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This post was previously published on Not Now Mom’s Busy. The content and resources have been updated for this post.
Spring is will be upon us in a couple of weeks. For a lot of us that means it’s time to clean out the closets, purge old items and update a room or two at home.
You’ve gotta admit after a good cleaning, the house feels fresh and you get this renewed vibe going.
The same can be true for your WordPress website. Spring break is also a good time to give your website a good cleaning.
I know, I know, it’s not like you’re not already busy. Why add one more chore to your list of things to do, right?
Believe me I know where you’re coming from. There are barely enough hours in the day to do the things we normally do.
But the way the Spring break reminds us to clean the house and change the batteries in our smoke detectors, we should also do some maintenance on our website to keep it updated and running smoothly.
What’s the saying – “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. It’s better to update your WordPress website now than to wait until something happens like your site getting hacked. And that can be a major headache.
Another reason you should spring clean your website is to attract new visitors. I’m not taking anything away from content. You still have to create kick a** content for your visitors. But before they read your blog post, their eyes are set on your website’s appearance – remember, presentation is everything!
It’s not like you have to do a major blog make-over or anything like that. In fact, you can do some or all of the following suggestions to spring clean your WordPress website.
11 Ways to Spring Clean Your WordPress Website
Here is a list of technical and cosmetic suggestions to spruce up your WordPress website.
#1 Check For Broken or Inactive Links
Be sure to check for broken links. Having broken links on your website can your website’s ranking on search engines. You can lose the trust of your audience and it can cost you a potential customer.
If you’re blogging three or more days a week you should check for broken links at least once a week.
But if it’s been a while since you’ve checked your links, now would be a good time to do so.
An easy way to do this is by installing the Broken Link Checker plugin.
This plugin monitors your WordPress website for broken links in your blog posts, web pages and even comments.
Once you install and activate the plugin, you’ll be notified of any broken links through email or on your WordPress dashboard.
Just click on ‘tools’ and you’ll see a number by ‘broken links’ that tell you how many broken links your website has.
Click on ‘broken links’ from the ‘tools’ tab and you’ll get a list of broken links that you can edit directly from the plugin page.
But if you’d rather not install another plugin you can check for broken links on Online Broken Link Checker website also for free.
#2 Check Those Plugins
You want your blog to have the latest bells and whistles and I’m sure you’re using plugins to get the features you want. But it’s important that you check those plugins and update them when needed.
My friend Bren wrote a blog post about what happens when you forget to update your plugins.
Look for a plugin that has multiple features like Jetpack*. Jetpack has features to protect your WordPress website, increase traffic, SEO tools and most importantly to engage with your visitors.
The free version of the plugin has features like free WordPress themes, lazy loading images and automated social media posting.
But if you really want to get the most out of Jetpack for your online business you can upgrade to get extra features* like unlimited video CDN, no storage limit on backups and automated malware scanning and security fixes.
You also get more marketing tools like SEO preview tools and Google Analytics integration.
Here are other plugins I recommend for your WordPress website.
- WPForms*
- WPTasty* – for food blogs
- Revive Social*
- MonsterInsights*
- Akismet
- WP Smush
- Yoast SEO
You can find these plugins in the ‘plugins’ section of your WordPress dashboard.
#3 Update Your Privacy Policy
If you have made the transition from a hobby blogger to a blogging business, make sure you update legal disclosures to let visitors know what data you’ll collect and how you intend to use it.
For example, if you’re starting a mailing list your privacy policy page should disclose that you will be collecting email address for your email marketing campaign.
If you need a privacy policy for your website, check out privacypolicies.com*. They have a free template and upgrades for as little as $39 (one-time fee), which is a great deal!
#4 Update Your About Me Page
If your about me page mentions anniversaries such as how long you’ve been a blogger, you’ll have to update that number every year along with ages of your kids, furbabies, etc. So take a look at your about me page and update it as needed.
Bonus tip: While you’re at it, review your bio to make sure it’s current.
#5 Update Your Gravatar Pic
If you’ve been using the same pic for a while now or if you’re using an image instead of your picture, think about updating your gravatar pic.
But if you still haven’t created one you can get one here. Remember, readers like to put a face to the name.
#6 Update Your Category List
Take a moment and go through your category list. If there are some categories there you’re no longer blogging about, consider removing them. Or you can update existing ones to sound more funky or hip with keywords within your niche.
I’ve been using Ubersuggest for several weeks and it’s now my favorite keyword search tool. When you enter specific keywords you’ll get hundreds of head terms as well as long-tail phrases. Not only that, you’ll know everything from volume to cost per click data. Did I mention it’s free?
#7 Remove or Change Ads
If you have a lot of ads on your site, now would be a good time to remove some of them. Too many ads takes the focus away from your content and worse it can drive visitors away.
If you’ve been using the same banner ads, check your affiliate networks for updated banners.
#8 Repurpose Old Blog Posts
Give you older posts new life by repurposing them. You can update the content, give it a new featured image or better than that turn them into an infographic, slideshare or video.
#9 Archive Old Blog Posts
If you have old giveaways or coupon posts that have expired and you are no longer sharing them with your audience, you can archive these post so that they don’t appear in your blog roll.
And you know there’s a plugin for that! Archived Post Status plugin makes it easy to archive your posts without deleting them. WPBeginner has a fab tutorial that shows you how to install and configure this plugin.
#10 Change Blog Layout
Last but not least, you can change the layout of your theme. You can do something as simple as moving the sidebar to opposite side from where you currently have it or change it to a full page view.
But if you really want to change the look of your blog you can always get a new theme. I’m a big fan of Studio Mommy’s premium themes. She has the most posh feminine themes for your WordPress website!
#11 Add Some New Graphics To Your Website
Last but not least, give your website a fresh new look with new styled stock images.
Here’s a plug for my new website…Posh Stock Images has styled stock images for all your creatives! Go on and check them out and get instant access when you subscribe to our monthly membership!
And There You Have It
Those are the ways to spring clean your WordPress website and it won’t bust the budget.
Now let’s chat!
Will you be spring cleaning your website over spring break? What are some of the things you do to keep your blog maintained and how often do you do it?
Before you go, I would really appreciate it if you’d share this post on social media!
Hi Cori, great tips! I always forget to update my about page and disclosure.
I need to have a new photo done for an updated gravatar too. I’ve been letting my hair grow out so it’s hard to get that photo just now but I need to! I also check for spelling and grammer I may have missed previously especially on the older posts. I have gotten rid of some old posts but I like the idea of updating them and freshen them up with new images and video or slide-shares.
There is always so much to be done on the blog now Cori, it’s like housework, never done.
Hi Lisa,
Our blog can definitely keep us busy that’s for sure! Even I had a lightbulb moment putting this post together. I need to update my about me page. 🙂
I know what you mean about getting just the right pic. I’m due for an update myself. 🙂
I have to go through my older posts on Not Now Mom’s Busy. I have some giveaways I can archive as well as update blog-related content I can publish here.
Thanks for coming by Lisa. You are so right about that! A blogger’s work is never done. 🙂
Happy Tuesday!
Cori
Hi Cori,
Your spring cleaning tips for WordPress is remarkable, I cannot agree any less because sometimes it becomes like a clustered house where the only way to move forward is to clean things up.
I’m considering updating my Gravatar, category list, as well as my blog layout.
Repurposing old blog posts has become a part of me. I like visit them and fix the typos I missed the first time.
The plugins you listed looks amazing, such as the “WP Optimize.” I will have to check it out.
Hi there Moss!
Thanks for coming by to check out this post.
I’m so glad you liked these spring cleaning tips. I recently did both my blog and house and boy was that a chore, LOL!
Oh yes, I’m all for repurposing older blog posts. Do you ever read your earlier posts and think, ‘what the heck was I thinking’? I do. 🙂
I hope you had a chance to check out the WP Optimize plugin. I think you’d like it.
Have fun with your blog updates! I can’t wait to see the finished produt. 🙂
Have a great rest of the week!
Cori
Hi Cori,
I love this because 2 weeks ago I did a huge overhaul on my blog. Early Spring cleaning. But the Universe forced my hand 😉
CDN issues with my old host caused slow load times and poor rendering for some US readers. After 12 days of not seeing the issue solved I left my old host, sprinted to a new host and got on an awesome VPS, making my blog super super duper fast on loading. I also streamlined my blog design to lean things down.
Awesome tips here.
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Aw man, that does not sound like fun at all. I’m glad you got it all sorted out. I do like what you’ve done with your blog. I’ve always liked your images. It’s like you’re talking the talk and walking the walk when you say you’re blogging from paradise. 🙂
Thanks for reading this post and for commenting!
Cori
Hey Cori,
Thank you so much for the timely post on those cleaning tips. I am a lazy guy but still obsessed with trying to make my website as well as it should. While I just went ahead and updated my gravatar, you just made me realize just how much of “house keeping” WordPress takes.
To begin with, I’d have to make a run for the Broken Link Checker plugin. Then, work up a few of the older posts (and update them), and so much more. I also just changed the blog layout from the usual layout to a grid-style one. I just couldn’t bring in the images there because of some “Upload child theme first and do this and that” — now, I can manage this and that on WordPress but I don’t think I can handle the child theme thing. So, I am stuck there.
Ash
Hi there Ash,
I’m glad I reminded you about your Gravatar. And you’re right, a self-hosted WordPress site does require a lot of maintenance. 🙂
If you still need help with your website, contact me and I’d be happy to help.
Thanks for coming by and for leaving your comment!
Cori
Hey Cori! Fabulous post and thank you for the linky poo! So many bloggers forget to even update plugins, let alone, do a Spring deep cleaning. It amazes me when I log into someone’s WordPress Dashboard and see all those updates! Eeek!! Quarterly cleaning is a good thing to do, or if you are obsessive like I can be, monthly. LOL
Thanks for the great reminder (and shout out)! Love ya! Muwah! xox