An astonishing 80% of ALL blogs will FAIL this year! And the question is: What makes a blog successful? In this article, we discuss the 3 critical success factors that will help you succeed as a blogger. And as a bonus, we show you how to develop a “no fail” blogging plan.
Here is a statistic that should scare you. Over 80% of blogs will fail in the next 18 months. That’s the percentage of blogs that fail.
And that’s over 50 million blogs.
A humongous percentage of blogs that will fail in the next few months.
And your current or future blog could very well be one of them. Yes, you could FAIL as a blogger this year!
This is what I mean.
This year, over 63 million new blogs will be created.
I know because according to WP Virtuoso, a new blog is created every half a second, and we all agree that there are 86,400 seconds in a day! So how many blogs are there in the world?
I would say hundreds of millions.
And this is the really scary bit for bloggers.
80% of blogs will fail this year!
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Why Most Blogs Fail
Most blogs will fail because the bloggers haven’t got a ‘no fail’ blogging plan. They don’t treat their blog as a business. More on this later.
But first…
Research by Bloomberg (quoted by Forbes) shows that 8 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 18 months. That’s a colossal 80% of new small businesses including new blogs. If we extrapolate that to blogging statistics, we can safely say that 80% of the new blogs created this year will crash and burn in the next 18 months!
80%! That’s the percentage of blogs that fail! That’s right: 8 out of 10!
Blogging failure is now a real issue. And the question is: Will your blog be one of the few that will survive? Or will your blog become one of the blog failure stories in the next 18 months?
What Percentage Of Bloggers Are Successful?
According to blogger extraordinaire Neil Patel (New York Times best-selling author, described by The Wall Street Journal as a top influencer on the web):
For every successful blogger that’s out there pushing the benefits of blogging, there are also many, many bloggers who have failed.
Those who run a successful blog, on the other hand, have mastered a few key elements that reaffirms why blogging is so alluring to so many.
A successful blogger befriends social media, puts in a ton of hard work and consistently writes quality content. They’ve also found a way to garner attention and make money, which is what drives most people to start a blog in the first place.
If 80% of Blogs Will Fail this Year, Are Blogs over? Are Blogs still relevant?
Of course, blogging is not dead!
In fact, “reports of my demise are premature”, says Blog! And what better proof than the fact there are 63 million new blogs set up every year!
There may be millions of blog failure stories.
But are blogs over? Definitely not!
What has replaced blogging?
The emergence of social media and live streaming may seem to have replaced blogging.
But the reality is this.
There is still an insatiable appetite for blogs, blog posts and what bloggers have to offer.
And what most bloggers are doing is to combine blogging with vlogging, podcasts, videos and live streaming.
So is blogging oversaturated? No!
How to Develop a “No Fail” Blogging Plan
Let me ask you a few rhetorical questions to help you create a ‘no fail’ blogging plan for your blog:
- Are you struggling to get the results you want from blogging?
- Do you wonder if it even makes sense for your long-term goals?
- Have you lost the passion you had when you started blogging?
- Do you sometimes feel that blogging is beginning to feel like a massive waste of time?
Key points of your “No Fail” blogging plan
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, it’s crucial you understand five key points:
- It’s important not to give up too soon as blogger.
- Blogging has changed a lot in the past few years.
- Blogging works if you’re persistent, consistent, and you stay committed to it.
- If you can ride out the storm, stay the course and persevere, the storm will pass.
- Giving up too early can be the worst decision of your life as a blogger.
And the battle for attention has gotten tougher.
A lot tougher.
Over the past few years, blogging has evolved into a serious online marketing activity.
Here’s something you need to know: If you don’t approach blogging with a serious mindset, then frustration is almost inevitable.
9 Reasons Most Bloggers Don’t Make It
Jon Morrow’s Top Tips For Boosting Blog Traffic
But all is not lost.
My goal is to inspire you to reignite your passion for blogging because if you don’t, you will fail as a blogger.
And now, some more rhetorical questions to focus your mind…
If 80% of blogs will fail this year, then is blogging dead? Are blogs still relevant? Is blogging still relevant this year? If blogging is dead, then what happened to blogging?
On the other hand, if blogging isn’t dead, then is blogging worth it?
Why Do Bloggers Fail? Here Are 7 Ways To Be A Mediocre Blogger Who Will Fail This Year
#1. Be average with no unique selling proposition
With more than 152 million blogs on the Internet, and over 50 million of those blogs guaranteed to fail in the next 18 months, one of the easiest ways to fail as a blogger is to be mediocre and average.
However, if you do not want to fail as a blogger, then the question is, “How can YOU stand out?” The simple answer is your unique value proposition (USP) or value proposition.
Your value proposition answers the question your audience is asking. For example, “What can you do for me?” or “What’s in it for me?” aka WIIFM Radio!
Your value proposition will give you the clarity you need to hone your other branding elements like your logo and brand slogan, and sync in your content, messaging and marketing. In other words, it will make you stand out.
The key is to be specific. Don’t write about dieting. Write about dieting for new moms who want to stay healthy.
If you haven’t done so already, you can develop your own value proposition, using this template:
- I am [your professional identity, e.g. blogger, author, coach, copywriter, speaker etc.]
- I help [your target audience]
- do [your unique solution]
- so that [your promised transformation]
Here’s mine:
I am a blogger, copywriter and coach. I help start-up entrepreneurs build large email lists that they can monetize so that they can live the life of their dreams.
Without a value proposition, your blog is destined for failure. And you’re destined to fail as a blogger this year! Get real specific with what your blog stands for, and make your blog stand out!
#2. Want to fail as a Blogger? Display a lack of passion
Here’s the truth you need to know. If you’re not passionate about blogging, you are unlikely to succeed as blogger.
Passion generates commitment and a strong desire to succeed. By ‘passion’ I mean an unquenchable, all-consuming desire to make something work.
Passion is the fuel that will keep you going even when you don’t feel it!
Without passion, your blog is destined for failure. Without passion, you’re destined to fail as a blogger this year!
#3. Experience burn out
Burnout is thought to result from long-term, unresolvable job stress.
In 1974, Herbert Freudenberger became the first researcher to publish in a psychology-related journal a paper that used the term burnout. The paper was based on his observations of the volunteer staff (including himself) at a free clinic for drug addicts.
He characterized burnout by a set of symptoms that includes exhaustion resulting from work’s excessive demands as well as physical symptoms such as headaches and sleeplessness, “quickness to anger,” and closed thinking. He observed that the burned out worker “looks, acts, and seems depressed”.
According to Psychology Today, “Burnout is not a simple result of long hours. The cynicism, depression, and lethargy of burnout can occur when you’re not in control of how you carry out your job, when you’re working toward goals that don’t resonate with you, and when you lack social support. If you don’t tailor your responsibilities to match your true calling, or at least take a break once in a while, you could face a mountain of mental and physical health problems.”
If the thought of blogging makes you lethargic, makes you feel depressed or makes you cynical, then you’re probably burnt out.
And you need a break!
If you’re experiencing burnout, you need to get professional help ASAP. If you don’t, your blog will fail. And you’re destined to fail as a blogger this year!
Remember that 80% of blogs will fail this year. Don’t be part of that statistic!
Can’t create compelling content? Leave the writing to the pros. SEMrush can help from as little as $40 for a 500 word article. Just indicate the topic and get traffic-driving content in a few clicks.
#4. Show a distant lack of creativity
Here’s how to easily fail as a blogger.
Be boring, predictable, unoriginal, un-creative, unresourceful!
However, to stand out and succeed, be creative.
By “creativity”, I mean inventiveness, and the use of imagination or original ideas to create something.
Synonyms include: inventiveness, innovation, individuality, expressiveness, inspiration, creative power, resourcefulness, ingenuity and enterprise.
Psychology Today puts it this way, “Even those of us not in explicitly creative fields must come up with new ideas and insights in order to move ahead. How can we shake up the way we think? … While research psychologists are interested in increasing innovative thinking, clinical psychologists sometimes encourage patients to use artistic expression as a way to confront difficult feelings.”
To NOT fail as a blogger in the next 18 months, you must not only be creative and resourceful as a blogger, but you must also find a way to come up with new ideas and insights.
Without creativity, your blog will be average and mediocre, and doomed for failure. And you will be destined to fail as a blogger this year!
So, improve yourself.
Read.
Read widely.
Read blogging tips.
Read articles about bloggers, and read blogging success stories.
Read about how to start a blog and make money, read successful blog posts and read about how to make your blog successful.
The Percentage Of Blogs That Fail
Here are the rest of the 7 ways to be a mediocre blogger who will fail this year.
Ready? Let’s go!
#5. You’re not giving people a reason to return
Want to fail as a blogger? Make sure your visitors don’t return. Your blog is a digital piece of real estate that you own. Want to succeed as a blogger? Make it attractive. Make it homely. Make it the go to place for people in your niche.
Glen Long former Editor in chief of Smart Blogger gives the following 11 reasons why people bounce from your blog and never return:
- Your Headline’s Writing Checks Your Post Can’t Cash. In other words, your headlines suck!
- You’re Over Eager (and It’s Embarrassing). You ask too much of your visitors too soon!
- You’re Convinced Your Content is Worth Waiting For. Your blog is too slow! Make it faster!
- You Make People Exhausted Not Energized. Make your posts interesting to dive into.
- You’re Too Damn Wordy (Even for a Writer). Make use of short sentences and paragraphs. Use bulleted lists. Features and inline images. Quotes and callouts. All of these can transform your post from hard-to-read to hard-to-resist.
- Your links are too interesting. Use external links sparingly and ensure they:
- Launch in a new window.
- Don’t break the flow of your writing (i.e., no attention-grabbing calls-to-action).
- Highlight supplemental, not essential information.
- You’re Thinking Too Big. Make your blog mobile friendly.
- You’re Too Busy Trying to Make a Few Cents. Ditch those annoying ads. Hear Glen Long again, “For most readers, ads are an annoying distraction that cheapens your brand and increases the chances they’ll bounce. For the small percentage who are enticed by an offer, ads are an exit ramp taking them away from your content.”
- You’re Exploring Well-Charted Territory. Be creative. Be bold. Don’t be predictive.
- You’re Scared of Commitment. Focus on your USP (See #1)
- You Leave Your Readers Hanging
If you don’t give your visitors a reason to return, your blog is on a fast track to failure. And you’re destined for failure as a blogger this year!
#6. Keep promoting your blog the wrong way
There is a right and wrong way to promote your blog posts.
If you want to fail as a blogger, just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep promoting your posts by posting a couple of posts on Facebook and couple of tweets on Twitter.
More importantly, ignore the authorities and influencers in your niche. Don’t network. Don’t reach out to your influencers. Remain an island to yourself.
However, if you want to succeed, then you need to connect with those influencers.
According to Jon Morrow, all posts have two audiences:
- “The people who read them.” I call them your primary audience; and
- “The people who link to them;” I call these your powerful audience, the movers and shakers in your niche.
If you want traffic, you’ve got to satisfy these two audiences. So, who are the people who link to your posts? The influencers in your niche that you’ve developed relationships with.
You should write posts targeted at those connections – the influencers and authorities. However, don’t ignore your primary audience – they still matter – but think about what those connections would find irresistible to link to.
If you keep promoting your blog the wrong way, your blog is destined for failure.
And you don’t need Mystic Meg to tell you that you’re on course to fail as a blogger this year!
#7. Don’t give the time and dedication.
Here’s another fantastic way to be on the downward slide to failure as a blogger.
Don’t give your blog the time of day. Blog when you’ve done everything else. After all, there are more important things than blogging. Not giving your blog the time and dedication required to nurture it can only have one outcome: You’d fail as a blogger.
However, if you want to succeed as a blogger, you must persistent, consistent and committed. Success in anything requires dedication. You must devote the time and attention your blog requires. Stop cutting corners.
Here’s the truth you already knew: If you don’t give your blog the time and dedication it requires, your blog will fail. And you will fail as a blogger this year!
What Makes a Blog Successful? The 3 Critical Success Factors that will Help you Succeed.
If I had to isolate three things that make all the difference between the blogs that succeed and the blogs that will fail, they will be these:
- persistence,
- commitment and
- consistency.
Don’t give up. Never give in. Simply keep going!
In reality, this is true of any kind of any online business. And yes, your blog is a business.
By blogging frequently – posting new, fascinating, important, relevant and insanely valuable content, about key ideas in your niche, you are feeding a yearning your readers have: the desire for solutions.
You’re also creating more pages to be indexed by Google, which is fantastic for SEO. This naturally leads to higher rankings in search engine results, which means your website is more likely to be viewed as a trusted resource by people in your niche. A win win for everybody.
Wrapping Up – Is blogging still profitable? Does blogging still work?
12 Experts Reveal How They Make A Living Blogging
While blog failure stories abound, the reality is there are also very many blog success stories. At the end of the day, it depends on you. There is an insatiable hunger for blogs that are creative and which offer insane value. But you have to be focused and run your blog as a business, not a hobby!
Are blogs still relevant this year? Definitely. Does anyone read blogs anymore? Hundreds of millions of people still read blogs. Google still directs hundreds of millions of search engine enquiries to blogs every month.
Does blogging still work and is making a blog worth it? Of course! is no easier way to build an online presence, reach a dedicated audience or tribe than through a blog. And for pro bloggers, blogging is a fantastic way to earn a living.
80% of Blogs Will Fail this Year – Now your turn
Are you worried about the percentage of blogs that fail? In your view, why do most blogs fail?
Do you want to flourish, succeed and thrive as a blogger or do you want to be part of the blog failure stories this year? Have you ever asked yourself, why do most blogs fail?
How many people read blogs? Who reads blogs anyway?
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Davindra says
You have some really good advice in this article. I didn’t know that blogging had such a high failure rate.
Pedro Okoro says
Hi Davindra,
Great to see you here on Astute Copy Blogging. Yes, Blogging like any other business has a very high failure rate. Unfortunately, most bloggers see blogging as a hobby!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Best regards
Pedro
Oluwole says
This is a fantastic Article on how to remain in business as a blogger. Nice one Pedro 🙂 Keep up the awesome work!
Pedro Okoro says
Hey Olu,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your perspective.
Best regards
Pedro
Nicole says
This is really great information. As a new blogger I it can be overwhelming and I really need to learn to zero in on some things that will help make me sucessful. I learned a good bit! Thanks!
Pedro Okoro says
Hi Nicole,
Great to see you here on Astute Copy Blogging. Super delighted that you found the post useful.
Best of luck with your blogging.
Best regards
Pedro
Bryan says
My beer blog has been reasonably successful and keeps gaining each year. Not everyone who starts a blog does so for money, but most of them do and this article contains sound advice to make any blog grow and thrive.
Pedro Okoro says
Hey Bryan,
Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation with your thoughts. Delighted you found the article helpful.
Best regards
Pedro
Rawlings Sunday says
Wow, you have just provided a startling and realistic analysis. Somehow, a lot of bloggers really fall into any of these categories. I will work on improving on mine. Thanks for this informative post.
https://rawlingsunday.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/9-reasons-you-need-to-budget-your-money/
Pedro Okoro says
Hey Rawlings,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Super delighted you found the post useful and informative. Good luck with your blogging 🙂
Best,
Pedro
Nikki Wayne says
I enjoyed reading so much.
Thanks for the motivation
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
Not a problem at all Nikki!
You’re most welcome 🙂
Elvis Michael says
Fascinating stuff, especially those statistics!
Promotion through networking is perhaps the biggest factor, in my opinion. The thought of communicating (regularly) and reaching out can get overwhelming, which makes many bloggers put it off.
“My blog isn’t big enough yet,” they say.
“I’ll reach out to others once I become a bigger authority,” they say.
The time to establish connections is yesterday.
Go ahead, try it. Even if many people don’t get back to you, at least you’ll learn WHY that is and can subsequently improve on your outreach skills.
Thanks for the awesome stuff once again, Pedro. You truly know your sh*t.
Elvis
Pedro Okoro says
Hey Elvis,
Always a delight to see you here on Astute Copy Blogging. Thanks a bunch for not only sharing your thoughts, but also validating some of my points. Means a lot coming from a well established blogger like you.
Best regards
Pedro
Niladri Sarker says
Hi Pedro,
Very interesting read! People only see the sunny side so it’s great you gave some pointers on what NOT to do. We’re GeoBeetles, a family of travelers roaming the world for rare wildlife and remote natural wonders. And now, we’re stepping into the blogging world carefully. Perhaps too carefully! 🙂
Oh well, I’ll look back in 18 months to know if I was on the right path after all.
Thanks for the great article! Keep up the good work!
Dr. Sarker
The GeoBeetles Family
Pedro Okoro says
Hey Doc,
Thanks for stopping by and joining our conversation.
A real pleasure and honor to have you visit with us 🙂
If you and your family can roam the world for rare wildlife and remote natural wonders, then you definitely have what it takes not only to succeed, but to thrive and flourish as a blogger.
That’s because you need guts, determination, grit and perseverance to do what you’re doing.Just what you need to succeed as a blogger.
Please keep us updated on your fascinating work.
We have a lot of resources here on this blog to make you thrive as a blogger. That’s why we’re here: to help you thrive as a blogger. So please do let us know if you require anything else for your blogging journey.
We’ve just connected with you on Twitter as @astutecopyblog.
And do let us know when you get to England.
Best,
Pedro
Jennifer Passmore says
This was rather insightful. Thank you for taking the time to pen this article. I have the passion and the drive for my blog, I just need to blog more frequently, as you state in your article.
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
Jennifer,
Glad you loved it!
You’re absolutely right about blogging frequently. Remember the 3 critical success factors I mentioned?
• Consistency
• Commitment; and
• Persistence
If you keep doing this, success will follow. Guaranteed!
Thanks for stopping by.
Best,
Pedro
Celebrate Woman Today says
Great tips and suggestions, especially for those who just in the beginning of a blogging path.
Eloise says
This is a very thorough post with lots of good advice for those looking for help or who are getting started in the blogging field and want to research it first!
I’ve been blogging for quite a few years now and enjoy it! It’s a great way to get your voice out there and help others find solutions etc…
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
Eloise,
You’re right…blogging is an amazing way to have a fantastic platform where your voice can be heard.
A great platform for providing solutions for the challenges of the daily grind.
Blogging is a wonderful way to earn a living.
Best,
Pedro
LaShunta says
Very good information. I have ran into many hiccups with writing in general and most of them are my own doing. You are right without a plan it is hard to be successful. Thank you for the detailed information.
Norma says
So true! I think that blogging is a lot more work than we expect so it is easy to quit after the initial enthusiasm wears down. As you mentioned, there are so many components to blogging that it can feel overwhelming.
Sondra says
Very interesting read. I agree will all your points, especially the part about passion!
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
Delighted you loved it Sondra!
As a blogger, you can’t go wrong with passion 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
Best,
Pedro
Bella says
This is great!
I love that the Article shows how to remain in business as a blogger.
Thank you for sharing this.
Krysten Quiles says
Such an interesting read. I’ve had my blog since 2007, but it definitely takes a lot of work!
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
Glad you loved it Krysten!
And you’re right, blogging is hard work.
But it pays 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Best,
Pedro
Heidi says
Wow, that’s kind of crazy to think so many blogs will fail. I think consistency is key!
Pedro Okoro, Chief Editor says
That’s right Heidi! Consistency is definitely key, to not failing as a blogger.
And as I pointed out in the article, consistency is one of 3 critical success factors.
Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation 🙂
Best,
Pedro