I recently deleted hundreds of blog posts.  I decided to refine my blog and look at every single blog post to see if it was still ‘me’ and what I wanted my blog to be.  I have changed so much since starting this blog and in the beginning I had no real direction for my blog, but now I think I do.  Read on to discover why I deleted hundreds of blog posts and the new direction I am taking with my blog!

Why I deleted hundreds of old blog posts

I’d been thinking about doing this refining process since January.  I’d been putting it off as I knew it would be a mammoth task!  In fact, it took me weeks.  I had so many blog posts to sift through!

I also wasn’t sure whether I wanted to keep a lot of my old posts so I could see the change in myself, my writing, my interests, etc.  But then I realised I didn’t want someone to stumble across one of my old posts and think I back a product when I no longer do.

For example, I no longer use beauty products containing many nasty chemicals and choose the most natural products I can.  This means I would no longer recommend a lot of the items in beauty blog posts from two years or so back, so I made the decision to delete these and not promote them in any way or form.

When I started my blog I wasn’t really sure what to blog about.  I wanted more traffic to my website to raise awareness of my fashion accessories boutique and this was my main aim.  At the time I worked evenings in a very popular health and beauty store.  Being surrounded by all these products made them hard to resist, so I often purchased beauty items weekly, which gave me lots of things to blog about.

I’ve always loved clothes and my own style so it seemed natural at first to blog about fashion and beauty.  It also seemed to fit well with selling pretty accessories.

But, if I’m honest, I never really felt very passionate about it.  I felt like I was just churning out blog post after blog post saying pretty much the same thing.  I didn't enjoy the process of these blog posts and I had no idea what I was doing.  I knew nothing of SEO, minimum word counts and even regularly posted photo only blog posts which achieved nothing!

I got bored reasonably quickly trying to be a fashion and beauty blogger when it really wasn't something I was insanely passionate about.

Instead I decided to start writing about things that really intrigued and fascinated me - natural beauty, healthy recipes, our lifestyle and family.

It was quite a change to start blogging about the things that matter to me and my blog took quite a turn.  It really changed from what it began as.  It felt like a new blog!

I worried that the new themes (family, food, lifestyle) didn’t really have much to do with selling ladies accessories.  But then I had a realisation and thought this is MY blog.  It’s for me mainly.  Not totally for a search engine, not for money and no longer even for my shop.  The blog had become it's own entity!

Blogging has become something I really enjoy and I want to blog about the things I am passionate about.  It’s now my very own online scrapbook of family updates, products I actually recommend, successful recipes, health and nutrition (a great interest of mine) and anything else I want to document. 

I feel like my blog has really come into its own now and I’m much happier with the content.

My blog has become its own thing, separate from my online store, but just in the same place!  I did think about separating the two, but I actually think it’s kind of great having it all in one place.

My very own little space on the internet - a scrapbook of me, plus a little shop selling wonderful things to make people feel beautiful.

I hope it’s also fab for my shop customers to find out more about me and my interests, to see the real person behind the business.  My blog is to document things I love and our little life, but if others enjoy reading it, well, that's really a huge compliment and bonus.

So, this is why I have stripped back my blog. To make it more mine and relevant to my interests and beliefs today.  I hope you’ll continue to enjoy my articles as I continue into a healthier, happier and more natural future!