7 Ways to Get Back into Blogging Again

It happens to the best of us. You meant to skip just one week of blogging for one reason or another. Then another week goes by. And then another, until the only way you can remember when you blogged last is by looking at the time stamp on your last blog post.

I tend to go MIA on my blog once a year. Sometimes it’s May. Sometimes it’s July. Sometimes it’s October. But it always happens and it always lasts a month.

So I know what it’s like to fall out of blogging. But I always come back and maintain speed the rest of the year.

How do I do it? Simple: I commit to it.

You could stop reading here. But I know most of us need just a bit more handholding to get back to the place where blogging regularly is as easy as sleeping in on Saturday.

If you’re tired of pressing snooze on your blog, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and make your blog happen again.

Here’s how. Be warned: some house-related puns are coming your way.

Unlock the Front Door to Your Home(page)

If you’ve been away from blogging for more than a year, there’s a chance your web hosting account or domain name have expired. You can’t get back into blogging again if you don’t have a blog to return to, so make this your first priority.

After confirming that your domain name and hosting plan are still active, sign into your blog to confirm that you remember your password. If you have forgotten your password, work on resetting it to something that you will remember.

Clean House

You’ve been gone for some time. You are bound to find dust and cobwebs and something so moldy you can’t even guess what it used to be.

Sorry for being so graphic.

So grab a broom and start sweeping. Remove any old scripts and plugins that no longer work or support the needs of your blog. Delete the spam comments, approve or deny any awaiting comments, and respond to comments that you approved to appear on your blog posts. Review any awaiting messages in your inbox or notifications folder to see if any action from you is needed.

Scrub Until It Sparkles and Shines

Now that the clutter is out of the way, it’s time to wipe away anything that makes your blog look old or dated. That means grabbing the bleach and any cleaner under the sink.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Update your blog’s theme if the design doesn’t meet user experience expectations—or is just plain ugly. Research the latest plugins and add any that are relevant towards the success of your platform. Edit any blog posts featuring content that features dated material, such as tutorials, reviews or anything with the word “annual” or specific year. Refresh any pages on your blog with updated information, such as your About page and Contact page.

Write About Your Hiatus

Your first blog post back should just be about that: your return to blogging.

Why? First, it’s an easy way to get back into blogging again because it will most likely be easy for you to write about it. And even if you don’t have that many fans, I’m sure there’s at least one reader that wondered whatever happened to your blog, so this will give you a chance to explain.

If you have loyal readers, many will understand your absence. Life happens, and that’s something everyone can relate to, so don’t be shy to talk about it.

That’s Part One of your blog post.

Part Two needs to be a commitment to your readers. Tell them what you have done so far on your blog that provides value to your readership. Show them how you plan to stick to refreshing your blog. Get them excited about the new things you have planned for your blog.

If it’s in words, great. If it’s a video, even better. It just needs to be said so that your readers know that they should keep returning to your blog regularly.

It’s the least you can do, being that they waited for you to come back.

Shout About It From Your Stoop

After publishing your comeback post, it’s time to share it with the world. You have to send out signals to let everyone know that you’re alive and that you’re OK and that you’re still blogging.

So send an email out to your subscribers with multiple calls to action that gets your readers back on your blog and interacting with you again. Jump on your social media platforms to tweet and post and whatever else social platforms make you do get your point across.

Map Out a Blogging Blueprint

If your style is more spontaneous, you’re going to hate this tip. But the truth is that you fell out of a good writing habit and routine is the only way to make this habit stick.

Devise a list of topics you want to cover a month out. This won’t be necessary to do manually in the future, but you will be more motivated to write a blog post when you already committed to the upcoming topic.

Make It a Priority

Set aside time during the week to write the blog post, build the post on your website and schedule notifications on your blog platform. If making this happen one day is your speed, go for it. If breaking this up into actionable steps throughout the week is more manageable for you, that’s also great.

What matters now is that it happens and keeps happening in the future. You’ve made a commitment to yourself and your readers. If that’s not motivation enough, I don’t know what is!

Did I miss something? What advice would you give to get back into blogging? Share your secrets in the comments section below.