4 Things You Can Do For Your Blog When You Don’t Have Time To Write New Content
If there’s one thing I don’t have much of lately, it’s free time.
I’m graduating university this month and I currently have 5 projects that still need finishing off and handing in, all in the space of two weeks.
So much for me being organised!
Admittedly I’ve been struggling with S.A.D (Seasonal Affective Disorder) recently, which has effected how much work I’ve been able to get done. My motivation and energy always plummets when my depression flairs up and unfortunately, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Because I’m having to put all of my time into finishing my projects, I’ve had to put my blog on the bottom of my to do list and I’ve not been able to create any new content in weeks.
However that doesn’t mean I’ve been completely ignoring it; I’ve been doing a lot of editing and updating of my older content recently which I’ve really been enjoying!
Proof read
The amount of times I’ve neglected to properly proof read a post, only to later find a ton of mistakes in it is ridiculous. I really hate how unprofessional it looks (especially if its a sponsored post!) but the problem is, spotting things like a missing word or a spelling mistake is really tough for me.
I’m partially dyslexic according to my secondary school; I struggle with spelling and my brain moves letters and words around when I’m reading, which makes proof reading for mistakes difficult. I’m an avid reader but there have been plenty of times where I’ve misread a character name and created something completely different to what it’s supposed to be!
So whenever I don’t have the time or energy to write a new post, I’ll simply read through my older content and correct any spelling mistakes or add any words I’ve missed out. I’ll also do this with any half written drafts that I might have in my notes.
While I’m doing this, I also look for opportunities to do my next point which is…
Update links
Dead links are really bad for your SEO, so regularly putting aside some time to check your links are still working is really important. Especially if you’re a fashion or beauty blogger who may be linking to a particular item in a post; you might need to change or remove the link once the item is no longer on sale or has been discontinued (such as a limited edition or sessional item).
You should also have a look back through your old blog posts and see if you can link any of your newer content in them. There have been quite a few times when I’ve gone back to proof read an old article and realised I wrote a topic on something mentioned in an older post, so I’ve linked it up. I had an old pin suddenly become popular on Pinterest a few weeks ago and people were clicking through to some of the other articles I’d written, simply because I’d linked them in that post.
Plan/Update blog photos
When I first started out, I had a big problem with blog photography. I was trying to copy what everyone else did and you can really tell from how crappy the pictures turned out.
Queen of flatlays I’m not!
Because I couldn’t stand the images I was taking myself, I came to rely a lot on stock photographs. Now I’m not one of those people who think you shouldn’t use them; they’re perfect for people with no experience in photography or who don’t have the time/circumstances to take their own, I just didn’t personally like using them.
I’ve recently changed the way I take and edit my blog photos and since then I’ve been much happier with my blog. All of the photos have the same look and feel about them and I’ve even had people tell me that they could tell it was my photo without having to check the name, which I think is pretty damn awesome! I’m now slowly working my way through my old posts and taking new photos for them. I recently did this for my Billion Dollar Brows Universal Eyebrow Pencil Review and noticed a spike in the number of views that post received in the days afterwards, because I pinned the images on Pinterest and people liked the look of them.
Also just because I get asked all the time about my camera and how I edit my photos; I use a Canon EOS M10 to take my photos and the free version of VSCO (with the M5 filter) to edit them.
Brainstorm new content
I have two different ways of brainstorming content ideas; an old, messy notebook and my Trello boards. I normally start of by just brain dumping any idea I have into the notebook, no matter how stupid or unrefined I think it is.
I’ll then spend some time playing around with a title and basic concept of what the post will include, other posts that I could link in and what I could put in the photos. Once I have this, I’ll go over to my blogs Trello board and put the working title onto a card in the “To Write” section.
I have an annoying habit of getting ideas when I’m just about to go to sleep or when I’m half way through a lecture at uni, so I tend to keep the notebook with me wherever I go so I can just quickly jot it down before I forget it. Recently I’ve found that if I don’t do something the second I think about it, I tend to forget whatever it was that I was wanting to do.
Most of the time it will come back to me after a few minutes, but sometimes it doesn’t and I’ve lost quite a lot of good content ideas because I’ve thought “I’m sure I’ll remember it in the morning”…
I never do!
40 responses to “4 Things You Can Do For Your Blog When You Don’t Have Time To Write New Content”
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Good prompts, thank you for sharing. I’m dyslexic too – mine is more short term memory issues than words and letters so I have lots of notes on my phone and iPad, for those blog ideas that come to me at the oddest of times.
And I hope you’ll take this in the spirit it’s intended 🙂 There’s a typo just under the heading ‘Plan/update blog photos’ where you’ve used the word ‘hate’ instead of ‘had’ 😉
Haha I take that completely as intended- thank you for pointing it out 😉 I took longer than usual trying to spot mistakes since I was talking about them and I still missed one! 😂
Brainstorming new ideas is one of my favourite things to do, because I’m one of the few bloggers that starts a post off with the title and works from that, rather than writing the post first and finishing with a title.. 🙊
I enjoyed reading this Jade! Brainstorming ideas really does wonders for your blog. I’m currently in school right now and I’ll be busy a few weeks from now so I’ve been brainstorming like crazy + planning posts so my blog stays updated and what not. Really enjoyed reading this!
☼ cabin twenty-four
This is so helpful and useful!! The proofreading bit is so spot on, I need to do this more often than I want to admit. I have to say, the photography portion of blogging is really hard. Stock photos are great for looks you can’t capture yourself, and a good time saver, but I to want to work on my skills so I don’t need to use.
I enjoyed reading your advice & tips & I’ve found it really helpful. It’s best to follow these steps than rushing blog posts for the sake of it.
I absolutely love the way your photos came out! You have great photography skills, I’m glad you switched from stock photos <3
Finally someone else who likes to do that too! 🙊🙌🏼 I almost always start with the title, then the main bullet points and only then do I write the main body of the post 😅
I’m so glad you enjoyed reading it ☺️ good luck with school! Hope you don’t get too stressed out and can still find some time to practice some self care ☺️
I’m so glad you find it helpful! 😁 I’d always recommend just playing around with your camera, I found my style by sheer dumb luck 🙊
Yes definitely! I’ve rushed some in the past when I tried out a blogging “schedule” and those are some of the posts I really dislike now
Thank you so much! ☺️💛
I always try having a schedule, but it doesn’t really work for me. But I do like brainstorming and writing things down that I may or may not use!
Great post!
With running my own business my blog often takes a back seat so some of these tips I will take on board,
Lynsey x
I honestly don’t think schedules are for everyone; I tried one out and felt that it really stifled me!
Thank you! Yeah trying to find a balance can be so hard!x
Such a helpful post Jade! Whenever I run out of content ideas, I just leave my blog and don’t go on it, when are things I could be doing to improve it, going to spend the weekend doing some of these things!
I’m so glad my post helped you! ☺️
This is such a helpful post! Writing posts is a little harder during exam season but I still try to get them done cos they’re just fun to do. Great tips x
Great tips! Thanks for sharing xo
I wish I would have read this last month when I went through a very dry stage on my blog haha! This is such a helpful post, I especially love the proof reading tip because I struggle with reading too x
I really enjoyed this. I’ve been thinking recently of possibly updating some of my older content and wasn’t sure if I should or not – having read this, I definitely will!
Great ideas and tips ! I try to regularly re-read my content to catch any errors that have slipped through the net and I know I need to do a check on links so thanks for the reminder ! Fabulous useful post thanks for sharing 😃
Melanie | http://www.frasersfunhouse.com
Really helpful post for a blogger like me who started after a long break! Thanks for sharing❤
I’m so guilty of the first 3 things.
This are great ideas! I usually share older posts but I’ll shall incorporate these too 😊
xx
I always have many blog posts which I’ve started writing but not quite finished! That’s always useful to me whenever I need new content, instead of starting afresh with a new post every time!
Taking new blog photos is also so helpful!
Claire xx
http://eclairscares.blogspot.co.uk/
I can totally relate with getting inspiration at annoying times, I often wake up at about 2am with a mind glowing with ideas and then I’m exhausted the next day as I can’t get back to sleep! Checking dead links is such a tedious thing to do so I try to do it as often as I can stand to as otherwise you end up with a huge list. I haven’t actually updated any of my old blog photos as I really like to see my own progression and just how far I’ve come in such a small amount of time, I do think about it sometimes though as some of them are bloody awful…
Alice Xx
http://www.blacktulipbeauty.co.uk
The tips are very helpful. I have some crappy photos and I’m changing it. I’m also planning to get another camera – will definitely check out Canon EOSM10. 😊
I definitely needed to read a post like this because I’m a graduating student as well and I just don’t have time to blog (yet) 😶 I would definitely follow your advices especially the plan your blog post part. On a side note, the photos in this post are so aesthetically pleasing to look at x
http://danidotyes.blogspot.com
I’m glad you found it helpful 😊 x
Aww it’s a shame you didn’t haha! Hopefully it’ll be helpful if you have another one though ☺️ x
I’m glad to have helped you make up your mind! ☺️
You’re welcome 😊 so glad it’s helped remind you! ☺️
You’re welcome lovely, glad to help! ☺️ hopefully you get back into writing easily after your break 💛
Glad to help! ☺️ xx
Yeah I have so many half written posts in my notes; I really should actually finish some of them at some point 🤦🏻♀️😂 xx
Hmm I’d never thought of keeping them to show progression 🤔 I couldn’t stand sharing my older content with photos I didn’t like though 😂 yeah checking dead links is soooo tedious, wish there was a plugin that did it for you 😂 xx
I know a lot of bloggers that have started to get it, so I’d definitely recommend giving it a look ☺️
Great tips! I’m currently go through my old posts at the moment, rewriting them if necessary and updating the folders. I’m also trying to create pinnable images. Proofreading is something in terrible at! I make little mistakes or typos which I should really pick up.