Spring Cleaning / Refresh Your Blog

I’m pumped to be jumping right into the Spring Cleaning mini series that I announced last week. Today, I want to focus ways to do a little spring cleaning job on your blog. I know that your blog may not be the first area you think could use a good “cleaning,” but trust me on this one.

Maintaining a blog requires a lot of work, and sometimes we tend to allow things to fall by the wayside if they aren’t a persistent problem at the moment. I know personally, I overlook a few things every now and then in the name of saving time. But just because it isn’t broken per say doesn’t mean we should attend to and fix it!

I’ve broken the blogging clean up into sections, with a check list of action items at the end of each section. Pull together all of the check list items into one master list for a go-to blog clean up guide that suits your needs!

Clean Up Your Old Posts

After you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve likely made a few changes, found your way and started to produce higher quality content. Go back into your archives and see how those older posts are holding up. Do the links and images still work? Is the information still relevant? Does it even make sense to have that content in your space?

Before you do a mass delete of all your old content, ask if there is anyway you can reorganize it into something new and useful. If some of those old posts are oldies but goodies, spruce them up a bit! Then, create an “old favorites” post or a “best of the blog” page to keep the content flowing and share-able.

Old Posts Checklist:

_ All images are still working and look good
_ All links still work properly
_ Content is still relevant to your blog/ information is still accurate
_ Create a “favorites” or “best of” post/page to keep the content circulating
_ *Re-share a post or page after you’ve revamped it!

Update Your Plugins

WordPress users, I’m talking to you! How often do you log into your dashboard and ignore the growing number of plugins screaming to be updated? I’m so guilty of this one. Now that you’re in a clean up mood, take some time to sift through old plugins. Are they all still providing what you need? Do you have multiple plugins installed that do the same thing?

Plugin Checklist:

_ Delete plugins that are inactive or not meeting your needs
_ Delete duplicate plugins
_ Search for new plugins that can work more effectively

Look for holes in your editorial calendar

Spring cleaning isn’t just about getting rid of the old, it’s also about better planning for the new. Go through some of your posts within the last few months. Are there things you’d like to be sharing that you haven’t posted about? Which categories of posts get the most views and comments and which ones seem to fly under the radar? Do you have sufficient categories to file your posts under?

Ed Cal Checklist:

_ Create a category for new content that I’d like to share
_ Delete old categories that are not frequently posted under, and merge those posts into an existing and relevant category
_ Update editorial calendar with new post ideas
_ Create a survey to see what your readers are really want to see

Refresh Your About Page

It’s always nice to revamp the page that many first time visitors will spend a few minutes on. Maybe the wording you found so poetic and clever the first time around doesn’t seem like you. Or maybe your about page isn’t a proper reflection of who you are and what your blog stands for anymore.

About Page Checklist:

_ Create a page that tells a story of who am I
_ Use engaging imagery
_ *Share on social that you’ve revamped the page

Add & Subtract Pages

Pages are a great way to organize content without creating unnecessary posts or clogging your sidebar. Still, adding pages to your blog also means adding another thing to manage and upkeep.

Pages Checklist:

_ Clear and concise writing on each page
_ Use engaging imagery
_ No broken links
_ Make sure you have a page for all of your blog’s needs
                 *generally: about, contact, sponsor, new reader page, press mentions/awards.
_ *Share on social that you’ve revamped the page

Links & Contact Info

Making sure your readers can get in touch with you is the key to growing a community on your blog. Visit your contact page, and make sure all of the email addresses and social media links lead to the right place. (*Is there a plugin you can you for this?!)

Links & Contact Info Checklist:

_ Make sure all links/email address lead to the right place
_ Make sure there is a link to the contact page somewhere on your blog
_ *Share on social that you’ve revamped the page

I know I just threw a lot out there, so feel free to work through this more with me (and each other) in the comments! Are there any areas of your blog that tend to get cluttered or forgotten about? How are you going to implement spring cleaning on your blog?