines,
at the moment I try to post once a week, but don’t have a particular schedule I stick to. If I don’t happen to come up with anything, or don’t have time to post, it’s not the end of the world.
Thanks for commenting.
A few months ago I considered shutting down my blog. I just stopped writing for a while. But I realised it was more that I wasn’t writing exactly what I wanted, rather than not enjoying blogging full stop. There’s always outside pressure making you wonder what you *should* be writing about rather than what you want to, I think that was a big reason for me. I also think the money thing is a huge one- it’s a shame, as many people give up before it’s had a real chance to go anywhere!
Ruth – Web Career Girl´s last blog ..Found A New Place- Now Trying To Work Out A Plan of Action
Hi Ruth,
that would have been a real shame, glad you decided to keep going with it. Your blog was a great source of information and inspiration when I first started out, and who knows what direction you might want to take it in the future.
All the best,
Des.
I agree. There is one blogger that comes to mind that I haven’t seen since the beginning of the year. According to his last post his computer was fried and he would be offline for a couple of days. Well that was February and I’m hoping he is doing well, but when you connect with someone the way he and I did you can only hope that he is ok and possibly reinventing himself somewhere under a new persona!
I can’t think of anything to add to your list because “needed to concentrate on other things” covers a lot (including personal illness).
Thanks for the post! Keep up the good work.
Ileane @ Basic Blog Tips´s last blog ..Basics of Blog Feeds and FeedBurner
Hi Ileane,
it does make you wonder when things end so abruptly. I hope the blog you mentioned re-appears at some time, if only so you can be sure nothing bad happened.
Thanks for dropping by,
Des.
I had noticed on some blogs but they come back after sometimes , Changing its themas or blog , Many times its happen that too much traffic can cause or might be hacking and spamming causes behind closing the blogs .. But some blogger also perform a strategy Geo locations specific that its content not be available for view in spacial locations so they so that we are closed
Tej Kohli´s last blog ..History of Animation by Tej Kohli
Hi Tej Kohli,
any blogs I particularly like that go dormant I tend to keep on my RSS reader just in case. It is nice if they spring back into life after a while.