I’m the kind of person who will give almost any blog a chance. It’s pretty easy to do so, since I usually just use Bloglovin’ to organize it, and put it in my “New” category. Many blogs have made it from my “New” category into everyday reads… but some have made me hit the unfollow button.
So, why did I unfollow your blog?
No common interests
If I can’t relate to you, why would I be reading your blog? If you love camping and write about it all the time, I may read your first few because it’s a new topic for me. But if you only write about camping? Well, I may pin your one interesting post and only refer to that. I’m not going to keep coming back because your content just isn’t relatable to me.
Too much religious stuff
Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely don’t think people need to avoid religion altogether on their own blogs. If it’s important to you, you should write about it. The trick, at least if I’m going to keep reading, is to make it relateable to me. I am totally on board with you being enthusiastic about your faith. What I want to know is what it means to you. What are the lessons and beliefs that relate to your own life that I may possibly see in my own? Just because we have different beliefs doesn’t mean I won’t find value in yours. It’s by seeing each other’s beliefs in a way we can use in our own lives that makes us grow. Bottom line, talk about YOU and your faith, not just your faith. If I wanted a sermon, I’d go to a church, not your blog.
Too much woe is me
Everyone has tough stuff in their lives. Everyone needs a place to vent and find support. But when 90% of your posts are pitying yourself and the “woe is me” attitude…. Well, no one wants to read that. If I offer support and you reject it… well, I don’t know what to do from there. If I don’t know what to say to help you, I’m going to stop trying and I’m going to stop following. Just how it is.
Your design is a mess
Absolutely nothing makes me click the little red x in the corner faster than a messy, cluttered, or hard to read/navigate design. You could have the best content in the world but a crappy design will still drive me away. Messy, hard to read font? Not going to read through it. Bright crazy colors? Nope, my eyes hurt – goodbye. Use common sense with your design and make it something you’d want to come back to… not just a place where you randomly put all your favorite colors together. Make it flow. Think about your favorite blogs and magazines and emulate that. They’re your favorites for a reason.
You stop posting for months, then attempt to “come back”
This drives me CRAZY. You want to take a blog break? Awesome, do it! Whenever I’ve done that, it’s been great for me – I come back refreshed and ready to take it on again. What drives me nuts is when a blogger announces a break, goes away for a few months, writes a big “I’m back” post… and then disappears again. It’s okay to take a break. Seriously. Just don’t say you’re coming back and don’t actually come back. I’m not going to be waiting around when you finally do.
All your posts are sponsored
This happened to a few blogs I read lately, and I unfollowed all but about two of them. Look, we all do sponsored posts. I’ve done them myself and work hard to support other bloggers when they do them. They help us support our blogs and even earn a bit extra for our families. But when every post is sponsored… well, I start to not trust you anymore. If every post has a sponsor, how do I know what’s really you and what’s sponsored? I’m not going to click over. I want to know the real you – that’s why I’m following your blog. It so important to have a good balance. If I ever have a really sponsor heavy week, I add a few extra personal posts in that week. I want to be myself, not just a walking advertisement. No one wants to read that.
What do you think? Why do you unfollow a blog?
46 Responses
I am right there with ya..I hate blogs that only post sponsored posts! Like I want to read your blog to get to know you!
Exactly!
I happen to agree with you onn many of these points especially when a blog turns to mostly sponsored posts. Drives me nuts!
It definitely needs to be a balance!
I really like this list. It’s funny as I was reading it I found myself doing a self evaluation, lol. My favorite part was the religious part. I wholeheartedly agree. I hope that when I do dive into the religious stuff people don’t feel they are getting a sermon but a testimony.
You are actually one of the people I was thinking of when I wrote that religious bullet – in that I think you’re a person who handles it WELL. It always comes across as your experience, rather than preachy. I love the connection between faith and your life.
Oh goodness that make me happy to hear. Thanks lady :).
Yes yes yes yes yes. I agree with all of these so much, especially the religious one. lol
Glad I’m not alone!
Right on! I find so many blogs now are too full of sponsored posts and I totally agree with the Design Mess, yeah that makes me leave asap and too many pop ups!
Yep! No one wants to read a mess!
These are all great tips!
Thanks honey!
You are so right! I try new blogs out all the time. I give them a chance, if they continue to post about the same things over and over I tend to get strayed away. At times I feel like my posts are repetitive but I also like to share my stories and what I am going through. I blog for me and I hope to help people along the way. Because I am not a mother I do tend to stay away from the mom posts, what my son did or what my daughter said. Although I am not saying your kid is not adorable I just can not relate. There are so many blogs out there, with so many different topics. I also stay away from religion and politics, not that they are offensive, they just steer people in all different angles. So many people like to put their input in and unfortunately a lot are negative comments. Trust me I am all about Jesus and fighting for my rights but I refrain from the posts. Of course, I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Messy blogs…I probably won’t go there. I know I probably made a lot of mistakes when I first started blogging and I am continuing to learn more. I just like clean, simple, easy to navigate. BTW, this post was pretty awesome. I hope I didn’t detour you away from my blog 🙂
You definitely need a variety if you’re trying to grow. If you’re just writing for yourself, it doesn’t really matter… but if you want to grow your audience, you definitely need to appeal to everyone!
I love this post because I’m also the same! I don’t like too many sponsored posts and when people take a break, be consistent and keep coming back. Also, on the relating part, I feel you on that because lately a few bloggers I used to follow got engaged and because I’m still single, I don’t want to read about their posts on getting ready for weddings. Shoot me now! haha.
I’m a new follower now on your blog, so glad I found your post 🙂
Definitely. I can skip over a certain amount of posts I can’t relate to, but when it’s constant… well, why am I even there anymore? If you’re trying to grow, you need variety.
YES YES YES! I so agree. The biggest turn off for me is the blog design being a mess. If your blog is all over the place, if I can’t find things easily, and it’s just generally disorganized… I just can’t.
YES. I literally can’t even.
Too many random reviews annoy me, but I totally agree if I click and it looks too messy and crowded, chances are I wont want to spend time trying to read the right bit. I like to think mine is really simple to look at.
Exactly! Clear and easy to read is the way to go.
Definitely agree with these! Good post!
Thank you!
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve had a tough time “coming back” to my blog, however I still post for Weekend Recap once a week so at least I have that lol. I need to really sit and get outta this blog writers block funk though!
And that’s okay! I just can’t stand these “big announcement” posts followed by abandonment. Consistency is key, and if you’re still posting, you’ve got that!
I don’t like annoucement posts of I’m on a break or I’m back posts either. Odds are people really don’t notice. 😉 I also don’t like when 334324 pop up on me or I have to click a continue reading button. Those turn into a random check in not an every day stop in. However, blogging has taken a major backseat this year – writing and reading. Trying to get back into my routine on my summer break ha.
Great points – usually people didn’t even notice if you took a break!
Oh I definitely agree with you on all fronts. I don’t mind if you’re religious but sometimes it’s a bit much and then I feel like there isn’t much in common to share so I usually stop reading.
Also, another thing that makes me stop reading is if you’re constantly posting comments and never receive a peep back, even if you ask them a question. I appreciate everyone is busy but come on? Being humble goes a long way.
Great post girl. 🙂
So, here is the part where I apologize for taking FOREVER to respond to this comment? Haha. In all seriousness, yes, I agree with you!
No worries girl. Life does get in the way sometimes. 😉
These are all good reasons to stop following a blog and the same reasons I have. First thing for me is the interest part followed by the layout of the blog. If it is too hard on my eyes or too messy/too much, I will unfollow, even if I enjoy the content. This was a great post! Thanks for sharing!
So true! There’s a reason we have blog designers, right? Thanks for stopping by!
I think the religion one is the one that sends me away the quickest. I’m personally not religious so it’s hard for me to relate when posts are fully cloaked in religion. Too many sponsored posts will turn me away as well for the same reasons you listed!
Yep, I think it’s important to share who you are in a way that people can relate to – and I can’t relate to being super religious!
All of these reasons will make me hit the delete button, too. I also get turned off on excessive grammatical and spelling errors. I know that sounds shallow but if I can’t understand what you’re saying why bother? I mean, at the very least, use spell/grammar check for crying out loud!
Great post and great tips!
How on earth did I forget the grammar errors?? YES. Drives me crazy too!
Good rationale behind your decision to unfollow a blog. It’s good to be upfront with you’re reasons. I, for one, appreciate honesty and being up front. Not every blog is for every reader and that is ok! It’s a big, world, wide web and there are a lot of options out there and so many hours in the day. At least you’re honest 🙂
Haha, I try! If they bother me, they likely bother others too!
Great post! I have a long list of blogs that I read regularly, and you made very valid points. The thing that bothers me the most is religion. A little is okay, but paragraph after paragraph doesn’t work for me. I can’t stand typos, and those little ads that flash in the corners drive me crazy! I usually like sponsored ads, but you’re right about finding a good balance. I like a wide variety of blogs, and it’s nice to sort of get to know bloggers. I like bloggers who are honest and gritty because that’s real life.
Susan
I 100% agree!!!
I love this list! I would definitely un-follow for a lot of the same reasons!
Thanks lady, glad you liked it!
Wife Mommy Me is giving you a shout out today and I had to jump over and see for myself. I was just having these same thoughts last night while reading some blogs for comments. I decided after 5 minutes, no exaggerating here, to make a comment without a zillion pop ups, error messages, etc. I finally gave up. My comment was really good too!! They missed out because it was a mess to just leave it. You hit on many things at least I look for when reading. I read many a day, so I want to be in and out and not have to stress over it. Thanks for being so blunt! Love it!
Oh my gosh that would annoy me so much! Make it easy to leave comments people or you won’t get them!!!
Yes, yes, yes! The last one really really bothers me. I’ve watched so many bloggers lose their identity and become a walking advertisement. I don’t want to read if there aren’t any personal posts. I usually get one sponsored post offer a week, but if it isn’t a good fit for me or related to my blog, I decline. I think 1 sponsored post every 1-2 weeks is plenty at the moment!
Yes! There’s one blogger in particular I used to read that basically turned EVERYTHING into something sponsored. Like you’re reading along, normal post… and then BAM buy this. SO annoying. I hardly ever read her stuff anymore because of it. It was seriously almost every day.