79 Ways To Kill Your Blog

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts

Have you ever killed your blog?

Did you know that a blog can be killed other than by just deleting it?

While not all of the items on the following list will kill your blog instantly, some are what some call slow burners, where the killing of your blog will take much longer.

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Are you thinking of killing your blog?

Are you responsible for doing any of these to your blog?

  1. Don’t have an ‘about me’ page on your blog.
  2. The ‘about me’ page takes visitors more than a minute to find.
  3. The ‘about me’ page starts with these words – ‘this is an example of an about me page…’
  4. The number of followers is more important to you than what you write and publish.
  5. Publishing too many poor-quality posts due to rushing them.
  6. Believe you have to publish content several times daily; otherwise, nobody will visit your blog.
  7. Have links on your blog that you have no idea are broken or can not be bothered to fix.
  8. You do not respond to comments.
  9. You do not respond to questions or queries.
  10. Don’t allow anyone to leave comments on your blog.
  11. Ignore your readers.
  12. Do not treat visitors to your blog as guests.
  13. Don’t give yourself a name by which you can be addressed in the comments section.
  14. Do not read other blogs.
  15. Do not leave comments on other blogs.
  16. Believe that blogging is going to make you rich.
  17. Believe your blog will make money within the first year.
  18. Leave links with no relevance (usually to your own posts) on the posts of other bloggers when not invited to do so.
  19. Don’t believe you need to promote your blog.
  20. Refuse to use social media to boost your blog posts.
  21. Refuse to keep up to date with blogging technology and changes.
  22. Think readers will find you rather than you find your readers.
  23. Do not use enough ‘white space’ between the paragraphs in your blog posts.
  24. The paragraphs on your posts are too long and blocky (more than 5 sentences long).
  25. Have no way readers can contact you on your blog other than by leaving a comment. (No ‘contact me’ page).
  26. Do not thank people for sharing your posts on their blogs.
  27. Do not use images and/or photos in any posts.
  28. Use images, photos and words (including lyrics) on your blog which are copyrighted and not free to use.
  29. Do not ask permission to use photos and/or images owned by other bloggers before using them.
  30. Ignore all copyright advice.
  31. Respond to constructive, negative comments in an unprofessional and unfriendly manner.
  32. Allow other bloggers to spam your blog with links that have nothing to do with the post’s content.
  33. Keep begging other bloggers to reblog your posts, visit, or follow your blog.
  34. Leave worthless comments on other blogs.
  35. Leave worthless comments on other blogs which clearly show you’ve not read the post.
  36. Do not take time to edit posts before publishing them.
  37. Do not preview your posts before publishing them.
  38. Inundate followers with too many posts in a short space of time instead of scheduling them out.
  39. Respond to comments left by trolls in the comments section of your blog, where all can read them.
  40. Allow trolls to leave comments on your blog.
  41. Allow trolls to attack other bloggers who have left comments.
  42. Personally attack other bloggers in the comments section on your own or different blogs.
  43. Steal the ideas of other bloggers and publish them on your blog as if the content is original and has been written by you.
  44. Fail to maintain and house-keep your blog regularly.
  45. Keep reblogging or rescheduling your own posts which are less than a few months old.
  46. Do not have a ‘landing’ page that will keep visitors returning.
  47. Ignore advice and feedback from other bloggers.
  48. Believe that blogging will only take up a few minutes of your time every week.
  49. Wake up and dread opening up your blog because of all the comments you will need to reply to.
  50. Keep telling your readers that you are giving blogging up, and keep coming back.
  51. Allow blogging to stress you out.
  52. Allow blogging to make you feel guilty.
  53. Your blog and/or blog posts are poorly laid out.
  54. Choose a font and background combination that makes it hard for visitors to read your posts.
  55. Fail to categorise all your blog posts (including reblogs).
  56. Fail to add ‘tags’ to your blog posts.
  57. Don’t understand ‘pingbacks’ and how to use them.
  58. Have no ‘search’ bar on your blog.
  59. Have a menu that is too top-heavy, making it overwhelming to readers.
  60. Fail to add your blog details to your gravatar.
  61. Fail to connect your social media accounts to your blog.
  62. Have pop-up boxes on your blog that can not be removed unless somebody subscribes to your mailing list.
  63. Have pop-up boxes on your blog which keeps popping up every time someone visits or until they have subscribed to your mailing list.
  64. Keep suffering from blog envy when you read a post you’d wish you’d written.
  65. Regularly publish posts that tell your readers to buy your book(s) or other products and services you offer rather than allow them to decide if they want to buy them.
  66. You believe that blogging is all about the number of blog posts you can publish daily rather than what you are writing about.
  67. You think you have the power to read and comment on every new blog post on all the blogs you follow.
  68. Fail to update your readers that you are about to take a blogging break and how long it will last.
  69. Lose motivation and a desire to continue blogging when your blog stats take a nosedive.
  70. Believe that everyone will enjoy reading every post you write and publish.
  71. Believe that all your followers will read and comment on all your posts.
  72. Get upset when your blog loses followers.
  73. Argue with bloggers and readers for failing to read and comment on all your blog posts.
  74. Follow other blogs in the hope that they will follow back before unfollowing them again.
  75. Believe all your readers will agree with everything you say in your blog posts.
  76. Think nobody will dare to disagree with what you have to say by leaving a constructive comment telling you why they disagree.
  77. Criticise other bloggers behind their backs (in the comments section of your own blog or on other blogs) for wanting to help other bloggers.
  78. Maintain too many blogs, thus spreading yourself too thinly.
  79. Fail to take some time away from blogging (knowing that you need to) because you believe the blogging world can not survive without you.

What about you? What would you add to the list? How would you kill your blog other than by deleting it?

This is an updated version of a post I wrote and published in 2017.

You can find the answers to solving many of the above issues by clicking on ‘blogging tips’ in the menu at the top of my blog, but feel free to leave any questions in the comments section. I’m always happy to help.

Whatever you do, keep Blogging Fun!

Copyright © 2022 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

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135 thoughts on “79 Ways To Kill Your Blog”

  1. The only thing I’d say is that different bloggers have different goals and motivations for having a blog…so some things on your list wouldn’t apply to everyone. Is that opinion okay? I definitely agree with some of the more outrageous things people do–the begging you to Read and Follow them, arrgghh! And my experience with having an ABOUT page is that no one read them, weren’t interested. Okay, time for bed. Best regards.

    Reply

    1. Yes, absolutely Ok. I don’t expect everyone to agree with everything I have to say.

      My ‘about me’ page is my blog’s most viewed page/post, with over 33,000 visits and hundreds of comments and pingbacks to it. Take a look at how many people have visited your ‘about me’ page. You may be surprised.

      Reply

  4. The only one I’m questioning is 21. How would that mean the death of a blog if someone didn’t change from classic editor to block editor (for example). If they don’t adopt the changes it could mean their productivity suffers but would it really mean they lose followers/traffic?

    One to add to your list – failing to optimise images before uploading so they take such a long time to load on the site, that readers lose interest.

    Reply

    1. I know of a few bloggers who killed off their blogs and stopped blogging because they refused to use the Block editor (other commentators have also said the same). While some did not give up and moved to other blogging platforms, they lost a lot of followers in the process; this caused one or two to give up blogging entirely.

      I also know of some who refused to change their blog’s theme because it had been retired and was no longer supported by WordPress. It seems some bloggers just will not accept any changes at all.

      I’ve also unfollowed some blogs that continue to use the Classic editor, but mainly because I lost interest in the content they were publishing.

      And that’s a great item to add to the list about not resizing images and photos. Thanks for that one, Karen

      Reply

  5. Hi Hugh, your abundance of experience is evident in this post. You have covered almost every conceivable pitfall that a blogger could encounter – along with a lot of my pet peeves! Thanks for reminding me to give my blog a thorough review to make sure I am not ‘killing it.’

    I typically include a list of good blog reads in my end-of-month wrap-up and would love to include this one if you don’t mind. Good stuff.

    Reply
  6. Pingback: How to write a compelling post! – Keep it alive

  7. Wow! Thanks alot.
    I had no idea how many times I had killed my blog already and I just started blogging.
    A must read for new bloggers.

    Reply

  9. this is a very useful blog, i liked it a lot.
    thanks for sharing it with us.

    can I ask you please to translate it into arabic in my blog (and share your link there of course) to make more people avoid those mistakes too?

    thanks ^_^

    Reply

    1. Thank you.

      You (and any reader) can translate this post to Arabic by using the ‘Translate Hugh’s Blog’ widget towards the bottom of the widget bar to the right of this post. All you need to do is select Arabic from the dropdown list.

      I hope that helps.

      Reply

  10. This is good Hugh. Great warning signs we bloggers must take into consideration. I like this way “Believing blogging will make you rich”, that rakes time to manifest. Thanks for letting us know what can murder our blogs👏

    Reply

  11. Thanks, Hugh, for this generous highlight!

    You never disappoint! 🤗

    Any new blogger must bookmark this post to get this right the first time!. They will not fall into the rabbit hole of re-editing their work over again, as some of us found ourselves in after we got confident with continuous changes of WordPress, Gutenberg, and all the Panda and Penguin Google algorithm upgrades. I smile when I look back at those grueling moments of updating blog posts and website pages!

    I think your list will get longer, considering the new Google helpful content update that is punishing recycled SEO-based content, listicles, AI-generated content, etc that is not user ‘satisfying.’

    Shared the post!

    Reply

    1. One of the easiest things WordPress have given us is switching blog posts written with the classic editor into a block editor post, Hazlo. Like everything else, when new software is introduced, there will always be bugs, but I’m pleased that WordPress do its job with updating software and fixing those annoying bugs. I feel sorry for those left behind who still use the classic editor. They are falling further and further behind in the blogging world instead of keeping up with technology.

      I’m sure this list will grow, but most items will have an easy instant fix (or one in the near future).

      Thank you for your comment.

      Reply

  12. In my 3+ years of blogging, one of the things I’ve done a good job of is to pay attention to experienced bloggers like you. Not only do you have more knowledge about how WordPress all works, but you have what I call institutional blogging knowledge. I believe in the “let’s not reinvent the wheel” philosophy.

    Reply

  14. ‘Nice 👌’

    Every time I see a comment like that, it goes straight to the trash (if they’re not someone I know). That, followed by ‘please visit my page’ really tops the don’ts in commenting.

    This is a great list, and every one of these tips really hit the nail on the head. Thanks for sharing, Hugh!

    Reply

    1. Those are what I call ‘desperate’ comments, Stuart. They are either desperate to leave a comment regardless that they have nothing of value to add or are desperate to improve the number of followers they have (stats are more important than the content they publish). I consider comments that have nothing but emojis to be the same. I loathe them.

      Reply

  15. Love this Hugh. When I saw the post title, it reminded me of the song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”. LOL.

    I must be learning because I don’t think I do any of these things. I’m pretty sure I learned some of these lessons from you, so thank you.

    I do admit, though, that pingbacks are a bit of a mystery to me. Have you ever written a post explaining them?

    Reply

        1. Exactly, Michelle. It’s a link to another blog post or to another webpage. Much safer to use than reblogging, as when created and used, pingbacks do not download any copyrighted material to your blog.

  16. These are great and I intend to print your list out so I can check each off. Two additional things (sorry if they were on your list already): 1) Make sure it is easy to subscribe to your blog. Twice recently, I had to search blogs for the sign-up form and finally gave up. Make it easy for a reader and put it at the top! 2) Enlist a good friend/blogging buddy to review your blog every now and then, preferably on several platforms. I think many of us just assume our blogs are working fine but are not. They might even be able to suggest changes that will make your blog better/user friendly.

    Reply

    1. Those are two important items to add to my list, Janis.

      Before publishing, I always preview my posts in desktop, tablet and phone mode. I’m glad WordPress offers us that feature, although you’re right that some bloggers do not seem to use it. And I always welcome good, constructive feedback from any reader about how my blog is set up or displayed. I may disagree with their suggestions, but I’m always open to listening.

      Thank you for those two extra items.

      Reply

  18. I unfollowed a blog once because the author would post controvérsia topics then delete my comments where I disagreed, and write me e-mails trying to argue about the topic. I think that if you post your opinions about controversial topics it’s to listen to the opinion of those who agree and also those who disagree. Good list I’m probably guilty of long paragraphs here and there.

    Reply

    1. Proving comments that disagree with what I have said are put in a friendly and professional manner. I have no problem approving them. The blogger you mentioned who deleted your comments and then emailed you is certainly someone I would not follow, even if her\his blog posts were good. I’d find those emails as a personal attack on me, which should not happen in the blogging world.

      I’ve been attacked by another blogger on another blog, and although the host blogger stood up for me, I did not respond to the blogger who left the comment. On these occasions, these kinds of bloggers are best left alone. Like trolls, they dislike being ignored and will move on if you don’t respond.

      Reply

      1. I haven’t had anyone attacking me on my blog. I moderate my comments and sometimes I delete a comment before approving it, when it’s purely self-promotional in nature.

        The most common way people seem to kill their blogs is by giving up on them. I have been here for 1 1/2 years only and have already seen several blogues go puff, leaving some pretty nice blogs behind, no goodbye or explanation.

        Reply

        1. It’s sad when bloggers abandon their blogs without giving any reason.

          I also moderate all comments before they appear on my blog. It was on the blog of another blogger that another blogger attacked me. But I ignored their comment.

  20. Hi Hugh, I have not been around much lately, life, preparing for full retirement, but I am tryiong to ease back in to reading blogs and writing posts. I want to hang on to this post, and know like others that I am guilty of some of the things you mention, other items on the list are reassuring and much to learn here. It is helpful that your descriptions and explanations were short, though you probably could have written a paragraph for each one. Thanks and blessings, Michele

    Reply

    1. Happy retirement, Michele.

      I wanted to keep this post as a list, hence no further information, but you can do a search for any of the topics in the search bar, have a look at my other blogging tips posts (under Blogging Tips on the menu), or I’m happy to answer any questions you have here in the comments section. So feel free to ask away. I’m always happy to help.

      Reply

    1. I’ve witnessed many good bloggers give up blogging because they get stressed out or feel guilty for not reading and commenting on all the new posts of all the blogs they follow, Debbie. Some apologised for not reading and commenting because they were ill. They are real ‘shake your head’ moments.

      I recently did some housekeeping on my blog, including reducing what was on my blog’s menu. I was surprised by how many items could be combined into one heading. More about that in an upcoming post.

      Reply

  24. I believe you covered everything, Hugh! How about 80–don’t change with the times (quitting because of the new block editor) LOL! I actually know a few that did. Great list and I’ve made a few of those mistakes but I learned from them, like you!

    Reply

    1. It’s a shame that some gave up blogging because they didn’t want to use the Block editor, Terri. When I first encountered it, I disliked it, but after watching some tutorial videos and reading some information on how to use it, I grew to like it. As Colleen Chesebro once said it’s not hard to use, just different!’ I love that quote.

      And as another blogger once said, ‘I pulled up my big boy trousers and started using it instead of just complaining about it without watching or reading any tutorials on how it works. Now, I’d never use the classic editor.’

      I don’t know about you, but I see a vast difference and improvement in the blogs of bloggers who use the block editor to those still stuck with the classic editor.

      Reply

  25. Thanks for posting this. I started a blog just over a month ago and didn’t really know what I was doing! These ideas made me go back and check what I’d included on the ‘about’ and ‘contact’ pages.

    Reply

    1. That’s wonderful to hear. It looks like I republished this post at just the right time for you.

      Don’t hesitate to come back and ask any questions you may have. I was in your place once, and I’m always happy to help answer new bloggers’ questions.

      Reply

    1. I’ve encountered many of these over the years I’ve been blogging, Colleen. Old-timers? Nah. Still like ‘babes in the woods, I’d say. There is still so much to learn, especially given the constant changes to WordPress. But I like most of the changes. Not all, but most. I enjoy learning new stuff. It would be a boring platform if everything just stayed the same.

      Reply

        1. I’m pleased that the theme I use is still available and active. And I hear that WordPress is introducing new themes that do not offer full site editing.

  27. I think the goal should be to enjoy it first and foremost, otherwise what’s the point. Other than that just be genuine. Care less about the numbers than the connections. Those are my top tips in a nut shell anyway. Great list Hugh – lots of good great advice.

    Reply

    1. Yes, I agree that blogging should never become stressful or make anyone feel guilty. It should always be a fun and enjoyable experience. Sadly, I have seen many bloggers give up blogging because they allowed it or others to stress them out or make them feel guilty for not keeping up with reading and commenting. I say, ‘read and comment at your own pace, but make those comments count.’

      Reply

  28. Thank you my friend.
    Every point you mentioned is worth remembering and sadly majority of the bloggers committed at least one of these mistakes.
    It’s perfectly OK.
    We learn from our mistakes.
    We also come across some arrogant bloggers with the mentality ‘I can never go wrong’ and this is part of the game.
    I have a doubt about Gravatar.
    Is it a must that the blogger should include his/her photo.
    Displaying photo is part of etiquette?
    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. You’re welcome.

      Although I have sadly made some of these mistakes, it is all about learning what works and what does not. We must do all we can to make our blogs friendly and welcoming. A well-maintained blog is a blog everyone will want to visit and follow.

      Everyone has a Gravatar online. I checked yours, and it was good to see that you have connected your website to your Gravatar. Many bloggers forget to do that.

      As for photos, no, you don’t need to include a picture of yourself, although many readers like to see one. However, many bloggers want to remain anonymous, although they should give a name by which they’d like to be known. It doesn’t have to be their real name, but many readers want to know a name by which they can address a blogger. It comes over as more friendly.

      Reply

    1. That’s good to hear, Lex. There is probably more that even I don’t know, but I’m still learning, too. Regarding blogging, It’s good to keep learning about what works and what doesn’t.

      Reply

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