29
2010
Before you start – plan, plan, plan some more
An article by 
You’re probably reading the title and thinking, “huh?!” Well as you may know, I’ve recently changed my blog in a number of ways – most notably the domain name. I’ve received much praise for doing so, however it’s not all strawberries and cream. Of course one of the most important things to any blogger is having traffic, and traffic comes from search engines and super dooper amounts of backlinks! So what has this new domain name done for me… thrown a lot of my previous work away…
I think this picture sums it all up pretty good. Or at least, it sums up my feelings… OOPS! Why oops? Well I wish I’d though about what direction I wanted to go with this blog before I started. Ah well. Nevermind. I guess at least I started out general, found I enjoyed it, and I am now slowly putting together a plan (offline) of where I want to take this.
Recently, Ben Lang from EpicLaunch rebranded his blog from Ben-Lang to the EpicLaunch site. He posted about the switch over in his article on “The Pros and Cons of Rebranding“. In that article he pretty much summed up that it was a bit of a nightmare. Of course when I spoke to him, he said as much again. Anyway, me being me, I went ahead with it anyway!
The first part of the new adventure, as such, was the new domain name. It’s been great having it. But here is where the problems have begun.
It points to the same space that my old domain pointed – which isn’t too bad. However, I’ve spent the past afternoon going through my articles, and updating the internal links – hopefully I haven’t missed any. If I have, please let me know.
I’ve also taken out, hidden, the articles which are no longer part of my blogging journey. There used to be some articles on all sorts of things like travel, and studying for my PhD. Now we’re looking a bit more streamlined, almost like I now know what I’m doing! (don’t laugh at me :p )
Is it all bad?
Well, for now it’s ok – because I have my articles all singing and dancing, and if anyone visits using the old domain, it will still go here. All fine and dandy – I think. Some of the categories have been changed around. Hopefully it is ok – only time will tell I guess.
The point I’m getting at, is when you start out blogging, have a long hard think about where you are wanting to go – then go about getting there. This is part of my journey I guess. Learning the lie of the land, and finding my feet. The whole purpose of this blog is to track my journey – it’s a journal after all. So I think it’s good that I mention the times when I’ve mucked up – so you don’t repeat what I’ve done – awesome or what!?
So the morale of this post really is plan your blog before committing to it – otherwise you’ve to backtrack and fix everything so it’s aligned with your future work.
Hope you’ve enjoyed my little babble, please feel free to share with everyone. Or, leave your comments below. I don’t bite 
Image Credit – stephalicious
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About the Author: Mark Bell
Mark is a research engineer by profession, with a passion for helping people succeed. He is a self-taught web developer. At his Bloggers Journal, Mark writes openly about his efforts to realise the "internet lifestyle".
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I’m glad you made the change though. With this renewed direction, you got big things in stall with this blog!
It’ is important to plan from the start, but as you have shown, it is also important to not be so strict with your plan that you are not willing to make changes when you find yourself heading in a new direction.
Hey Tom,
Thanks man – I think it was needed to be honest. Many people have commented that with some streamlining of the topics and a purposeful direction I will notice I’ll go further…
Let’s see how it goes
I actually also thought about changing my blog or domain. But I think I won’t do it. And yes as you mentioned it takes time to set things up.
But you know what you shouldn’t plan too much. That’s always the problem people have. They plan too much and end up not taking action.
I agree – it’s something I’m finding at the minute. I’ve plenty of ideas, that I’m not sure how to structure. So I want to start pushing out content. As long as the posts are categorised, that’s all that matters.
Before you start – plan, plan, plan some more…
Before you start blogging – you need a small plan and direction already in your mind. Why? I’ve just switched to a new domain, and here you will see why I recommend you should plan before you start….
I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you man!
From what I know and can see, the only ingredient you need to make sure to keep in reserve is consistency. The rest is already there man!
See you at the top!
Thanks Alex – I need to work on the consistency – might make a plan like Matthew Needham has on his recent post
(Not saying you’re not consistent LOL – just that its what kills bloggers after 6 months)
It’s good that you changed it, over all, because now you’re looking ahead and moving forward with plans.
There will be some tough times, obviously, but those will come and pass as you keep moving forward and with the changes you’re making, you’ll move forward.
Good luck with it all!
Thank you for your encouraging words Eric
Nice job “reworking” the site. Particularly the domain name. I think you got a pretty good one.
Rebranding is tough but it seems like you ahve done a pretty darn good job of it.
Hey Steve
thanks man – the domain I’m really pleased with – although I’m still not 100% happy with the theme. Thank you for your kind words
One thing I simply never would do, no matter how bad the name sucked or was irrelevant to the top I would never change the domain. If I did, I would have to go in and do a ton of manual redirects on old to new urls in the server. It is a seo no-no and I am crazy about that. But as far as old articles go, I don’t believe it is important to remove them if they no longer fit your current niche. Those articles may bring in “some” traffic from search phrases you didn’t even know you ranked for.
Hey Brandon – that was my worry about a new domain too. But I thought because I’m still a very small blog I’d change the domain as the manual work wasn’t too bad.
As for the other articles – I hadn’t thought of it that way. I may reinstate them into the blog somehow under a general category – my personal posts. Cheers for the tip!
Hey Mark I love the new look of the site and definitely approve of your new domain name (I never really did like the ‘.me.uk’ thing you had going.
I think this is a very important warning for newbie bloggers because, like you, I myself just dove right into blogging without so much as a plan. The more I write the more I know what I want my blog to be about and where I see it heading but, it’s still evolving and may not be as streamlined had I taken the chance to plan it out.
Congrats on the new look, it seems like you’re doing well and that you’re definitely on track for bigger and better things! Goodluck in your future endevours!
Hey John
yea the other domain was far too personal and not really something I could brand. With this there is.
I feel the same way about writing. The more I write, the more I get focus. Clearly the key here is perseverance
Planning will help us save time and know where to go and what to do
Yes, you are right
Hey Tinh,
I agree – I think I needed some goals to work with
Hi Mark,
I’ve just gone through a similar exercise to reflect on how I want my blog to go over the next few months so that I can commence my journey in creating passive income.
Great ideas you have, I look forward to hearing your stories.
Hi Matthew,
I read your post on Big Red Tomato about planning. I particularly liked the bit were you mention your daily post genres. I will have to implement something like that here – I would imagine it would help keep focus and give you a short list of goals each week that are slightly different – but keep you going
Hi Mark,
A jewel of wisdom here which any newbie blogger should follow. I’ve spent more than one day, or even week updating my blog after making critical changes.
One note: you can’t plan for everything and mistakes are part of the game so when you are good and ready, move into action on your beginner’s plan. The lab of life teaches you some unavoidable lessons too
Ryan Biddulph
Hey Ryan,
You’re right on not being able to plan for everything. I think the control freak in me needs to let it go a little – lol. I guess the key is going with the flow, and let the blog evolve itself.
Thanks for dropping by – I’ve had a quick look at your site, I’l have to check out your inspirational quotes!
Congrats on the transition Mark
Planning is absolutely essential with anything really and the added effect is that if you try to get a lot of the ideas out in the beginning you’ll be able to foresee if you really want to pursue your project.
Although I do see two potential problems with too much planning:
1. You’ll get too wrapped in planning and fail to ever launch
2. You’ll find yourself jumping into new projects just because they’re new instead of focusing on what you have now.
It really comes down to self-discipline and being able to let go of a project if it really isn’t going to be worth your time.
But yeah, go for the big picture, zoom out and plan your success
Hey Murray,
Wise words there – I’ve found that I’ve been thinking too much about the site, instead of just writing. I’ll have to get back into it – will develop a posting plan like Matthew did.
Good luck with your mastermind group btw!
Great domain name! What was it before? I don’t know how you found me on Twitter but I’m glad you did. I enjoy reading blogs that address real life issues. Moving to a new domain name can be a bit nerve wracking. Congratulations! Your blog looks great.
Hey Sherryl,
Thank you for your comment! My domain used to be a personalised one – markbell.me.uk. It still points here, but the new one is what Im (slowly) rebranding towards.
Planning is an essential step for any work. Not just for a blog. And blogging requires ton of ideas with patience and plans.
Great article.
Cheers.
Hey Robin,
Thanks for the comment! You’re right about planning being essential for everything. I like how you say about blogging needing patience – I’m finding that at the moment!