Why Starting Over With Your Blog Might Be The Best Decision You Ever Made

Do you remember the day you first started blogging? I certainly do.

It was the 21st of September 2010 when I finally decided to launch my first and very own WordPress blog.

It was a new and exciting venture to be in, and I was so determined and hungry to make this a success.

I also remember reading a blog article around that time. I can’t remember what blog is was on, but one of the quotes in this article was:

“Few bloggers ever find success with their first blog. Most successful bloggers have made it with their 2nd, 3rd or even 4th blog”.

I remember reading that and clearly thinking to myself;

“I’m going to make it with my first blog”

Of course being a complete newbie, I was a little naive but nevertheless driven. 

I really wanted to be one of the few bloggers who made it with their first ever blog.

And so I worked hard at it, really hard.

I put all of the hours God sent me working on my blog.

I shut out my friends, family, kicked in my groovy surfing hobby, lifestyle and travels, to focus on blogging.

That tight there, was my first mistake.

So one of the things I was obsessed with was getting more traffic to my blog.

I saw how all the other top bloggers were making a killing with their blogs, but they had tons of traffic, and I wanted the same.

I wanted to build a blog with over 100k visits per month.

So I implemented every link building strategy that I could find and learn about. 

From guest blogging to forum posting, blog commenting to using article directories. From submitting my blog to online directories, doing reciprocal link exchange, you name it I did it.

In two short years, I had taken my blog from just a few dozen visits per day to driving over 700 visits per day.

I was making decent income from Google AdSense, affiliate marketing and ad sales.

Things were going in the right direction… So I thought.

Then came along Google’s Algorithm shakeup in 2012.

Panda and Google were unleashed and my site was hit hard.

My organic traffic went from 500 unique visits per day, to barely scraping 60 visits per day in the space of just 6 months. See image below.

As my traffic diminished, so did my monthly income, readers and everything else.

All the hard work I put into building my blog instantly meant nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

You can read my in-depth story of how Google killed my first blog and how I was forced to start over here.

Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes.

I made many mistakes with my first blog, but the biggest mistake I made was that I invested all of my time, focus and energy into SEO and doing nothing but SEO.

I was obsessed with keywords, rankings, backlinks, meta-tags and all the rest of it.

Like I said, I wanted nothing more but traffic.

I didn’t care for engagement, even though I was getting some comments.

I didn’t care for building an email list.

I just wanted to get traffic and make money through AdSense, affiliate promotions and ad sales.

The mistake of putting all my eggs in one basket, i.e. doing nothing but SEO and depending on Google for traffic, cost me my first blogging business.

So, I was forced to start over, and that I did.

So let me ask you something right now.

Does my story sound familiar?

Are you going through something very similar with your own blog right now?

Or, perhaps you’re in a completely different dilemma. Maybe you have tons of traffic coming in, but unfortunately the wrong type of traffic.

It’s quite possible.

Recently I helped out a client of mine who was getting over 100,000 unique hits per month with her blog.

100k, that was something I dreamed of getting to my blog once upon a time.

But she had a HUGE problem, she didn’t have the engagement or conversions to match her impressive traffic numbers.

So once again, what ever dilemma you are facing with your blogging business right now, you have several options.

1. You can stay where you are and hope that something will eventually give, which it probably won’t.

2. You can pack up your stuff online and forget it all and move onto the next thing.

Or, 

3. You can start over.

Do you know what I’d HIGHLY recommend doing?

Yep you’ve guessed it, starting over.

I started over in September of 2013 with Magnet4Blogging, the website I’m currently at now. And to cut a long winded story short, it was the best decision I ever made in my business.

6 Simple Reasons Why You Should Start Over

Look, I appreciate just how much work you’ve put into building your first or present blog.

If your blog is your business, then I appreciate where you’re coming from even more. Starting over isn’t a light decision to make.

However, the simple fact is this. 

If you’re not moving forward for what ever reason, there’s no point in trying to roller skate up an icy-hill, you’re never going to make it, as harsh as that might sound.

Here’s 6 reasons why starting over with your blog, might be the best decision you ever make.

#1 New opportunity to make a difference

Starting over means you have an opportunity to start fresh and make a difference, completely fresh from a blank canvas.

There’s no fixing things, no making things better or improving this, that or the other, and seeing no results for your efforts.

You’re simply starting brand new.

Enough said about that.

#2 You’re more knowledgable and experienced

Since you started blogging, you’ve become a lot more knowledgable and experienced.

You are a more experienced writer.

You have experience with connecting with people and creating relationships in your niche.

You have knowledge and experience in using a variety of tools to help you grow and manage your blog.

You have more experience with time management, scheduling and prioritising your work load, and so much more.

#3 You shouldn’t make the same mistakes twice

Let’s face it, when we start anything new for the first time, we’re bound to make many mistakes along the way. It’s expected right?

In blogging there’s no exception. As a newbie you probably made a lot of mistakes that you regret with your first or present blog.

But you shouldn’t ’t regret all of those mistakes entirely, because making mistakes is part of your success plan.

By starting over, you’re going to be aware of the mistakes you made before, and therefore try your hardest not to make them again.

#4 You’re better equipped

I touched on this earlier with being more knowledgeable and experienced.

But just for one moment, think of all the tools you’ve discovered over the time or since you started even.

You now have an arsenal of tools at your disposal for you to use. More over, you don’t have to go and rediscover any of those tools and learn how to use them again, so you’re better equipped by a big margin.

#5 You’ve already achieved some level of recognition

Think back when you started blogging, probably hardly anyone knew anything about you.

But since starting your blog you’ve built up a pretty decent following no doubt, be it in the form of an email list or social media, you have some level of recognition and authority with your blog.

Starting over means you won’t have to start from scratch with building your community, if people followed you before because they loved your offerings, they’re more than likely to follow you where ever you go.

#6 You’ll make progress quickly

At least much faster than you did when you started. Simply because of all the elements I just talked about above.

Time is the biggest issue with starting over with anything. But it shouldn’t take you as long to build your blog to the level of success you want, since you’re not going in as a newbie.

How to successfully start over with your blog?

OK so now you have some valid reasons why you should start over, I now want to share with you some valuable tips for starting over successfully.

#1 Make a real fresh start

When you get a new domain name for your new blog, get some new hosting as well. Starting fresh really means starting fresh.

Pick a domain name carefully as well. Don’t just jump in with the one that sounds the coolest.

Check and make sure a domain name hasn’t already been tarnished before.

#2 Salvage your quality blog posts

If you have some valuable evergreen content on your old blog, with lots of comments and social engagement, don’t get rid of them. Export them and save them for later on. 

You can always refresh them and re-publish them on your new blog later. This will save you an immense amount of time with writing new content.

When I started over, I brought at least a dozen quality posts to this blog from my old blog.

Just remember when you refresh your old posts to publish them on your new blog, to always remove any internal links that may point to your old blog, and to remove any outbound links as well.

#3 Create and use a ‘start-over’ checklist

Sometimes you can overlook many important things when starting over with a new blog, so don’t just jump in, plan this carefully so that when you execute, you don’t forget to do anything.

Things like configuring WordPress correctly,

installing specific plugins, a custom theme, modifying permalink structures,

importing important settings etc.

#4 Create a killer identity with a brand new design

Start fresh with a brand new blog design and brand identity. Check out this page on my blog if you need help with this.

Get some fresh photos taken of yourself to use on your new blog.

#5 Take your time

Don’t rush in trying to build your new blog. If you’re aiming for overnight success, then forget it. These things take time, so be patient. 

Do one thing at a time to build up your new blog and content slowly.

Get yourself organised. Have the tools ready. Have an action plan and work through a calendar to keep tabs on your progress.

Final words of encouragement

Look, you have nothing to lose, and perhaps everything to gain with starting over.

You can choose to stay with your present stagnant blog that’s failing to grow and move you forward. Or you can give up. Or you can start over fresh. 

Just for the record as well, so what if you start over and fail again! It’s all part of the process of learning, re-evaluating and moving forward until you eventually find success. 

Just as long as you’re willing to never give up, and put in all the hard work that you possibly can, you will find success in blogging.

I wish you the very best of luck.

Fabrizio Van Marciano is a professional blogger, web designer and digital marketer from England. He is also the founder and editor at Magnet4Blogging.net