Many Blogs are Dying, Don’t Let Yours

While there may be millions of blogs out there, around this time each year, many of them mysteriously “die out.” In other words, the holidays consumed the blog owners, or they have simply moved onto “bigger and better” things for the new year. Quickly moving to some stats, you’ll notice that each year (at least for the term blogs) there is a noticeable swing up at the end of the year, which peaks around mid-year, only falling towards the last month of each year.

The trend has repeated for a noticeable portion of the last six years, and it can also be seen in the news reference area (bottom graph). What this means for you, as a blogger (if you are still interested in blogging) is that many bloggers simply call it quits towards the end of the year.

How to Avoid the Great Dilemma of Returning to Your Blog

I covered how to de-stress while blogging, but there are certainly other ways that you can get back to blogging after an extended period. Even some of the largest blogs take a break over the December to January transition, so it isn’t something you need to be extremely concerned about.

1. Have several posts ready before you go on “break” and have them scheduled to be posted when you would normally post – for example, every other day. It’ll give your readers the appearance that you have still been active. However, it’ll also give you some more time to think of new topics or to get back in the swing of things.
2. Being active elsewhere will greatly improve your ability to return to blogging. Assuming you already have profiles set up in forums and are able to comment on other blogs, it may be a good time to promote your blog, too.
3. Become inspired by other blogs. There are still plenty of blogs that published content during the holidays, so this content can help provide some inspiration for your own blog.
4. Set new targets or create a new strategy. Doing this will ensure that 2010 is your best year yet for blogging. Nothing will prevent you from achieving this except you. If you misunderstand where you need your blog to go, then you will also forget what made your blog successful (to any degree) in the past.
5. Just think about how everyone else may have trouble getting into the swing of things again. You are in the same situation as them, and they have been able to return, so why can’t you?

Conclusion

The reason for this post is due to the fact that I have seen a large number of popular bloggers become absent from blogging since the transition to the new year (some of them after more than three weeks). Just because a new year has arrived, it doesn’t mean it is time to call it quits blogging, but a time to get a fresh start.