Why is it so difficult to increase traffic in a personal blog?

One major problem usually faced by almost all bloggers is that they do not receive in their blogs as many visitors as they would like to have. This is so frustrating for all of us who have been there. Long hours of working on a blog, writing articles, sharing ideas, researching and the result……… a total zero!

There are many reasons that make it difficult for a blog to attract enough traffic. Let’s see the major ones:

a) The competition is fierce!

Yes, you need to realize that as much as knowledge you might have on the specific subject you are blogging about there are millions out there thinking that they can give the same and even more than you do! Not only you need to show that you are an expert in the subject but you also have to prove it by putting out such ideas that you are readers will want to become loyal visitors.

b) You are and you will always be an one man/woman show

Whatever effort you put in your personal blog it would always be a one man/woman show. This mean that it does not matter how many ideas and how exciting is the subject for you, at some point you get so tired and bored that you just want to give it up and say that’s enough. This usually happens in the first 8-10 weeks when you have given so much effort and blog’s traffic is 8-10 people per day.

c) Lack of originality

How frustrating would it be if you were to buy two different magazines which contain the same content? Believe me readers wouldn’t like this and they would never buy them again. Similarly, how many times were you searching for something over the internet and you came across a range of websites which contained exactly the same content? How much time would you spend on those websites? Would you visit them again? I am sure that you are giving the exact answers like me. People like originality! They like to see new things and receive new ideas. Your target should clear pursue of originality and not to share the same or similar ideas which are already there.

d) Bloggers fail to understand the concept of promotion

A blogger is not specialized on everything. You might have the most original ideas, the most well organized website and the most attractive one but when you fail to see a promo opportunity for your blog the result will be devastating as your traffic will be negligent. You have to keep your eyes always open and be alert. There are small and big opportunities for you to promote your blog on a daily basis. The trick here is to recognize them and be able to exploit them successfully.

Why do you need the traffic?

Somebody might say: “Why should I care about my blogs’ traffic?” My answer to this is that it goes without saying that anyone who is ready to put enough effort into creating a blog always keeps in the back of his/her minds that somebody out there would appreciate his/her job and would be ready to read new ideas and learn something valuable. The more people read your blog the better you feel about yourself and this is a huge incentive to keep you going. Therefore, traffic is an interesting way of measuring how valuable is the material you post on your blog and whether you attract people’s attention into reading and being involved into it.

Cashing your traffic:

Another major reason you need the traffic is to make money. Yes as simple as that! If you manage to get enough traffic then you can find ways to transform it into cash. This will cover or partly cover your efforts to offer your knowledge to the web society. The truth is that do not expect to become rich enough to retire in just a few days or months. Only a few bloggers managed to make enough money from their personal blogs and this usually is a transient phenomenon. You could expect that through your personal blog you could manage a steady (and sometimes increasing) income for your efforts. However, in order to reach to the position to be able to have a steady income you have to spend hours in front of your screen not only working on your blog but also trying to promote it using usually basic digital marketing techniques.