Blog Housekeeping - Tidy up! The neighbors are coming!

It's that time again! Time to polish up your blog until it shines!

Remember: All of these items won't apply to everybody. If you already have a system in place for handling certain things (review requests, updating your archive, etc), great. Don't feel the urge to change it. This is more of a reminder to do the little things than anything else.

*The task I set myself to complete by the end of the month was to crosspost 2 months of older reviews to Amazon. I've gone back to the beginning of December 2012 -- meaning I've done about 1 month, so far. I would consider this being on track. Hopefully by the next housekeeping post, I'll have completed that and can move on to something new!

Update:

• review archive - are you responsible for sites other than your own? Don't forget about those
• sidebar - check for buttons or links for events that have ended. Have any new events coming up? Now's the time to add them.
• reading challenges - update your progress, add links to challenges where you can link up. If you're a challenge host, do you try to comment on linked reviews? Now's your chance!
• blogrolls -  clean 'em up!
• crosspost - do you crosspost to Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, Library Thing? Don't forget to add your reviews to Netgalley or Edelweiss for those ARCs.
• check your subscription and social media links - if this isn't something that you normally check, now's an excellent time to make sure they're doing what they should be doing. (check out Felicia's Tech Tips for ideas on what to do if you're getting errors on your subscription link)
• check your static pages (About, Review Policy, etc) for outdated information, broken links, etc.*
• review your profiles* - when was the last time you updated your Goodreads or Facebook profiles? Is everything up to date?

*Apply as needed.

Get ahead:

• February's half over! Draft up any month-end or beginning of the month posts now! (I draft my Why Buy the Cow? monthly link-up so that I just have to add links to freebies the day before and -BOOM!- it's ready to  be released into the wild!)
• If you haven't already, try to look at your blog trough the eyes of a visitor to see if there's anything you can streamline. Amanda's worksheet can help you get started. This is your chance to be critical and make your internet home a place that everyone wants to visit!

Misc:

• respond to review requests and other bloggy emails
• check your spam folder - legitimate emails can sometimes slip through, catch them now.
• check the spam filter on the blog - get rid of the spam! save the legits!
• make the rounds - check back on blogs where you left comments, maybe spread a few new comments around like candy.

Did you do everything that applies to you? OUTSTANDING! Now...

BACK UP YOUR BLOG!

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Leave a comment letting us know what you're working on this time around. If you have any ideas about items you'd like to see in the next post (scheduled for 3/2), shout them out. I try to keep a running update on my FB page on what I'm working on. Feel free to join me over there. I WILL CHEER YOU ON IN (almost) REAL TIME!