When you go to a site and it reads ‘HIATUS’, is it annoying? For me it is and I have heard from quite a few other bloggers that it can be irksome for them too. What is equally annoying is no updates for a while. Come on people… do you care about keeping your visitors?
Usually the reason a person has a hiatus can vary, but usually boils down to the fact that the blogger does not have enough time and blogging is put on the backburner.
There are a couple ways bloggers alert their visitors to when they are having a hiatus.
1. The blogger shuts the site down completely and posts a short note that they are on hiatus and when they will be back.
2. Leave their blog up but do not update for some time.
Both are annoying. Of course, I know that anyone understands that life can get hectic and perhaps blogging is either a chore or just not important. However, from experience, several things can happen during a hiatus.
- 1. Your Page Rank in Google or Alexa could become worse due to not updating.
- 2. Your traffic will decrease.
- 3. You may lose visitors temporarily or permanently. If you are on hiatus often or for extended periods of time, it could be a total turn-off.
To prevent this, totally shutting the site down or lack of inactivity is not a solution. Instead, you should reduce your number of bloggings to at least once a week. A post only takes 5 to 30 minutes, depending on how fast you type, the topic, and if you need to do in-depth research. Four times a month is great. This will keep your site updated enough to keep your visitors coming back.
When you do blog, you do not have to make the blog long and go over every single thing you did. Just highlight some of it.
And because you can schedule posts, you can write posts ahead of time, schedule them during the time you will be gone, and voilà…. your site is still pumping out fresh content.
You could also do guest bloggers, but make sure to make the call for one ahead of time… perhaps a friend or two that is really good in their niche could spare 10 minutes to write a post for your site.
The point is- keep your site active for your visitors and the search engines.
Sometimes for me, it’s just that I don’t have anything to post about, so I don’t 🙂
Great advice. I always wanted to know what’s the point of shutting the whole site down, if you’re not going to blog. I would just make a blog stating I will be away for awhile and leave my site up so other entities (like archives and etc) can be accessed still.
chanel’s last blog post..rose petals anyone?
Thanks for the tips Nile. A lot of people don’t blog for weeks. I’m still bad at this but only because I’m doing some things to make my post get to more people looking for it. I have a post right now ready to go but I have to hold off until I do a few more changes in the back office. Starting a new niche blog can take time but once I get all optimized I’m going to try to get a post out everyday. I hope so anyway. Thanks for stressing this issue. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Rick Salas
So true, an updated blog with interesting and valuable topics is the best way to make your way to SEs. I know it’s not easy to generate content but planning ahead of time is a good trait.
Thanks nile for pointers. Though, I hope I won’t have to use it as I don’t want to experience hiatus in blogging.
Good points. However, while writing one post in a week, one has to make sure that the quality does not go down, otherwise visitors will slowly run away from the site.
Very helpful information Niles. I’m not really planning a “haitus” but I will be taking a long-overdue vacation later this summer and keeping my blog operational has been on my mind so this is helpful. Knowing this far in advance when and how long I’ll be away allows me to plan by preparing articles in advance so that I can continue to have activity and fresh material ongoing. Thanks!
Quality content always works to make things like nothing else and help to get required traffic as well.
I think that quite a few people don’t understand how a blog helps with marketing. If you were running a store, would you just leave it closed and hopefully your customers would figure out when they need to come back? Blogging shouldn’t be any different.
Great post as I have neglected my blog recently, going for the old ‘just don’t update it’ tactic and clearly my traffic has gone down. You have inspired me to write at least a few more posts and also get guest posts.
Thanks for the tip Nile! I have been blogging for around 2 years now. I put a post up once a week no matter what! Consistency is the key for bloggers.
I find that it is a great way to be Google’s friend!
Thanks again for the advice. I see so many wonderful bloggers not posting for a month or so. It always makes me wonder why?
Bessings,
Donna
Great advice Nile,
I’ve never visited a blog with a sign they were on hiatus, but I’ve been to blogs which are not updated. So being sure to post once a week is a great solution when a blogger needs to put “a hold” on their blog.
I really like your idea of asking a friend to be a guest blogger. It is a win-win situation for both. Thanks!
Raena Lynn
Nile,
Great topic. I have addressed this subject but no solution. I like your solution- just post. Take some time to keep your readers interest. It makes sense.
If I simply don’t have time I have a guest poster, I do a link post or I have a few posts prewritten and ready to go. Usually those are just general subject matter posts but it is something.
~Allie
I am on blogger right now and I am thinking of moving to the WordPress because I have so much stuff on the blog and have problem organizing it (very few category features) and I saw others moving to wordpress.
Nice topic. It makes sense. I won’t have to use it also because I don’t want to experience it. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Nile, You bring up some really good points. Although, I ad to laugh when you said, “A post only takes 5 to 30 minutes…!” I don’t think I’ve made it under an hour 15 minutes yet! And those are the ones where the words are coming well!
I’ve never seen a blog that announced it was on “hiatus.” But I have seen blogs that simply haven’t had anything new for quite awhile. When I have to be gone, I just leave the blog up, but don’t post until I return. Maybe I should write some short blogs and then have one scheduled . . . thanks for bringing that up.
Thanks for discussing this subject — I haven’t seen much written about this.
First, I love the look and attitude of this blog, which I only found today! And I agree, it’s really annoying when bloggers go on hiatus, although I am guilty of this with some of my other blogs too! Although now I am using WordPress (finally saw the light!) I can schedule posts like you say, and go on holiday without having to worry too much.
Thanks Nile
What you said about being able to ” schedule posts, you can write posts ahead of time, schedule them during the time you will be gone, and voilà…. your site is still pumping out fresh content.” was a real eyeopener to me. I find it hard to plan all my writing for my blog but there obvioulsy is a way
Thanks Nile
For sharing such useful informative blog I always try to write but feel fear on the quality of contents but rally it helps me a lot to write my blog.
Sometimes, people just run out of steam and out of idea, i guess. I can’t say that I have ever had that issue. I write in a couple of different areas, so maybe I have it a bit easier than some folks who strictly concentrate in only one.
I have had times when i could write a post in 5 minutes or so, but most times are longer, 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes two. No worries there though, this is something I truly love to do.
really it’s so true ,,blog with good quality and upadated blog ,,is really get good traffic ,,and i write a post in 30 min . it is little so comparatevly with other blogs but i am new blogger but i love to do this ..
I really think your opinion is right, not updating for a long time will surely decrease your traffic and you will lose visitors.
Quite honestly I haven’t seen this one before… maybe because most of my time I spend on established blogs that seem to have ongoing publishing and interaction but I can see how this can be quite annoying.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen a blog say they are taking a hiatus. I would think the best approach would be to save up some posts to schedule and maybe get some guest posts.
I’m just made pleased I discovered this web page. Maybe you’d like to place a banner on my blogroll? How can I contact you on private?
Hi Daria! I do not do any link or banner exchanges at this moment, but you are free to link to my site if you have found it extremely helpful.
Such a great advice,It builds a great bonding and communication.
I’m just starting out and developing a backlog of content. Your statement that it will pay off is very encouraging. Thanks.
I would just make a blog stating I will be away for awhile and leave my site up so other entities (like archives and etc) can be accessed still.
Thanks for the tips. I agree with you that we should make sure that we spend time for our blog posts. Even if this is a short span of time, we should make sure that we keep our site updated so that we do not lose visitors. Scheduling our posts is also a great way to do this. Thanks again!
Nice…I like your solution- just post. Take some time to keep your readers interest. It makes sense. your site is still pumping out fresh content.” was a real eyeopener to me.
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