Top
See All My Books

Why it’s important to spring clean your blog

Spring Cleaning your blog - Nikki Young Writes

Photo Credit: Philip Wilson/Flickr

Continuing with the positivity that has seen me through February, I decided to do a bit of Spring cleaning. No, not my house, although it could do with it. I’m talking about this little ‘ol blog here.

I like to give it a spruce up every couple of years or so and it felt well overdue. So, finding myself with a couple of hours to myself this weekend (rare enough in itself), I thought I’d give it a go.

Anyone who knows about these things will understand that when it comes to the technical side of websites and blogs, there is a part of you that, once you start messing about, wonders why you bothered. You change the theme of your blog and everything goes a bit pear shaped, meaning you have to spend way longer than you originally intended to get it back to a normal state again.

I’m no techy, but I do have a few years of WordPress experience behind me now, so I was able to work through any issues, using a bit of common sense and a lot of Googling. The result, I feel, is clean and fresh and a bit more streamlined.

What do you think?

Do you spring clean your blog?

I regularly work with WordPress, plus a couple of other bespoke CMS (content management systems), so I’m not nearly as frightened of the technical side of websites and blogging as I was when I first started out a few years ago. It helps as a writer, to understand this side of things. It also adds to the satisfaction when you not only see your writing in print, but you know that the published article or web page was of your creation.

As writers, we don’t just produce words. We’re designers in our own right, using creativity to make our own contribution to this virtual world in which we have all come to rely on so much for information. Perhaps some of us are less comfortable using the technical side of our brain than others. These are the writers who will struggle more because of the way we now communicate. It’s so important to understand the many ways in which you can now reach your readers, not only via social media, but through the various on-line channels where you can access the written word.

Which brings me back to blogging, where it all started. Having my own little outlet for creativity, opened the door to the world that is on-line publishing. As I look back over the early blogs I produced, I can see how much I’ve developed. From improved images, to SEO, this little place of mine has helped me in so many ways.

For anyone who wants to be a writer, I would say go create a blog. Yes, it’s an outlet for venting all your thoughts and frustrations, achievements and dreams, but it’s also more than that. It’s your practice arena for your writing and the place where you will earn your technical stripes.

Sharing this for What I’m Writing.

Writing Bubble

 

Comments

  1. FreeFromFairy says

    Looks lovely! I really need to have a go at mine but I am rather scared about the time it will end up taking! I should just outsource it to someone who is an expert, but like you, I enjoy knowing how to do things and working it out for myself.

  2. Alice @ The Filling Glass says

    Looks great! Love the colour in the header. The techie side of blogging still slightly scares me, as someone who only needed very basic word processing skills in her previous job role, but I have already learned so much in 9 months, and I agree it’s good to keep thing looking fresh. x

  3. Sara (@mumturnedmom) says

    Love it! It’s so satisfying isn’t it? When I took a blog break last year I did loads of blogmin stuff, and finally installed a new theme. I’m still tweaking, but I love the design side (and the techy stuff that goes with it!).

    • Nicola Young says

      I love that word blog min! Yours is great too. I can apparently put a slider and featured posts at the top of mine but haven’t worked out how to do that yet!

  4. maddy@writingbubble says

    I love this new look! It’s clean and fresh and easy to navigate. I did a facelift on my blog recently – changed the theme and everything – but it was so similar to the last that I don’t think anyone noticed! I spent hours faffing around with different themes though – sometimes it’s good to just look at all the options. I do prefer simpler layouts, I have to say – I had a look at magazine styles and scrolling images and all sorts but ended up right back where I started! I agree that you learn all sorts of skills through blogging – I think we all come a long way without even realising it. Thanks for linking to #WhatImWriting

  5. Tara Borin says

    Yes! I need a few hours to do this. I’m currently using a pe-made theme I purchased on Etsy. In. The beginning I loved it but I find it limiting now. I can’t change the font or text size…wish I knew more about design and tech side of things! By the way, I love your blogs design!

    • Nicola Young says

      Thanks. There are plenty of themes on WordPress, it’s just choosing the right one and it takes ages going through them all. Then you have to re format everything once you apply the new theme, add or remove widgets, etc. Time consuming but satisfying when completed.

  6. K.D. Jennings says

    Congratulations on the spring cleaning, your blog does look clean and fresh, I like it.
    Having just started with Of Lens And Pen, it does not need a spring clean – yet!
    However, Funky Wellies Random Thoughts could do with one… I have been thinking about it for a while and want to plan a day to work on it soon.
    Your post motivated me, thank you!

  7. sophieblovett says

    Your blog’s looking fab! Mine is well overdue a bit of a spring clean, but so many other things seem to take priority… Totally agree with your advice to wannabe writers to set up a blog too. I’ve learnt so much by being a part of the blogosphere – even if there is always endless amounts more to learn 🙂 xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

What Others Are Saying

"You're an amazing author. My daughter has read all your books 3 times. Thank you for inspriring her!!
Nikki Young
2020-02-28T13:14:40+00:00
"You're an amazing author. My daughter has read all your books 3 times. Thank you for inspriring her!!

"Nicola listened to and understood our wish to evolve our message along with our brand. Her copy was always succinct,...
Nikki Young
2020-02-28T13:13:38+00:00
"Nicola listened to and understood our wish to evolve our message along with our brand. Her copy was always succinct, accurate and grammatically correct and we were able to upload it to the new site without significant revision."

"Nicola is responsive and intuitive while delivering projects in a timely manner."
Nikki Young
2020-02-28T13:13:54+00:00
"Nicola is responsive and intuitive while delivering projects in a timely manner."

"You have really inspired her to write and create stories. She was very taken with your book the Time School."
Nikki Young
2020-02-28T13:14:06+00:00
"You have really inspired her to write and create stories. She was very taken with your book the Time School."

"Nicola encourages the children to think about things in different ways and to be more creative and descriptive in their...
Nikki Young
2020-02-28T13:14:19+00:00
"Nicola encourages the children to think about things in different ways and to be more creative and descriptive in their writing style."
0
Nikki Young