A blog is like your home or place of business on the Web. If you neglect to keep it clean, it can make you miserable and unproductive. Now and then, observe the rules of virtual spring cleaning and get off to a fresh start for the times ahead.
1) Delete your weakest blog posts.
Unsuccessful or weak posts are those that do nothing but take up space in your blog. They aren’t the best examples of your writing; your visitors have no use for them; search engines don’t like them; you don’t make money from them. So what are they doing there still? You could keep them around just in case… But personally, I delete what I have no use for as time permits. For example, in my Facebook and Internet marketing blog, I’ve removed many older posts or at least revamped their content.
Look over your article inventory and get rid of what needs to go. If they get no traffic, no backlinks and no earnings, there’s nothing to lose. You would have to update any links (your internal links) to those posts, or else redirect those links to similar, better posts. I’ve deleted posts and redirected their URLs to other articles without any loss in traffic.
NOTE: I don’t recommend deleting a ton of old posts at once! For safety reasons, do it gradually, like maybe one post for every five new articles you publish. This way the total size of your blog won’t change significantly in the eyes of search engines.
2) Update obsolete articles and information.
For example, say you wrote a review on free webmaster tools. If a service becomes unavailable or no longer free, you’d want to update the article. But how will you know? You can’t always check on these no matter how vigilant you are. This is where your visitors could really help. Often they’ll be the first to know about outdated or missing information in your articles. So enable comments in your posts so they can share their knowledge with you. However it is your responsibility to keep your contact details and other details your blog current.
3) Check for broken links.
Broken or dead links occur when the external page you go to is gone or unavailable, or when you delete or change the URL of your own posts. Broken links may also happen when visitors submit invalid URLs in their comment info. Lots of broken links tell visitors that a blog isn’t well-cared for. You could also lose traffic if they are internal links. Use a link checker to make sure all your outbound and internal links alike are current. In WordPress, the easiest way to do this is with a link checker such as the Broken Link Checker plugin.
4) Close comments on old posts.
I don’t know about you, but if I see a three-year old post with 500 comments in it – a lot of it spam – I’d say it’s time to stick a fork in it. I’d do this with posts when the newer comments are becoming irrelevant or if the post itself is outdated. In WordPress, you can manually close comments for individual posts, or tell WordPress to disable comments after a fixed period.
5) Delete unused resources.
Do you have blog templates that you never plan to use? Do you have photos in your image gallery that you won’t need? What about deactivated plugins? Uninstall these unused themes and plugins, and delete surplus images. You won’t miss them. It would make your blog interface cleaner and tighter, and it would also save on Web hosting space.
6) Hide or disable unnecessary widgets.
Newbie bloggers are easily taken with widgets. If you have gotten over this trap (and hopefully, you have), it’s time to trim them to a reasonable amount. A surplus of fancy widgets can slow down your blog, distract visitors and just plain make you look ridiculous. Remove unnecessary items and consider using tabbed widgets to save space. You can find WordPress plugins for those if you can’t make them yourself. You must use a theme that supports tabbed widgets.
7) Empty the Trash, Drafts and Spam folders.
Akismet (an anti-spam plugin) can weed out 99% of spam, but it won’t delete them for you. Make sure you empty your trash and spam folders on a regular basis. This isn’t just for comments though. It’s also for your own posts– discarded posts, abandoned or forgotten drafts, rejected guest posts — you get it. If you don’t use ‘em, lose ‘em.
Conclusion
Spring cleaning is an important part of website upkeep. It’s normal to be reluctant– we get attached to old articles and habits just as we do to furniture and belongings, even when we don’t need them anymore. Take your time. Just keep in mind that cleaning up is better for your blog in the long run.
A word of caution: Make a full backup of your blog and database before you make changes to it like the above. If you accidentally delete something you need, restore your backup. Also, I prefer to do this over a period of days or weeks, while continuing to produce fresh content for my blog.
EasyAzon Plugin
Twitter: hbusinessteam
says:
I think one of the best tips is to update some blog posts. There is probably a gold mine of posts on my blog that if I update could bring me more traffic. I know everybody concentrates on creating new content but I bet there is money to be made on the old content.
Jeff Casmer recently posted..3 Internet Money Making Tips To Get You Started On Your Own Home Internet Business
Twitter: kezanari
says:
I totally agree Jeff, this is one of the things that I’m going to start doing this year and that is to update more of my older content.
A great tip is, update the old post and then reposted again on your website back on the first page. This Works a treat
kezanari recently posted..How I Get 5,000+ Backlinks With One Click Of A Mouse Button Without Using Software
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Yes. Updating old content is important for several reasons. If an article is ranking well, updating it with fresh content will keep it afloat even when competitors rise. Removing outdated or dead links is also part of it. And as you say, you can make more money with the old stuff by improving it.
One thing that helps is to check your visitor and keyword statistics, then use the info to edit those articles to better optimize them.
Thanks for the comment.
Blog Lady recently posted..How to See All My Facebook Links
Twitter: nhcmommies
says:
I have a couple of blogs and I need to go through them and clear some of them out. I found one of my posts had so many comments…mostly from spammers.. so that will be where I start. Great advice!
Christy recently posted..Where to Sign Up For Baby Registries in Wilmington, NC
Twitter: vikas_wtw
says:
Yaa Jeff..right..We can make use of old content by updating them as useful content is always useful whether updated now or earlier.The points mentioned in the article is good as we need to clean blogs by removing unwanted stuffs,broken links,etc. Thanks L J
Twitter: esoftload
says:
Deleting old posts is a good idea but at the same time a broken link will be added, i hope so, We have to take precaution while deleting old post and cleaning our blog. Indeed a great post!!
Isha Singh recently posted..How to use Telecommunications to Improve Productivity
Twitter: no twitter
says:
Wow very helpful tips about renewing old content. I never had a guess that it’s possible to generate some profit from the old pots either. Will definitely do a spring clean! I am also going to remove a few unused plugins…
Twitter: ComputerTooSlow
says:
Those are 7 great tips. Many of the action items may actually help you in the search engines eyes as well, especially removing broken links and old, irrelevant content.
Dominic recently posted..Why Most Android Tablets Failed
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
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Thank you, Dominic and everyone.
L.J. recently posted..Free WordTracker Tool Trial: Get Keywords with WordTracker
Twitter: christophrrice
says:
Nice to hear some different ideas here … I’m not too keen on deleting old posts, but I agree that it’s a god idea to revamp and update them. Thanks for the tip!
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Yes, as I said to Jeff in a reply earlier (don’t see it here though) updating old content has a number of benefits, namely it keeps content fresh in the eyes of search engines, it removes obsolete material and as he says, it helps make more money sometimes.
Isha, you can redirect the permalinks from deleted posts. There are plugins for that in WordPress.
I’d redirect the old URL to a related article so I don’t lose the traffic. Again, be careful which posts you delete!
Thanks for the comments all!
Blog Lady recently posted..How to Link to a Specific Area in a WordPress Post
Twitter: AaronBoltonArt
says:
A lighter-weight redirect solution is also to just use your htaccess file –tho it requires some know-how. Installing too many plugins can slow down your blog which impacts user experience and seo, so I try to be as sparring with plugins as possible.
Twitter: thanhtrungpro
says:
Well, these tips are awesome to clean a blog, it makes our blog run faster and much more things.. I can’t reveal it exactly what it is right now but … may you understand what I want to talk about.
Trung Nguyen recently posted..Dreamhost Coupon: Signup Hosting For Just $1.87/mo
Twitter: thehamptonsdj
says:
Thank you i was looking for a plug in for broken links
Paul Cassella recently posted..Djdealeyo presents I love February Hiphop R&B Reggae music mix (215)
Twitter: wpwebhost
says:
If you guys use WordPress, there’s this plugin WP Optimize which helps to optimize your database and delete unwanted drafts and unwanted revisions. It’s a great tool.
Ricardus recently posted..Extension of Buy 1 Elegant Themes from WPWebHost & Free 1 WordPress Hosting Deal
Twitter: Jajodia_Saket
says:
Nice tips, we also repair and optimize or database almost everyday.. Remove unwanted plugins and try to use codes instead of plugin.. and BTW this 7 tips are really helpful for people looking for a way to cleanup.. Thanks L J..!!
Saket Jajodia recently posted..How Techmeme Works And Some Tips To Get Your Article On Techmeme
I always lookout for traffic stats on all blog posts. There are times when I notice certain blog posts which are not indexed at all/get hardly any traffic. I either save them as draft or remove them. Also, disabling unnecessary plugins can decrease page load times.
Cheolsu recently posted..PNR Status
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Cheolsu, if your posts aren’t getting indexed, try using an XML sitemap plugin. Also link to your posts internally. If you link cross-post your blog entries, you help search engines find other relevant content on your site.
L.J. recently posted..How to Change Facebook Background Color
I am not so sure about deleting weak posts. I think they are part of who you are and what makes up your site. I am not one to delete something for lack of traffic or interaction. I think it should remain regardless. Nothing wrong with a bit of cleaning, but depends on what it involves.
Ray recently posted..Enough with the Social Media Sharing Buttons
Twitter: kemonbaca
says:
blog without widget not attractive..
but we must use on of the best widget
kemon baca recently posted..Harga Blackberry Terbaru Baru dan Bekas
Twitter: JetSetBags
says:
One of the best posts i’ve read all week, that’s coz these are very helpful. And yeah we’ve been thinking and sometimes overthinking on what to add to our blogs, content, new design, podcasts, photos, etc. But sometimes to make it better, it just needs some cleaning up. You can’t store everything forever. The more updated the blog is, the better.
Hannah Hamilton recently posted..The Best Bag for Every Type of Traveler
Twitter: Prevucare
says:
All are good tips except the one about deleting old posts.
If your blog is quite populated, chances are there may be links to that post and if so it creates a broken link.
Also, if the page is indexed by Google and Yahoo etc… that is a good thing and means it may just need some revamping. It’s the longtail keywords in your blogposts that probably bring most of your traffic and even if it only brings 1-2 vists a month, if have a few of them then it all adds up!
The time you spend researching analytics etc… to discover that it has no traffic should be spent on revamping exisiting or writing a new post!
Great article! Surely a blog needs care, and updating the published articles must be the most difficult part! Also checking about broken links is very important! The existence of broken links make the blog or the site unreliable. Thank you for the ”broken link checker plugin” advice, I will definitely use it!
Thank you for sharing.
Sara recently posted..Want to Build a Unique and Inspiring Rock Garden?
Twitter: itechcode
says:
Nice Post LJ. I have a question for you. Why we should close the comment on old post? Is it necessory if we are using Akismet? Thanks a lot for sharing the 7 Effective tips.
Amit Shaw recently posted..Tips for Making Internet Marketing Attractive
Twitter: esther98
says:
You got that right! It’s important to write fresh posts, but it’s also important to upkeep all the old stuff that’s no longer relevant – or put new information in as you learn more. Great tips for blog maintenance.
Anne Lyken-Garner recently posted..Home Improvement
Twitter: socialmediatecs
says:
Awesome post, thanks for the spring cleaning blog tips!!
Galen Morgigno recently posted..No Excuses Summit 3! The Game Is On!
Twitter: KatherineKrige
says:
This is a great idea for anyone who blogs, regardless of platform. I am one of those folks who loathes letting go of anything, but weeding out old posts that add nothing is a great idea to make the whole site look better. It totally makes sense to put your best foot forward.
Katherine recently posted..Meagan
Twitter: dotcomstreet
says:
I do agree that cleaning up a blog is important but dont you think deleting useless posts destroys the originality of the blog ?
Coz i feel a blog is like a diary for sharing thoughts
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
A blog IS like a diary for many. But not everybody. If older blog posts have that kind of personal, emotional, etc. value to the author and you feel it’s part of what makes your blog what it is, then keep them. Some people – and some blogs – are more business-like. If an employee doesn’t deliver, that employee gets fired. Like I said, only delete posts that bring nothing at all – no backlinks, no traffic, no income. As for the URLs; there’s redirect.
Twitter: oegbule
says:
That no 1 tip is golden. Am definitely checking my old posts.
Huff recently posted..3 Plugins To Force Traffic To Your WordPress Blog
Twitter: marketsecrets
says:
Refreshing tips although the first one is a bit gutsy as I would much rather revamp it than straight up delete it. And another thing I do not do which is related to the afore mentioned is close comments on old posts because I continuously get relevant comments to older posts plus those comments sometimes tell me what needs revamping because like you said “they’ll be the first to know about outdated or missing information in your articles”
Caleb recently posted..Got Blogs? Then Get This…
Twitter: ajacwebdesign
says:
Any fear of lowering your count of indexed pages by deleting those old posts?
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Not if it’s done slowly over a long period of time. If anything, deleting weak posts (especially posts with thin content that would create more work revising than just writing a new, better post) would help. I believe that keeping low quality pages around does more harm than good. But if the blogger is happy to improve old posts, there’s no reason to delete them.
Thank you for sharing these great organizing tips! I found the concept of adding a Broken Link Checker Plugin to your blog very interesting. That can really help clear up the blog from the mess of broken links. A clean blog is definitely a productive blog.
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
You’re welcome! And yes, that’s a VERY good plugin for finding dead links! Not just on your blog posts but also comments!
L.J. recently posted..Free WordTracker Tool Trial: Get Keywords with WordTracker
Twitter: Elena__Anne
says:
Organizing our job correctly, it will get us out of trouble in the future.
Your article is very useful especially for me. I ‘ve launched my blog recently. I will know what not to do from the very start!
elena_anne recently posted..Workout With Your Newborn to Get Your Physical Condition Back
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Glad to help, Elena. I like how your blog looks. The domain name is catchy and imaginative. The layout is clean and typography is nice on the eyes. It’s about one of my favorite topics too!
L.J. recently posted..Free WordTracker Tool Trial: Get Keywords with WordTracker
spring clean=keeping it tidy
which in turn reflects well upon the mod/creator
not only that, but makes navigating through the posts etc much less of a hassle
very interesting thoughts though, and great topics here
thanks heaps
james
Twitter: BrianHumek
says:
I write a lot about Twitter and if it ever fails like MySpace, I’ll be deleting a lot of obsolete posts. One of my other websites has over 1000 links to pizzeria websites. A broken link checker is just what that website ordered for its spring cleaning. I already regularly delete unused plugins and more. It makes me feel good after deleting as much as I can. I guess that’s how “real” spring cleaning makes me feel about our house too.
Brian recently posted..What is Twitter? How Do I Use Twitter? And Does Twitter Really Matter?
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Yes, writing about a specific brand or company that may eventually fail carries that risk. I’d have to do the same with my Facebook stuff. And yes, it DOES feel good when you delete unused plugins, etc.
L.J. recently posted..Keyword Mapping with WordTracker Keyword Tool
Twitter: ithauphy
says:
Widget and spam folder should always be cleaned up because I was always oriented in the loading blog. But until now, I have not been able to optimize the speed of my blog. I’m still confused on this
aufa recently posted..What is a web browser?
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
Blog speed depends a lot on the quality of the code, the theme you are using, number of widgets, size of graphics, etc. I read that it’s best to do the coding yourself (in PHP) than try to rely on a plugiin or widget to solve everything. But… I’m not into PHP yet so in the meantime, plugins save the day for me. Unfortunately, all this does seem to take its toll on load time.
L.J. recently posted..How to Block Faceobok Apps and Games That Annoy You
Twitter: jeffymeneses
says:
It´s really good, i already use a Broken Link Checker but never mind about Old posts. Thank you, i´ll consider it.
JMS recently posted..Google deve lançar Tablet ainda este ano a US$ 179
Twitter: youbihar
says:
Some good tips, but what does deleting your weakest blog posts do? Alternatively you could work on it OR post it somewhere. You could use it to submit to an article directory. Just a thought.
Shalu Sharma recently posted..1. Brahmins ingnored, humiliated, neglected = End of that government.
Twitter: BlogSEOLady
says:
If you can find a place to submit to that accepts previously published content – or if you decide to make a blogspot or something just for those – of course, why not? As for editing them? You decide where your time is better spent. Up to the writer.
As for the value of weak posts: I’m talking about posts that can actually HURT one’s rankings if they are kept around. I don’t know how search engines think. But I’d rather have 50 quality posts than 50 quality posts plus 10 so-so ones of questionable value.
Anyway, I’ve replied to similar comments several times. There are benefits either way so long as you do it right. Just remember if you do delete posts, to not allow for dead links and to do it slowly.
L.J. recently posted..Keyword Mapping with WordTracker Keyword Tool
Twitter: jonpaulwade
says:
All good. Although personally I do not close comments – to close comments cuts off your reader, makes them feel like they missed the boat and arrived at the party too late. Keep them open – just moderate them properly. Then you get quality comments and no spam at all.
Jon recently posted..How To Lose Weight
Twitter: vineetsaxena4
says:
I guess deleting old posts should not be preferred. It is better to update them or build backlinks for them. But I would never delete my old posts. Rest of the info is great and very useful.
Vineet Saxena recently posted..How to Make Money Online Fast Loads Faster With MaxCDN
Twitter: nirmalche
says:
Great tips. I usually do delete old posts if they are low in quality. I was just checking broken links after seeing your post. There were a few broken links which I corrected. Closing comments on old posts is a commendable idea.
Nirmal recently posted..Anirudh Ravichander Profile and Biography
Wow very helpful tips about renewing old content. I never had a guess that it’s possible to generate some profit from the old pots either. Will definitely do a spring clean! I am also going to remove a few unused plugins…
ibnea recently posted..Tips untuk keluar dari google sandbox?
Thanks for the tips. I cleared my ununsed plugins and updated some of my old articles.
If an article has too high of a bounce rate, those are good ones to focus on your cleaning efforts.
BJ recently posted..20 Favorite Atlanta Trails, Parks & Places to Walk
Great insights on cleaning up on a blog, I would focus on weak blog posts. Only because if content is key, then I would revise with either a better headline for old blogs posts, then revise some more with quality sharing content, that my readers want.
By, the way if anyone is selling stuffing on craigslist, I would suggest to check out these craigslist posting tipson squidoo to avoid selling horribly.
James recently posted..How to sell anything in this hard economy
Twitter: estellalist
says:
So what do you do about the many broken links then?
Latha recently posted..How to Create an Effective Social Media Marketing Plan
Twitter: jonpaulwade
says:
If you run a WordPress blog broken links are very easy to fix with a plugin (Broken Link Checker).
Jon recently posted..How To Lose Weight
I must admit I feel queasy about deleting articles – particularly if they have backlinks. Also I’m not sure Google likes to see a lot of 404 errors when it tries to crawl old urls.
I think re-writing and updating old articles is a better strategy than deleting. (But it’s more work of course)
Rose recently posted..Two Month Anniverssary
Twitter: jonpaulwade
says:
Rose, you should add a Redirect 301 rule to your htaccess (or use a plugin in WordPress) to redirect old URLs to a new page (can be the home page). This stops 404′s and passes any SEO benefit of the links coming in. Sometimes it is better to get rid of a page.
Jon recently posted..The Chair is a Killer – The Truth About Exercise
Twitter: arnu619san
says:
I agree there can be attachment with old post just like old furniture ,but cleaning them if required is necessary. Blog has to be clean neat and clear to attract targetted visitors. I will apply this to my blogs. Nice article.
Great analogy and a great article! It is very important to maintain your blog, especially by posting only the best of blogs. I am very glad I read this article, else I would have been tangled into so many problems.
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