Blog Spring Cleaning and Some Changes

I am not dead; I have been AWOL, sorta. While I haven’t made any new posts to the site, I have been working under the hood. Spring cleaning around your home is essential, but I learned blog spring cleaning is equally important.

So what have I been doing?

Blog Spring Cleaning!

1. I got rid of images that didn’t have a purpose on the blog. They weren’t attached to posts; they were just hanging out taking up space. I tossed them buggers right into the bin.
2. Optimizing images that needed it.
3. Cleaned up some old posts, I still have a few of those left to do, as well as fixing their SEO.
4. Besides continued education for my real life job, I invested in myself as a blogger by taking courses on that too.
5. Brainstorming things that you, my dear reader fam, might enjoy and find useful.
6. Created a monthly blog theme calendar. Ok, truth, I have ripped it up 6 times already. You can call this point a work in progress.
7. Considered affiliate marketing, and what products I can test, review, and tell you about with confidence. Still a work in progress, and has not been implemented at this time. I am still in the process of deciding what products would be beneficial to all of us.
8. Tried to come up with a cute nickname to call you, my reader fam. Squad, tribe, and team are right out; those words do not give me the feeling of friendship and family that I have come to have with many of you.
9. Removed old and unused plugins.
10. Cleaned up databases.
11. Made various changes and additions to the website.

Changes to the site:

1. New Posting Schedule:

• I will be posting on Thursdays until my time frees up and I can post more often.
• Because of requests from readers who have been with me from the beginning of this blog in 2001, and the fact that gaming is a part of my self-care routine, I will continue with gaming related posts on Saturdays, mainly Sims 4 and LOTRO.
• The Soy Report and related posts have been getting more interaction than I initially thought. I will be posting new Soy Report content every other Sunday.

2. Resource Pages

I have created niched resource pages to make things easy for you. All the content of these pages are items or services I use myself, websites I read, content I know is valuable, and posts I have written myself.

You can find pages for:

1. Financial and Money Saving
2. Starting your blog – Blogging resources
3. Computer Gaming Resources
4. Links to my favorite places on the web. – This is the original page moved under resources, and items that were niched have been moved to their appropriate resource page.
5. DJ Resources – Again, this is the original page.

3. New Logo

While I really loved the old equalizer bar, the logo didn’t fit with the new direction the site is going in. The new logo is simple and modern; fitting for the content of the site I think. I am also grateful to the many of you who have taken the time to contact me about the logo change, and the new direction Dusky Illusions is heading.

4. Put Dusky Illusions on BlogLovin

What is BlogLovin you might ask? BlogLovin’ is a platform that allows users to read, organize, and discover their favorite blogs on mobile and desktop, taking the place of Google Reader. Once you sign up, you can see all the blogs you read in one spot, find more blogs you may enjoy, etc.

If you have an account, you can follow Dusky Illusions and don’t forget to follow me too!

5. Signed up for Google Analytics

I know… I know… I should have done that years ago. I have no excuses. At least it is set up, and I have learned more about my traffic than the other dashboard ever told me.

Things to Come

1. Email list

I am already brainstorming content for my email list. I need to get a P.O. box set up to be legal and comply with the Can-Spam Act. Due to having a stalker that is still out there somewhere, I am not going to use my home address or my office address. I have said this many times, but remember, fam, Safety First!

2. Subscriber Resource Area

Once I am ready to deal with the Can-Spam Act, I will be creating a resource area of extra content, printables, etc. for email list subscribers. This area will always be free, and those of you who have already given me your email addresses in anticipation of the list being set up will have first access.

3. Facebook Community

While I do have a Facebook page for Dusky Illusions, it was suggested to build a community group page for more interaction. I love the idea, and I look forward to setting up a safe space we can all get to know each other and become friends if we aren’t already.

Your Turn!

Do you do any blog spring cleaning? What do you think about the changes that I made and are coming to Dusky Illusions? Do you have any thoughts on what you, as a reader of this blog would like to be called? Let me know in the comments below.

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