31 of the Biggest Blogging Challenges with Multiple Powerful Solutions

You’ll likely encounter some of the biggest blogging challenges out there.

You might have already encountered these challenges. Encountering them more than once isn’t unheard of at all. Blogging has plenty of challenges. You’ll have to face them eventually.

A bigger challenge can be exhausting, to say the least. It can make you want to quit. It’s definitely a test to see if you can handle everything blogging gives you. There is no such thing as a blogger who has never faced a challenge with their blog.

Don’t give up.

There are solutions to the biggest blogging challenges out there. In fact, I’m going to give you three different solutions for each challenge listed below. That way, if it’s already happened to you and it happens again, you’ll have other ideas to respond to it with.

Now, on to the challenges, causes, and solutions.

The Biggest Blogging Challenges List is Always Increasing

Before we jump into the biggest blogging challenges, you need to understand one important thing.

The challenges will continue to increase!

As time moves forward, technology evolves. Stuff like automation, artificial intelligence, and even software licensing have always changed throughout the years. These changes will almost always impact bloggers.

If you assume that you can face, defeat, and check challenges off your list until there are no more, you’re always going to be marketing things off your list.

Rather than dread the challenges, just try to be prepared for them by researching ahead of time. Knowing what may happen before it happens is a good skill set to have as a blogger.

Now, let’s get on with the biggest challenges in blogging.

Biggest Blogging Challenges and Solutions to Consider

The following shows some of the biggest blogging challenges, the potential cause of the challenges, and three different solutions. There is also information on how to measure the results in the solutions to ensure that they work properly.

 

1 – Choosing the Right Blog Platform and Dealing with Technical Issues

There are many different blogging platforms and mediums to choose from.

You can use software like WordPress, but then you deal with server and hosting technical issues. You can use hosted solutions like Medium or Blogger, but then you will be stuck using them without the ability to migrate away. You could also use social media, but social platforms are rented spaces, and you could lose everything in the blink of an eye.

Trying to decide what blogging platform to use can be a big challenge. Then, you have to take into consideration all of the technical issues that might come with the platform.

Cause: The cause of this challenge is not knowing which platform to choose from. Each platform has its own popularity and community around it that promotes it to be used as the best platform. With the amount of options, it’s difficult to determine which is the best. Many have risky migration features, which makes it even more challenging.

Solution 1: Choose the WordPress self-hosted software. You’ll have full control of your blog. You can back up the database and save the posts and pages. If something were to happen to your blog, you’ll have the ability to restore it. This is the most common solution many bloggers choose. The software is free, but you’ll need to pay for your domain name and hosting service.

Solution 2: Choose to use the hosted version of WordPress. There is a free option with limited features. However, you can pay to upgrade in order to gain more features. WordPress will be responsible for maintaining your server and responding to technical issues that you encounter. The free option is very limited in terms of how you can make money by accessing different features.

Solution 3: Take a risk and use a platform that you won’t typically be able to migrate from. This would include platforms like social media, Medium, Blogger, and other content hosting services that are usually provided for free to those who write on them. You definitely want to at least back up your articles on a word processor, but understand the risks of losing it all if something bad happens.

Result Measurement: There is nothing wrong with experimentally trying all these options before choosing the best way to go. I would suggest starting with using a free platform like social media, then something like the WordPress-hosted solution. If either of those aren’t cutting it, try the self-hosted solution by WordPress. Whichever one meets your needs is the measurement you should go with.

 

2 – Not Being Able to Increase Reader/Audience Growth

This is one of the biggest blogging challenges that we all face from the beginning.

Getting readers on your blog can be a difficult process, especially if your blog is new or hasn’t been around very long. Even if you had a good readership at one time, it might drop and leave you with a lack of reader visits. It can happen to beginner and expert bloggers just the same.

It’s important to grow your audience so that you can take your blog to the next level and meet your goals. That might be to earn more subscribers or even earn money with your blog. No matter what your goals are, you have to have the readers to make them possible.

Without readership, a blog really isn’t a blog after all.

Cause: Many factors would cause you to not have any readers. The most common cause is that your blog is too new. It takes time to grow your blog. It doesn’t happen overnight for anyone. Other causes are typically because of some kind of neglect. Maybe you neglect to create the best content. Maybe you neglect to use search engine optimization techniques. You might also lack engagement with readers or neglect the user experience on your blog. Either your blog is too new, or you are failing to do something that is needed in order for your blog to get more readers.

Solution 1: The first solution is geared towards new bloggers. If your blog is brand new or hasn’t been around more than a year, then you should focus on a three-part strategy. For the first year, focus on creating the best content you can make. During year two, focus on marketing your blog on social media and other outlets to get to word out about your awesome content. During year three, focus on turning your blog into a profit outlet and making some money. This strategy is what I do with every blog that I create because it works.

Solution 2: If you’ve had a blog for a while and your readership was good but is starting to decline, you need to research what caused the decline and go from there. What were you writing and doing when your blog was at its best? What changed? Did you change something? Did Google update its algorithm? Did new technology emerge, and you didn’t get on board? Once you figure out what changed, you can make the required changes to start getting back your readership so your blog can return to normal.

Solution 3: Start focusing more on marketing in your chosen niche. This might mean you need to promote your blog on multiple channels. You’ll likely need to use social media. You might want to try short-form videos on YouTube or TikTok. Join online communities and forums. Guest blog on related blogs. Pay for marketing campaigns. Research every type of ethical marketing method and see if it helps you gain more readers for your blog.

Result Measurement: Try to A/B test as much as you can in order to gain a measurable result. A/B testing is when you do one thing and measure its results and then try another thing and measure its results. You’ll then look at both results and see which method works best for your blog. This is a great way to find out what it takes to get more readers on your blog.

 

3 – Not Getting that Many Comments

A lot of blogs these days are lacking comments and that’s a terrible loss for everyone.

Your blog might be getting readers and traffic. You might be seeing loads of people visiting every single day on your analytics. That’s a good thing. However, one of the best types of metrics to determine if your blog is doing good or not is user feedback.

If you’re not getting comments on your blog posts, then you’re missing out on essential user feedback that you can use to make your blog better.

After posting on your blog, your comment section should be loaded with new comments. That should be one of your main blogging goals.

Cause: The main cause of not getting very many comments can typically always point to engagement. This goes for on-site and off-site engagement. If you’re not trying to engage with your readers, then why would they try to engage with you? You’re probably not even engaging with potential readers and collaborators within your niche or industry, either. That is going to add to the cause of not getting comments on your blog content.

Solution 1: The first solution is to start adding engagement points within your blog content. These are questions you ask your readers. Ask them questions about topics within a section you’re writing about, and then tell them to comment with their answer. Do this more than once on a blog post. Give them plenty of opportunities to comment on your blog without them having to try to think about something good to say. By asking questions, you’ll give them an immediate engagement opportunity, which can increase your comments.

Solution 2: If you’re engaging with readers using your own blog content but you need to gain more comments, chances are, you need to start engaging with others off your blog, too. This means that you should visit other blogs that are in the same niche as yours. Read their content and then engage in the comments. Don’t post one-liner comments. Post comments that are attention-grabbing and keep the conversation going. Make sure you post as your blog’s name or include a blog link if there is an option to do so, but try not to spam.

Solution 3: If you get a comment on your blog, reply to it. You should make sure you reply to every comment that is posted on your blog content. If the comment is short and a one-liner comment, try to engage the reader by posting a question to invite further conversation about what they commented on. Reply to every comment that is made on your blog until you get so many comments that it becomes impossible to do, but that should be a lot of comments. If you’re getting fifty comments on your content each time, you should be replying to all of them. Don’t just reply once, either. Keep the discussion alive as it invites readers to keep coming back for more.

Result Measurement: This is another metric that can be found by using A/B testing. Use different comment strategies and test the results of each strategy. Then, you can determine which strategy is best. You should also pay attention to the number of comments each post gets. If you have a post with more comments, try to understand why it gained a larger engagement. This will help you determine what type of future content you should include on your blog because of the engagement level.

 

4 – A Lack of Ideas to Blog About

Running out of ideas to blog about can be a very scary situation for a niche blogger.

You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it for years. If you don’t deliver consistent amounts of quality content, then you might as well shut your blog down. Contentless blogs fail. There is a lot of truth in that statement. A blog without content will not be successful at the end of the day.

Bloggers are competing for content views. So, that means that you have to constantly deliver the best content you can on a consistent basis.

But what if you run out of ideas? It happens. It’s happened to me, and I’ve been blogging for over two decades. We’re only human, after all. We’re not computers capable of producing new ideas on the fly.

But in order to be successful, you have to keep the new ideas coming.

Cause: There are a few different causes of not being able to come up with new ideas for your blog content. One of the main causes is a bad niche. If you don’t choose the right niche, it’s bound to happen sooner or later. Writer’s Block and burnout are another reason this tends to happen. Finally, imposter syndrome stopping you from being organized and creative is another flaw in gaining new blog content ideas.

Solution 1: The first solution is ensuring you’ve chosen the right blog niche. A niche should be about a topic or industry that you’re passionate about. Ask yourself if you could blog about the niche for a year and still be interested in it. How about five years? If you have no passion, it’s going to be next to impossible to stay motivated to blog about a topic. If you find yourself blogging about a topic you aren’t passionate about, then it might be time to pivot to something else that you are passionate about; otherwise, it will likely get worse. If you are passionate about the niche, maybe you need to niche down and focus on something more specific within the broader side of the niche.

Solution 2: Writer’s Block is real. It happens to all of us at some point. Sometimes, the best way to deal with it is to take a break from blogging. If you have rainy-day content to substitute, this is a lot easier to do without harming your consistency. In the event that you don’t have content for this and you need ideas, consider using artificial intelligence to help get you new ideas. You can ask ChatGPT or other AI program-specific questions to get new ideas that match your exact niche. You can also survey your audience, ask on social media, or even use a question site like Quora.

Solution 3: The best way to never run out of blog post ideas is to start an editorial calendar and idea database. Use something simple like a spreadsheet document. Start adding ideas as you get them, whether you read a blog that gives you an idea, think of a topic at the spur of the moment, or even ask ChatGPT to give you new ideas. Start adding them to the calendar and idea database. Once you start to develop a big database of these ideas, you’ll never run out of them again.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure your results is to determine what gives you more ideas. Determine the methods that give you more ideas and try to stick with them. You should also experiment with other ways to get ideas. Find the perfect idea generator and take advantage of it.

 

5 – Can’t Choose the Right Blogging Niche

Your blog niche is definitely among the biggest blogging challenges out there.

If you don’t choose the right blog niche, your blog has a bigger chance of failure. There is a right niche and a wrong niche for every blogger. Many new bloggers tend to make the mistake of choosing the wrong blogging niche.

There are definitely solutions for switching niches if the wrong one has been chosen. But the idea should be to choose the right niche from the start of your blogging career. Luckily for you, there are very easy solutions to finding the right blog niche.

The niche is the blog topic you focus on with your content and it’s one of the most important parts about starting a blog or any kind of brand online.

Cause: Most of the time, bloggers make bad choices around the niche because of what’s hot and trending. For example, many new blogs went up for crypto and Web 3 interests. The problem was a lack of knowledge. New bloggers created the blogs because it was a trending topic, but they lacked the knowledge to keep them updated. The bloggers who know a lot about Web 3 were able to maintain a consistent content flow and stay way ahead of those who don’t know that much about it. It’s easy to get lost in a trend and let all the hype cause you to make the wrong decisions.

Solution 1: The best way to find your niche is to focus on your passions. What do you like the most in life? Blog about that. Blog about something you love to talk about.  Just make sure there is an audience for it; otherwise, it’ll be as difficult to run as blogging about a niche you know nothing about. Your niche needs to be a passion and have an audience, and it’s also a good idea if other blogs about it also exist. You should also plan to see how you will make money if you want to profit.

Solution 2: If you’ve chosen a niche that you don’t know a lot but wish to stick with it, there is a way to do it. It takes some work, though. You need to research every day. Learn as much as you can about it any time you’re able to. You need to focus on becoming an expert in the niche. That should be your goal. Even if you’re not as much of a known expert, as long as you know what you’re talking about, it will be a good start. As you develop more knowledge and blog more, your public expertise will increase.

Solution 3: If you’ve chosen a niche that you don’t know a lot about and you just can’t devote time and energy to learning more about the topics within it, then there is only one solution left. Quit. At this point, it’s time to pivot. Pivoting is when you change your focus from one topic to another. Don’t keep dragging yourself through the mud and wasting time and energy on something you don’t want to commit to. Quit and pivot to a topic you’re more passionate about.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure success results is by paying attention to your feelings. There are no metrics to follow in this case. If you’re focused on a niche that you don’t want to focus on, you’re not going to be successful or happy, for that matter. Listen to yourself and your feelings about what you’re blogging about. Focus on what makes you happy and excited to write about.

 

6 – Understanding What Quality Content Means

Content is king when it comes to blogging, but only if it’s quality content.

If your blog content isn’t of the highest quality, it’s not going to reach its full potential. Quality matters so much in this modern era. In the early days of the interest, content of any kind was good content. Now, with so much competition, quality is required.

Many new bloggers make the mistake of posting low-quality content. This results in fewer readers, comments, customers, and subscribers. Why would anyone want to commit to a blog that doesn’t take quality seriously?

If your content isn’t of the highest quality possible, you shouldn’t be publishing it from the start.

Cause: The likely cause of low-quality content can be many things. Some bloggers think that by posting anything, they can get rich or famous overnight. That’s a myth. Sometimes, bad-quality posts are created because the blogger is rushing to get content out. That’s a common mistake. Many posts are low quality because they’re too short and not enough information was provided. Sometimes, people are blogging when they shouldn’t be blogging in the first place. Blogging isn’t for everyone.

Solution 1: One solution is to write longer posts. This post is already almost 4,000 words long. By the time I’m finished, it will be well over 10,000 words. A longer post will typically allow you to spend more time writing high-quality content. I say typically because you can still make a bad longer post. If you fill it with fluff and filler content just to make it long, then it won’t be of high quality. You should make sure every sentence counts and helps the reader. Try to publish content that is more than 1,500 words in length each time you post.

Solution 2: Create content that is packed with value at scale. This means that you should consistently publish extremely helpful content. The content should solve the biggest problems in your niche. It should answer the tough questions in the industry. The solutions your content provides to readers should be easy to do. That’s your job as a niche blogger. This is how high-quality evergreen content is made. You should post this kind of content at least once a week or more.

Solution 3: Don’t delete your old content because it’s low quality. Instead, edit it and update it to be a better quality. Bloggers have more success when they update old content and make it better. That old content has age to it. It might have backlinks built for it. You should keep it around and just make it better. That’s the power of the edit button.

Result Measurement: Few metrics in your analytics can help you determine the quality of your content. Your bounce rate is a good starting point. Bounce rate measures when users get on your pages and then leave your site. A lower bounce rate percentage means your content is compelling. Average view statistics can also paint a picture of how readers enjoy your content based on higher average views. If the content is getting likes and engagement more than other work, then it is doing well.

 

7 – Can’t Get the Hang of Blog Marketing

Blog marketing is essential in order to gain readers and subscribers for your content.

Bad marketing is one of the biggest blogging challenges that we are often faced with. That’s because the marketing environment has changed so much. It seems like every year, there is something new to start using in order to better market your blog.

The challenge lies with bloggers who don’t make the right move in time. They miss opportunities for better marketing capabilities because they simply don’t like change. Change management is an important trait to achieve in blogging because the blogging world is constantly changing.

You have to be willing to try new things when doing blog marketing techniques.

Cause: As I said, the inability to change is what causes most blog marketing failures and disruptions. You get used to using one particular method of marketing, and you stick with it without entertaining the idea of trying something new. This is where missed opportunities and failure begin. The same method of blog marketing isn’t going to last forever. You’ll always need to evolve with the times, or you’ll be left behind in the dust.

Solution 1: The main solution is to accept change. When a new technology or method comes out for marketing content, at least try it. The earlier you adopt a new marketing strategy, the better it will likely benefit you. Look at YouTube Shorts. I can get anywhere from 1K to 4K views on my Shorts in 24 hours. On my long-form video content, it might take 6 months to a year to get that many views. A lot of people thought Shorts was a joke and didn’t get into it, and now it’s difficult to get anywhere because it’s so popular and oversaturated. You have to be willing to accept change and try new things right when they come out.

Solution 2: Commit to less methods. Sometimes, bloggers try too many things at once when it comes to marketing. If you’re trying to promote on seven different social media platforms, you might be overdoing it. Biting off more than you can chew usually always ends up bad. Instead of focusing on so many methods, work on the few that are getting results and then gradually add more as time allows, or you can automate the processes of the good methods. Don’t rush into too many things at once.

Solution 3: If all else fails, maybe it’s time to audit your competition and see what they’re doing for marketing success. It’s a good idea to know who your competition is and how to promote their blog. Don’t aggressively compete. Instead, look up to your competitors as role models and strive to be successful as they are. In blogging, we all work together, not against each other. Learn marketing success from those who are already successful at marketing.

Result Measurement: There are many different ways to measure the success of your marketing efforts. The main method is watching your readership and subscriber rates grow. If they start to grow after you’ve changed methods, you might determine it is because of the new method. However, if any marketing outlet you use offers analytics, learn how to read them and watch them closely, as they can paint a picture of your efforts through analysis.

 

8 – Can’t Understand Blogging Analytics

Blogging analytics help you make important decisions that will significantly impact your blog.

Many new bloggers or people new to online business are not always in the know when it comes to analytics and metrics used to measure blogging success and failure. This is definitely a missed opportunity because you can learn a lot about everything you do on your blog by analyzing these metrics.

If you ignore your metrics or never try to learn them, you’ll never truly understand if your blog is doing well or not. If you’re stressing out about how your blog is doing now and you don’t look at your stats, it’s not going to get any better.

You have to learn at least the basic metrics to help you understand your strategies better.

Cause: Most of the time, people fail to learn analytics and metrics because they seem intimidating. They’re presented in a way that almost makes them look like difficult math equations. Percentages, charts, graphs, and a lot of pages and settings aren’t always appealing to someone who isn’t fluent with data products. These folks never try to learn about these important metrics and miss out on a lot of opportunities in the process.

Solution 1: If analytical metrics intimidate you, start small. Take one metric at a time and study it until you fully understand it and can read it properly. Then, move on to the next metric. There are plenty of resources, videos, and articles online that will explain what each metric means, how the read them, and how to make changes to make them present better data. Don’t try to master them all at once. Go one at a time until you get to know each one.

Solution 2: Take a course on Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This is one of the most widely used analytical programs. It can tell you a lot of stuff about your blog. It’s also completely free. Even if you use something like Monster Insights for your blog metrics, that’s still using GA4 to get the data. Find a well-reviewed paid course on GA4 and learn it. A paid course will motivate you more to learn it and get your money’s worth.

Solution 3: Take advantage of AI in this situation. You can ask ChatGPT or any other AI program what each metric means. Then, you can ask the AI how the metric impacts your specific niche blog. The AI will give you detailed information about the metric and how it can relate to your blog specifically. AI is a feature that every blogger should be using, especially for research purposes.

Result Measurement: The measurement of success here is easy. You know you’re successful when you understand what each metric means in the analytics dashboard. You can further measure success when you start to see changes in your metrics based on strategies you’re utilizing on your blog to make it better. Your metrics will show you if the strategies are good, bad, or need more tending to.

 

9 – Not Motivated to Keep Blogging

Losing your will to keep posting on your blog can be tragic for you and your audience.

Blogging isn’t always the bells and whistles that many people portray it to be. There are ups and downs to it. Sometimes, you work hard on content, and it doesn’t go anywhere. This post might not do well. I’ve spent more than a week writing, editing, and preparing it to be published. If it flops, it could take a hit on my motivation to keep blogging.

But for the most part, I’ve taken steps to prevent that. You must do the same. When you take these steps, you can overcome a lot of the biggest blogging challenges that you will essentially face that might make you unmotivated to keep going.

If you quit blogging, you’re going to miss out on a lot of awesome opportunities that you would have loved to have.

Cause: Most of the time, bloggers lose motivation because they expect too much in a short amount of time. A lot of new bloggers assume that their blogs will go viral overnight. That doesn’t happen. They think that their biggest post will be a huge success. It isn’t always the case. If they don’t see the results they assumed they would see, they lose motivation to keep going. I’ve seen this happen time and time again to a lot of new bloggers.

Solution 1: I often suggest new bloggers participate in a three-year strategy for blogging success. The first year is focused ENTIRELY on creating content. You don’t focus on anything else but creating the best content possible. This will give plenty of proof that you’re good at what you do after a year of creating high-value content at scale. The second year should be focused on marketing (while still creating content) and getting yourself out there. The third year is all about making a profit while still creating awesome content and marketing your blog. That first year should help you stay motivated if you keep your focus on the content.

Solution 2: Another great solution is to lower your expectations and set smaller goals. If you have a goal of getting a million views in six months or making $100,000 in the first year of blogging, you’re probably going to be disappointed. And when those huge goals don’t happen, you’ll lose motivation to blog. Instead of going through that misery, avoid it by setting smaller goals that essentially lead to larger goals. Try to get 1,000 views a month within six months or make $1,000 a month within a year. Try smaller goals that are likely more achievable and will keep you motivated and on track. Track your progress and create a timeline nearing you to achieve your main larger objectives.

Solution 3: Sometimes, you need help from your peers to stay motivated to blog. An online community of bloggers is a great way to get that support. I created a community called Blogging Collective, and it’s dedicated entirely to bloggers like you. It’s also free. I recommend joining the community and networking with me and other bloggers to help keep you motivated to keep blogging. Let’s help each other build better blogs. I hope to see you there.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure the results of success in not losing your motivation to blog is when you’re still blogging and you’re not unhappy about it. Ask yourself if you can keep your blog going a year from now. How about five years from now? If blogging is something you look forward to doing, then that’s a successful result measurement.

 

10 – The Work/School/Family/Life Balance with Blogging

Balancing blogging with life’s requirements can be very difficult.

If you’re like me, then you are not blogging full-time. Well, I blog full-time, but I also have a full-time job, a family, other hobbies, and a life. Blogging isn’t and will never be everything for me. Balancing all of that isn’t always easy. For some people, it’s one of the biggest blogging challenges that they’ll ever face.

The important thing is that you don’t give up. There are plenty of effective ways to balance blogging with everything else you do. You can even do it if you blog every day. I blogged for 110 days straight on two blogs and was still able to balance everything without going insane. You can do it, too. I’m just the same as you. I’m no one special.

Once you find that balance, it’s one of the most beautiful things you’ll experience in blogging.

Cause: This challenge is caused by having too many responsibilities, and too many blogging needs all at the same time. There are ways to balance it all. But most of the time, the blogger is simply saying yes too many times. At some point, we all have to start saying no.

Solution 1: Learn how to say no. When you first start blogging, you want to get involved in everything. But if you’ve agreed to create x amount of guest posts, interview on x amount of podcast shows, and help on x amount of projects from other people, you’ll quickly learn how much free time you actually don’t have. It’s better to say no most of the time. Try to determine which requests deserve a yes and which deserve a no. Have a system in place to have certain answers in order for a yes to be the answer.

Solution 2: Learn how to batch content. If you get a lot of free time one day, use that free time to write as much content as you can and edit it. Use your free time to batch-create multiple blog posts at scale. If you get a few minutes in between each daily task, use that time to engage on social media or do some marketing. Don’t fret about not having time to do things. Instead, take advantage of the little spurts of free time that you get.

Solution 3: Embrace automation. I created this post days before publishing it by batching my content during my free time. Then, I scheduled it to post on a certain day and time. I do this with all my blog content. I schedule my posts on social media with Buffer about a week ahead each time. I use ChatGPT to create outlines for me to use. I use Grammarly with AI to do my editing faster than I’ve ever been able to do it before. Automation is a must be busy bloggers like you and me.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure the results of this challenge is to ask yourself if it’s getting easier. When it’s easier to blog and still do all your life’s commitments, then you have accomplished the ability to balance your blogging with life. If it’s still a nightmare, then you’re not quite there. A/B tests different strategies until you find the one that works the best for you.

 

11 – No Blog Purpose or Return-on-Investment

If you don’t have a mission for your blog, what’s the purpose of even having it?

Many failed bloggers fail because they don’t create a purpose for their blogs. There is no Return-on-Investment or ROI. You start to get that “Why am I even blogging?” feeling when you don’t have a reason to have a blog in the first place. It would be like creating a business without having a mission for it.

By creating a mission, a purpose, or a vision for your blog, you then have an idea of what you want to get out of it. An ROI gives you a reason to invest in your blog, whether that investment is money, time, energy, or a little of everything.

Having a purpose for your blog goes a long way.

Cause: Most of the time, bloggers fail to have a purpose or create an ROI simply because they rush into creating their blog. A blog needs a plan, just like you would plan a business. A blog is a business, especially if you hope to profit from it. But like any business, you have to have a mission for it.

Solution 1: If you’ve yet to start a blog, start it with a business plan. Create a strategic plan addressing all the business needs of your blog. Your content is the product. Your readers are the customer. Their loyalty and conversion are the payment. Create a purpose for why you want to create a blog and what you want to get out of it. The thing you want to get out of it reflects your ROI. Be sure to follow the mission of what you set for your blog.

Solution 2: If you have a blog with no purpose or ROI, start creating one now. Audit what you’ve done so far. Determine your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threads (SWOT Analysis). Use the data and results to create a purpose around what you’re already offering. Develop an ROI so that you can create smaller smart goals to meet your overall objectives.

Solution 3: If you’re stuck on what your purpose should be, look to your niche community. Network with your audience to understand their needs and wants. The purpose of your blog should be to solve the problems in your niche. It’s a great way to find out what your purpose should be and to realign your content creation strategy.

Result Measurement: Running a blog without a purpose or ROI should feel obvious. You’re lost, not as motivated, and often ask yourself what you’re actually doing. The blog might even feel awkward, and you gain some sort of imposter syndrome. The way you measure this is when you don’t feel like that. It’s when you truly understand the purpose of what you are writing for. It takes you to get to this point, though.

 

12 – Can’t Get the Blog Monetized

Getting your blog monetized is a great way to stay motivated and turn your hard work into a profit.

However, it’s not always an easy task to get monetized. Monetization is definitely one of the biggest blog challenges out there. Many new bloggers make the mistake of assuming that they can profit overnight from blogging. In reality, it doesn’t work that way, and many quit because of that.

The good news is that people are making a living from blogging. Some are using it as a second income. Some are just making enough to keep their hobby paying for itself. There are many different ways to make money blogging. You have to find your perfect way and then you have to consistently work for that money.

No one gets paid for free. Too many people promise that on the internet, and it’s totally bogus.

Cause: The main cause that prevents people from making money with their blogs is likely low work ethics. New bloggers will create content and expect to start earning shortly after. The problem is the content is often generic, and there isn’t even an audience to entertain the idea of making money. And lastly, many bloggers don’t even set up methods of earning money.

Solution 1: The best thing to do is not focus on money-making for the first year or two. The first years should be focused entirely on content creation. You should be creating the best content possible. Then, focus on marketing the second year and getting your blog known to your niche. After that, you can start focusing on earning money. You’re likely not going to earn a profit for a few years.

Solution 2: You can earn small profits by asking for donations, using Patreon, affiliate ads, and by using Google AdSense. In some cases, you can make a decent profit with these methods. However, if you want to make serious profits, you have to invent and sell your products or services. You can do digital ones or physical ones, depending on your niche and industry. You won’t have to pay a middleman if you own what you’re selling, so you can earn the maximum profit.

Solution 3: You need an audience to earn money with your blog. The audience needs to be in a buying mood. So, you need to focus on marketing to people who not only get into your niche but are looking for something that you’re offering for a price. There is a fine between generic marketing and actually developing an avatar of who your customers are and how you can sell something to them. You need to put in the research and target these people in your marketing campaigns.

Result Measurement: The best way to understand whether or not your blog is profiting or not is by using the net profit formula. You just need to subtract your total expenses from your total income collected from the blog to get the profit amount. Just make sure you factor in what you’re spending, too. If you don’t, you really don’t know if you’re profiting or not. You should also set goals and benchmarks to aim for a profit increase as your blog ages. Over time, you want to be able to make more money as you continue to blog.

 

13 – No Repeat Loyal Readers

As a blogger, you want to create a loyal following of fans who want to see your next post.

It’s important to get an audience to your blog. You want to market to new people and continue to grow your list. But you also want to make sure the same people are returning to your blog to see what new content you have published. You want to make sure readers are loyal to your blog and return after their first visit.

This can often be a challenge. It’s especially a challenge for new bloggers. If a reader isn’t impressed, chances are, they won’t ever return. You want to make the first impression of your blog and its content so great that readers bookmark your blog to return to again and again. And this is the only way to get new email subscribers, too, which is often equally important.

Gaining loyal readers is one of the most critical aspects of marketing your blog and its content.

Cause: The common cause of not getting loyal readers is often the content value. If the content isn’t valuable, why would anyone want to return? If you’re focusing too much on getting content out at scale and ignoring the value of it, you’re not going to build a returning audience. First impressions matter here. The audience will always judge a book by its cover in blogging.

Solution 1: One solution is to focus your effort on creating high-quality content that is extremely valuable. This is content that solves problems. It’s content that answers the hardest questions in the niche. It’s content that provides easy solutions and answers to readers. You need to cater your blog to the needs and wants of the people you’re marketing it to.

Solution 2: Another way to gain loyal readers is to network on and off your blog. Reply to every comment made on your blog. Try to engage the commentator by adding to the discussion and getting them to return to comment. You should also network and engage with potential readers of your blog, such as on their own blog or through social media channels. Engagement is one of the best ways to get loyal blog readers.

Solution 3: You need to fully understand your niche and your audience. If you’ve created a vision and your blog has a targeted purpose, then you’ll know who your audience is. If you don’t have your niche down or you don’t have any idea who your main audience should be, it’s going to be difficult to gain loyal readers because you don’t know who to target with your marketing campaigns. It’s important to understand these things in blogging.

Result Measurement: A good way to keep track of loyal readers is by checking your analytics on a daily or weekly basis. You can also keep a spreadsheet if your blog is new and you don’t get that many comments. Record the username of each person who leaves and comment and the amount of times they come back and leave a comment. Once you see those who come back again and again, you’ll know that they’re becoming loyal to your blog.

 

14 – A Lack of Blog Reader Engagement

Reader engagement helps to create a loyal audience that likes to come back.

Engagement on a blog can be a challenge for sure. In fact, it’s definitely one of the biggest blogging challenges out there. You might be getting plenty of readers. But are you getting any comments? This is especially true for new blogs. Getting comments is reassurance that your blog is benefiting people in your niche.

In order to gain engagement on your blog, you have to be engaging. The reader isn’t likely going to make the first move in engagement. You, as the blogger, have to set up the engagement techniques to get them to make a move.

An engaging audience is important if you want your blog to go somewhere in the niche.

Cause: The main cause of a lack of blog engagement is usually because of the blogger, not the audience. This is because the blogger isn’t using techniques that engage with their audience. The blogger most likely assumes that the audience will initiate the engagement. This is hardly ever the case. The blogger needs to be the first to engage in order for the audience to engage in return.

Solution 1: You should invite engagement by asking questions on your blog post and encouraging comments. Don’t just do it once. Ask several questions throughout the post and tell the reader to answer them in the comments. Readers will answer the questions that they resonate with the most. But if there isn’t a question in the post, there is no invitation to engage.

Solution 2: Focus on the content. Write content that answers questions and solves problems in the niche. Give detailed instructions to the reader. Make sure the content is unique and of the highest quality. The better content you create, the more likely readers are going to thoroughly read through it and make comments on it.

Solution 3: Create some kind of community. You can do this with social media, newsletters, forums, groups, or even community platforms. If you create a community with active subscribers on it, they’ll engage with you through it. You can use the community to market your content and ask that they engage with it. This is a better way of reaching your audience because algorithms typically can’t get in the way of you and your reader.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure this is to watch your analytics. I like to create spreadsheets to record weekly metrics that relate to engagement. Then, I can watch how they align with the weeks ahead. I can paint a mental picture of what weeks and content does the best for my blog.

 

15 – Finding Original Images/Video/Media

It’s best if you use your own media on your blog for multiple reasons.

Using your own media protects you from liabilities. It also makes your content more unique. But it isn’t always that easy, especially for specific niches. Creating media for my hiking blog is easy because I take photos and videos of my hikes. Creating custom media for this blog isn’t as easy because there isn’t much to create aside from video guides.

You also have to be careful what media you use that doesn’t belong to you. If you use the wrong image license allowance, you can be liable to pay big money for using it or potentially be sued. And then you have to deal with the fact that every other blogger in your niche uses the same images and other media and it becomes difficult to be unique from the crowd.

You almost want to skip on using media but it’s so important for making your content visually stand out.

Cause: The cause of not having custom media is typically because the blogger doesn’t know where to start. This can be from a lack of education in creating the media. It can be from not understanding how or where to start. It is also likely associated with some niches that are difficult to try to create custom media content for.

Solution 1: A main solution is to use your smart phone for creating custom media content. Take photos. Take videos. Use apps like Canva and Light Room to edit photos and videos. Your phone will take decent photos and videos that are high quality and still small enough to load quickly on your blog. If your niche is hard to think about images for, just use randomly taken eye-catching images, and you can put the title of the post in the middle of them or something like that.

Solution 2: You can still use free images and media available on the internet. You can also pay for images and media to use on your blog. Just make sure you review the license and fully understand the rights you have in using the media. If you use it incorrectly, you could end up having to pay for a license, and they might get towards $1,000 per use. If you don’t pay, you can get sued.

Solution 3: Artificial intelligence might be a good option for this issue. Many AI programs enable you to create images that you can use for blogging. You can create unique and custom images that don’t come with copyright protection, which could cause you to pay for using them. Make sure the AI program allows you to freely use the media for anything you want.

Result Measurement: There isn’t really any way to measure something like this. However, you can A/B test using different images and media types in your content. You can see which ones do better and stick to the types that are getting viewed more.

 

16 – Understanding How To Consistently Create Content

Content is king when it comes to blogging, but consistency is what makes content king.

It’s important to create content consistently as a blogger. You’ll see every blogging expert and guru tell you this over and over again. That’s because it’s the truth. In order to get loyal and returning readers, they need to know when to expect new posts. This builds trust and lets you remain organized in marketing your content.

If you randomly post, no one will truly know if you plan to post again or not. If you post once one week four times the next, and twice the next after that, it will be confusing to understand your posting schedule. Consistency isn’t about how many times you post; it’s about choosing an amount and sticking with the schedule in which you post that amount.

If you want others to take your blog seriously, you have to post consistently.

Cause: The cause of inconsistent blogging is typically created by the blogger being overwhelmed. The blogger tends to start with a high number of content posted per schedule. For example, four times a week. This is because they read that the more you post, the more known your blog will be. Posting at scale will indeed get you seen more. However, it’s also true that not being prepared to post at scale will make it extremely overwhelming.

Solution 1: If you haven’t started your blog yet, don’t start it. Instead, create anywhere from 15 to 30 blog posts. Spend time working on them and making them awesome. Edit them. Record how long it takes you to create and edit a post. This will give you an idea of how often you’ll be able to post. You want to post as often as you comfortably can versus posting as often as an influencer tells you to post. I like doing it once a week. It’s not overwhelming or hard to accomplish.

Solution 2: To continue from the strategy above, take your 15 to 30 posts and schedule them ahead of time based on your comfortable posting schedule. If you want to post two times a week and you have 30 posts to schedule, you’ll have 15 weeks of content ready to be scheduled. While those are publishing behind the scenes, keep working on new posts to always keep yourself ahead of schedule.

Solution 3: If your blog is already established and you lack consistency, try batching on free days. Batching is when you create a lot of content in one sitting. If you get a day in the week or month that you have nothing planned for, you should use it to focus on creating as much blog content as possible. This will allow you to have rainy-day posts or even schedule posts ahead of time to stay ahead of schedule. Try to devote some days of the week or month to batching content if you can.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure consistency is to ask yourself if it’s becoming less overwhelming to post. I was posting twice a week at one time. I post on several blogs. It became harder and harder for me to get two posts out because I write very long-form content. I then adjusted my consistency to once a week on all of my blogs, and it was no longer overwhelming. You are your best analytical means in this case.

 

17 – A Lack of Blog Niche Expertise

In these modern times, if you lack expertise in your niche, it can be devastating to your blogging success.

The internet is way too competitive and oversaturated for bloggers who don’t know much about their niche. New bloggers make the mistake of creating blogs in a niche because the niche is a trend, and they don’t know a lot about it. This happened a lot with Web3 blogs. Then, the bigger blogs run by experts in the niche will eat their blogs alive because they’re always a step ahead of the bloggers who are not experts.

You don’t have to be a known expert in your niche for your blog to be successful. Of course, it does help if you are. However, that is something you can work towards. You do need to know a lot about your niche in order to be successful with your blog. If you chose a niche that you know nothing about, you definitely made a mistake.

Blog niches need experts in those niches to blog about the niches.

Cause: Most of the time, bloggers lack niche experience and expertise because they choose a niche based on trends versus a topic they know a lot about. However, even a niche expert can lose expertise if they don’t evolve with the times. I had to evolve with AI, learn it, and use it in order to continue to be an expert in blogging, as the growing trend is using AI to help with blogging.

Solution 1: The main solution is to pivot. If you’ve chosen a niche that you know nothing about, you shouldn’t be blogging in that niche. You should pivot or change to a niche that is a topic or interest that you’re passionate about. This is going to make life a lot easier. If you continue to blog about a niche that you know nothing about, it’s only going to get harder and more overwhelming. Your competition will always be ahead of you because they’re experts, and you’re not.

Solution 2: If you like the topic you blog about and want to be passionate about it, then you need to take a break from blogging and focus on learning. I would recommend you read other blogs, network with other experts, take courses, read books, join communities, ask questions, and learn something every day until you feel you’re ready to start writing about the topic. However, if you have no passion for the niche, it’s not going to end in your favor.

Solution 3: If you are an expert and you feel you’re starting to lose expertise in the niche, then you need to evolve. This usually means that the niche is changing with the times or from technological changes. You’ll need to learn the things that are changing and how it impacts your niche. You should constantly be learning anything new about your niche on a daily basis. If you don’t stay updated, you get left behind.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure this is to pay attention to your stats. If your audience and readership aren’t dropping, then your content is still doing well. If you’re trying to be a better expert, look for increases based on the new content you’re publishing. You should definitely understand and read your analytical metrics when trying to develop your audience with better content.

 

18 – Not Having the Best Blog Design

Your blog needs to stand out and be easy to use all at the same time.

One of the biggest blogging challenges is not having the best blog design. This is a challenge that can be a double-edged sword in many cases. A bad blog design can be confusing for your readers. But if you keep changing the design, it can also be harmful to your brand.

In most cases, a bad design is navigational more than it is badly designed. There are definitely bad blog designs out there, but not navigational structures are typically the reason why users get confused and frustrated with the design.

When choosing your design, it’s important to keep your audience in mind for making your final decision.

Cause: The typical causes of a bad design can be blamed on navigational structure or flashy designs. If the navigation of the blog is challenging to use, the design will not favor the reader. If the design is too flashy or made up of slow-loading elements, it is going to impact the user experience of your blog. Most of the time, bloggers simply overthink the design process.

Solution 1: Audit your navigation. How is your blog structured? The best way to structure your blog navigation is to be a copycat. Seriously. Go to a blog in your niche that is doing really well. Inspect their navigational structure. Mimic it with your blog. You’re not copying their content. You’re not stealing anything. You’re simply using what works. If your navigational structure doesn’t make any sense, your readers are going to have a bad experience trying to get through your blog.

Solution 2: Keep your theme simple and aligned with mobile users. The majority of your blog audience will likely be mobile users. That means that your design needs to be made for mobile users first. A mobile design will be easy for non-mobile users, too. That’s because there are minimal design features. More features often mean more bad experiences for the user. Keep a simple logo, simple navigation, simple colors, and simple fonts, and I even recommend keeping everything in one column for the best results.

Solution 3: Try to keep your theme aligned with your brand. You do have a brand, right? You should! Your brand should have a logo (even if that logo is your photo). Your brand should have specific colors that you use on your social media profiles. Your brand is meant so that others can easily identify that it’s you. That brand should also be reflected on your blog through your design.

Result Measurement: The best way to test your theme is to make changes and A/B test it. A is one change, and B is another. Which change had the best results? You can check the results through the analytics of your blog. The numbers will definitely give you some sort of idea. But the best results will come from surveying your readers and blog site visitors. Make the survey short and easy to do and build from that feedback.

 

19 – No Time to Blog

If you don’t have time to blog, then you’ll never have time to make your blog successful.

Many bloggers fail at blogging because they can’t find the appropriate time to keep their blogs updated. Blogging is work! It takes time to create and edit a post. It takes time to market your content. It takes even more time to earn a profit from your blog. New bloggers are disappointed to learn that blogs don’t go viral and start making money overnight. Nothing does in this day and age.

If you let time get away from you and your blog, you’ll lose your consistency. Consistency is a must for a blog to be successful. If you post twice a week, you have to commit to posting twice a week. If you’re trying to build a community on social media, you have to commit to engaging with your audience on social media and usually on a daily basis.

Blogging requires time, energy, and commitment in order to be successful with it.

Cause: The main cause of not having time for blogging typically includes misinformed decision-making and improper planning. New bloggers are misinformed about the realities of blogging. They think that success occurs quickly when it takes a lot of time. Planning doesn’t occur, and therefore, the blogger essentially realizes they don’t have the time required to make a blog successful.

Solution 1: The main solution is to decide whether or not blogging is for you. It’s not going to get easier if you don’t let go of the myths that come with it. Blogging will always require your attention, even if you outsource things. Your blog is a business and it requires the attention of you, the business owner. If you can’t devote time and energy to your blog, then you should think seriously about not blogging to begin with.

Solution 2: If you are overwhelmed and can’t dedicate more time to blogging, then you need to change your consistency. I used to post three times a week. It became overwhelming. I lowered it to two times a week. That was still overwhelming because I operate more than one blog. So, I changed my strategy to one high-value-packed, longer blog post each week. I’ve been able to have enough time to keep this strategy going without feeling overwhelmed. If you don’t have the time to do what you’re doing, change it to do it less to align with the amount of time you have to dedicate to your blog.

Solution 3: Maybe it’s the blog itself that is causing you to be overwhelmed. Maybe blogging isn’t for you, but something else is. Although it’s rented space, and you can lose it all for no real reason, social media or video blogging might be what you need to do rather than blog. These channels often require less work because you’re delivering short-form content. It might be a great way to build your audience and make it more full-time to eventually get you back to blogging if you choose to go back to it.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure changes to see if they work better for you is to pay attention to yourself and your emotions. If you find yourself less stressed and not as overwhelmed, then you’re on the right track.

 

20 – Never Have Been a Good Writer

People who read blogs will spot your mistakes and hold you accountable for them.

A blogger is a writer. People who hate to write don’t often become bloggers. Writing is often the main fundamental trait of a successful blogger. You don’t always need to be a best-selling novelist in order to write a good blog post. But you should at least be someone who enjoys writing.

With writing comes the need for editing. We humans make a lot of mistakes with our grammar and spelling. We don’t always catch them. I know I don’t. So, there is a need to edit what you have written. Not only do you need to know how to write and enjoy it, but you need to know how to edit and enjoy that, too.

A blogger is a writer. Someone who hates to write isn’t typically a blogger.

Cause: The main cause of bloggers who realize they don’t get into writing or are not very good writers is a lack of planning and consideration. Blogging consists of writing articles. New bloggers might let fame and profit get in the way of what is actually required to be a good blogger. Misconception and poor planning will always result in bad blogging.

Solution 1: The main solution is to quit blogging if you don’t enjoy writing. Try something else that you might find you enjoy more. You can do long-form or short-form videos on YouTube, TikTok, or Reels. You can do social media posts, which are often much shorter than blogs. You could even try podcasting, which depends on your voice instead of the written word. Find what you enjoy and quit trying to get success out of something you don’t enjoy doing.

Solution 2: If you like blogging but find yourself not being a very good writer, I suggest you start reading other blogs that are like yours. You can learn a lot about writing by reading those blogs. You can learn about personal styles, article types and formats, and the way other bloggers structure their content to make it easier to read for their viewers. Learn from those who are already successful at blogging.

Solution 3: Use an editing service. I use Grammarly. I’m an ambassador for Grammarly. I love it because it has allowed me to write so much more. After all, editing is now so simple. I also like it because I can learn from it. I can see how sentences are changed to be read easily and how different words are used to make the article stand out more. It takes away so much time required for editing. Aside from that, I want to also recommend you learn copywriting. This is a writing technique that enables you to tap into the emotions of your audience in order to get them to act on or buy something you’ve created for them to do. Most bloggers are also copywriters.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure this result is to measure your actions. After committing to these solutions, do you find yourself writing more? Or did you find another way to express yourself or build your brand on the internet? You’re the analytic in this case.

 

21 – Can’t Get Any Blog Collaborations

Blog collaborations make blogging so much easier and give your blog some diversity.

Collaborations between you and other bloggers are important for many reasons. They will help you and the other bloggers. It’s a good way to gain new audiences and readers. The blogger will give you new and diverse content to make exploring your blog better. It will help to develop your expertise in the niche. Your blog can go viral if you’re networking with a popular influencer. There are many benefits to collaborating.

But collaborating is definitely on the biggest blog challenges list. It can be difficult to find another blogger to collaborate with. If you never get any collaborations, you miss out on a lot of important opportunities. Collaborations help give you spare time to create content or take a break since new content is created for your blog by someone else.

Try to get as many collaborations as you can, whether your blog is new or has been around for a while.

Cause: The cause of not getting any collaborations for your blog is typically because of you. This means you’re not getting out there and trying to find collaborations. It might mean that you’re doing a bad job of requesting them and getting rejected a lot. It can also mean that your blog doesn’t have what it takes to start gaining collaborations, which is often the case.

Solution 1: The best thing to do is to make sure that your blog is worthy enough for collaborations. This means that you need to have awesome content and quite a bit of it. At this point, you need to have your consistency down, and you need to know exactly who your niche audience is. You need to worry about collaboration after you’ve always established your blog. Once you have, it’ll be easier to “cold sell” to a potential collaboration partner.

Solution 2: If you’re trying to find a collaboration partner and getting rejected, it might be because you’re trying to find ones that don’t quite fit your category. If you’re a new food blogger, you don’t need to be trying to collaborate with Chef Ramsey. You need to find bloggers that are about your level of popularity. Each of you needs to have a reason why you need each other. Chef Ramsey doesn’t need help from a new food blog, but Chef John Doe does need help.

Solution 3: There are many times that collaborations don’t happen because the blogger doesn’t know how to collaborate. This is a fair reason why this happens. The best way to collaborate is to follow what your fellow niche bloggers are doing. Most of the time, it’s by doing guest blogging on one another’s blogs. You write for their blog, and they write for your blog. It might also be something like you share them on your social media, and they write for your blog.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure this need is to keep track of collaborations and the results that come from them. Note how many collaborations you do a year. Then, try to understand how the metrics change after the collaborations are complete. Compare the data to results that occur when collaborations are not happening. This can help you decide how often you might consider collaborating with other bloggers.

 

22 – Trying to Understand Blog SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a way to help bring your blog content to more readers.

SEO has been a technique in blog marketing since the start of blogging. Most of us are doing SEO to rank on Google more so than any other search engine. That’s because more people use Google than anything else. Doing SEO for Google also often applies the same ranking results on other search engines like Bing and others.

Not doing SEO doesn’t exactly hurt your blog but you miss valid opportunities to get loads more readers and potential paying customers. Your biggest competition is doing SEO. Blogs smaller than you will do SEO and pass you by if you don’t do SEO. While SEO is not required by any means, it’s definitely a good idea to get into.

Once you start mastering your SEO, you’ll be in awe at the changes in traffic and engagement you get because of it.

Cause: Most people refrain from SEO because it seems to be very challenging. By all means, search engine optimization isn’t always easy, but it isn’t rocket science, either. SEO looks too much like a challenge, and that intimidates people. The truth is that SEO is successful when you learn how to do it and just make it a habit.

Solution 1: The first solution is to learn keyword research. Keyword research is understanding what keyword to target on your blog for SEO results. You’re looking for three major results in keyword research. You want to see the search volume of the keyword, the search intent of the keyword, and the competition of others using the keyword. Once you figure these important factors out, keyword research becomes a very easy task.

Solution 2: Another solution is to use an addon to help you with your SEO. I use Yoast Premium for WordPress, and I very much endorse it. It will audit every post that I make after I assign a keyword for it. Then, it will tell me exactly what I need to do in order to rank better on search engines. It’s a good way to learn the concepts and techniques of search engine optimization on your blog.

Solution 3: You can also use a very basic formula for SEO. After you find your keyword, seamlessly add it to your title, URL, H1 header, first H2 header, first image ALT tag, and in the first sentence and paragraph of your blog post. Then, you can mention it once in every other or every two paragraphs. Just make sure you’ve placed it in a manner that makes sense and looks natural to be there. This is a basic SEO format that will at least help your content rank better for specific keywords.

Result Measurement: Pay attention to your analytics to measure the results of your SEO. You should use the tools that Google provides you to use, for free. These tools include Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console. Both of these tools will help you get a better understanding of how your SEO is performing and what you might need to do differently with your blog.

 

23 – Not Beating the Competition

There are other blogs like yours out there, and some of them might be better than your blog.

Every niche has competition. You don’t want to start a blog in a niche without competition. If there isn’t any competition, chances are, there isn’t an audience. You want to start a blog in a niche that has other blogs in it. This means there is an active audience, and you can compete with other blogs, which is a healthy activity in business.

However, sometimes, it might feel like a struggle to compete with another blog. That blog might stay one step ahead of you at all times, no matter what you try to do to get ahead. It can be overwhelming and depressing all at the same time. It can make you want to quit. If you don’t like competition, blogging might not be for you.

Bloggers should embrace competition as a learning experience to make their blogs better.

Cause: The likely cause of your not being able to beat your blogging competition is probably because you’re not focusing on the right competitors. Many bloggers focus on the best blog that has been around much longer and has built an extremely loyal audience. You shouldn’t even have a goal to ever try to out-compete those blogs. But you can have a goal to eventually get just as good as them.

Solution 1: The best way to compete with bigger blogs is to work up to them. If a bigger blog has 100 posts and you only have 10, you need to focus on creating more content at scale. If their social media is more popular than yours, then start focusing on building up your social media to get to a point where it’s like theirs. You can’t beat your competition if you’re a lot less resourceful than they are. You need to be aligned with the blog you’re trying to compete with.

Solution 2: Look at the content of your competition. Create articles that cover the same material but in your own words. Then, add to them the gaps of information that your rival blogs have left out. This will often make your blog post a lot bigger in length and that’s typically a good thing. Try to always create blog posts that are just a little bit bigger and better than the blog you’re competing with.

Solution 3: Another solution is to quit trying to compete with other blogs in your niche. Blogging is definitely a business, but it’s not like most businesses are. Other blogs in your niche are not so much rivals of your business or blog. They’re better as networking partners, collaborators, and friends. Instead of trying to be better than them, try to build a relationship with them and share the niche with each other.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure your blog against your competition is with a tool. SEM Rush and Ahrefs are two great tools for this, but they’re both costly. A cheaper solution that’s just as good is Uber Suggest. You can also survey your audience on your blog as well as away from your blog, like on social media or something similar.

 

24 – Avoiding Burnout and Writer’s Block

Writer’s Block and burnout can be horrendous feelings for anyone whose business depends on them to write.

Burnout is when you lose interest in your blog. You basically quit enjoying your blog. You don’t want to write anymore. You don’t feel motivated. You’ve pretty much given up on blogging. This can happen quickly and for multiple reasons. There are ways to prevent and treat it just in case it does try to occur.

Writer’s Block is similar to burnout. You quit writing on your blog when you have Writer’s Block. That’s because you lose motivation to write and can’t think of new things to write about. It can hinder your ability to keep your blog active and remain consistent about how often you post.

Avoiding burnout and Writer’s Block should be among the biggest blogging challenges that you want to try to stay on top of.

Cause: The main cause of burnout and Writer’s Block is yet to be determined. That’s because many things can cause it. If all you’re doing is writing, eventually, you’re going to get tired of it. If you’re stressed out about something, you’ll lose to will to keep blogging. If blogging is overwhelming you, you’ll eventually snap and not be able to do it anymore. As you can see, many things can cause these things to occur.

Solution 1: A good solution is to find other hobbies and activities to balance yourself out. I write every day. As soon as I complete an article, I go right to my next one. But I don’t write all day. I also enjoy other hobbies to help balance myself out and be diverse in my activities. My hobbies include cycling, hiking, camping, caving, kayaking, and even watching YouTube and playing Sims 4. If you just do one thing all the time, you’re bound to burn out eventually.

Solution 2: You need to make sure you’re not stressed out when you write your blog posts. If you’re stressed out, it’s a good way to develop Writer’s Block or burnout from blogging. Don’t overwhelm yourself with your blog. Take appropriate actions to blog less if things are getting too much. I went from twice a week to once a week, and blogging has never been easier since. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself and stress yourself out to the point where you don’t want to blog anymore.

Solution 3: The best way to deal with Writer’s Block is to be ready for it. Create a content calendar and content idea database. Add to the calendar and database as much as you can. When you get an idea, write it down and add it when you are able to. Try to batch-create content from your calendar on days when you’re free and inspired to write. Have some rainy-day content stored away for days that you don’t want to write. Try to have your content scheduled and stay ahead of the game by continuing to write new content to be scheduled ahead of time.

Result Measurement: This is another measurement that depends on you and your ability to keep writing. If you find yourself burning out or not being able to come up with new ideas, then it’s time for a change. If you make a change and are able to keep going without interruption, then you’re on to something.

 

25 – Adapting to AI and Other Emerging Trends

If you don’t adapt to the technology of blogging and the internet, you’ll fail in the end.

Artificial intelligence is here, and it’s only going to get more prevalent. A lot of bloggers are ignoring it and assuming it’s a fad. The thing is that AI has been here for a long time and is only being improved. Revolutionary improvements were made recently and that’s why AI is now a big subject. It’s advancing, and it’s going to keep advancing. You can either advance with it or get left behind in the Stone Age.

It’s not just AI. Web 3 and all sorts of new things are emerging. Sometimes, it fails, but people are sticking to their guns and trying to keep it going and advancing. You have to advance with AI and emerging technology if you wish to stay in the game. Even if you don’t actively use it for your blog, you at least need to know how to use it and understand how to use it.

This technology will change what blogging is. If you don’t change with it, you won’t be blogging much longer.

Cause: The cause of bloggers not staying modern with things like AI and emerging trends is due to bias thought processes. They’re biased that these trends will go anywhere, and they allow that bias to impact their decision-making. The technology and trends may also intimidate bloggers. Sometimes, learning new technology is challenging and requires some extra work.

Solution 1: AI is here to stay, and it will only get more advanced. It’s time that you focus on learning it and how it can be beneficial to blogging. You shouldn’t use AI to write your entire blog post. But you can use it to create an outline. You can use it to suggest a better structure for copywriting. You can use it for grammar and spelling corrections. AI can lessen the required production demands for keeping your blog up and running.

Solution 2: I don’t use many components of Web3 on my blog. I don’t have a cryptocurrency or token system. I don’t create or sell NFTs. I don’t have a wallet for cryptocurrency or mess with the blockchain. However, I do understand what all of that means, and I continue to research it. I try to understand how to integrate with my blog in case there is ever a time when I need to do it. If that time comes, I’ll be prepared to activate it. You should at least follow this same concept even if you don’t use it on your blog.

Solution 3: Try to make it a habit to keep up with blogging trends and technology enhancements. Subscribe to newsletters, look for articles, join online communities, and stay on top of rumors and what actually happens. The more you know about this stuff right when it comes out gives you the better opportunity to get involved and enjoy the early use and success of using something. People who used YouTube Shorts in the early days are some of the biggest Shorts YouTubers now because of early adoption.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure the results is to try using these new things on your blog and see what happens. I started using Grammarly, which is AI-assisted to improve grammar and spelling. I then noticed that I was able to significantly increase for writing workload because editing became simpler at that point. I also observed reader feedback saying that my posts look better with fewer grammatical errors and better sentence structure.

 

26 – Understanding Social Media Marketing

Social media is likely the best free marketing channel for blogging at this moment in time.

If you’re not using social media to market your blog, you’re likely missing out on a lot of opportunities as well as a free way to go. Most blog readers are on social media. Most blogs that are being read were found on social media. If you’re not actively promoting your blog on social media, then chances are you’re missing out on a lot of new readers.

But it isn’t as easy as getting on social media and posting your blog link. It doesn’t work that way. You have to build a community on social media. You have to put in the work in order to make social media work. That scares a lot of new bloggers who don’t feel like they have the time and patience to do it. And if they don’t, they are probably not going to ever do it. It takes work.

Cause: As I said, social media marketing takes time and dedication. That intimidates people. Many new bloggers are finding out that blogging is hard work. If you add dedication to social media marketing to the mix, it just means more hard work will be required. This intimidation is likely what causes a lot of bloggers to avoid using social media. Plus, they use it wrong at times. They just post links, and they don’t get readers, so they don’t think social works for them because they’re doing it all wrong.

Solution 1: Create a channel on a social media platform where your audience is. Focus on one social platform. This blog is on X right now. It’s the only platform I’m focusing on. Once the community establishes itself, I’ll move to another platform to establish one of them, too. This is how you should do it to avoid becoming overwhelmed and stressed out about having to do so many social accounts for your blog.

Solution 2: Use the 90/10 social media marketing strategy. You post 90% native content and 10% promotional content. Native content is text-based posts, videos, images, and other content that is uploaded to that social platform. This keeps your followers on the platform. Focus on engagement metrics as your ROI. Then, post blog links 10% of the time. It still promotes your blog, but it also emphasizes you as an expert in your niche. They’ll find your blog without you promoting it once you establish yourself on the platform.

Solution 3: Treat each social platform you get on like its own community. Don’t share TikTok branded videos on YouTube or Instagram. Create dedicated content for each platform; otherwise, you’ll target the same members in your audience. If you use something new on each platform, it’s not monotonous, and you’ll gain new subscribers from each platform. You need to build an individual community on each platform. It will be a challenge. It will be difficult. It will require time and energy. But it’ll make your blog a lot more known.

Result Measurement: Social media platforms come with analytical metrics and dashboards. Try to look at them often to understand what each metric means and how they change over time. I recommend making a spreadsheet and updating it on a weekly basis. This will help you capture a detailed look at how your social media marketing is performing. This is really helpful when you make changes in your marketing strategy and need to see how they perform.

 

27 – Dealing with Content Theft

There is no worse feeling than finding a website that is posting your article and calling it their own.

Content theft is a big issue in this day and age. It happens to a lot of bloggers. It happens to me almost every time I post a new article on my blog. Another blog with generic pages, hosted internationally, will scrape my content (and even links) and make it look like their content. They’re thieves! I’ll be blunt. They are the scum of the earth, content thieves.

Thieves, in my opinion, are some of the worst kinds of people. They don’t care about anyone but themselves. It’s important to fight back against them. Some will tell you that you can’t do anything about them. That isn’t always the case. If you try hard enough, you might be able to combat them.

Don’t let a content thief ruin your blogging experience because that’s what they want to do to you.

Cause: Content theft often occurs because the thieves are too lazy to create their own content. They’ll instead look for or use a script to search for content that aligns with their blog’s niche or goal. Then, they scrape the content and add it to their blog as if they created it.

Solution 1: You can attempt to contact the website stealing your content. You can send them a “cease and desist” message. Ask them to take your content down. Tell them they are never permitted to put your content anywhere on their site. Tell them not even to link to your blog. You don’t want a bad backlink like their website will be. This might work or might not.

Solution 2: You can attempt to discover what domain registrar or hosting service is hosting the website stealing your content. If it’s local to your country, you can ask them to remove the content. If they don’t, contact internet crime authorities or even your local authorities. You might even consider contacting an attorney. If you copyright your media and get trademarks, you might even be able to be compensated for the theft, but you might have to spend money in order to get it back.

Solution 3: You should help the internet out by exposing content theft. Openly accuse the website of theft if they refuse to take it down. Report them to spam networks if you’re able to. Try to target their credibility. Warn people to stay away from their pages and that they might be viruses. Most of these websites do indeed carry viruses in their downloadable content. If they won’t work with you, then it’s best to work against them. More bloggers should stand up for themselves against worthless content thieves.

Result Measurement: The measurement here is determined by seeing if the thief takes the content down. If they don’t, try a different action against them. If they do, take note of what you did so you can use it later if you ever need to. You should also help other bloggers who are dealing with this same issue. We should band together against the scum.

 

28 – Getting Feedback and Criticism

Feedback and criticism are important to help grow your blog and gear it towards your readers.

Getting feedback and criticism for your blog is one of the biggest blogging challenges out there. That’s because you really have to engage with a reader in order for them to give you that type of feedback. And criticism is even harder because most people don’t want to admit negative things about your blog.

But this type of feedback is extremely important. It can help you shape your blog to benefit exactly what your readers and audience are looking for. I used it all the time to improve the newsletter that goes with my blog. I rely on the feedback to create the next issues exactly how my audience wants to see it. I’m creating content for them in the first place, so they’re the best source of feedback.

User feedback is the most powerful and important metric of them all. No analytical percentage can be competed with direct feedback from a reader.

Cause: The main reason why most bloggers aren’t getting user feedback is they aren’t asking for it in the right way. They expect to get it in the comments but most of the time, the comments aren’t directed to get that sort of feedback.

Solution 1: Survey your users. Create a quick form asking a few questions about what readers like, what they don’t like, and what they’d like to see on future blog posts. Add the survey to your blog. Make it a popup so that most of your readers will see it. Add it to every blog post. Add it to every blog page. Post it on your social media channels. Get the word out and ask for feedback.

Solution 2: Ask readers to leave a comment telling you what they thought about the blog post. If you ask them to do that directly, it will be more encouraging for them to leave feedback. You should ask it towards the bottom or outro of your article. It’s a good way to start engagement on your blog, which is also very important and one of the biggest blogging challenges.

Solution 3: Create plenty of ways for your readers to contact you to give feedback. Create a Contact Page for your blog. It should list all possible ways to contact you concerning your blog. One blog I have shows a contact form, social media channels, a messenger app, an internet-based phone number with text, and my PO Box in case they want to send me an actual letter. Give them plenty of ways to reach you.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure your feedback is to implement it. After you do what your readers ask you to do, keep checking your analytics and stats. I’m sure you’ll start to see a positive change and an increase in views and engagement. If you do what your readers want you to do, you’ll develop a very healthy, loyal audience.

 

29 – Knowing How to Be Personal, Tell a Story, and Be a Copywriter

Three important aspects of blogging: Getting Personal, Telling a Story, and Copywriting.

You need to get personal with your blog in order to see successful results. Getting personal with your readers means you’re going to their level and communicating with them directly. Too many bloggers talk to their audience rather than to them. That’s the last thing you want to do.

Storytelling and copywriting have been successful strategies for blogging since the first blog was created. Everyone loves a good story and they’ll stick around to read a good story if you provide one for them. If you add copywriting to that, you can tap into their emotions and the psychological aspects of lead generation and conversion. You can turn a loyal reader into a loyal customer with the right words.

Getting personal and telling a great story with your content will take your blog to the next level.

Cause: Most bloggers don’t get personal, tell stories, or use copywriting because they don’t know where to start. Many don’t because they’re used to writing in a different way. We didn’t write like that in school or college. Professional essays were not personal. So, in order to accomplish it, you have to change the way you were brought up to write, and that can be intimidating but definitely not impossible.

Solution 1: Get personal by writing articles as if you’re writing them for one person. Write as if you’re talking to me face to face. I’ve written this whole article in a personal tone. I use words like “you” and “me” as if we’re talking to each other face-to-face. This makes the article personable to read. I’m sure you agree. Try to make it a habit to be personal with all posts you create.

Solution 2: The best way to get good at storytelling is to listen to great stories. I love stories of all different topics. I like creepy stories and often listen to creepypasta stories on YouTube. I also like random stories that I can hear on This American Life and The Moth podcasts. A good story can help inspire you and teach you how to write a good story on your own.

Solution 3: Copywriting is all about initiating the emotions of your readers. Once they get emotional, you can get them to act on your Call-to-Actions or CTAs. A CTA might be to leave a comment, subscribe to your newsletter, or even purchase your products. Copywriting has been used for decades to get actions completed online. Some of my favorite copywriting frameworks to master are AIDA, B-A-B, and PAS. Study these formulas to get an idea of what copy consists of, and doing it will be much simpler after that.

Result Measurement: When you use personal tones, storytelling, and copywriting on your blog, you’ll be able to measure the results after doing it for a while. This will especially be true with storytelling and copywriting aspects. A/B test when possible. Pay attention to your analytics. Seek user feedback. Use every metric to your advantage to see what works and what doesn’t work.

 

30 – Understanding How To Do Email Marketing

A mailing list is just as important, if not more important, than your blog.

A mailing list is a direct line to your readers, subscribers, and customers. Social media carries algorithms that may block you from reaching everyone who follows you, especially if you post links and promotional content. Search engines rely on ranking where you might not go to page one, and searchers may not find your content when you want them to.

With a mailing list, you can bypass algorithms and search engines because they have no part in the list. You have a direct line to your audience, and nothing can get in the way except for you. It will be your job to keep them subscribed.

Every blogger should have a mailing list and focus on growing their list.

Cause: Most bloggers skip the mailing list because it’s another chore. Maintaining a mailing list can be just as difficult as blogging, if not more difficult. It depends on how much you post. Just blogging seems easier, and it is, but a lot of great opportunities are being missed out on by not having a mailing list.

Solution 1: Create a mailing list when you create your blog. Promote your mailing list on your blog and every post you make. Start sending your list when you get your first subscriber, even if they’re the only one on the list. Ask the subscriber how you can make the list better. Use their feedback to make it better. Keep growing your list as you blog more and more.

Solution 2: If you already have a blog and no newsletter, start one now. Start promoting it in your posts. Create a lead magnet (some resources) and give it away for free to subscribers. Promote your newsletter on your social media channels. Add a subscribe popup to your website and blog pages, and make sure you list your lead magnet as a reward for subscribing. Make the opt-in a one-step process. Start sending great newsletters out immediately when you get your first subscriber and ask for their feedback to improve the newsletter.

Solution 3: Subscribe to every newsletter you can find in your niche. Audit the newsletters and make notes on what they provide in them. Determine what content you need to provide in order to appease your audience. Your newsletter should be unique compared to others. But it has to be packed with resources and extremely valuable, or you’ll lose subscribers. You also have to be consistent about sending it out.

Result Measurement: Pay attention to important metrics associated with your newsletter growth. Your open rate will show how many people are reading your newsletter. Your click rate shows how many link clicks are occurring. Your subscribe and unsubscribe rates will show your audience growth patterns. I also recommend adding a unique survey to each issue asking for improvement feedback. Make sure you implement the feedback to make your newsletter better.

 

31 – Protecting Privacy

Privacy is important in blogging. It’s important for you as the blogger and for your readers.

Your privacy matters on the internet. You want to make sure you protect yourself, your loved ones, and your reputation as a blogger. Not every follower will be a good follower. There are some people out there on the internet that are not nice. You have to be ready to protect yourself if that is required.

The privacy of your audience is equally important. This is a subject that is extremely important but often not a priority of many bloggers. It should be. Your audience is like your best friends or family. You should treat them like loved ones and make sure they’re protected while on your blog.

Privacy doesn’t have to be one of the biggest blogging challenges as long as you take notice of it and treat it as seriously as it needs to be treated.

Cause: Privacy is often ignored because it’s not a significant topic in blogging. It’s not something that many bloggers are talking about. It should be a topic that is brought up more often.

Solution 1: Protect yourself online by keeping private information off the internet. Don’t willingly give out your physical address, phone number, or personal identifiable information (PII). Don’t give out information the same about your friends and family, either. Be careful with what photos you post online depicting you, your loved ones, and your home.

Solution 2: Create a privacy policy for your blog. Make sure you explain what you do with all information collected from readers and website visitors. Give users an option to opt out of information collection and cookies. You should also make sure you don’t ask for information that you will never need from the user. Enable an unsubscribe feature for your mailing list.

Solution 3: Protect your reputation online by considering what you post online. Political and highly controversial posts and opinions might get you in hot water. It could even come back to your blog. If you have a public voice online, you should be wary of what you post online. Think about it before you post it. Some of the most innocent things said can ruin your reputation if taken the wrong way.

Result Measurement: The best way to measure your privacy is by practicing privacy guidelines. Hopefully, you’ll never have to take any further action to protect your privacy or try to get information removed that can harm your privacy.

 

Final Thoughts About the Biggest Blogging Challenges

This completes my article about the biggest blogging challenges out there. I hope this article has helped you overcome these biggest challenges in blogging. I’ve not only explained the challenges above but I made sure I added at least three solutions to help you overcome the challenges.

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About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers that follow this blog. Shawn also offers a variety of services for extra help in the area of content creation, blogging, forums, and digital marketing. Learn more about Shawn Gossman by clicking here.