I Want to Quit My Health Blog

1. 74

   Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years ago

   I blog on health and health-related issues for women as I love the issue. However, my blog has been struggling for the nine months it has been in existence; I barely get organic traffic. On my good days I get just 5-8 visits from search engines and there are day when I dont get any at all.
   
   I carry out both online and offline seo, but nothing seems to be working.
   
   My blog is a .com blog at womenallaround if anyone wants to take a look.
   
   TIA for your time and suggestions.
   
   I would also appreciate suggestions on good, low competition nices for a women blog in case I decide to switch niches.

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      charlesnuamahposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Due to Google's strictness on the health niche, health is generally not a good area to venture in these days. I have written one health article on Hubpages so far and it has performed the worst.

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         paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         You are right about that. I likewise have given up on medical/health articles. However, it appears to me that Google is responding favorably to her domain name and site.

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      2. 74

         Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         @charlesnuamah
         
         Yea, I recently got to know about E.A.T where google only ranks you when you are an expert and an authority in a niche and this is seriously affecting my site.

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            Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Actually, this is not strictly true.   Here's the actual situation:
            
            "in the recently-updated version of the guidelines, Google makes an exception for everyday expertise. This means people with relevant life experience in specific topics can be considered experts – no formal training or education required. However, this only holds true for non-YMYL content."
            
            I read your "About Us" page (I would change it to "About Me" and add your photo, BTW), and if you concentrated on the topics listed on that page, i.e. how women deal with health challenges rather than advice on how to treat them -  I don't think you would have ANY trouble with Google.  The trouble is that your actual posts are straying from those topics, sometimes a long way off.

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   2. 84

      viryaboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I will say give it time. 9 months is way to short for you to decide that it’s not doing as well as you expect.
      
      BTW, it’s a nice blog.

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         Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for those kind words!
         
         I dunno about giving it more time. I would if I was certain I was on the right track, but seeing as I'm thinking of leaving the health niche this might be a bit hard.

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   3. 84

      NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I more or less went through the same thing. But I literally didn't have the money to pay the webhost at some point and lost my sites. I can't even remember how many years I had them but it was several years I think. I finally made one that made Amazon sales but by then I was not able to keep any blogs at all and so they're now defunct.

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      1. 74

         Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         I lost a site a few years ago too as I was pregnant, sick most of the time and couldn't write.
         
         I didn't care about losing the site then though, but regretted it soon after giving birth. Lol. It had gotten a little DA and all that just went down the drain.

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   4. 0

      Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      The topic may not be the problem.  Your website is horribly slow - it gets a D grade on Pingdom.   Always be careful of plugins on Wordpress - they give you extra features, but they also slow down your site.  Even one second slower is enough for Google to drop you several places in ranking.
      
      Look at your list of plugins and delete everything you don't really need.
      
      https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/the-sl … y-instead/
      
      If you have plugins or themes you don't use, always delete them, don't leave them deactivated - even they can slow things down.
      
      Your theme has a huge "hero shot" on every page, which means there is no text visible in the frame when you open a post.  That's a big no-no.
      
      The theme is also slow.  There are several free fast-loading themes you can try here:
      https://www.websitehostingrating.com/fa … ss-themes/
      
      Unfortunately, theme designers know newbies are sucked in by a theme that has lots of customisation features and extra bells and whistles, so that's what they build - but again, they come at the cost of speed, which should be your primary concern. 
      
      Finally, it looks like you have some paid-to-post posts - either that, or you have a hacker who's posting unauthorised posts.  That's a quick way to get Google to dump your whole blog. Here's an example of a post that you simply can't afford to have on your blog because it's completely off-topic:
      
      https://womenallaround.com/how-to-opt-o … tisements/
      
      Also delete posts like the ones on blocked drains and sore throats - those are general topics, not a women's topic.  It's essential to stick rigidly to your subject area if you want success.
      
      You also have a "Shop" page which I can't "see".
      
      If you are not selling products direct, you don't need a Terms and Conditions page.  If you do need one, create one manually and link to it - an automated plugin is unnecessary.   
      
      If you are really stuck, I do a Site Healthcheck service for $100.

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   paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

   I did a little research and I've gotten the impression that Google actually likes your website. 9 months is too soon to quit, I'd give it at least 1-2 more years.
   
   Also, no reason not to combine women niches on a women's blog; it probably would even be a plus. I'm pretty sure Google would still see it as a single-topic site.

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   1. 74

      Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yea, I've decided not to quit. However, I'm thinking sticking to one niche might be better as I would rank faster this way.
      
      Being a multi-niched blog has been bad as my DA keeps dropping. I went from an 11 to a 10 and dropped further to an eight.
      
      I'm hoping sticking to just one niche will make Google better understand my site and rank me higher, I dunno.
      
      Thanks a lot for taking the time to help a struggling blogger. Lol

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3. 77

   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   My website took 5 years to reach the 100s a day mark. But I did not publish as much as you, not even close. If traffic is your goal it may be wise to focus on a single topic at a time write a lot around it and interlink your content. Then move on to a new topic.
   
   To prevent yourself from getting bored you could always write in a few different categories at the same time with the end goal being what I suggested earlier.
   
   I took a look at a random article from your kitchen menu: /5-great-ways-to-unclog-blocked-drains and have a few comments since you asked for feedback.
   
   1. Include videos, I'm sure there are plenty of good ones on Youtube.
   2. Your pictures on this article seem to be randomly placed. The image below the point of the plunger has no relevance other than the drain is now unclogged, which would fit below all the points in this case.
   3. You did not really mention how a plunger works, maybe adding this info will make your article a little more authoritative without adding a lot of new text. You could replace some of what you have currently written.
   4. Google something related to unclogging blocked drains. Do you think your article is better in any way than the top results? Does it provide as many options as the top ranked articles? Does it have similar illustrations/videos or a quick list for those that do not want to read details? Does it really deserve to replace any of the currently ranked pages if Google were fair?
   5. Google is not fair and there are many parameters such as backlinks and overall authority that matter. Your article quality and interlinking strategy, as well as the overall niche authority, has to, therefore, out beat your competition if you want to rank well.
   
   This is all just based on one article. I work on my website just like I work here on HP, a few articles but I work to make them the best on the internet for the topic and it seems to do well.
   
   Also, as PD says, the medical niche is not very friendly to nonauthoritative websites. I know of some people who have medical websites that tanked due to recent updates. You do not have that problem, but it is very likely that it may prevent you from ranking. If I were you I would no-index and no-follow all my medical-related content or move it to a new website and work on the other articles. You could still have it in the menu and link to a new website or a new subdomain. Just to separate it a bit so that any negative consequences do not transfer to everything else.
   
   At the end of the day you need to figure out if all this additional work is worth the effort when you know that the results may not be what you expect (traffic).
   
   When you publish or edit an article ask yourself if that piece would move to a niche site here on HP. If the answer is yes, go ahead.
   
   P.S: I looked up your website and you currently do not rank below 30 for any keywords according to SEMRush other than your name and another name. I do like the logo and the overall design is good. Definitely a lot of work to get the ball rolling. Good luck with whatever you decide to do with it.

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      Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Five years is such a long time!
      
      For the blog, I have decided to focus on just one niche and like you suggested, will work more on making each blog posts the best there is on the web.
      
      And much as I love the health niche, I'll be leaving it. I might move the articles on here.
      
      Hubpages has a better pagerank and DA and they might do better here.
      
      Thanks a lot for your time and the analysis.

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         lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         DA is not a figure from Google, so do not give it much weight. It is a helpful guide, but don't put too much thought into it.
         
         5 years to get to 100s of views a day, I was ranking for a page that was getting me consistent sales on Amazon and just a handful of visits each day was sufficient. The topic of my website is not searched for a lot, I should add this too.

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            Sherry Hposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Your input is very helpful.
            I partly gave up on writing about "medicine" as well because I saw better traffic from other niche hubs I wrote. Can you please take a look at my article and tell me how I could have improved it? Maybe this can help me gain an understanding of how writing works.
            
            https://youmemindbody.com/health-care-i … -Hair-Loss
            
            This article gained a descent amount of views from Google for a few months (when it was first published). Then I decided to delete and republish it. Now it gets no views at all or maybe 5 in a month.
            I still have hopes with the niche because of the views I get from another article with similar title.

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               Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Why did you delete it?   Never, ever delete a Hub that's doing well.  If you want to edit and improve it, just leave it published and edit it.

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                  Sherry Hposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  That's a sad thing I did as a newbie. I thought deleting and republishing it without errors would make it look better.

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                     Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     The trouble is, when you published it as a new Hub, you lost the original URL and all the history. So I hope you know never to do that again.  You should edit your Hubs to improve them, but there's no need to delete or even unpublish whlie you do it.

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   psycheskinnerposted 4 years ago

   I would put in a vote for constructive giving up.  The time you spend being really sure something is not successful is a lost asset.  So you can give up too early but also too late.  It is always good to be alert for a more productive use of your time. 
   
   Hubs are one way to test out ideas and see which attract a lot to attention and engagement.

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      Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Giving up was an option, but right now I'm kind of  giving it a little time off to see how  things go.
      
      Will take this time to work on making the blog more user-friendly and niche focused, though.
      
      Thanks a million for the time and suggestion.

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5. 74

   Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years ago

   @ Marisa Writes
   
   You give such great advice. I have taken all you've said into advisement and will effect the changes.
   
   I wish I had the budget for your professional services right now, by I am kind of working with a budget.
   
   Its never too late though, so can always reach out.
   
   Thanks a million for taking the time to go through my blog and for the analysis.

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      Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I hope it helps.  You've got some good content, so if you can fix those other issues, you should see an improvement.

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         Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Alright, I'll look into that for now and see if it works. If it doesn't, I just might switch niches completely and go into baby products review. Lol

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            Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Just remember results are never instant. Give it a few months.

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6. 81

   bhattucposted 4 years ago

   Many bloggers are facing this problem not because their blog is inferior in quality or things like that but the main reason is that there are thousands of blogs floating in the Internet on almost same subject and generally people are stuck in one or two which come on the first page of Google search. Still, I would suggest not to leave. Stay, as things change with time and many times they improve only.

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      Isivwe Muoboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the response. I'll hold unto the domain name as aged ones are gold. Not sure about the content though; might redistribute them to other platforms.

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   peachpurpleposted 4 years ago

   hi,.i had just hopped over to your blog.
   it looks neat and trendy but why are some articles repeated at the top and bottom, looks kind of irritating.
   
   i would suggest that you could add in amazon ads and give another 2 years for it to garner more viewers.
   
   have you tried sharing your blog link on social medias ?

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