One of the main ways to avoid having your blog enter the ever-increasing list of “dead” blogs is having new content displayed at the top of your blog nearly every day.  Achieving this is an important step in the right direction if you want to rocket your blog to success.  If the popular blogs were to stop posting, they wouldn’t lost thousands of visitors the first few days of inactivity, instead, the resource would still be there, but not the author - the most important element of a blog right behind new content and an evolution in the right direction.

Think about it in this sense - you go to a local grocery store or anywhere magazines and newspapers are sold.  Seeing the cover of a magazine that hasn’t been replaced or sold from the rack in a few months, it has developed a “dusty” and worn appearance to it.  You can tell that the periodical hasn’t been a big seller, for the reason that it is now outdated.  At one time, people were quick to pick up this magazine, flocking to read each new month of it, but now that all the editors have left the company behind the magazine, no new articles are drafted for publication.  Older versions still exist, but no new ones.

A similar topic has been previously addressed on this blog before, however I want to draw some attention to a few new ways that you can avoid having your blog appear as outdated and not updated.

1. Periodically Change the Layout of Your Blog - Finding the perfect theme to match the personality and type of blog you are running can be a challenge.  For this reason, add new content, change your advertisements (if you are monetizing your site), or completely revamp the purpose of your site.
2. Change Your Posting Habits - Developing a bad set of posting habits can be detrimental to your blog.  You begin to lose traffic, then subscribers, then ad revenue (once again if you are monetizing your site).  Break the habit by posting again.  It’ll be a refreshing wake-up call to begin posting again.  
3. Leave Little “Tidbits” About What You are Doing - Add a Twitter area above your main posts area if you are truly unable to post for a period of time.  Doing so allows your readers see what is happening, while you are away from doing regular, longer-length posts.  They will likely continue to leave comments, decide to follow you on Twitter, or continue reading your blog.
4. Request Guest Bloggers or Advance-Post - Simply, don’t let your blog appear as though it has been abandoned.  Write several posts, then date them in the future (sometimes changing the time stamp as a more recent date) to refresh your blog.
5. Add Images to Your Posts - Try a different approach to posting daily by adding new images or changing the titles of your recent posts.  This may not be the best approach, but it will help people who visit your blog daily realize that you are still lurking around.

While I continually reiterate how important it is to continually update your blog, you also have to realize the effects this leaves on your readers.  If you developed quite a following before you slowed down in posting, you’ll likely suffer a greater loss than if you had just begun blogging.  

There must be an extremely good reason that you should stop blogging, as many of the excuses that people make can not hold substance when there are thousands of successful bloggers.  You’re the next one!

Bloggers are often quick to say that they have lost motivation in blogging.  It becomes easy to distract from your blog and focus on other aspects of your life that require more attention, in areas that take time away from your blogging schedule.

When you first created your blog, registering a domain, choosing a template, and adding content, you had a main motive.  For some reason, that motivation has disappeared and you have pushed the chore of blogging aside.  

How can you regain some of the motivation that was lost?  Here are a few simple ways:

1. Associate yourself with positive individuals.  A timeless motivation technique that allows you to connect with other bloggers or family members who may boost your spirits and encourage you to do something you once loved doing.
2. Create a new environment.  If you have become relaxed and unwilling to update your blog, it may be time to change the environment you blog in.  Move your desk/computer to a new location in your home to see if it has any effect or simply change the “mood” of the room.  It can greatly impact your mood when blogging, too.
3. Don’t overwork or stress out about anything.  Stressing out is a leading cause for people to stop blogging.  They often feel that they can not keep their blog updated or try to produce extensive posts that are beyond their daily limits.
4. Stick with a schedule.  If your blog requires a set schedule for keeping it updated, then stick to it.  Don’t let distractions get in the way of your main goals.
5. Realize the rewards and potential.  Think about the community that you are building by creating your site and the new interactions you have with others.  It can be the most rewarding to find that you have a new comment or new subscribers.
6. Look back.  Take a second to look back at what you have accomplished.  Even if hasn’t been much, these small accomplishments help you stay motivated to continue blogging.
7. Don’t have regrets.  Feeling ashamed for doing something that may have impacts on your career as a blogger should not overwhelm you.  Nearly every blogger has regrets, but you can’t work up over small problems you have faced.
8. Change your posting frequency/schedule/type.  Perhaps you have grown tired of posting about topics that don’t interest you.  This may cause you to feel as though you are repeating something you don’t enjoy doing each day.  That isn’t a good habit to form, and needs to be broken immediately.  Travel outside your boundaries to find a topic that you enjoy writing about.  Form a “personal” blog so you can explore this area, then transfer some of your findings to your “professional” blog.
9. Ignore negative people/events.  Depending on your stance on comment moderation, you can banish negative thoughts on your blog.  It is your blog you are running, not a property that others own.
10. Participate in something you enjoy/take a break.  Taking a break or doing something that gets your mind off blogging (sometimes leading to a rather extended blog vacancy.  Reconnect with something that you love doing, it may get some of your motivation back to begin blogging again. 

In conclusion, how do you stay motivated?  Is it the fact that you enjoy what you are doing or does it go beyond that to your main goals and motivation - to accomplish something that you haven’t ventured to do before?

The main aspect of blogging to remember is that failure isn’t the end of the world and anyone, under any circumstance, can recover from a few missteps and come out stronger and more proactive than before.