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“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
- Confucius
The line between success and failure is a thin one, isn’t it? Let’s take a look at three common examples of when a blogger may be considering the closing of a blog. Perhaps you can relate?
Situation #1: “It’s been quite a while since I started my blog. Recently, things have changed in my personal life and I seem either to have less time to create content and interact with readers or are having massive “writer’s block” issues. Now it’s less about passion and more about obligation.”
- Your blog deserves 100% of your focus and attention. Readers can sense the slightest bit of attentiveness or unavailability. And you will soon realize that you cannot garner the same results doing this as a part-timer.
It’s time to face reality…and close your blog.
Situation #2: “No matter what I do I cannot find readers! I have tweaked my site for SEO, I am entrenched in every blogging community, every social bookmarking site, and every social media outlet you can think of. I spend countless hours online building my brand, gaining exposure, and networking with other bloggers.”
“But, when I check my stats… nothing! I know I can’t live off of “incentivized” (Link Exchanges/PTC Sites) traffic forever. Where are the readers who just want to voluntarily read and subscribe to my blog? What is the secret?!”
- All blogs start with the best intentions but may not be received well by the blogosphere. Why keep beating a dead horse? You didn’t “marry” this blog, so stop bringing her to every party. Is this how you want to be remembered in the future? A poor performing blog is like a bad cologne. Sure you stink now, but there are plenty of other fragrances.
It’s time to face reality…and close your blog.
Situation #3 “I own two blogs: One about politics and the other contains tech news. Over the past few years, my exposure has fell off the face of the earth. How can I compete with sites like The Huffington Post. Engadget. TreeHugger, and Politico? I’m a stand alone blogger and they have a large staff of writers cranking out 20-30 posts… a day!”
“I get so frustrated. I’d rather just spend my time on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter!”
- You chose two very saturated markets. There are many people who are content with Twitter. It is extremely interactive and searched results come available immediately without a need for bots and indexing.
It’s time to face reality…and close your blog.
“…Sometimes, things that were trendy and interesting 2-5 years ago have lost their public appeal…”
Is Closing A Blog An End…Or A New Beginning?
For many bloggers, it is only the beginning.
Closing a blog allows you the opportunity to divert your focus towards your next project. Often what we learn as bloggers is through trial and error. We can effectively apply this to our new blog.
You may be surprised to learn how many blogs some people have had…that failed. You just can’t beat yourself up over it.
Businesses fail, marriages end, but life doesn’t.
Maybe you need to take a step back and make some time for yourself. It’s OK.
Closing A Blog
It’s time to take a personal inventory of where your blog is in relation to your goals and expectations. If there is a concern, the best favor you can do for yourself is admitting things are not progressing as you’d like. The reality is that there are elements you cannot control.
Contacting Readers: With the lifespan of a blog being but a few short months, readers have been grown accustomed to blog closings. But, it is not really your blog readers/subscribers are following – it is you. Inform your readers you have decided to close your blog. Allow your loyal readers the option to still connect to you via Facebook or Twitter.
There is still the possibility of you returning and what better way to relaunch than with their support?
The closing of a blog is an emotional one and is not done without careful consideration. If you are contemplating closing a blog, I hope this article inspired you and helped you put things in a positive perspective.
Before I go, I’d like to give a “shot-out” to all my closed blogs of internet past – R.I.P.
7 Comments
There are definitely times when the best thing to do is to close down a blog and move on. Or, if a person isn’t 100% positive they’re ready to let it go, at least post a note that says you’re taking a hiatus so readers will know you didn’t fall off the edges of the earth.
I think the biggest thing is to look at closing down a blog as a natural part of the blogging process–as you pointed out, it happens a lot and there are good reasons for doing it. It doesn’t mean you failed–it just means you learned something about yourself and blogging in general.
Jean Sarauer recently posted..7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Let Awesome Blogs Keep You From Achieving Stardom
Jean,
Thank you for rendering a comment that was so consistent with the tone of the article.
I wrote this not because it was the most popular topic, but because I don’t think anyone has addressed this issue.
Bloggers are real people with real emotions – not robots churning out content.
Sometimes reaching out to them and offering our support and encouragement – makes all the difference.
Source Blogger recently posted..How To Make Your PC And Laptop Run Faster
I can truly connect with this one as I had authored a blog on managing a relationship that had been touched by bipolar disorder and although the blog was bringing in a very healthy amonut of activity and new daily visitors, after a year, it drained me.
There was a time where I knew I was helping others in a similar situation, but writing about those challenges and dire situations only fueled a deep depression I feel into myself.
I didn’t exactly walk away gracefully as I just decided one day to end it and bring it down, but looking back, it was a good decision and I’ve focused on other projects.
Thank you for posing this.
-Rich
Rich Wallace recently posted..Expose the Real You- Being Fake Gets You Nowhere
Rich,
It always pleases me when an article “hits home” for a reader. Although those examples appeared hypothetical, I am sure many readers can relate. I know I can.
Thank you for sharing your experience about your blog on bipolar disorder. There have been times in life when blogging did not fit into the equation – even for me.
But, closing one door usually led to another opening – thankfully!
Jeffrey Baril – Source Blogger
I can relate somewhat. While I haven’t actually “closed it down”, I have “remade” DennisEdell.com numerous times over the years; up to now.
I’ve also moved all content from one domain to another…you could say I closed the original down, but only to republish elsewhere.
Excellent article buddy…tweeted.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing recently posted..UPDATE- Blog SEO Found New Articles Coming ASAP!
Jeff this is another great post. I’ll be referring to it in one of my upcoming posts
on Blog Health and Wellness Checks. be sure to stop by and check it out when it
pops up in Do Follow Luv. cheers !
Blog Health & Wellness? Of course, I’ll stop by and check it out! =)
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Dealing With The Emotional Reality of Closing A Blog | Source Blogger…
There are many reasons why you may be considering shutting down your blog. But, is the closing of a blog an end… or a new beginning?…