Happy New Year! While everyone's mantra is focused on "new year, new you", a blogger can only wish the same for their blog. I'm sure many of you share in the mantra "new year, new blog", in a sense. There are several ways you can "refresh" your blog and general blogging or social media habits now that the new year is here. The following tips are easy things you can do today to jump start your blog this new year.
1. Refresh Facebook (and other social media) Cover Photos
This is an easy and sometimes even fun way to be out with the old and in with the new. Jump start your social media pages with a new cover photo, and you've instantly refreshed your profile on every platform. If you're on Pinterest, be sure and check out this 2016 social media image size guide, which is a great resource on what sizes of images to use for cover and profile photos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
2. Setup Social Media Stats Tracker
One thing I started doing in recent years is more intentional tracking of my social media stats. This can be done really easily by setting up an Evernote note or even using Google Docs. It has been really eye opening seeing all the growth over the months and years since I've started doing this. It doesn't have to be complicated, either. In Evernote, I just created a note titled "Social Media Stats" and then put the following in it:
Stats as of 1-1-16:Twitter – # of followers goes hereFacebook (blog page) – # of likes goes herePinterest - # of followers goes hereInstagram - # of followers goes hereYouTube - # of subscribers goes hereGoogle Plus (Personal) - # of circles I'm in goes hereGoogle Plus (Business) - # of circles I'm in goes here
Then, once the month is over and I need to move to the next month, I just copy from the previous month and paste it right below so that all of my stats stay on one page/note. Just remember to set a reminder to check it at the beginning of each month and record the updated stats. I usually set a reminder on my phone that will alert me at the current month's end.
3. Rearrange Pinterest Boards
This is so easy to do and is so effective! Did you know you can rearrange the order your Pinterest boards appear in simply by dragging them around? The new year is a perfect time to rearrange your Pinterest boards so that only the most relevant and useful content appears at the top. So, at the beginning of the year think about what your readers and followers will be searching for on your Pinterest boards. Move those types of boards to the top for easy access to your Pinterest content. This is an ongoing task you'll want to monitor and change the boards accordingly. Again, set a phone reminder so you don't forget!
4. Update or Revise Your "About" Sections
Check your blog's "About" page and update it if necessary. This is also a good time to update the "About" section on your blog or business Facebook page, Twitter account, etc. For example, I just recently did this on my blog's Facebook page because I realized the "About" section still said I was a mom of 4! Yikes! My baby girl is almost 9 months old! You want to make sure your readers and fans have the most updated info on you and your business and this is an easy way to do just that.
5. Start a Blog Planner
My dad used to always have a saying, "when you fail to plan, you plan to fail". This is true in so many ways, including in the blogging and business world. Now's a great time to invest in an easy to use blogging planner like this Blogging Success Planner one from Inspired Bloggers University. It's the one I use and it is easy, fun, and practical. There are also some great free printable blogging planners out there that you can download. I've got several downloadable printable blog planners on my Pinterest board.
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