Should I Kill One of My Blogs?
First, let me give a little history behind my blog murder plot. As many of you know, I own and write for several blogs…four to be exact. I am also developing a trivia website, run a site for our disc golf club, and manage the website at my day job. It’s a lot to manage, but that was the plan from the beginning. I would put up blogs covering the topics I felt most passionate about and would drop any blog that didn’t attract a strong reader base.
Well, SevenActions.com is the under-performing blog. Here are the performance facts:
- I have averaged 3 posts a week since launching on January 1, 2008…68 days ago.
- Traffic is currently averaging 94 daily uniques, but nearly all of that traffic is from two posts that were wildly successful with Stumble traffic.
- Subscribers currently total an unimpressive 11, with a past high of only 19.
- Comments are rare on any of the posts. The average is .9 comments per post.
What these numbers tell me is that readers are simply not connecting with the blog. Design is some of the problem, but I believe content is a much bigger issue. Here are the problems with the blog from my perspective.
- First and foremost, the blog suffers from an unclear mission. The idea of Seven Actions was to look at our entire lives through seven different actions, but that has lead to posts with varied topics and no consistency for the reader.
- The blog design is boring, from the amateurish logo (my design) to the simplistic theme. I am using a premium theme on the site, but I’m not happy with the results.
- The subscriber button is not prominently displayed.
- I don’t post frequently enough about my own success with personal goal achievement. These posts seem to get the most reads from non-Stumble traffic.
So, I’m left with a dilemma. And like some other desperate men before me, I am considering murder as an easy way out. I am thinking about killing the blog. Of course, there are options. Here are the ideas I have come up with.
- Sell the blog to someone who could turn it into a successful site.
- Make changes to the design and content - try to make it work.
- Revamp the entire concept of the site. Change it from a blog to a resource site for personal achievement. Some of the existing content could be used.
- Call up my cousin’s friend and ask him to “take care of the job.” I’ve been told he is discrete and efficient. I don’t want any problems…if you know what I mean.
OR, I could post about this on Blogging Startup and ask your opinion. So, what do you suggest? Is it possible to save this blog, or should I put it out of it’s misery? Making the changes needed to give the blog a clear direction could be quite challenging…any thoughts on how to do that? I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas.
By the way, there are five more days in the BS contest, and every comment here will earn one entry!
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Comments
I’m sure it’ll rise up if you address the issues you mentioned above..
My consideration is usually based on whether the result worth my time re-working it or not.
Like Shari said, I agree that the content is great. Since content is king, you only need to find a queen
I think there is really no point of killing one of your blog. You have put enough effort in it before and it is something that money can’t buy but if you really got no time in blogging why not sell it off since am pretty much sure that many people would surely looking for blogs like yours since you are writing great articles.
I would say the value in selling would really be in devoting more time to your other blogs, rather than any monetary value. Is the blog earning at all?
Hi - It is my first time here, so I can’t comment on the quality of the blog. But, you’ve only had it a couple of months. That isn’t long enough to make a decision on how well it’s going to do. As you have a few other blogs, I would say choose the ones you enjoy posting on and ditch the rest.
Great question, Tom. Running multiple blogs is tough and getting rid of one is even tougher, as they’re all like your babies, right?
My first question is: Why do you have the SevenActions blog? Did you create it to make money? To set goals for yourself and keep a record of them? If it’s purely for you, then honestly, who cares if you have 0 comments, 0 subscribers, etc. It’s all for you. If you make money and/or friends in the process, great.
As for only posting 3 times a week, uh, do you know how many blogs barely keep up with 1 post a week!?!? 3 a week is definitely decent.
The way I see it, if it’s a true burden right now and you don’t enjoy doing it, then get rid of it. Or convert it to a total resource site with no blog updates. Done. If you still like it, just don’t have the time to dedicate to it, then I suggest either opening it up to a few more contributors, or maybe setting a theme type schedule. Post 2 or 3 times a week tops (which is what you’re doing now), but make every Monday a general post and then every Wed or Thurs is your weekly action post, where you rotate between 1 of the 7 actions you talk about. That way you’re a bit more focused and you’re still contributing regularly.
And I have zero idea why I just wrote “Tom” instead of “Jim.” Scratch that, reverse it. My most sincere apologies, Jim. 
I agree that the theme could use some work, but your articles are excellent! I’d like to see this blog’s life spared.
How about opening it up to multiple authors? With more than one poster to share the burden, articles could be posted more frequently and that alone should help boost awareness.
I also like your idea of revamping it from a blog to a resource site. It seems like that wouldn’t be too difficult since you already have pages set up for each area.