Have you been overwhelmed with work lately and completely forgotten about your blog? Do you think it’s due time you restart your blog posts again and restore your former glory?
Well, it’s not enough to just sit down and start writing again. You need to make a clear strategy because if you follow certain steps, you’ll have an almost guaranteed success with your big comeback.
1. Update the blog
First of all, before you start dealing with the blog content, update your version of WordPress, the theme, and plugins – if any of these have become obsolete, get rid of it.
Next, review the content – it’s possible some of it doesn’t provide any value to readers anymore. And lastly, check if your hosting account needs to be renewed, however ridiculous it may sound. And then you’ll be ready to create new material.
2. Let everyone know
You need to let people know you’re back, especially your direct audience. The first thing to do is to visit your Facebook page, your Twitter account, make an appearance on Google+ – wherever to announce you’re here to stay. It’s also important to inform your blogging colleagues and ask them if they can help you somehow with the comeback. Use your email list to let everybody know, and update them once again before you launch your new posts – this is also a way to determine which ones want to stay on the list and which ones don’t.
3. Get a web design overhaul
If you believe that new is always better and that a new start deserves everything new, then why not change the whole blog design? The best way is to change the theme, which doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor. Just invest in a quality premium theme, especially if you have been using a free them – it’s probably been outdated by now. The theme should be mobile friendly, while the organization of internal links will be more effective if you put them in menus and categories. It would be also helpful if you add new features offered to make a better user experience.
4. Come up with an amazing comeback post
This needs to be one of your best posts ever. You need to lay down the reasons you’ve been away for a while, just to remind everybody of them, and what you are planning to do from now on and how you are looking to improve the blog. Check everything before publishing, but take all the necessary actions to promote the comeback on every social network and blog community available.
5. Make a video post
Sometimes it’s more effective to talk than to type. Wouldn’t it be interesting if your readers could actually see what you look like and hear you talk? Experiment a little and post a video now and then and monitor the reactions. The videos don’t have to be long, as many follow the example of 1 minute video production team who concentrate on short, but effective videos. You don’t even need to appear in the video, you could do a voice over.
6. Make top 10 lists
Top 10 lists are always appealing to read. The more creative they are, the more people will read it – it can be original or funny, just make sure it’s fresh, interesting or of importance. If you choose unusual topics, you will definitely stir up discussions, which is always good, or you could make a list of praise, which companies mentioned on the list will appreciate.
On the other hand, why not surprise the readers and offer a list of bad things? It could be a list of some kind of disasters or worst players of a certain sport – and expect reactions!
7. Be omnipresent
It’s true – the more you notice something every step of the way, the chances are increasing that you’ll eventually read what it actually says. You simply need to see what the fuss is all about. The same trick applies to posts and notifications on your comeback. So, what you need to do is to write a couple of guest posts for popular blogs. If they get accepted and published, inform the bloggers the posts are meant for a revival campaign and that it would be great if they could be published on the same date or close enough. This is how you will manage to be everywhere at the same time – and how can people ignore you if you are everywhere?
All in all
Making a fresh start with your blog is in some aspects very similar to the initial kick start, which means the strategy need to carefully considered, and the content needs to be interesting and of value. Your comeback success will depend on the preparations you do prior to the reactivation, so get on to it.