I’ve seen loads of people here saying they aren’t making any money from their blog or they can’t get any traffic at all. I figured I’d share my own story and what I learned the hard way.
When I first started, I had big dreams, but after months of writing, I barely had any visitors. My mistake? I was writing what I liked, not what my readers actually wanted.
To fix this, I did some research to find out what my audience was searching for and tried to answer those questions. My traffic finally picked up because I was giving people useful info they were looking for.
Another thing I messed up was throwing ads on too quickly. I thought I’d start making easy money that way, but it just annoyed my visitors. When I switched to recommending products I actually used, I saw better results. Turns out, people trust you more when you’re genuine.
Patience was a big one too. Blogs don’t make money right away. By sticking to creating helpful content, working on SEO, and choosing the right way to make money, I finally started to earn something. It really is about knowing your audience, staying in for the long haul, and not giving up too soon.
Feel free to ask any questions, I’ll try to help out!
This post sounds kinda off to me. Feels like one of those ‘too good to be true’ things. If this was anywhere else, I’d have clicked out after the second line.
Miles said:
I don’t know… something feels really weird about the tone here. Like, isn’t it strange how it’s all super basic?
Right? It’s like someone showing off a project made in Blender, and then someone says ‘You just used a tool; anyone could do it.’ It’s funny how people don’t see the work behind it.
Writing for Google doesn’t work forever. Anyone remember how people lost tons of traffic after the last Google update? It’s because they wrote just for keywords and not about things they actually cared about.
If I was writing about my cats, I’d write about everyday stuff – like hairballs, surgery, or even funny things they do. People going through the same thing would find it interesting.
But some folks just write for clicks with posts like ‘Can cats eat X?’ They made dozens of separate posts on every food cats can’t eat instead of one decent article. Google eventually caught on and shut them down.
So yeah, doing keyword research and trying to game the system is risky. It’s better to write what you genuinely know and enjoy. I’ve been blogging full-time since 2017 and have stuck to topics I actually care about. That’s been the only way for me.
@Ron
I’ve been at it since 2003! I never put ads on my blog either. Ads don’t align with my views on privacy, and I’m glad Google is finally facing consequences for some of that ad stuff.
I don’t think ads are terrible, but having too many is overwhelming. Even news sites are guilty of this now. Ads are okay in moderation, but I think affiliate links, like you said, work better if they’re authentic.
@Gregory
I block all ads, mostly because of accessibility. As someone who’s blind and gets migraines, it’s just too much to sift through. And the trackers? I don’t want Facebook or anyone else embedding ads and following me around!
If you’re not doing tech reviews or something people really want, and you’re just blogging random stuff, maybe it’s because what you’re saying isn’t as interesting as you think. Knowing keywords is nice, but it won’t save you if you’re not captivating people. Blogging can be a slog if you’re not sharing anything unique.
Most blogs I read that aren’t trying to get clicks are often just fragmented thoughts, product plugs, or rants about random things. People don’t care about a random product or some long-winded essay unless there’s actual substance to it. Write something complete, and people will read.
@Williamson
I keep a personal blog for myself. Not after followers, and you won’t see any ads on there either, so adblock or not, it doesn’t matter to me.
A lot of bloggers pick the wrong niche. For tech stuff, people can just ask AI like ChatGPT or Gemini now. Same goes for finance or gaming. And then Apple’s app tracking changes hurt ad revenue too, and Google’s HCU update didn’t help either.