How To Spring Clean Your Blog

Do you spring clean at your house? Do you enjoy the feeling of having a neat, decluttered living space? It is time to do the same for your writing. This post will share tips for how to spring clean your blog.

I have organized this post into four main tasks: review posts, promote yourself, update your look, and read your own writing. You may want to approach these categories in a different order, but all are critical if you want to spring clean your blog.

{Note: While you are at it, you may also want to go ahead and organize your digital life in general.}

Review Every Single Post

I can understand how this might not sound like a realistic goal if you have hundreds of posts. When I originally went through the whole process on my own blog, I had been blogging for about 10 months and had written about 70 posts. This took me nearly a month of working a little bit each day. If you have been blogging for years you may want to start with a smaller chunk, say the last six months. 

You can review oldest to newest, newest to oldest, by category, by tag, or some other method. If it helps, print out a list of all your posts so you have something to physically check off. I love a nice list so this was my preferred system.

{To do this in WordPress, simply go to your dashboard and click on posts, then all posts. You can even choose screen options {top right corner} and include specific columns so you can easily see, for instance, the tags, meta descriptions, and keyphrases already in place.} 

It is okay if you have a few posts from the very beginning of your blogging journey you do not change much. I have done lighter editing with writing I consider to be my “getting in my blogging groove” posts. You may want to keep them {I kept a few at the time} even if you know they aren’t going to bring in traffic. 

Here’s how I did it. I opened up every single post one at a time in edit view. I used the following checklist to review key points:

• clear title with keywords {minimal changes here and kept most URLs same}
• featured image set {with alt description}
• concise, informative excerpt {often the first paragraph, but not always}
• focus keyphrase set
• meta description {appropriate length and containing keywords}
• Pinterest-friendly photo {with alt description}
• second Pinterest-friendly photo {unless a very short post}
• internal link{s} to related posts
• external link{s} if appropriate 
• easy way to follow social media shared {re-usable block with links}
• post share buttons at the top and bottom {not floating; *shudder*}
• review Yoast readability score {aim for green}
• review Yoast SEO score {aim for green}

You may have additional steps, for example:

• confirm affiliate disclosure added {if needed}
• all affiliate links set to sponsored
• click to tweet added
• e-mail subscription box placed

Promote Yourself Every Day 

I admit, self-promotion is the most difficult part of writing/blogging for me personally. I hate talking about myself, and I hate asking people for favors even more. However, I know that no one will ever read what I am writing if they can’t find it. 

Connections within your niche and relationships with fellow bloggers most definitely impact your own blog. Engaging with your own blog’s “fans” is super important as well. People naturally like to feel they “know” the bloggers they follow online.

When you spring clean your blog, consider how the changes made will positively influence your marketing strategy and engagement.

I realize some of this is addressed in step one, but it is so important it needs to be broken down further.

You need to regularly put yourself out there on social media. Create new pins for old posts. Tweet your own blog posts. Share your posts on Facebook. Add an Instagram photo of your latest post and include a link in your bio. 

When updating older posts, take a look at your photos. Does every post have at least one image in the recommended 2:3 ratio for pinning? If you have a rather long post, have you broken it up with an additional photo or two?

{Note: Even if you don’t personally use Pinterest it’s a good idea to have a graphic {or two} in each post in pin-friendly dimensions for readers who might want the option to share or save that way.}

Can readers share your posts easily? As a regular reader {and sharer} of blogs, there is nothing more frustrating than reading a post and having to hunt down a way to share it on social media. Or clicking on what I think is a share button but being taken to the blogger’s main Pinterest or Twitter page or whatever.

For the love of all things, make it super simple for readers to share your work. You can even ask, nicely. “Like what you’re reading? Please share.”

Equally important is letting your readers get to know the person behind the words. When someone comments, reply. If someone shares, thank them. Ask questions of your readers on all platforms that get a conversation started.

Update Your Website’s Look

You might decide to really go wild here and completely change your theme. But if not, there is still much you can do to freshen up the look of your page. Consider fonts, colors, spacing, and more. 

Add a few new photos. Update your tagline. Go through all your homepage links {contact form, social media icons, etc.} and verify everything works.

Do you have a simple introduction that shares what your blog is about? Include a separate about this blog page to let readers know right away why your website is worth their time. {As I am typing this I am mentally noting I am due to update my own.} 

How do you utilize your sidebar? There is so much potential for information here. In addition to a photo and brief introduction, I love to see a list of recent posts and/or blog topics, a way to follow on social media, and an e-mail signup form.

Consider whether including ads is a good investment. Is the revenue you generate worth the additional clutter? Or is it interfering with the reader experience? 

{For me personally, lots of random ads turns me off. I know why people use them. I get the desire to make passive income. Yet, when I click on what sounds like an interesting read and am bombarded with banners and Amazon pictures throughout for literally everything even remotely related to the post, I feel . . . manipulated? I don’t think that’s the right word, but I definitely have feels about it.}

Don’t forget to check all your plugins—make sure you absolutely need all of them and double-check the settings to ensure they are doing exactly what you want them to do. Right now I have about a dozen active plugins. I am truthfully not sure if that is a lot or a few, but I like the functionality of each and haven’t had any major issues.

Read Your Own Blog

This last tip is really simple but one many folks may not have thought of. You need to read {and re-read} your own writing if you want to improve it.

Be a dork and subscribe to your own blog. This is an easy way to keep an eye on any potential issues with your subscription service. You want to see exactly what your readers see.

Pull your blog up on your phone and scroll through your recent posts. You will find mistakes. You will find typos—sometimes on very old posts! This will horrify you at first, then you will be relieved that you can easily fix them.

Have you ever decided to spring clean your blog? How did it go? Any additional tips you wish to share?

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