If you told me, “Kara, I’m blogging, I’m showing up, I’m staying relatively consistent, and I’m doing everything I know to do with blog posts—but I’m just not seeing any sales from it,” I’d have two main questions for you. Or really, two key areas we’d want to explore to figure out where the issues might be if your blog isn’t working.
That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about today. This is going to be a shorter episode, but if you’re wondering whether your blog posts are actually converting—if you’ve been putting in the work for at least six months (maybe even longer) and you’re still not seeing results—then this episode is for you.
I’m going to help you pinpoint the problem. Sound good? Okay, let’s dive in.
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Table of Contents
Okay, so as a marketer, I feel pretty strongly that almost all marketing problems come down to either a traffic issue or a conversion issue.
Now, this might be a bit specific to me since I specialize in search-driven marketing, but I really believe if you can nail those two things—traffic and conversion—you’re in a solid place. The thing is, we often focus on one or the other, and most of the time, I think the real problem is the second one: conversion.
A lot of us think we need more traffic—more people, more eyes—but the truth is, we often don’t need nearly as many as we assume. You might have 1,000 followers (or however many), but your actual goal might be something like 10 ideal clients or selling 50 digital products. And in most cases, you already have access to more than enough people to hit those goals.
That said, I will talk about traffic issues too (because that might be why your blog isn’t working). But before we dive into all that, I want to give you a quick personal update. It’s something that’s been on my mind—not quite enough to make a full episode about, but worth sharing.
Before we talk about why your blog isn’t working, do you need more motivational content in your life?
So, I have to laugh at myself because I’m such an Enneagram 3, classic workaholic—I’ll binge online courses and podcasts before I’ll binge a Netflix show. That’s just who I am. But lately, I’ve been experimenting with something different that’s actually had a surprisingly positive impact.
Here it is… and yes, I’m looking around like someone’s watching me (even though I’m alone in my office)—I’ve been listening to motivational content.
I know, it sounds a little silly coming from me. Historically, I’ve been all about educational content. I’ve always thought, “I don’t need that ‘rah rah, you can do it!’ energy.” So I avoided it. But recently, because I’m nosy and love a bit of internet tea, I got caught up in the whole Mel Robbins “Let Them” drama. You’ve probably heard about it—the book, and then the debate about whether she stole the idea from someone else.
Now, I’m not here to weigh in on that—I honestly don’t care to. Not because stealing ideas isn’t serious, but because I’m just not going down that rabbit hole today.
Anyway, the point is, I ended up listening to The Let Them Theory audiobook just out of curiosity from all the buzz. And surprisingly… I really liked how I felt while listening to it. So then I tried The 5 Second Rule—which, by the way, is essentially nine hours of her saying: “When you don’t want to do something, count down 5-4-3-2-1 and just do it.”
Yes, that probably could’ve been a single podcast episode, not a full-length book. But again, I liked the energy it gave me. I felt more motivated. I got more done. And it started to shift how I approached my day.
I never used to allow myself to consume that kind of content. But it really made a noticeable difference in my energy. So I just wanted to share that in case you’re someone who loves educational stuff but maybe feels stuck or in a bit of a rut (which, let’s be honest, a lot of us do these days).
So no, I’m not saying you have to listen to Mel Robbins. But maybe try throwing a little motivational content into your weekly rotation. It doesn’t have to be me—I’m not your hype girl. I’m the one saying, “This is hard work.” But still, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Now, let’s talk about why your blog isn’t working.
1. Why Your Blog Posts Might Not Be Converting
So, if your blog isn’t working—as in, your posts aren’t bringing in sales or you’re unsure whether they’re even ranking—the first thing to ask is: is this a conversion issue?
The very first question I’d have for you is: Is it obvious who the author is and what their perspective is? In other words, are you clearly stating what you do and how the information you’re sharing connects to that?
Here’s the thing—ChatGPT can’t do this for you. Sure, you can ask it to write a blog post about XYZ, and it will. And tone aside—because I know a lot of us have trained our tools to mimic our voice—if it’s just information, it’s going to end up sounding kind of like a Wikipedia article. Dry. Generic. Not surprising that your blog isn’t working.
Let’s use the wedding industry as an example, since I’m super familiar with wedding blogs. Say you’re a photographer writing a post like, “Should You Do a First Look or Not?” If someone stumbles across that blog post, they’re going to assume they’re reading something like The Knot or WeddingWire—just generic wedding info—unless you explicitly tell them otherwise.
I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating if your blog isn’t working: when you’re structuring a blog post that’s meant to sell, it’s important to be intentional. Here’s how I like to approach it:
- First paragraph: Introduce the topic.
- Second paragraph: Introduce yourself. Something like, “By the way, I’m so-and-so, here’s what I do, here’s how you can work with me, and here’s where to find more (like a freebie or Instagram link).”
Then you jump into the actual content. And at the end, you finish strong with multiple calls to action. Why? Because people land on your blog at all different stages of their research journey. Some are ready to hire someone like you right now. Others are just starting to realize they even have a problem to solve.
When I audit blog posts—which I don’t do often outside of client work—this is one of the biggest things I flag. Even something as simple as adding an “About the Author” section at the bottom can make a huge difference if your blog isn’t working. We want it to be blatantly obvious who the author is, why someone should trust them, and how to work with them.
Optimizing for Skimmers
And remember: most blog readers are skimmers. You’ve got to make your presence clear and compelling. Even if you’re not the type to forget this (especially if you’ve been listening to the podcast), a lot of people still write blog posts like they’re speaking to their warm audience—people who already follow them.
Instead, I think you should write every blog post as if you’re speaking to someone brand new—someone who found you cold through Google and hasn’t even seen your homepage yet. Because often, your blog post is their landing page.
So again, if your blog isn’t working, ask: Is it a conversion issue? And if it is, this is the very first thing I’d recommend changing.
Fix for conversion before you try ad “get more traffic”
Also while we talk about whether or not your blog isn’t working, when you’re looking at your website data, and you’re feeling discouraged by small numbers and feel like your blog isn’t working, put it into perspective. Most of us don’t need tens of thousands of views. We need 20 or 30 people to take action. Maybe even less.
I’m not saying you should be thrilled if your site gets only 30 hits a month—but let’s be real: most of us don’t have websites with 100,000 page views. And that’s okay. I’d always, always recommend fixing conversion issues before chasing more traffic. Because if you’ve got 500 or even 1,000 people coming to your site each month and no one’s reaching out…that’s not going to magically change when you reach 5,000.
2. Why Your Blogs Aren’t Getting Traffic
Now, let’s say you do have a traffic issue and that’s why your blog isn’t working. Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ve been blogging for months, and my Google Search Console still says only 30 people are finding me a month.” Okay—then yes, that’s a traffic problem. Your blog isn’t working.
The very first thing I’d ask is: Are you going too wide with your content?
I know this sounds super basic, but seriously—do you have a niche? Let me give you an example. Take this podcast, for instance—by the way, I think I’m recording episode 72 right now (don’t quote me on that). You already know what episode it is if you clicked play, but it’s kind of wild to realize how far along I am in this podcasting journey.
This podcast for example? Goes too wide.
This could be why your blog isn’t working. Anyway, if this podcast were a new blog, I’d be going way too broad. I’ve talked about scaling a business, finding content ideas, dealing with a VA who keeps quitting, lessons I learned last week, staying solo as a business owner, interviews with different kinds of entrepreneurs… that’s a lot of directions. So if this were a brand-new blog, the question would be: Who is this for? And what am I even talking about?
The newer your blog is, the more important it is to narrow your focus.
For me, this podcast is part creative outlet and part space for broader conversations—it’s not always just about blogging and Pinterest. And I like that. That’s one of the reasons I started it. So I’m not going to change that format.
But if I were using this podcast strictly to drive traffic and convert leads for my services, especially if I were early in business and looking for quick results, I’d keep it laser-focused. I wouldn’t be bouncing all over the place. I’d stick to topics like:
- Blogging tips for businesses
- Blogging formulas to follow
- How to structure blog posts for sales
- How to write a blog in WordPress
- How to share blog posts on Pinterest
- How to track blog analytics
You get the idea. If your blog isn’t working, I’d go super niche—and honestly, there’s a lot you can talk about within a small, specific corner of your expertise.
Centering your blog around a niche
And when all your blog content centers on one niche, those posts naturally start linking to each other. It strengthens your internal site structure, boosts SEO, and just makes everything work better together. Definitely do this if your blog isn’t working!
So, like I said, this is a shorter episode, but if you’re sitting there wondering, “Is my blog even working?”—these are the two things I’d want you to look at:
- Is it a conversion issue?
- Is it a traffic issue?
From there, you can tweak your strategy accordingly if your blog isn’t working. And here’s my advice: once you’ve been consistent for 6–12 months, don’t change things too quickly. Pick one thing to try if your blog isn’t working—either niche down your content or add more of you into your posts (your expertise, your personality, and clear calls to action). Then, give it at least three months before reevaluating if your blog isn’t working.
Marketing takes time. It needs room to breathe and time to work.
That’s all I’ve got for you today if your blog isn’t working. I’ll talk to you next week!
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