So you have made your blog and have started posting about your favorite topic and then you sit back and relax and wait for someone to read your blog. It’s never going to happen. Never. This is not 1995 or even 2005. World is moving so fast and thousands of blogs with millions of posts pop up everyday. So it is very very likely that your blog becomes invisible in no time. You cannot stop other people from posting but what you can surely do is to enhance your blog superbly so that it has its own charm and attract more and more readers and ‘returning’ visitors. Yes, ‘returning’ visitors are more important than random new visitors. After much understanding the situation like these, I have listed Top 10 ways why your blog is not read by many and what are the steps to overcome that.

1) Your blog title is not eye-catchy

Making a good title of your post is the hardest and the most crucial part. It can make your readers feel excited or turn them off. Use words that contain positivity and energy to it. Make them like a ‘teaser’ to your post. Avoid long lines in the post title. Make it a clause, not necessarily a sentence.

2) You have used lot of colors in your blog template

If you ever visit popular blogs like Labnol, Mashable, etc. then you realize that those blogs are easier to read. Don’t strain your reader’s eyes by using decorative and colorful artwork unnecessarily. Follow this universal rule: Background white, text black. This is a direct hit. Successful web designers hold a strong view that a light background and dark text works far more better than vice versa. Use a few, matching colorful icons which adds to the glory but never overdo it. Your template should be smooth and pleasing to the eye.

3) You make commenting complex by using things like CAPTCHA

Those days are long gone when a reader have to provide an identity before giving his opinion. Why? What’s the need to make a reader go though a ‘Are you a human’ process? If you feel someone is spamming you then you are the master of your blog. Spare some minutes and delete such spam comments and take this task on yourself instead of authenticating genuine commenters. Let them post comments freely. [Read my related post on this topic: How to turn your blog into a ‘DO-FOLLOW’ one]

4) You don’t provide a FEED button or it is not clearly visible

Let’s say a reader got interested in your blog and wants more. He will look for a feed button but gets disappointed by not finding one. He will forget your blog soon. In order to keep your readership intact, you MUST provide a feed. Make sure you use a big and clear feed icon, preferably in the top-right corner of your blog. Use Feedburner for the purpose. It is not advisable to put a feed button in the footer region of your blog.

5) You put lot of advertisements and affiliate links

This can get you in trouble, legally. Maybe you are not knowing this but you are breaking Google’s Adsense policy if you are putting more than 3 ad units per page. Google Adsense is a great way to earn while you blog and even I implement it, but earning should NOT be your sole purpose. Provide genuine content and focus on your thoughts rather than getting clicks though your blog. Believe me, money will follow.

6) Your content is common

I can understand you gather information from other websites and put them in your blog. I can also understand that one cannot produce all information by himself. He has to gather it from somewhere. But you know what, there are tons of people who do this. So in that case the face value of your content deteriorates which was already not so good because you gathered data from elsewhere in the first place. So what to do now?

Analyze the data that you read from different websites. Remove those points which you do not support. Give your own perspective to it. Emphasize the points you like. Make bulleted points as much as possible (This one’s a direct hit. Nobody loves paragraphs). Put your own verdict in the beginning and the end. These little things will make your blog post look genuine and uncommon.

7) You don’t use social network sharing of your posts

Social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace and microblogging site Twitter have paved their way to blogs and websites. You cannot ignore them. Use widgets that are available to let users share your content on Facebook, Twitter, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon etc. Always provide such sharing links below each and every post. Don’t isolate your blog. Make it connected to such websites.

You have a bad language with poor grammar

Nothing is more annoying than this. Make less spelling and grammatical mistakes in your blog post. There are tons of spell check tools available. Use them for your own good. Re-view your blog post and read it aloud to find any hidden errors before putting it online. Avoid unnecessary capitalization of words. If you want emphasis, make them bold or italics instead. Needless to say, punctuate properly.

9) You are not taking your blog seriously / you are not making the most of your time

It is a bad thing to post infrequently. Especially when you do have readership. It annoys your readers. Make the most of your time online and keep posting useful things on your blog. There is a vast resource of information out there which you need to bring forward. Post regularly and never take your readers for granted.

10) You pay more attention to stats than the blog itself

It’s always exciting to see your visitors graph go up, a little down, a little more up… But don’t get addicted to it. Websites that provide (eg. Google Analytics such analysis are no doubt doing a wonderful job by providing each kind of statistical data about your blog but try not to watch the data every other day. Focus more on your blog and think about more ways to impress your readers.

Phew! The above list has been made after lot of self experience but it is just the tip of the iceberg. Please let me know your views about how to save your blog from getting ignored. Enjoy blogging!

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