When you think of de-cluttering, you probably think of cleaning the clutter in your home — but let’s talk about taking care of some digital clutter. Specifically – let’s talk about your website and blog! Those things need to get freshened up, too! Here are a few things to consider:
Links – Linking to other sites when you write posts, create a blog roll, etc are very helpful to your reader. But those links can become broken after time, as pages on other sites get moved or deleted. Checking your links every so often and making sure they are in working order is a good thing to do, and it can also make life easier for your readers. If you use WordPress, this plugin can check your links for you.
About Me – When is the last time you updated your “about me” page? Go read through it — if it says you are a single woman living in Paris, and since then, you’ve gotten married, had three kids and settled down in Buffalo, it’s time to change your bio! (okay, okay – you probably haven’t been through that many changes, but you get the point)
Press – Again, this is a page that should be updated! You want the public to view all of your latest press, right? So if you haven’t posted the links to your five most recent interviews, reviews, etc, now is the time to do so!
Header – Putting up a new header on your site is like going to the doctor for one of those non-invasive mini-peels or laser treatments. It will give a whole new look to your face without requiring any downtime.
Colors – Look at your site objectively… Are the colors pleasant and complementary? Or are they so garish they make you cross-eyed? So bland that everything blends together? Be honest! If they are less than awesome, it’s time to change ’em.
Theme – If you are using a theme that no longer appeals to you or no longer meets your needs, it could be time to change it. Yes -this procedure can be a bit more invasive than changing your header, but you can have a new theme installed and customized with your colors, choice of font, etc in less than a week. That’s really not so bad, now is it?