Hi all! 

Today I am sharing a project I’ve been undertaking the last few months. Full transparency, thanks to ad revenue, I have begun making money from my blog. For this reason, I wanted to tidy it up. I decided to spring clean my entire website. I’m going to outline all the changes made, plus how to do it yourself – if you feel so inclined. Without further ado, let’s get into it! 

1.) ‘SPRING CLEAN’ YOUR POSTS

I have been posting consistently since 2015, so as you can imagine, this project has taken a lot of my time and energy. At this point in my life, I have published over 900 posts! Having said that, I have loved every second of it. I view my website as an online diary; reflecting the different versions of myself over the years. It not only brings me so much joy and creative expression; it’s something I want to leave for my daughter someday. The best place to start is from the very beginning. From my very first post (read here), I began fixing grammatical errors, checking active/inactive links, active/inactive videos and assessing whether I still resonated with the content. I even binned several posts along the way. 

a.) GRAMMAR 

Past me loved an ellipsis. Every single sentence ended with…I could not believe how often I used them! I removed them from my paragraphs, post headings, article titles etc. I also realised I repeat myself – a lot. For example, I would write something like: “the movie was quite confusing. I was so confused by the end.” I only had to express my confusion once. I reworked my words, making the posts sounds punchier and more streamlined. It may surprise you but my older content gets viewed quite regularly. For that reason, I encourage other bloggers to go back and do the same (depending on how long you’ve been posting). 

b.) ACTIVE/INACTIVE LINKS 

Inactive/active links have taken up the majority of my ‘spring cleaning.’ As a partial book blogger, I have been linking to Book Depository for years. However, as it closed in 2023, those links are no longer active. I’ve had to go through each post, replacing many a link with the Amazon alternative instead. Not only that, I’ve linked to different online stores that no longer exist, tagged other blogs that have since been wiped and more. I like to make things easily accessible for my viewers, so having inactive links posted everywhere didn’t sit right with me. This included my own links to different social media platforms etc. It may be something you haven’t considered before but if you’re able, go back and check your links.

c.) ACTIVE/INACTIVE VIDEOS

Similar to inactive/active links, a lot of YouTube content I’ve shared over the years is no longer available. I’ve come across several posts now featuring an ugly blank YouTube insert. In this case, I’ve either removed the video entirely or found another clip to substitute it. You never know when a channel may get deleted, or a video struck due to copyright. I would recommend checking them from time to time. 

d.) DELETING POSTS I NO LONGER ALIGN WITH 

I went from over 900 published posts, down to around 870. I can confidently say, each one I trashed, was for the right reason. I kept the posts that reflected my different eras, because it’s important to see how I’ve changed and grown over the years. However, some of my work felt so far removed from who I am now, I had to bin them. For example, I had a post outlining why I was a vegan. I haven’t been fully vegan for several years now. It felt wrong to preach something I wasn’t committed to anymore. I still eat 90% plant based, so my recipes, vegan travel posts and recommendations have remained. I’ve also trashed discussion topics I don’t stand by anymore, parenting views I no longer share, filler content I published just to remain relevant, certain individuals I no longer want featured and more. The rest, I’ve kept. Take a stroll down memory lane and see what your intuition tells you. Do you think certain posts are worth keeping or trashing?

2.) RANKINGS 

When it came to my many ranking posts, I had a dilemma. What do you do when a beloved author has published many more books since your last ranking? I’m looking at you Darcy Coates! My first instinct was to bin them, but I had such a strong physical reaction to the idea, I knew I couldn’t go through with it. I’m the queen of ranking. I’ve ranked franchises, shows, games, songs etc. To delete all those posts I put so much work into, would devastate me. Then it hit me. What if I revisited those old posts, but added my updates? For example (see image below), I returned to my Taylor Jenkins Reid ranking from 2021, inserting where I would place her newer works, in and amongst my original list. Any standalone reviews for that particular book, would be linked as well. Now, whenever I read a new novel, watch a new film in a series, finish another season of a television show etc, I just return to that particular post and update it. I don’t have to lose the work AND it remains relevant to today. Win win! 

3.) OVERALL AESTHETIC 

Another way to ‘spring clean’ your blog is to update its aesthetics. I noticed earlier this year, my blog’s theme was no longer available. I upgraded to a new one, changing the fonts, layouts, widgets and more. Maybe it’s time for a revamp? This includes categorising your posts under the correct menus. If you’re attached to how everything looks, don’t feel pressured to change it. I just wanted to give my website a fresh look. I really like the format now. In case you’re wondering, I use the Carnation theme. Also, for the first time since launching my blog in 2015, I finally changed the domain name from peaceandloveandveggies.com to mybookishuniverse.com. Everything makes sense now! 

4.) SECURITY AND PLUG-INS 

On the more technical side, I would delete any unused plug-ins to reduce security risks. Running outdated plug-ins could expose your site to hackers and AI bots. It’s a scary world we live in! Not only that, make sure your website is fully updated. You can do this through your dashboard. Updating everything will ensure your page is running at maximum speed, not to mention, helps avoid security breaches. It’s the little things that can make a big difference.

5.) ENGAGEMENT 

Last, but not least, focus on your engagement. Assess your stats, reply to comments, manage your professional inbox and ensure you have payment plans set up (if you are receiving revenue). See what posts your audience really responds to and give them more of that. My rankings and new-release horror movie reviews tend to do the best. You’ll notice they have become a mainstay for my website. I always reply back to followers within the day and address any ‘deals’ presented to me over email. Once you get into the habit, you’ll be able to stay on top of things more readily. 

Thank you so much for reading. Let me know how you ‘spring clean’ your website. 

Peace & Love