Is Your Christian Blog Missing This 1 Thing That’s Making You Lose Traffic?

This is a guest post by Kurt Bennett.  You can lean more about Kurt at the end of this post.

If you’re someone who’s trying to reach people for Christ on the internet, this post is for you.

I’m on Twitter and recently tweeted the person who runs this website, Not Ashamed of the Gospel. From my perspective, this guy is a big hitter. Besides managing this website, he has more than 27,000 Twitter followers.

So because I find his tweets interesting, and because I believe in the mission of his website, and because I’m a blogger/writer myself, and because I’m trying to follow advice I’ve learned from my research, I thought it would be a great idea to send him a tweet.

So I did. I simply said, “Noticed u tweet other’s posts. Would u consider this one? Target is 20 & 30 somethings soaking in the secular.” followed by a link to the post.

In an exceedingly gracious way, Peter (the man running Not Ashamed of the Gospel) gently told me, Look, I have 20,000 plus Twitter followers so I get requests like yours all the time. Don’t bother me son .

He also told me that he wanted to get to know me first before tweeting out my link.

So I tweeted back that I understood his decision not to tweet out the link to my blog post.

We corresponded back and forth a few more times until, for reasons God only knows, he agreed to tweet out a link to my blog.

Something Strange Happened

So I’m celebrating, right? I’m thinking, Hooray! Just like the pros told me to, I connected with someone with a big following and he agreed to put my link out there to his followers.

What do you think happened?

What happened was my site numbers immediately plummeted an estimated 25%! And it’s pretty much been that way since Peter, very generously, agreed to tweet out a link to my blog.

Of course that’s just the opposite of what’s supposed to happen.

There’s Good Advice Out There But…

We all read about practical tips to improve how we blog, how we write, and how to build a platform.

We read about how important it is to have a catchy title, hopefully one that includes a number because, we’re told, people love numbers. Titles like “10 Reasons You’ll Die Young if You Don’t Subscribe to My Blog.”

And we’re told people on the internet don’t read anymore, they scan, so we need to write using bullet points. And we’re told to be mindful of SEO. And we’re told to write guest posts for other people’s blogs.

It’s all good advice. By virtue of the fact I’ve written this guest post, I’m sure by now you realize I’ve found these guidelines helpful.

Here’s What’s Missing From Your Christian Blog

But here’s the thing, none of it will bear fruit without the Holy Spirit.

If you follow every scrap of advice there is on the internet, but have not the Holy Spirit, you are only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal!   Tweet (tweet this to help others ask for the Holy Spirit)

Following instruction from the best in the business, without the Holy Spirit, is like trying to raft downriver where there’s no current.

Writing while using every practical tip and trick possible, without the Holy Spirit, is like trying to fly a kite without the wind. You can have the best kite ever made, but without the wind, it doesn’t fly.

The Holy Spirit is the key to the whole thing.

The good news is, God is in your corner. God wants you to have the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us, If your son…

“…asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:12-13 NKJV)

And Jesus even shows us how to ask, in the same chapter, Luke 11, just a few verses before.

“Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story:

Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’

And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” (Luke 11:5-8 NLT)

What God Wants to Give to You

God wants you to to have His Holy Spirit. He wants you to create with His Holy Spirit. He wants you to be inspired by Him. He wants to pour His Holy Spirit out upon you so your creative works are Spirit inspired.

How great is that!

And Jesus teaches us the One who gives the Holy Spirit will rise and give you as much as you need, if you’re persistent in asking.

So ask! Ask God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon you. Ask Him for His Holy Spirit today. Ask Him for His Holy Spirit every day. Ask Him three times a day!

Be persistent.

Be to God as the friend who came at midnight asking for loaves.

Fly your kite with God’s wind.

Build your creative works with the Holy Spirit.

Why do you think we sometimes neglect to ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit when it comes to certain things in our life?