When it comes to blogging, one thing that quickly separates the dilettantes from the dedicated is how often their site is updated and refreshed. Sure, you already know that regularly adding new content is key, but what about removing the old? Just like spring is a traditional time to clean out your house—getting rid of the dust bunnies, giving away clothes you haven’t worn since the ‘90s, maybe adding a fresh coat of paint to the living room—it’s also a great time to give your blog a new look or even a new focus, getting rid of what’s broken and highlighting some exciting additions.

We reached out to a variety of bloggers for their best spring-cleaning advice. Here’s the 7 blog tips they gave us to improve your site.

What Are Your Best Blog Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Blog?

1. Fix dead links

“I run the blog and e-commerce website, NerdPlaythings.com, an online toy store of cerebral toys. At least yearly, I make sure all the dead links on my site are fixed, such as links that either go to a mistake or a website that no longer exists. These make my own site seem unprofessional. An easy way to do this is to use any third party tool like Dead Link Checker.”
—Brad Hines at BradfordHines.com

“Clear out any categories or tags that not associated with great content.” – Kate Anderson
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2. Change up your theme

“The best way to give your blog a fresh feel is to change up your theme. While this can seem daunting, changing your blog visually can inspire you too, letting you incorporate new ideas you wouldn’t have included before and see a new vision for the direction of your blog.
Another great way to freshen up and clean out your blog is to go through your archives, categories, and tags. If a category only has a few posts or if the posts it does have are lower in quality it might be time to let go of the category and focus on blogging about other things. When you clear out any categories or tags that aren’t associated with great content, then you make room to blog about things you really enjoy. For example, if you have been trying to force a recipes section on your blog but rarely contribute to it, delete that section and try adding something different—maybe restaurant reviews instead. This helps keep your blog original and allows you to grow and evolve as a blogger.”
—Kate Anderson at Kate’s Organized Life


“Remove plugins that aren’t essential to your blog in order to speed it up.” – Louise Hendon
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3. Remove plugins

“Remove plugins that aren’t essential to your blog in order to speed it up. This will make the website load faster and help readers to enjoy the experience more.”
—Louise Hendon at Paleo Flourish Magazine


4. Repurpose older content to make it smart

“Repurpose and promote: The first thing I will do is look through evergreen content and smarten it up. Does it need new images or a new title? Is there something we could add to the content or did a typo slip through the net? Then we can promote them again.

“A change to your blog’s aesthetics gives you a reason to promote the blog to past readers who haven’t returned in a while.” – Henry McIntosh
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Influencer targeting: Then I work on my lists, creating expert-specific lists for each niche my blog writes about. These generally involve the experts I include in my blog or who might be interested in it and will share it with their followers.

Aesthetics: Then I would look at the blog’s aesthetics—will a change improve it? It gives a reason to promote the blog to old readers who haven’t returned in a while, so I would look at working with a designer on that. Generally I take inspiration from blogs outside my niche, going as far as fashion and sports to help create a different image.”
—Henry McIntosh at Twenty One Twelve Marketing


5. Look at Google Analytics

“Spring is a great time to dive deep into your Google Analytics and pinpoint a few top performing blog posts that could use an update. What is the theme of your most visited blog post? Search Google and see what competing content ranks highest in this niche. What could you add to your own blog post to make it better than the currently top-ranked posts?

“Add updated blog graphics that will increase sharing across different social media platforms.” – Mallory Whitfield
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Transform your best performing blog posts into truly epic, evergreen resource pages. Include links to supplementary resources by other bloggers and republish your post. Be sure to reach out to the bloggers mentioned in your updated post and let them know that you’ve included them.
Meanwhile, include updated blog graphics that will increase sharing across different social media platforms. If most of your website traffic comes from Pinterest, make sure to include a Pinterest-optimized vertical image suitable for re-pinning. Once your updated post is live, schedule ongoing social media promotion of the post, using tools like Tailwind, Hootsuite or
Edgar.”
—Mallory Whitfield at MissMalaprop.com

6. Clear your blog of old content to clarify your message to readers
“Add in some great content with helpful tips for spring campaigns.” – Quida B. Davis
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“When you clear your blog of old things and either upgrade or add in fresh, new content, you gain more clarity with your topics and become more organized with your thoughts. Take leads from the new season to brainstorm. Adding in some great content with helpful tips for spring could possibly increase your traffic, especially if it’s well done. For example, I blog about frugal topics, and this year I have the content ready to go for discussion on 10 simple ways to save on spring clothing. So take some time and schedule content, perform research and gather data that you may want to cover.”
—Quida B. Davis at Simple Savings for Atlanta Moms

“Check that you have relevant social media networks incorporated into your site.” – Thomas Woodridge
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7. Update resources and branding

“Pay special attention to the front end and back end of the blog. If you are less tech savvy then it’s best to hire a seasoned webmaster to help you with it.
Front end: Look at your site design and see if it still maintains your brand messaging. Maybe it’s time to update your header design. Double check that you have all the most relevant social media networks that you need to incorporate into your site.
Back end: Review all your plugins and see if there are any manual upgrades you need to do. Uninstall and delete the ones you never use. Review your comment section and start deleting the ones that are taking up your hosting spaces and resources. Research the latest and greatest new plugins that you feel might be a benefit to add to your blog.”
—Thomas Wooldridge at Relamark

The post Spring Cleaning: 7 Blog Tips to Improve Your Site appeared first on Blog PR Wire.