Tips for Wrapping Up the Blogging Year

by Donna Huber

In the midst of decking the halls and downing the egg nog, there are a few blog related tasks that should be on your end of the year to do list.

First and foremost: Back Up Your Blog

This task really should be done periodically throughout the year. The more you post the more often you should make a back up. This is even more important if you are squatting on free real estate (i.e. Blogger or Wordpress.com).

You would hate to log in one day and find your blog gone, POOF! It has been known to happen and as the new year is a prime time for new guidelines you may unknowingly find yourself caught in a change in terms of service.

Second, reflect on what worked

I like to do a wrap up post each year because it forces me to take a look at what readers liked, what memes brought the most traffic and comments, what guest post topics have been done to death. Knowing what went well and conversely what didn't work so well will guide you in what to do next year. Maybe it is time to say goodbye to a feature that has out lived it times. I'm contemplating discontinuing these weekly tips posts. They are time consuming and I'm not sure they fit into the content landscape of Girl Who Reads anymore. I'm toying with idea of doing a monthly column instead that would address the business side of publishing and blogging.

Third, set goals for next year

After you've had time to reflect on what went on in 2015, it's time to consider where you want to go with your blog in 2016. Do you want to add variety and do more than reviews? Or have you found that you have strayed for reviews and want to go back to your roots? I'm feeling this way a little bit. I don't think I can write more reviews, and adding new voices to Girl Who Reads has been popular, which is why we will be adding a new reviewer in 2016. The monthly columns have also been popular and a great way to have regular content. We are adding at least one new columnist in January.

Finally, set your editorial calendar

The end of 2015 will be here before you know it. Take a few minutes to outline the content you want to publish at least in January. If you can start filling in the later months before the ball drops, then you will find it will free you up to do more reading!

What is on your end of year to do list?


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