7 Reasons Your Blog Sucks

November 15, 2010 - Last Modified: November 15, 2010 by Tristan Higbee 2,042

A blog that sucks is a blog that is unsuccessful. If your blog isn’t successful, it might be because it sucks. That can be a hard pill to swallow, but it doesn’t mean that the unsuccessful blog itself is inherently, automatically crappy. It just means that there’s got to be a reason why your blog isn’t successful, and you need to find out what it is. As it turns out, there are several possible reasons for this, as stated below.

1. Your content sucks.

“Content is king” is as cliché as advice get in blogging, but it’s still true. When it comes down to it, people come to your blog and return to it because of your content. Your content needs to be relevant, useful, funny, inspiring, entertaining, valuable, unique, or meaningful in some other way to get people to read it. Don’t just regurgitate what other people are writing. Come up with your own material, or at the very least, put a new spin on existing material.

2. Your writing sucks.

if yoo suk @ riting, no won will reed ur blog lolz. See how painful that was to read? Sucking at writing obviously involves sucking at spelling (as just illustrated), but there’s much more to it than that. You know your writing sucks if

Your content is inaccurate or nonsensical.
You take too long to get to your main point.
Your posts are too long.
Your posts are too personal. No one wants to here about the troubles you’re having with your spouse.
You use too many clichés.
You don’t break up your text enough with paragraphs and headings.
Your tone is off-putting for one reason or another.

These are just some of the many ways your writing can suck; there are tons more (if you come up with some, let me know in a comment below!). It will definitely help if you get someone else (who isn’t afraid to hurt your feelings) to read your posts and tell you what they honestly think. If you can’t find anyone, ask people in online forums to critique your writing; the Internet creates a blissful wall of anonymity that people are only so happy to hide behind so they can chew you out.

3. Your SEO sucks.

Maybe no one’s reading your blog because they can’t find it. If that’s the case, your blog’s search engine optimization sucks. Use applicable keywords in your post titles and in your content. Make sure your permalinks aren’t set to be just a jumble of numbers like www.yourdomain.com/?=194.

You can read more about blog SEO in these previous Famous Bloggers posts:

4. Your design sucks.

Has your blog been horribly burned by acid or is that how it’s supposed to look? Pick a nice, clean theme for your blog. As far as design goes, having too little is just about always better than having too much. Don’t have too many widgets cluttering your sidebars and footer, and for the love of all that is holy, do NOT have too many distracting, flashing ads. In fact, don’t have too many ads of any kind. They can be very off-putting.

Make sure the colors in your blog don’t clash and cause people to dry heave. Don’t have fonts in your header or body text that are hard to read. Ease of navigation also falls under the umbrella of design. If people can’t find what they’re looking for on your blog (through a search bar, nav menu, sitemap, etc.), then your blog design sucks.

Check out these great design articles on Famous Bloggers:

5. Your marketing sucks.

Even if you’ve got great content, design, writing, etc., your blog can still be unsuccessful if no one is reading it. And it sucks when no one reads your blog. And if your blog sucks because no one is reading it, you suck at marketing. Start guest posting like crazy, participating in online forums, commenting on other blogs, and connecting through social media. Click on the Marketing tab right below the FamousBloggers.net header logo to read more about how to successfully market your blog.

6. Your timing sucks.

If you’re just now starting to blog about how great Twitter is, I have bad news for you. Everyone and their grandma has already posted, tweeted, reposted, and retweeted about how bloggers should be using Twitter. If you write about that now, you’re too late. That canoe went downriver long ago, while you were still going to the bathroom in the woods. If your content is great but not timely, I’m sorry to tell you that your blog sucks.

7. Your niche sucks

Maybe your blog sucks because no one gives a crap about what you’re talking about. No matter how passionately you love talking about making scale models of old Russian aristocratic palaces out of toothpicks and multicolored marshmallows, you’re not going to find a whole lot of other people interested in what you’ve got to say. If lots of traffic is your goal and you’re blogging about marshmallow palaces, your niche sucks. Quit now and focus your efforts elsewhere.

I don’t mean to attack anyone here. I’m not saying that you personally suck. Maybe your blog is brand new and that’s why you aren’t enjoying the success you want. But maybe your blog generally does suck. I freely admit that there are reasons my blog sucks. But the good news is that if your blog DOES suck for one of the above reasons, it’s not the end of your career as a blogger. Your blog doesn’t have to suck forever! Fix what needs to be fixed and eventually your blog will be successful and stop sucking! Most blogs out there suck, meaning that a standout blog will eventually get noticed and rise above the rest.

If you’ve got any other reasons why blogs suck, be sure to leave them as comments below!

About Tristan Higbee

Follow @tristanhigbee

Tristan Higbee just launched Blogging Bookshelf, where he dispenses smart blogging tips for smart people. Subscribe to the Blogging Bookshelf newsletter and get his ebook, 101 Ways You're Killing Your Blog, for free!

{ 113 Responses }

Mark says:

I like your point about posts being too long. If a post is longer than about 500 words, I just skim it. Honestly, unless it is an in depth authority post on a major subject, what can't you say in less than 500 words? Personally, if my posts are longer than that, I feel that I am getting too wordy and generating sloppy content. Thanks for pointing out that one...:) Mark
Stan Faryna says:

Tristan: I enjoyed listening to Dino's interview with you... Your best advice here is: 2. Your Writing Sucks 5. Your Marketing Sucks 7. Your niche (subject) Sucks You could even give these top 3 a more focused treatment in a new blog post. I believe that would be helpful to the aspiring professional blogger. I fear, however, that it's important to remind people that no blogger has made a billion dollar exit from blogging. (laughing) More importantly, few self-made bloggers make a good living by blogging (5,000+ US$/month). In other words, the risk is high yet both investment and commitment, intense. Like Twitter and Facebook, the blog has given us all an opportunity to share ourselves with the world, but we are not all born to be writers who can speak to the zeitgeist with force and fury. Kind regards, Stan Faryna
Ann says:

I have tried my hand at blogging but apparently, there are a lot of things that I'm doing wrong. It came to a point that I lost all my confidence. I felt that I wasn't good enough of a writer. After reading your post, I realized my posts were getting personal. Thanks for this post!
- Jenn says:
  
  Ann! The first thing you must do is write posts! Your Comment Luv link leads back to the default post that Wordpress puts on your site for you. Sign in, go to "Posts" and click add new. Then write something. Since I am a lawyer, I realize this can be kind of hard to do if you have the state bar breathing down your neck. In my state, we're required to submit everything new we write to a committee (along with a $75 check) so that an advertising ethics committee can review it. The state rules are way behind the times, but that's the law profession for you. It really makes it difficult for law firms to effectively market their practice via the internet.
Chris says:

I was going to write a post similar to this one. I do agree with many of the points you made. SEO and content are extremely important and need to be optimized if you want people to find your site. I also agree with the niche - if you rewrite tons of articles already found on google - then no one will read them on your site - because they already read it elsewhere DO NOT rewrite articles - write UNIQUE content - pick something you know and like - write about that
Adwello says:

I think my marketing sucks. I spend too much time researching my posts and preening them, and generally feeling rather smug after writing them and tweeting them to really put the oomph into multi purpose marketing! Another cuppa and the morning has gone...
chris says:

excellent tips! I am still in the "new" blog phase and am marketing as much as I possibly can. I read through all the steps you mentioned and am going to make sure to avoid them. I have seen an increase in traffic by using ezine, facebook, forum posting, comluv and some other ways. All these ways have led to increased traffic! I also strongly suggest that you mentioned adding webmaster tools!
Icechen1 says:

You leaft out : Your grammar sucks.
- Bruneian Dollar says:
  
  Not entirely. I've seen one blogger who has been blogging with broken English, www.tigerlim.com. He's Chinese so he blogs like one. The reason why he's successful is because its a bit creative from the mass. At least it's one thing to expect a chinese blogger to blog in English, the other is that he blogs to the point. So the matter of the fact is, we're back to "Your content sucks."
Allan Douglas says:

Whew! I'm awfully late to this party! The traffic on the parkway was murder. I sure am glad you've already slapped me around (gently, of course and with humor) about the sucky SEO on my blog or I'd have to crawl under my desk right now. The one thing that really snuck up and chomped on my leg was the niche choice. I've been wondering about that; does anyone really want to read the lunatic ravings of a tar covered, rookie farmer, minimalist? I don't know... maybe I should go back to blogging about how to raise crickets. Great post Tristan!
Sheila Atwood says:

Hey Tristen, When the blog navigation sucks I am gone. I hate searching for the simple basics, like who the author is, the about page and especially the buy button. A search box that doesn't work properly is also a big turn off. Search boxes are run by your tags. The tags are made for your readers and not SEO. Tag your posts with the terms your readers are going to be searching for.
Mike says:

Wait! Wait! Tristan, you forgot to add another "sucks" in your great post, which is? Your Relationship Sucks! That's right! If you limit yourself around certain area of the Internet and do not reach other people, it's a dangerous indication that your blog is failing and you need to work something out to fix this. Thing has changed. I remembered several years ago CEO of Amazon said about doing great things and people will come to you. It's an untrue statement today. No matter whether you have good content or not, if you just sit at one place and wait for people come to you...no comment! The other points, great job Tristan! You really rocks!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Great point, Mike! Your blog sucks if your relationships suck. Long gone are the days when you could just toss up a website and get traffic. Today you've got to work hard for every single visitor! Thanks for the great comment!
Melanie Kissell says:

Oh, no. I feel a soapbox moment coming on. So I'll try to restrain myself. Don't get me started on how sucky a blog is when the author finds no value, meaning, or purpose in proper grammar, spelling, or punctuation. *Cringe* No one ever wants to admit their blog sucks. Not even me. That's like admitting your children are imperfect. But after reading your post, I can see some room for improvement on my blog - especially in the arena of SEO. I don't know why just typing those three little pesky letters makes me want to run in the other direction. I guess because I simply haven't yet grasped how in blue blazes to optimize my blog for the search engines. Still a mystery to me. Incredibly phenomenal post with killer resources! Melanie
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yes, Melanie, yes!! I studied editing in school and have been an editor on various publications (not that you'd know it by the number of mistakes I still make...), and it really is painful to read some of the posts you see out in the blogosphere! Yeah, SEO is something of a mysterious art in blogging. I'd say it's the least understood AND most misunderstood discipline in blogging. And I still suck at it :) Thanks for the great comment and the high praise!
Kimi says:

Awwww Tristan! I guess my blog is fine, but the advertisements in my blog sucks big time LOL. I know it and realise it, but i can't remove them:( Well, most of my traffics are search engine traffics, so i really do not mind with the ads. If some of my regular visitors complain, i will take a look again about it. Thanks for your points.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yeah, ads are a big deal! They really turn off some people. You can't remove them? Hmmm... that sucks! Hopefully your regular visitors don't mind. They're probably used to them now. Anyway, thanks for commenting, Kimi!
- Vee Sweeney says:
  
  Honestly, I have seen way worse when it comes to ads! I must also ask though, why can't you turn them off? Adsense is easy enough to remove and so are the other ads...doesn't look like you have anything there where you would be under contract with a company to run it for forever :-) At any rate, maybe they wouldn't stick out so much if the blog had more white space? Everything is pretty cramped together...maybe widen it out a little? Just thinking of ways to improve them if you really have to keep them. The reason I bring it up is because the ads are quite large and they really take over your text and when I look at the site, I see the ads before I even see the blog post. Nice post though :-)
  - Kimi says:
    
    Because i earn decent from Adsense, that's why i do not want to remove them. And i offer my posts for free to my readers, so i can get at least something from my blog. Those positions have a good earning since i have tried the size and the placements LOL. I honestly do not care about what other people think, i mean most of my traffics are coming from search engines, they really need the informations i offer, so i guess they won't complain much. Funny enough, someone actually asked me to give a private video course for modifying their layouts since they saw mine. I guess people think different. Thanks for your feedback! Really love and appreciate it!
Isabel Rodrigues - Pro Blogger Journey says:

Good Points there. As a blogger you need to be very careful with your moves. Work smartly and get the results your longing for. Else as Tristan says" Your Blog will suck"
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  "Work smartly and get the results you're longing for." Very well said, Isabel! Thanks for the comment!
Arslan says:

Really informative post here you have, about the niche thing i have a poetry blog, can u please advise me as to whether its a good niche or not....Thank You!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Hey Arslan, thanks for the comment. Whether it's a good niche depends on what your goals with your blog are. I think your poetry is great, but it's no secret that there's not really much money in poetry.
Dennis Edell says:

Timing is subjective. How many thousands of people hit the net as beginners every day/week/month? Taking twitter as the example, I'm no longer surprised at how often i see people asking for it to be explained.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  That people should be using Twitter is common knowledge right now. You won't win any Oscars for that kind of performance. You're right, though, about HOW to use Twitter. There's still room there for lots of quality information. Thanks for the comment, Dennis!
Karan says:

Lolz, this post was just about "In how many different ways can we suck!". Well this was pretty impressive, I'm glad nobody complains about me sucking in any of the above fields..
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Hahah, you're right Karan! That IS what the post is about! But hopefully you got something out of it, too :)
Dillon Chaffey says:

Also, self hosting your website or blog will also open many opportunities for customization, in that you literally have 100% control over your website. Self hosting has proved to be quite the task for myself and others, although I am sure that when completion comes about my efforts will be nothing short of worthwhile. Does anybody here have any suggestions towards self hosting using Apache, PHP and MySQL on the Ubuntu Linux platform? If so, thank you in advance!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I agree, Dillon. Self hosting is definitely the way to go, no question about it. You'll for sure be glad you made the switch. Unfortunately, I can't give you any advice on the Apache, PHP, and MySQL question. I'm not THAT much of a tech guy. I host all of my sites on GoDaddy, which also makes it super easy to install WordPress. GoDaddy is ok, but if I were to do it over again, I'd go with HostGator. I've heard nothing but good things about them. Plus they're cheaper.
Tinh says:

All of them sucks and I would add "Ideas suck" and "passion sucks" :-)
- Dillon Chaffey says:
  
  This is a great post and I have addressed my website accordingly. I am sorry to impede Tinh, although I could not help but ponder as to your comment "All of them sucks and I would add “Ideas suck” and “passion sucks” :-)". It is common knowledge that passios and ideas drive this world forwards. Could you imagine a world without the delightful cheer that is brought about by the creation of passion and ideas? I do not want to appear as though I am picking, although I was just very curious as to what you meant that is all :). Have a good day.
  - Tinh says:
    
    I can not agree more on your 7 points listed but I want to list other things as passion and idea as many bloggers quit after a while just because of no passion and ideas :-)
    - Tristan Higbee says:
      
      Very true, Tinh. Bloggers suck if they have no passion and they also suck if they run out of ideas. Thanks for the comment!
  - Tristan Higbee says:
    
    Beautifully said, Dillon. Thanks! :)
Bryan says:

Hey Tristan, Wow, there are a lot of "sucks" in this post :D HAHA I agree with you there are a lot of things that can be real "sucky" about your blog. But it pays to focus on what's "sucky" change things i.e content, design, list building, that can bring benefit to your blog in the long term. No blog is perfect and no single blog appeals to everyone. But I believe at the end of the day, the aim is not to appeal to everyone but to provide value to your followers and tell them why they should keep coming back to your blog.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yep, lots of suckiness going on in this post! :) You're spot on with all of your remarks, Bryan, and I agree 100%. I said this in response to the comment below, but I'll say it again here: sucky isn't bad. Not fixing it is the bad part. And even if something on your blog does suck and you don't fix it, it's not the end of the world. As you said in your last sentence, the aim is to provide value to your followers. Thanks for the great comment, Bryan!
Mitchell says:

This honestly makes a lot of sense. I think that sometimes we don't want to really hear that our blog sucks, our why. Once we are able to get past our deluded notions that our blog is amazing and there is no real reason why anyone isn't coming, then we can focus on actually writing good content, or doing a better job at SEO or just beautifying the design. Great tips!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Exactly, Mitchell. Having a sucky blog isn't the bad thing. Not doing anything about having a sucky blog, THAT is the bad thing. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Henway says:

SEO is a biggie, and something a lot of bloggers ignore, but it's the key to getting traction. Getting loyal readers is nice, but if you really want to gain an audience you can't ignore SEO... gotta do things like pitch other bloggers and write guest posts, comment on other blogs, submit to article directories, etc.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I agree, Henway. You said it perfectly: "If you really want to gain an audience you can't ignore SEO." Very true. Thanks for the great comment!
Ingrid Abboud says:

Hiya Tristan, I feel that you missed me today for not having read enough of my comments, so...I'm here as well lol ;)! I gotta' tell ya that I agree with every point you made here. And it's not just because I like you as a writer, it's because they really all hit the mark. I have to admit that I fall victim to 2 points you made in #2. Although I know that my writing is far from "sucky" I do tend to sometimes ramble before getting to the point - but the good thing, is that I try to make the rambling entertaining so that my readers will continue on to the main point. The other thing is that I do indeed have a tendency to write long posts (and comments lol). But, I will say that long posts are not always a negative thing. On the contrary. As long as they are properly formatted with subtitles and so forth and the content is captivating or relevant, then I think it's fine. I would much rather read a long and thorough post than a short one with less meaning. That's just my 2 cents here. Thanks for writing/sharing another one of your insightful posts :)! Great stuff Tristan - as usual. And like you said, having a sucky blog now, doesn't mean that you personally suck or that your blog always will suck. You have a chance to fix all the suckiness and turn into awesomeness and successfulness. Cheers Mr. Higbee Looking forward to your next post!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Ingrid, your comments are always very welcome and appreciated, not to mention awesome! These are general guidelines more than they are concrete barriers to successful entry into non-crappy-blog-hood. Wow, that was a convoluted sentence, but hopefully it made sense. In fact, in some cases it might be an asset to your blog if you don't follow some of these tips. Like with the example you gave of your blog, that you sometimes ramble before getting to a main point. You've built up a pretty successful blog with a loyal following, and I would view your "ramblings" as your unique style and an asset rather. You've essentially carved yourself a secure spot in your niche by writing like that, because no one else can write quite like you can. It's part of your brand online and that's something that identifies and differentiates you. And I agree that long posts are not always a bad thing. In fact, you're very familiar with how long my posts are, and I personally think they're great like that :) There are certain bloggers who can definitely pull it off (you're one of them). But there are a lot of people who screw it up by adding too much fluff and irrelevant garbage. Length for length's sake is a mistake, and I feel that writers should almost always strive for brevity. When you try to whittle everything down to its raw meat but you still end up with a 1500+ word post, THAT's when you've got a winner. Thanks again for the awesome comment, Ingrid. Comments like these are always appreciated. You really do set the standard for extremely high quality commenting! Oh, and my next post will be on BB tomorrow. It should be a good one... I haven't written it yet!
Latief says:

Creative Tittle bro, love it! Yes, we need consider all you mentioned about to avoid being suck blogger, lol! Please visit my blog and tell me that my blog suck or not ;) Thanks, I like your style Tristan.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks for the complement, Latief! I try to make all of my posts as informative yet entertaining as possible. I'm glad you liked it!
  - Latief says:
    
    Yes, I like it bro. Informative and entertaining? That every blogger should learn so their readers will stay on their blog. I'm waiting for your next article Tristan ;) Success for you bro!
Ms. Snark says:

Tristan, While agreeing with almost everything you wrote, I must play contrarian. I've read some pretty sucky blog posts but via SEO and marketing and networking, they seem to get plenty of traffic and readership. My point: crap is still crap, no matter how "successful" it may be. See also: Avatar, IMO. One thing I'll add: you suck at posting consistently. See also, my blog as I suck at blogging with regularity. I'm the last person to say you have to blog EVERY day. Yet I don't think you can get by with infrequent, randomly scheduled posts either unless 1) your stuff doesn't suck and 2) you're upfront about how often readers should expect new material. Thanks for the tips, off to find some SEO plugins.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Hahaha, YES. Avatar is overrated yet successful crap in my opinion, too :) You do make a good point, and I agree with you that "successful" doesn't mean that it's not crap. And YES, not posting consistently is super lame. I would discourage everyone from posting daily. It's stressful and it's hard to maintain a high level of quality. Thanks for the great comment, Ms. Snark!
Jeevan Jacob John says:

Great Article, Tristan ! I agree with all of your points. But I do like to add some more - Promotion, Networking, Thinking (framing your post), Determination, Hard work, Patience and Motivators. (There are others but these along with the ones you listed are the most important elements of blogging). (Thanks for this awesome article - This article surely helps newbie bloggers like me !) Thanks for sharing this article !
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yeah Jeevan, you made some really good points there. Patience is a great way that bloggers suck (that sounds weird, doesn't it?). And yep, I think hard work kind of goes along with that. A lot of bloggers think they can throw up a few SEO'd articles and start making a lot of money within a week or two. But it doesn't quite work that way. Thanks for the awesome comment, Jeevan!
Adam says:

Hi Tristan, congratulations to another great article! I would maybe add the 8th reason: Your networking sucks! I think to be active on social networks and to interact with the people from your niche is a great way how to make your blog better. You can learn a lot from other people who are already in the niche. Adam
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Ah yes, great point Adam! So true. I think when I was writing this, I lumped "marketing" and "networking" in my mind. But you're right, they definitely are two very different things. Marketing is commenting on a bunch of different blogs. Networking is building relationships with those other bloggers. Thanks for commenting!
Kristi says:

Great points Tristan! I have to say that long posts aren't always a bad thing, assuming that the content is engaging all the way through and well formatted. :)
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks, Kristi! I agree. In fact, if you look at my blog, most of my posts are more than a thousand words long. It works well for some people on some blogs and not so well for others. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Mani Viswanathan says:

If content is the King then SEO is the Queen :) You've mentioned a great point in the form of the timing of publishing posts. It plays a very vital role in the visibility of that post @ that time in different parts of the world.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  You're right Mani, SEO might very well be the queen :) And that's a great point about timing and blog posts. I think this is especially important if a large chunk of your target audience isn't located in your same country. Thanks for the great comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the article and took the time to comment.
AIDY says:

Valid and key points made in your post. Content is key and the blog owner should not be afraid to try new things and find out what works for their blog. Also, a willingness to accept that popularity and growth takes time as long as the author is willing accept it. Great post!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Exactly. Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to blogging. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme as I think a lot of people think and hope! Thanks for the comment!
Andy says:

I love this post. I really do. There's no excuse for sucking. If you suck, you need to stop and think about what you're doing.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Good, I'm glad you liked the post, Andy! I had a lot of fun writing it. Thanks for reading and thanks for leaving a comment!
Lye Kuek Hin says:

Hi Tristan. Well you have covered it all. I thinks sometimes we just need somebody to tell us we really sucks. Low traffic may indicate your blog sucks but it doesn't tell you frankly you suck in which area. Probably we just need some wake up call. How many people are actually doing that, telling a blogger that he sucks risking him being called a cocky or unfriendly guy. But i think sometimes we just need that, take it graciously and improve on what we short off. Thanks for sharing this great post. Lye
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I really didn't mean to come across as cocky or unfriendly! Like I said in the post, I fully realize my blog is sucky in some areas! The post was written tongue-in-cheek as a way for bloggers to indeed realize that there very well could be something wrong with their blog that is inhibiting their growth or succes. Thanks, Lye!
Patricia says:

Hi Tristan We seem to be bumping into each other a lot in the blogosphere these days. Excellent read that makes a lot of sense to me. Glad you mentioned the importance of quality content cos that's the bit I don't find too difficult. Now the techie stuff....yikes that's time for panic mode!!! Just had a kind techie sort my back office for me. Took him minutes to do what I just ignore lol I have offered to help some bloggers who struggle with their grammar and sentence structure. Only one has acknowledged this and so I just let them get on with it. However, as the competition for our time hots up; I think I will find some of these blogs disappearing as we can be selective how we spend out time visiting and commenting within the blogging community. Customers can be just as selective too; and without them we will soon be out of business! Patricia Perth Australia
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yeah, we really do see each other a lot around these parts, don't we! Luckily for you, Patricia, quality content still is #1, and you've got that covered. And I 100% agree with what you said about the less-than-stellar blogs. They will fall by the wayside. Quality is a great filter! I like what you said about commenting on those blogs, though. Is it worth commenting on a blog that will be dead in a few months? Hmmm... Interesting point... Thanks for the great comment!
  - Patricia says:
    
    Some of the blogs are by newbies (something I was a few months ago and still feel like I am in some areas) and I like to support them; but I have offered and they could learn which would help their blog along. I notice with some they are doing well. While others are struggling. If someone offers to help me with the things I find difficult; I am so grateful and will say yes please and thankyou very much. Still we all make our choices and I'm learning a lot by going round to lots of blogs. Some I don't visit anymore whereas I am also discovering new blogs with quality content that I will now visit regularly. Patricia Perth Australia
    - Tristan Higbee says:
      
      Yeah, some people are just stubborn, Patricia! And I'm the same way as far as commenting on new blogs go. It's great to encourage new bloggers and it's great to be a reader/commenter on their blog from the beginning, but some people just don't have good content and don't acknowledge or seem to care about a comment! Their loss, right? :) Thanks again for commenting!
The Bad Blogger says:

This post is awesome... luckily I'm not a suck blogger but a bad blogger... well... it seems like almost every point you pin does sucks... I think my SEO sucks the most ... but guess what... still I can compete in the market... Oh... I think some time my English words do suck too... but I have been improving, hopefully someday... it's understandable to some loser that dislike what I wrote...
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks for the great comment! I'm glad you liked the post and got something out of it.
Lisa says:

Tristan: Besides the great advice in this post, I loved it especially for the comedic twist. Awesome presentation of your material!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks, Lisa! I try to make my posts as interesting as possible. I figure that a good bloggers' job is to both inform AND entertain, right? I mean, there are lots of blogs out there with information, but how many present it in a way that makes it more enjoyable to read?
Murlu says:

The only thing I would disagree upon - just for the sake of conversation - is SEO, Tristan. I agree that SEO does have its place within each blog but in many ways it manufactures a community at time - you may see that you're now receiving a ton of traffic but if people aren't stopping long enough to interact with the blog than what's the real point? What about the idea of just growing naturally - this way you weed out those people that may not be as passionate as you'd like them to be - you essentially cultivate your community. It's kind of like a business in some ways - sure, you could be found first but what if that gets you that low-baller customer that doesn't really add any value to your business (blog) - wouldn't you rather just be found through natural channels such as recommendations - this way you know you're receiving targeted traffic that cares about what you have to say? These are just my thoughts in general and one of the main reasons why I don't bother with SEO in general on Murlu - I do on other blogs and they certainly get a lot more traffic but the community is just lacking because there was too much emphasis on SEO. It has its place but you can't forget your community in exchange for numbers.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks for the awesome comment, Murray. I fully agree with you to a point. If you write only with search engines in mind, then I think you're making a mistake. I personally never check the keyword tools when I'm writing posts and honestly don't think about it much. But I think there's a difference between writing for the search engines and search engine optimizing your blog. If, for example, you keep your permalinks as domain.com/?=197 or whatever the default WordPress permalink is, that's bad SEO. If you are a video blogger and you don't post transcripts of your videos on your blog, that's bad SEO. And yes, not all of the traffic you get from search engines is going to be super targeted, but if someone Googles "video on how to submit my plugin to the wordpress plugin database," and if my site pops up, that's pretty damn targeted. As long as the rest of my blog is related to that post, there's a chance that the visitor will take a look around. And even if only 1 in 20 people that come to your blog every day through search engines check out other pages on your blog, that's still 1 more reader that you didn't really have to do anything beyond what you've already done to grab. Does that make sense? I think we're pretty much on the same page here. I'm saying don't neglect basic blog SEO, you're saying don't focus on SEO so much that your community suffers. Again, awesome comment, man. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
  - Murlu says:
    
    Certainly gotcha Tristan - the fundamental elements of SEO should be applied such as the URL (like you said) and remembering just the basics as you naturally write. Emphasis on: naturally write. Going overboard by trying to include every keyword and stuffing the hell out of content is definitely not the way to go. It's like you said and I agree completely - just skip over the keyword tools when you're writing for your blog - it's a branding thing - just write naturally and you'll generally write out those long-tail keywords that people use to find your content. Just wanted to get a conversation going on in here :)
    - Tristan Higbee says:
      
      ^ I 100% agree with this :) And it's not like people can't tell when you're keyword stuffing your posts, either. It's pretty obvious when you do it, and it's just funny to see but not quite so fun to read...
TJ McDowell says:

Some people have good blogs that are probably just still young. So it may just appear that a blog sucks when in reality you're just building an audience naturally, and it's a decent blog. What are your thoughts on that?
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Hey TJ, thanks for the comment. I actually did mention that in the last paragraph: "Maybe your blog is brand new and that’s why you aren’t enjoying the success you want." And that's fine to a point, but at what point do you consider a blog no longer new? 1 week? 2 weeks? 2 months? 6 months? Of course every blog has to start somewhere, but I think too many people hide behind the excuse of, "Oh, my blog is new and that's why I'm not getting loads of traffic or comments." It shouldn't matter if your blog is 2 weeks old or 2 years old. If your blog is 2 weeks old, spend a day commenting on 50 blogs. If you do that a couple times and your blog still isn't seeing much traction, then the problem lies elsewhere, probably in a lack of originality or applicability. Also, I think that building an audience "naturally" is a mistake. What does that mean, exactly? Just writing like always and hoping someone naturally stumbles upon your blog? If you're blogging for friends and family, that's fine. But if you're serious about your blog, you've got to be proactive. Write guest posts, comment on tons of people's blogs, build up relationships, and create incredible content. That's how you build traffic. Phew. That was longer than I intended it to be, but I hope you catch my drift. If you've got any more questions, feel free to email me or contact me on Twitter. Cheers!
Phil says:

Another awesome post here, love it all. I like to see 'to the point' articles. :)
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Great! Glad you like it, Phil!
Extreme John says:

I couldn't have said it any better myself, all though I have written a post about why people's blogs suck so I guess in a way I have. Great post, and I love how you didn't let go of the concept and stuck with the "suck".
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yeah? I'm going to have to go check out that post on your blog, John. I kind of love saying that things suck when they really do, so this post wasn't too much of a stretch for me :)
Susan says:

Hey Tristan, this is really funny and hits home pretty hard. I think I am good enough at all of your points and that I might be a notch above sucks. :-)
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I'm glad you liked it, Susan! Thanks for finding me here on Famous Bloggers! And I've checked out your blog several times and can assure you that it does not suck :)
jDesai says:

This is one of the most straightforward posts I've seen in recent times. Love it. I wish you would have written something more about the tone and the overall 'vibe' of the blog posts. Nonetheless, I liked it.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Great, glad you liked it, jDesai! I can talk about tone and vibe in a future post. Thanks for the idea and the comment!
Marlee says:

Tristan! Great to see you over here, you famous blogger you! I think I can add a #8 to your list. 8. You are to busy sucking up to the masses...so your blog sucks. Like you said, providing content that comes from an honest place and provides value is critical to not having a sucky blog. Unfortunately, I see people trying so hard to be loved by all and attract tons of readers that they fail to differentiate themselves in any particular way. I plan to write about this subject soon, but essentially it pays to be polarizing in some respects. Great job!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  GREAT point, Marlee. I wish I had thought of that! I've seen that, too. If you try to be loved by everyone, no one will love you. If you're just yourself, everyone will love you! At least if feels that way to you because you never hear from the people who don't love you! I don't know if I agree that it's good to be polarizing, but maybe I'll agree with you after you read your post about it! :) Well, let me rephrase that. Being polarizing for the sake of being polarizing is a bad idea. If it comes naturally, more power to ya! Thanks for commenting!
  - Marlee says:
    
    Tristan says: "Being polarizing for the sake of being polarizing is a bad idea. If it comes naturally, more power to ya!" Exactly! You nailed it. :)
Ronika says:

Ha. Clearly you know nothing about marshmallow models :) Great points. Unfortunately, with respect to content, it can be difficult to objectively assess the quality of our own writing.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  You are very correct, I know absolutely nothing about marshmallow models, and I would LOVE for someone to start a blog about that and be able to make a living off of it! What you said about assessing the quality of your own writing is really interesting. That's something I've never thought of before. But in a lot of cases I don't think you really need to. I think that's what your readers do best. If you're getting comments telling you how great your stuff is, then I think it's safe to say that you're doing a good job. Otherwise, you might need to work at it. Thanks for commenting, Ronika!
Tia says:

I couldn't agree more with these points. It might suck to discover that your blog sucks, but better to know now than to never know at all. Making changes and corrections is part of learning. Blogging is still new enough that none of us were born with it in our blood. For many of us, especially people who are pioneering the way, it is still trial and error, but all 7 of your points are classic, dead-on, and will never change. Awesome job, Tristan. This will be very helpful for many new (and/or struggling) bloggers.
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks for the comment, Tia. I think you're spot on. Like I said in the post, there are areas my blog sucks in. But I know that and am taking or will take the steps to rectify that in the future. One of the biggest challenges is to look at your blog objectively. And yes, if you aren't willing to change and continually optimize your blog, other blogs will pass you by. Awesome point. Thanks so much for commenting!
TrafficColeman says:

Tristan, man you are on point with each of the tips..people need to take their blogging serous because it you don't you will end up on the outside looking in. "TrafficColeman "Signing Off"
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Thanks, Antonio. You nailed it with your "Outside looking in comment." Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Daniel Sharkov says:

All valid points there Tristan. Sucking at each one of them can have a very bad impact on your blog. That is what makes blogging a hard job - you need to be good at a lot of things in order to have an edge over the competition. You have to be a passionate writer, you need to also know a few things on design. Promoting your content should not be disregarded as well. Being bad at writing of course is the worst thing. Why are you even blogging when you can't write? LOL! The example with bad spelling you have given is an absolute true. I can't express with words how annoying it can be to try and digest the information from an article, full of grammar mistakes. Great article mate! Keep up the great work! :)
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Daniel, I agree that writing is the single best talent you can have as a blogger. Everything else is nice to have, but writing is just essential (unless you're doing a podcast or video blog...). You're spot on about the reason being good at blogging is hard. You really do need to be a sort of jack of all trades. Thanks for the valuable comment, Daniel!
Steve says:

Isn't the politically correct way to say it: "Reasons why your perfectly fine site has a negative reaction on it's viewers that can cause them to vomit in their shoes?" anywho... I think content is the most important reason, but design is a HUGE topic that has many little "subreasons" 1. a viewer should have an idea of what the "purpose" of your site is about right away (think I need to work on this a little bit) 2. Navigation- If a great article falls in the woods and no one can find it...does it matter? 3. general "look" 4. Ads. Ads are cool. a few placed here and there is of course fine. But I have seen sites that you almost could not find where the content was because of the ads. 5. loadtime- when a site is so bogged with flash, plugins and graphics that it takes forever to load, this can be a bummer
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I agree, Steve. As you so eloquently put it, design is a big one! And it really not hard to have a blog that doesn't make you want to barf all over your laptop. In fact, in some ways it actually takes MORE effort to have a crappy design. You've got to actually go choose that ugly theme (the standard one that comes with WP these days really isn't that bad) and manually add all of those hideous flashing ads, etc. Great points, and I appreciate the comment (as always!).
Phillip Dews says:

Hmmm, come to think of it my Blog sucks at the moment! its not the content but the look and feel of it! I am a person that gets board easily and am always changing the look and feel on my blog! I really need to find a decent theme that suits my personality and keeps me from changing. could you recommend any Tristian! Great post buddy has got me inspired again! -P
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  I'm glad you liked the post, Phillip! Looking for a premium theme? Like Hesham here at Famous Bloggers, I recommend the Thesis theme to everyone that asks. I bought it last year for $150 for the developer's version and haven't looked back since. It's incredibly powerful and I can get my blogs looking pretty much exactly how I want them, though it can take a fair amount of tinkering and tweaking. I've also used the Frugal theme (I forget how much it was) and it's great, too. I've used Genesis as well and didn't find it quite as user friendly as the other two. I haven't used free ones in a while, but SimpleFolio is a beautiful, professional-looking one that I installed a few days ago on a side project blog and I'm pretty happy with it. Hoped that helped! Thanks for the comment!
- Hesham says:
  
  Phillip , I agree with what Tristan said in his reply to you! Also I would like to add if you hire a designer and pay $3000 or so, your problem will be solved for ever, as you will never got bored again so easily haha (just kidding) but it could be a good solution for being bored :) Seriously, I do a lot of changes and design tweaks , but not because I got bored, it's usually to enhance to blog performance and add new features! So this never ends!
  - Phillip Dews says:
    
    Cheers Guys for your Imput. Actually I found a great looking one today That I have tweaked in Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I would love to Hire a Designer Hesham but actually i have a sideline webdesign business myself. But have never designed my own Wordpress theme, I only tweak them! Thanks Anyway -Phillip
Ardorm says:

I think that if you aren't friendly to your visitors, then your blog will eventually suck. That was the only detail I could add ;-) Great post, by the way!
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Yes, great point, Ardorm. If you're a jerk to your readers, obviously you suck at blogging and therefore your blog sucks. Thanks for the comment!
Ryan Biddulph says:

Hi Tristan, Lol on this one: "the Internet creates a blissful wall of anonymity that people are only so happy to hide behind so they can chew you out." Yeah, that is DEFINITELY the case. Bloggers always have room for improvement because no one has yet to run the perfect blog. The successful bloggers acknowledge their shortfalls and are willing to address them. Content is indeed the #1 factor in running a blog that doesn't suck. Provide something of value and readers are more likely to overlook suckiness in other areas of your blog. I'm out of suction ;) Thanks for sharing your insight. Ryan
- Tristan Higbee says:
  
  Glad you liked that line, Ryan. I feel it's one of the better ones I've written recently :) Awesome point about there being no perfect blog. There is no perfect blogger. Everyone has made mistakes, and there is no perfect system that will fork for everyone if applied. Yup, having good content can indeed atone for your blog's sins elsewhere! Thanks for the awesome comment, buddy!

7 Reasons Your Blog Sucks

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