How to Save a Blog that is Not Doing Well

You will know your blog is in trouble if you've lost interest, if you don't feel like posting, and if the number of visitors is low, or worse, declining.

Before you can save a failing blog, you'll need to get an accurate diagnosis of what went wrong in the first place. Did you pick a topic you weren't really interested in? Did blogging turn out to be more work than you expected? Or are you filled with enthusiasm and are posting wonderful items on your blog, but you just can't seem to attract the audience you know is out there?

Your diagnosis will point you in the direction you need to go to heal your blog.

Adjust the focus

If you've lost interest in the topic, consider whether the topic is too broad or too narrow. If so, you can fine-tune the topic's scope. Also consider whether it would help to find a different aspect of the topic to emphasize, or to approach the subject from a different angle.

If, however, you have no longer have any interest at all in any aspect of your blog's topic, then your blog may be beyond saving. The best you can do in that situation may be to close it up and start another on a different topic.

Lower the bar

Blogging can be a lot more work than many new bloggers realize. Perhaps you set goals initially that are now starting to feel oppressive. There's no shame in scaling back. If you bit off more than you can chew, just acknowledge that, and set more realistic goals.

Get the word out

If you love to work on your blog and are proud of your posts, but still can't get decent traffic, you probably need to get out and mingle more often. On the internet, communities have sprung up around everything that has ever interested anyone - so you can be sure that there are communities of people who share your interest in the topic that inspired your blog.

Find those people - *your* people - and spend some time hanging out with them online. They are your natural audience, the people who will want to read your blog and want to spread the word. It also helps to learn techniques for getting more traffic from search engines. Important as that is, though, in blogging - as in offline life - personal connections may matter the most.

Many failing blogs can be revived, as long as the author still has some interest in the topic. By fine-tuning the blog's focus, reaching out to people who would be interested, and setting a more realistic pace to prevent burn-out, you can inject new life into a sickly blog and nurse it back to health.