Are you planning a holiday this year? Lucky you! Are you planning to keep your blog running when you’re away at the beach sipping Mai Tais? Okay don’t tell me, I might just smack you out of envy. π
Blog planning before going on a break can be a bit of a pain but useful if you’d like to keep your blog running like usual whilst you’re away. I was so crazy busy the month before I left for Malaysia, and it wasn’t even about the packing. Packing took me 2 days, blog planning took me a full 4 weeks.
Here are a few ways you can keep your blog running when you’re not in front of your computer. At least, it’s how I did it. π
Plan Your Editorial Calendar
Keeping your blog running while you’re on holiday means that you will have to plan what posts you want published whilst you’re away. Just before I left for Malaysia, I scheduled about 30 posts from mid January. I thought I could take another break from the blog like I did in November, but a month away seemed too long for the blog to remain stagnant. I still wanted some sort of semi-regular posting on the blog. But to tell you the truth, it was bloody exhausting and I couldn’t have done it without planning my editorial calendar first.
If you post daily on your blog, I think it’s all right to skip a few days. I did mine every other day instead of my usual daily articles. I skipped the weekends. This way, I spaced out the content whilst maintaining consistency.
Prepare Your Images First
If you capture most of the photography on your blog with a DSLR or point-and-shoot camera, it might be useful for you to prepare the images you want for your scheduled posts before you start writing. For some people, it’s easier to write than prep the photography. Me, I prefer to sort all my images out first before getting down and dirty with the words. Images often take up the largest portion of my time when it comes to blogging especially editing. I can always write the words in between on my phone or iPad when I’m out and about.
Disable the Broken Links plugin
I use the Broken Link Checker WordPress plugin for my blog. It notifies me if any of the links I placed on the blog stops working (e.g. a product no longer becomes available on a website, a defunct website, etc). When the link is broken, it strikes through the broken link (e.g. Hello, this link is broken!). It’s a very useful tool for me to make sure that all the links I place on the blog are working.
However, when I’m on holiday away from the computer and blog, I deactivate the Broken Links plugin. I can’t be on the computer all the time to amend/remove any broken links that show up on the blog. Whenever a brand removes a particular product from the website or change the location of that link, my existing links become defunct and appears crossed off on the blog. So if you’re using a similar plugin, you might want to consider turning it off for the period you’re away from your blog.
Test Your Blogging Platform’s Post Scheduling Capabilities
Ah the core of keeping the blog running while on holiday. The only way to keep your blog running is to schedule your posts accordingly throughout your break. What makes it frustrating is that sometimes, the scheduling function goes bonkers on you and the posts are either not published on the dates you want them to or they are published all at once.
A month before leaving on your holiday, perform regular tests on your blogging platform’s scheduling function. E.g. schedule a post you’re currently writing for today to be published on a certain time of the day or a certain day of the week. If you don’t run into any issues throughout that testing period, chances are your posts will be published correctly whilst you’re away.
Test Your Social Media’s Post Scheduling Capabilities
I don’t schedule tweets or Facebook updates for the blog. It’s not my thing. For me, social media is meant to be spontaneous, which is why I just tweet/update Facebook status whenever I feel like it. π I don’t have a problem with bloggers who do it though; it’s just not for me.
If you do schedule tweets for when you have a new blog post up, then it’s essential that you test them out a month prior to your holiday too. I find that Twitter scheduling on several platforms rather inconsistent, so you have to test them out properly before you leave. You wouldn’t want to tweet a link that hasn’t been published yet.
Entrust A Friend To Help You
Sometimes things go wrong. Your posts aren’t published when it’s supposed to. Some have typos or grammatical errors you overlooked. The images go wonky. Get a friend to help you out (preferably also a blogger whom you trust). This means giving the friend access to your blog. He/she will help publish the post if for some reason the scheduling doesn’t work or pull down an accidentally published one. If anything goes wrong whilst you’re away (touch wood!), he/she can help post something on the blog for you.
Enjoy your holiday!
Don’t worry if the scheduling somehow “forgets” to work. If none of the posts you’ve scheduled are published, well it just means you have a lot of prepared content ready to posted by the time you’re back! Talk about a break from the break, eh? π Take a step back and enjoy your holiday!
On the other hand, sometimes it’s also good to take a break from the blog. Forget scheduled posts, scheduled tweets and Facebook updates. When you’re away on holiday from work, you don’t think about work, you don’t do any work. The same can be said for your blog. If you’re away for a short period of time, then by all means let your blog go on a break too.
If you have other ways of keeping your blog up and running when you’re away, do let us know in the comments.
Do you keep your blog running when you’re on holiday? Or do you put a “We’re Closed, Please Come Back Later!” sign in front? π
Last year when I went on holidays I scheduled posts, and it still felt exhausting. I think that was mostly due to the fact that I was still in Aus and had my phone so I could still tweet and fbook all the links. I should have taken a break from social media too!
This year I went overseas, and due to exhaustion post uni (actually exhaustion, I didn’t get off the couch for two weeks because I literally couldn’t move) I didn’t schedule any posts, and it was THE BEST FEELING! I ended up having over a month off from my blog, I was able to have a proper holiday, and focus on what was happening in my life. Loved it.
Although, if your blog is your business it might not be the best idea for you, you don’t want your traffic to drop that much!
Tegan @ Tegania’s Thoughts recently posted..Australis Curve Ink Eyeliner
I love how the focus of your blog has changed, Tegan. Adding DIY bits to the beauty parts made it work. I enjoy your blog a lot more now π
When the blog becomes a business, I don’t think one can afford to take that long a break. It’s like closing shop for a month. Can’t do it at all!
Another fantastic BW topic. This has been on my mind a lot lately, my family and I are planning a long getaway for Christmas this year. Fingers crossed.
I want to keep posting, but I’m a make-time-when-I-can kinda blogger unfortunately because of my lack of time, so scheduling is something I really, really want to get into the routine of. Christmas/New year posts are important to me top, because its exciting and there’s so many topics to write about.
I’m like you! I take photos first. I rarely write before I have photos. In the beginning I wanted to be able to write first and add photos later but I think it just organically grew into a different routine because the photos I ‘planned’ never came out the way I wanted. Now I take tons of photos, pick from the best, and write around what I have. And I take photos sometimes months in advance lol! Ill take them when I have time, fix colour etc when I have time, then when I’m ready to write BAM it’s all ready to go π
I think scheduling is a matter of falling into a routine. I know a lot of bloggers do it during the weekend as they don’t have time to blog during the week. Then again, when you’re a mum with kids (stay-at-home or working, both are hard work nevertheless), it becomes harder to follow the routine to the letter. So be spontaneous when you can or need to be! π
Your last paragraph is exactly how I run my blog too. I have photos months in advance as well. I just snap, snap and snap. Many a time, I don’t even use the photos because I end up not reviewing a particular product. π
Haha, you and I both! I have a big collection of photos that will probably never get used because I’ve chosen not to review the product. π
The longest holiday I’ve taken so far was 2 weeks, when I went to Melbourne last year, and I kept my blog running. No one even noticed I left. I scheduled everything before I left as usual, just 2 weeks ahead of time. There was internet connection in the apartment I was staying, so it wasn’t too hard to check in once in a while π However, for Chinese New Year, I took a week off, and I did inform everyone that I’d be on a short hiatus!
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I know bloggers who do that as well. Some don’t even tell their readers they’ve gone on a holiday until they’re back from it. It made no difference to the readers because everything was running just the same. I think it’s a good thing and it’s something I think about often, on whether I should announce I’ll be away on holiday on the blog. With the Internet being so public these days, you never know who’s reading your blog or if they monitor your whereabouts and all that. *shudder*
A hiatus once in a while does a blogger good, that’s what I say. Like work, you gotta take annual leave some time π
There’s something about me and posting everyday! LOL Even on travel, i felt like I have to write about it spontaneously (felt like a diary). These tips are very helpful since I’ll be off for maternity leave soon! ! I don’t think I can be like you to have a scheduled post for good 1 month! WOW!!!! *salutes* Thanks for all the wonderful tips! π
Nikki recently posted..AMW Reviews: Shiseido Perfect Rouge Tender Sheer in RD304 Hibiscus
Nikki, you posting even whilst on holiday (e.g. Japan) blows my mind. It really does. Amazing dedication is what it is. You write when it’s all still new and fresh in your head, which is why your holiday posts are incredibly detailed. Salute! π
Honestly, that 30-day scheduling thing was exhausting! On top of the posts I already have planned before the trip, I had to write 30 more. It came to a point where I had to write 3 posts daily in order to make my deadline. I don’t know if I can do it again. For a while, it took the fun out of blogging π
aww thanks, I like doing fresh posts on travel as I tend to forget stuff! hahahah (the ageing me)
With re: to 3 posts a day..oh my! i seriously can’t imagine! I will be drained and probably have no energy left! But the fact that you’ve done it, well..IT IS POSSIBLE! it just needs dedication too on what you do! π
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I have no idea what I’ll do when I go away for a month later in the year. Thanks for the tips! x
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My pleasure Chelsea. Don’t worry, you have plenty of time to think of what you want to do for the blog when you’re away π
Great post. That Broken Link Checker should definitely be useful. I wonder if there is one for blogger. I haven’t taken a break yet (well, it’s not like I’ve been blogging for that long). I usually take pictures and write blog posts over the weekend, and I like to do quite a few at a time. However, I only blog about every 3 – 4 days so I end up having a lot of finished posts that are not published yet. If I do need to be away for a short while, I think my back up/ready posts should last me for a while.
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That’s good! In that case you’ll always have posts ready to be published in case for any reason you aren’t able to blog. I really should do that too, have backup posts. At the moment, I’m pretty much writing on the go. I write a couple of posts for the first 2 days of the week and then write some more mid week. Don’t have any “in case of emergency” posts. >.<
Good tips, Tine π I am one of those who will schedule like crazy before I go away on holiday and most of the time, no one even notices I’m not around LOL! I like it that way and then I come back and drop a big bombshell haha… I usually don’t take the trouble to actively seek out wifi or buy mobile data where I travel so I let things run till I get back and check in when I can.
If I may, one more thing you might want to mention is to have an autoresponder for your email for the period you are away. This will tell people not to expect any replies from you till you get back and not seem like you’re ignoring/not replying to emails. For me, that’s the only sign I’m away. The blog won’t show it, but email might! LOL!
Paris B recently posted..Playing with colour? Flick It with Royal Blue eyeliner and True Colour Lipstick from Sleek Makeup
Believe it or not, I’ve never done email autoresponders. Not when I was working in Malaysia and definitely not for the blog. Yikes! I really should remember to do one. I almost always forget! >.< Hahaha that's true. I didn't even know you were away most of the time! For example when you wrote about the HK Disneyland I was like, hang on, when did you go?? π
I do auto responders mostly so I don’t have people hassling me to reply emails. Some people think you have nothing better to do, honestly! I also like to say that I’m back 2-3 days later than I really am to give me time to settle back before I deal with email. Its a bit tricky but I’ve worked it out π
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Very clever! I’m going to have to adopt your ways too π
I’m like Paris. I will always schedule posts before I go and because of it, no one really notices that I’m away lol. If I find an internet connection, then I’ll check out the blog and reply to comments, but I don’t really go looking for one. I just want to relax when I’m holiday lol.
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Aww you too? I never know when you’re away! You are one of the most consistent bloggers I know, G. Incredibly dedicated to your blog, that’s what you are. Salute! π