Blogs Built Solely For SEO:The 3 Main Reasons Why They Fail

One major reason why people publish business blogs is to benefit from greater visibility in search engines. Most often than not, you hear people say that the content on a new blog generally attracts links from other blogs and improves the site’s position in search engine results. Even though this is true to an extent, it is quite unfortunate that over time such advice becomes distorted and broken down by people’s own personal opinions. After a while, we see more and more blogs being created solely for the purpose of improving visibility on search engines. There is no other evident reason that can be plainly seen.

It is clear from the foregoing that blogs that are built solely for SEO purposes will not last a long time. Why is that so? Consider 3 of the main reasons below:

1. No oversight or planning–Once the initial thrill of creating a blog wanes, content writers usually become distracted by personal obligations. Over time, posts no longer become optimized for keywords; instead they start resembling scripts from marketing campaigns. The blogs then begin to lose search engine traffic because the keywords consumers are searching for can no longer be found on them. Without continuous oversight from SEO professionals, these blogs begin to look messy, and in many cases keywords are stuffed into posts or placed in a hap-hazard manner.
2. Lack of true passion for what is written–When you take a look at the statistics on Technorati, you will see that it has millions of indexed blogs. The sad truth one has to come to grips with is that around 90% of those blogs no longer receive fresh content, and for those that do such content is posted on average only 3 times a year. Blogging about a particular topic on a long term basis requires a lot dedication, forethought, and a deep passion for the topic itself.

Think about this: How long would you be able to sit and watch a long movie that did not really interest you? Or would you be able to do well at a job you have no interest in, giving of your best each day and staying for the long-haul? Of course not! In like manner, when a blogger has no personal interest in what he is writing about, he will experience writer’s block and end up writing nothing of substance. In the end, he rapidly loses readers who neither subscribe to his blog nor link to it from their own blog blogs or websites.

1. Old-time SEO practices are dying–Search engines like Google have become smarter over time, creating algorithms that weed out blogs that use underhanded SEO tricks and paid links to gain search engine visibility and rankings. Keep in mind, however, that SEO in and of itself will still be valuable come what may since searchable content can always be optimized.

As technology advances, social networking and media have become the main way consumers become aware of blogs. There has been a rise in the number of people accessing blogs via recommendations from their friends on social networks vs. using a traditional search engine. Based on the analytical results (like from Google Analytics, for example) of many blogs, there is a clear indication that social sites are among the best performing as it relates to being traffic sources. Due to the social nature of blogs, the resources that social networks offer will become a crucial part of the blogging campaigns of many businesses over the next year.

As you take in all of what you just read, contemplate carefully on these questions:

1. Did you start a blog that you eventually lost interest in or discontinued adding fresh content to?
2. Why did you lose interest?
3. What, if anything, would you do differently now?

If you would like more information related to blogging and blog marketing, check the links below:

• 25 Tips for Marketing Your Blog
• 5 Reasons Why Business Blogs Fail
• Blog Optimization
• Best Blog Analytics Software