Recently I have been putting in some time in the backend of the blog. It is a task I have been long putting off and is well overdue. Coincidentally, I am publishing this blog post just after One Frazzled Mum’s 7th blog anniversary!

For the longest time, I have been too focussed on making money off the blog and all my other side ventures that this blog got slightly neglected. It lost its way, and quite honestly, I had no clear direction for it.

Then I decided to buy two new domains, One Frazzled Fibro and One Frazzled Fiction, hoping that organising my current content would reignite my love for One Frazzled Mum. At one point, I thought this blog wouldn’t be updated in 2021, never mind, given a new lease of life! But here we are.

I have been doing all the behind the scenes blogging tasks no one really shares as simply it can be a tedious and sometimes arduous task! Well, it is for me, anyway. These tasks include finding and correcting broken links, editing old posts and adding SEO value to my best performing posts before working down the list to those that need a little bit of extra work putting into them. I have also been moving all my fibromyalgia posts to the new blog and my fiction posts to their own dedicated blog.

In part, I have my recent covid infection to thank for giving me the time off. But I thought while I was furloughed, I may as well get some jobs done I never had time to do before!

My top 5 performing posts of all time;

• Zoflora Review
• My LighterLife Fast Review
• Colladeen Visage Review
• Does the Slim and Save Diet Work for Me?
• Taking the Restored Advanced Sleep Aid.

Adding Value to Old Posts

While I was working through my broken links (I use this free broken link checker), I decided while the post was open, I would update it and add SEO to it if it needed it or correct the SEO. This, as you can imagine, led me down a bottomless rabbit hole. There are 1,333 published posts on this blog. Out of those 1,300 plus posts, only around 10 get viewed each day.

My Blogging Bucket List

One such post I came across was my Blogging Bucket List from 2015. My blogging bucket list was;

• To learn more about HTML, coding, and you know the basics that pretty much everyone knows and learnt at school whilst I hid away from the big old computers at school, scared of ‘modern’ technology!
• To learn more from other bloggers, tips, advice.
• To attend a blog camp. For years I have wanted to attend Britmums Live or Mumsnet Blogfest.
• To develop my writing style, maybe invest in a creative writing course.
• To become more active (and sociable) and develop my social media accounts.
• To be a full-time blogger, make an actual proper income from my blog.
• To grow as a person, parent, blogger, me (honestly, blogging really helps me to do this)
• To learn photography, to have better quality images for my blog and for memories for Olivia too.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to check in and see if I actually managed to make any of this list and areas I still need to develop over 5 years later!

Learn More About HTML

Not really. Neither does Olivia, but I found an amazing blogger friend who does. So when I need to get some coding done, she is there to save me! Plus, I moved my hosting to a more hands-on service, and they have the option to pay for custom HTML services and blog tweaks etc.

Learn More From Other Bloggers

I am always reading and listening, and learning. If you look back at my older posts, you will notice a huge difference in what I have learnt in this area over the past 7 years! That is if you get there before I manage to delete or edit them. I even wrote a post on tips given to me by other bloggers.

To Attend A Blog Camp

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnyk6q9ntJg/

This I did do! Twice, to the Blog On Conference in Hotel Trafford in Manchester. It was a few years ago now, but despite my anxiety, I drove to Manchester alone, stayed overnight in a room with another blogger (both years, different blogger), and had such a great experience both times!

To Develop my Writing Style

OK, so this is what I had to think about. I bought the writing courses, two in fact. But I have yet to enrol in them and see what they are all about. However, I do feel my writing has improved and evolved over the years. Now I do regular freelance writing work for other people, which forms part of my income. So in a way, you could say that yes, I did do this in a roundabout way.

To Be More Active and Social on Social Media

This one is a bit hit and miss. You see on my Facebook page; I am fairly active. Only in 2021 have I decided to be more active on my other channels too. I still struggle with what to say and share, but I am getting better but it is a massive work in progress.

To Be A Full-Time Blogger

Not quite. But not far off. As a single parent, I need to have a stable income. When writing my bucket list, I think it was just before I left full time 40+ hours employment. Now I do 50/50. I earn a decent income from blogging, writing and being a virtual assistant, but I do have a small part-time job to boost my income.

To Grow As A Person, Parent, Blogger

Hand on heart, I can honestly say I have never felt more at peace with myself than I do right now. I turn 40 in 2021, and honestly, this is my time. We will all find our groove when we are ready, but right now, I think I am the best version of myself and the best parent I have been. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect parent by any means. And Olivia will have a lot to say on this topic. But personally, I feel I was born to be this age to parent a teenager and, dare I say it, be in the best part of my life. I am also a half-decent blogger, too, sometimes!

To Learn Photography

Honestly, This is one of the most significant changes I have made over the years. Comparing my then photographs to my now ones shows the huge difference in my abilities, and I am still learning, still practising and always willing to learn.

After all that, I genuinely think I need a new blogging bucket list to see how I am getting on 5 years from now!

The Blogging Bucket List Tag

If you are a blogger and want to take part in this tag, all you need to do is find an old blogging list of things you wanted to learn and write an update post on how you’ve gotten on since writing the post. Please link back to this post, and if another blogger tagged you, their post too.

I am tagging the following bloggers to take part;

• Suburban Mum
• Coffee Cake Kids
• Coming From Carsons Mummy