Book Blogger Organization Challenge: February 2015

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Welcome to the Book Blogger Organization Challenge!

If you haven’t heard of this challenge and are interested in finding out more, check out the intro post! But basically the concept is simple: Whether you want to dedicate a lot of time to this challenge or a little, I’m here to help you get organized and work on blog maintenance in 2015! Everything is broken down month-by-month so you only have to focus on ONE idea at a time. January seemed to kick us off GREAT! Let’s get ready for February!

FEBRUARY 2015 ORGANIZATION CHALLENGE
Blog Maintenance

February is all about blog maintenance which may be the most needed and most overwhelming thing in a book blogger’s life. Personally, I TRY to do a good job of keeping things updated as I go, but sometimes things get severely overlooked or you want to change up a design or start a new index or keep on updating those old reviews. This month is the time to do it!

SET A GOAL FOR YOURSELF

Trying to think of all the blog maintenance you want to do may get overwhelming really quickly. Break it down in sections to make it easier on yourself! Maybe draw up a list of everything you can think of that you might need to update on your blog — and remind yourself that THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO ALL GET DONE THIS MONTH — but it’s nice to be able to see what kinds of things you can focus on and what’s maybe less important that can be done later instead of right now.

After you know what you want to update, set some ATTAINABLE goals for yourself. Maybe update two old reviews each day in February or spend a weekend updating your review index. I know I have a LOT that I still want to do but I’ve recently learned that giving myself a respectable, solid number to accomplish or a task to complete in a specific time frame REALLY helps. I feel like I accomplished my goal and it helped me stay on task as well!

MAKE A LIST. CHECK IT TWICE.

I mentioned above to make a list for yourself of what you might want to update/install on your blog. There are any number of things you can choose from (and this is an EXTENSIVE list to intentionally include as many possibilities as I can think of so don’t go TOO crazy):

  • Update indexes and/or pages (reviews, features, policies etc) — if you have the UBB plug-in, you can even finagle it to automatically update for you like my Book and a Beverage page! (Ask me how if you need help!)
  • Update old reviews — update old formatting and/or graphics to current. (I’m in the process of not only updating old reviews to my current format but also all the info for my UBB plug-in so that the index will always automatically update!)
  • Update memes/features — make new graphics to fit your current layout, update your features’ pages, make them more uniform, etc
  • Update your contact info — Do you want to have contact info in your sidebar? “About Me” page? New social media icons? Add more social media links? Remove some you don’t use anymore?
  • Clean up any missing images — Some of my old posts have missing images because I used a URL instead of an image I had saved. If you stumble upon any, remove or update them!
  • Clean up broken links — If you can, install a link checker (plug-in)! Ever see any broken links in your stats? You can start there too! Thanks to Jess for the heads up on the Broken Link Checker plug-in!
  • Update your SEOs — This is another thing I’m constantly doing! Any time I see an old post that I haven’t entered any SEO information for, I go back and update it. I use SEO Ultimate (and it comes with a 404 monitor too!)
  • Search for other plug-ins you may want/need — Want to change your fonts? Check out Google Fonts. Looking for those boxes with similar posts? Check out Yet Another Related Posts Plug-in.  Want a list of your most popular posts in your side bar? Check out WordPress Popular Posts. Looking for that plug-in that automatically posts old blog posts to Twitter? Check out Revive Old Post.

AVOID DISTRACTIONS

I get distracted. Very easily. So if I’m doing blog maintenance and I start to get bored, I REALLY tend to wander. If you’re a wanderer too, try to think of ways to stay on task! Set up a playlist or cue up a TV show (one you’ve already seen so you don’t have to focus on it) and don’t let yourself stop until it’s over! Or maybe you’re the kind of person who has to avoid music and TV and just power through what your’e doing. Either way, set yourself up for success by avoiding those little distractions!


Organization Tools Mentioned

Plug-ins: Ultimate Book Blogger // SEO Ultimate // Google Fonts // Yet Another Related Posts Plug-in // WordPress Popular Posts //Revive Old Post // Broken Link Checker


Have anything else you want to get done this February? Let me know! And don’t forget to share what you’re accomplishing this month with the hashtag #BlogOrganization!

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 Grab the button!


NEXT MONTH: SOCIAL MEDIA & REVIEW OUTLETS

  • Update social media accounts: bios, who you follow, delete old accounts you won’t use, resolve to use some accounts more
  • Organize Goodreads shelves: duplicate copies, version of books, creating shelves, removing shelves
  • Cross-posting
  • Sending reviews to publishers, sending review requests, Netgalley, Edelweiss
  • Finding all your stats, keeping stats updated

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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