It’s that time of year again… Time to purge, clean up and reorganize. I had to take a look at my blog and decide what my next steps were to clean up the clutter, correct any issues and update information. Here are a few tips that you can use to keep your blog looking clean, updated and organized. I am still in the process of working through some of these items.
1. Update your “About Me” Page. Try to be generic with the information you give so you’re not constantly updating the page. I use to list my kids ages, now I just say elementary school aged to teenagers in high school. (I have four children ages 7, 15, 17 & 18)
2. Update your links if necessary and remove any broken links from your blog. I have a broken link checker plug-in that keeps me on top of this. The more you stay on top of this, the better so you aren’t deleting or fixing hundreds of links at a time.
3. Change your tweet old posts settings (if you have this plug-in). Up until recently, I still had my holiday blog posts being promoted on Twitter. My settings are scheduled to go back 180 days and tweet those posts. It was time to stop featuring unnecessary “seasonal” content.
4. Switch out your badges in your side bar to networks you are currently working and affiliated with. Always make sure your badges are visible and linking to the correct page. In addition to my side bar, I have a page dedicated to the networks I am affiliated with.
5. Redesign if you wish. I’m not going to redesign my blog right now. I changed my blog design annually my first three years of blogging. I’ve had the same blog design for over two years now. Jael Custom Designs will be 6 in June! Maybe I’ll do it then. **wink**
6. Make sure your tags & categories match your content and branding efforts. I’m a Lifestyle Blogger and my categories fall under Life & Style!
7. Delete SPAM comments! I do this regularly. I don’t like to spend lots of time deleting LOTS of spam comments, so I delete them regularly to cut down on the quantity.
8. If you have changed and a profile picture update is in order, go ahead and update your social media network profile pics and gravatar to update your avatar. You can also take this opportunity to update your social media buttons.
9. SEO is a never ending process. Go back and make sure your posts are optimized for user search. I’m still in the process of doing this for my older posts.
10. Conclusion: Always remember content is king. I’m also a believer of KISS (keep it simple stupid) and ALWAYS… Be you! When you have great content + a good blog deign = a great blog recipe!
Bonus: Oh…Update your plug-ins regularly! Delete plug-ins you aren’t using. If you have too many plug-ins installed it may slow down your blog load time. It’s also a good idea for safety reasons, I’ve heard way too many… My plug-in broke my blog stories!
Happy Spring Your Blog Forward! Feel free to add to the list by sharing what else you would do in the comments. Ciao!