When I first started this blog, I thought it was a simple as writing a post and pressing publish. And don't get me wrong, it totally can be. But, if you're looking to progress your blog, grow your readership, and take a more professional stance on blogging, you need to undergo some blog maintenance. So here is a quick list of five things you can do to improve your blog behind the scenes.
Broken Links & Widgets
A link that no longer directs you to the desired page is broken. So, why are these important to fix? Think back to your last web session. If you came across a lot of '404 error's you're probably not going to stick around on that site for very long. The length of time spent on a site is known as 'Bounce Rate'. The lower the bounce rate the better as this means people are spending more time browsing, and less time 'bouncing' out of the site. The more broken links you have, the higher your bounce rate. As a result, your SEO can suffer as Google take into consideration bounce rate when ranking your site. You can use websites such as Dead Link Checker to locate and fix any broken links.
Traffic Sources
Utilising your traffic sources can help improve your page views dramatically. This tells you where your audience is coming from. For me, my biggest traffic source is Twitter. This is where I find the majority of my audience comes from. For others it may be Pinterest, Facebook etc. Whatever the case, use this to your advantage. Promote your posts more on that platform.
Revamping Old Posts
This is something I'm in the midst of doing. We tend to just focus on promoting our more recent posts, but what about the oldies? Go back and edit some of your older posts. Whether this be updating your photos with some new and improved ones, or changing up the posts layout or words. Revamping and promoting older posts not only brings the level of quality up to scratch with our more recent posts, but also provides us with more content to share with newer readers.
Search Descriptions and Alt Tags
It's important to add a Search Description, or sometimes called a Meta Description to each post, and page of your blog. This should be a short, concise description of the post/page. Your description will be shown underneath your page link in google search results and is used to grab readers attention, resulting in them clicking your link. Alt Tags work in a similar way. An alt tag is basically a description of your image. As google can't 'see' your images, these are important to add in order for your images to show up in search results. For example, if the image showed a man running, adding 'man running' to your alt tag means your image shows up in results when this term is searched. To add alt tags when writing a post, simply click on the image and select image properties and add your description.
Improving User Friendliness
Finally there is User Friendliness. This is the basic look and feel of your blog. Put yourself in the readers shoes, and make any changes your feel necessary. Could you improve your fonts and sizes? Are your images the best quality they could be? How easy is it to navigate to a specific page? Do you have a search bar?
This post is incredible useful for so many people! I work in digital marketing and this will be so helpful to a lot of people! X
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I'm constantly trying to improve my blog in every aspect. I think that broken links revamping old posts is something we usually just forget to do. xx
ReplyDeleteAntonia || Sweet Passions
This was so so helpful! Xx
ReplyDeleteThese are some really helpful tips! Great post!
ReplyDeleteRobyn // http://www.midnightandlace.co.uk/
Great post! There's SO much work to be done behind the scenes that many people outside the blogging world do not realize, there's always posts to fix, pictures to maintain, links to fix, projects to work on.. etc. I'd like to think I've gotten into a good routine now of maintaining everything! x
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! Twitter is also our main source of traffic! I had never though of revamping old post but this is a great idea! xx corinne
ReplyDeleteThis is honestly going to be so helpful! I've thought about revamping old posts a few times but have always talked myself out of it! I'm definitely going to find the motivation to do it now! Jess xx
ReplyDeleteworldofjesss.blogspot.com
Omg this is such a great post, especially for people who really want to get somewhere with blogging. I always thought about sharing my old posts and giving them more attention, but I never thought about revamping them and making them better, it's a great tip!
ReplyDeletecaityloux.blogspot.co.uk
Revamping old posts is something that I have been meaning to do recently and I am sure that some of my links are broken and need to be sorted. This is a useful reminder for bloggers everywhere. Great read,
ReplyDeleteLois x
www.lifeasloismay.wordpress.com
Brilliant tips! I started sorting my broken links a few months ago and now make it a priority to check every few weeks! Never knew how important it was before but then I realised how many broken links there was on my blog. Thank you for sharing, this was super helpful x
ReplyDeleteTiffany x www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
I'm really trying to make pinterest my major source. It would be awesome because it's very passive. I can't for now because I'm free hosted but soon enough I will. I'm going to keep these for further reference. Thanks so much. :)
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great post. I often neglect the more technical aspect of my blog but I'll definitely be taking your tips on board. This was really useful so thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnnieChanie
Revamping old posts is such a good idea! I definitely need to do this with some of my first ones!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting, as there is so much that goes into blogging, that a lot of people don't realise and it's all stuff like this! Checking for broken links is the bane of my life! Luckily there are add ons for it! Great post xx
ReplyDeleteHannah | luxuryblush
There are some great tips in this post. Great read!
ReplyDeleteThese are some great tips, revamping is honestly such a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm bookmarking this page to come back to, absolutely love it!!
ReplyDeleteShauna
https://diariesofadramatic.com
These tips are super useful, I always put off going through my dead links and in the end I had so many to go through which took me weeks on end. It's important to check these at least once a month to prevent build up! x
ReplyDeleteThese are all such good tips. I really need to learn how to use Pinterest as so many people rave about it!
ReplyDeleteThese are such helpful tips for Beginners! I think it will really help them start to get their head around SEO
ReplyDelete:)
This is a really good post Terri, these tips are super helpful and I totally agree one each and everyone. I actually went through my blog and checked all the links still worked and etc. There's literally nothing more annoying then having 'error' pop up on every link you click on. I think it's also a fab idea going back to older posts and seeing what you can improve. Doing this can also give you inspiration to write up new posts and some blog title ideas!
ReplyDeletewww.taylorjane.co.uk | Taylor Jane ox
This post is so helpful for anyone relatively new to blogging. I'd never think to go back and check old links; thank you for this too!
ReplyDeleteGemma xx
Hiddenlittlegem.com
A great post, it's certainly motivated me to do some blog maintenance 💜
ReplyDeleteTotally loving your tips here! I always write down that I need to update old posts and check links but offer forget about it so I think I'll most definetly have to do a little revamp after reading this! Thanks for Sharing!
ReplyDeleteJordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
Some great tips here!
ReplyDeleteReally useful post, thank you for sharing! I agree, my biggest "turn off" when I'm on a site is a dead link.
ReplyDeleteNot only does it make for a negative user experience, it almost makes me question the source of the site - why is the link broken? Is this site safe? LOL Sounds silly but that's really what goes on in my mind.
Thanks for sharing!
♡ Christine Anne
A Blueberry Girl
Thank you for these tips! I'm a blogging newbie so I need all the help I can get. Have a great weekend! x
ReplyDeletethebeautypanda.com
These are really valuable tips! Especially keeping on top of alt tags for images, and checking on any broken links. Something I've got to do this weekend!
ReplyDeleteBecca x
www.rawrrbecca.co.uk
This is so helpful hun - thank you! I never even thought to check for broken links, I've just had a look and realised half my comments on older posts are missing after changing my site name, so gonna get that sorted now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great post!
whatevawears.co.uk
It's the little things like alt tags that get missed all too often! Great post!
ReplyDeleteBritt | http://alternativelyspeaking.ca
This is such a great way to help others improve their blogs! very useful :) xx
ReplyDeleteSophiaaaxo.com
Loved this post! I really need to fix my broken links but I just can't bring myself to go through 4 years of them Xx
ReplyDeleteWww.coleoftheball.com
This is very helpful! Thank you so much for the information, I will try to incorporate twitter more! :)
ReplyDeleteEcotravelgirl.com
This is all such helpful info! I also didn't have a clue about half of this stuff! Bad blogger I am!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for making this post lovely!
This was such a handy little read, I always forget to check my links but it's now on my to-do list! Also, I had no idea about alt tags so thanks for sharing that <3
ReplyDeleteKisses and Love
Jazziepickles
www.jazziepickles.co.uk
This is a great post! I really need to go back and edit my older posts definitely with some photos that's for sure! And also never new about the alt tag so will be checking that out too!
ReplyDeleteEllie x
www.elliesbitsofbeauty.wordpress.com
There's so much I want to do with my blog. I was thinking about revamping some old posts the other day
ReplyDeleteTasha x
http://itsatashathing.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/dollibox-may-2017.html?m=1
some fantastic tips, taking some of these tips on board as i've just started out my blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you x
http://www.xhighlandbeauty.co.uk
I love this! I always get confused with alt tags so this has help thank you💖
ReplyDeleteYess this sounds amazing! I honestly really needed these tips Terri! Thank you! Xx
ReplyDeleteSami | samiyah.co.uk
Love this! I've actually never checked for broken links so I'm heading straight there to do it now, oops! xx
ReplyDeletewww.itslaurawood.com
Good advice. These are things I try to do regularly. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips Terri. I'm worried as mine is through my website....not sure this is the best platform for my blog x
ReplyDeleteThanks for the useful tips! I just started a lifestyle blog and will take these tips on board. Thanks for sharing x
ReplyDeleteAnya https://anyasjourney.wordpress.com/
Great tips here. I only started my blog in March but didn't think about broken links etc. Thanks
ReplyDelete