Over the past few years, I’ve published a post around this time of year outlining some jobs all bloggers can do to ensure their blog not only looks good but also functions correctly.
If you’re interested in what some of those crucial jobs are, my post from this time last year, ‘7 Essential, Easy Ways to Help You Blog Through December‘ gives full details.
One thing bloggers who never do any blog housekeeping refuse to believe is that many problems on their blogs originate from a lack of maintenance. They’ll blame WordPress, instead of themselves. Continuing to use an outdated theme can also cause issues and create a security risk.
One job all bloggers are recommended to do
One important task I am currently working on in the housekeeping aspect of my blog is reviewing posts and removing any images that I cannot be certain are entirely free to use. But why am I doing this?
If you have read my recent posts, ‘Where To Legally Source Amazing Images For Your Blog Posts‘ and ‘The Latest Blogging and Publishing Scams You Need to Be Aware Of Now‘, you’ll understand why.
The comments sections of both posts offer interesting reading, so I recommend taking a look.
I’m a personal blogger, so this won’t affect me!
Wrong! Just because you are a personal blogger, don’t think you are exempt from being fined for copyright infringement. Downloading and using copyrighted images, photos, song lyrics, and some GIFs in your blog posts is illegal; therefore, nobody should encourage bloggers to download or publish any copyrighted material.
Most of the images I deleted are from flash fiction challenges I used to participate in. However, I have also found some images in other posts where I either failed to give proper attribution to the source or used images from the host blogger that I could not guarantee were free to use when taking part in their link-up.
And don’t forget to delete those images and photos from your media library, too. Not only are they proof that you downloaded them illegally, but deleting them will free up valuable storage space.
Unless you are completely certain that images, photos, song lyrics and GIFs are not copyrighted and free to use, avoid using them. Sure, you might get away with it, but why risk a hefty fine?
Back to why December is the ideal time for some blog housekeeping
I’ve already had the pleasure of seeing bloggers bid farewell to their blogs and followers for the festive season, joyfully extending warm wishes to their readers for a Merry Christmas while eagerly expressing their intention to return promptly in the New Year.
Some have published their final posts of 2025, while others have happily shared their anticipated dates for a well-earned blogging break.
And who can blame them? Blogging is enjoyable, but all bloggers need a break from the blogging world. I’m taking a blogging break during the last few weeks of December.
For those who do not celebrate Christmas, December still provides a valuable opportunity to focus on blog maintenance and security. This can include reviewing and updating posts, auditing existing content for accuracy and relevance, fixing broken links, and improving website speed and SEO.
Furthermore, it’s an excellent time to review your blog’s design and user experience, making necessary adjustments to improve accessibility and engagement. By investing time in these areas, bloggers can keep a polished, secure platform ready to impress their audience in the upcoming year.
As December rolls in and its days dwindle, you’ll probably witness how much of the blogging world falls into a hush. So why let your blog languish in neglect? This is your golden opportunity to roll up your sleeves and give it the fierce love and attention it deserves, ensuring it runs flawlessly for another year.
Let’s wrap it up!
- At least once a year, focus on housekeeping tasks to enhance your blog’s appearance and functionality.
- Many blog issues stem from a lack of maintenance; outdated themes can pose security risks.
- One essential task is reviewing and removing any images from posts and your blog’s media library that may not be free to use to avoid copyright infringement.
- Personal bloggers are not exempt from potential copyright-related legal issues when downloading or using copyrighted materials.
- December is an ideal time for blog maintenance as many bloggers take breaks. It’s an opportunity for bloggers to give their blogs the attention they deserve before the New Year.
Are you excited about some upcoming blog housekeeping or maintenance? If so, what fantastic plans do you have in store? Perhaps you’ve already tackled some blog maintenance—if that’s the case, I’d love to hear about the wonderful jobs you accomplished!
The featured image in this post was created using the WordPress AI Image Generator block. AI was also used for checking spelling and grammar mistakes.
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Hi Hugh, Great advice! There are so many ways to get free, uncopyrighted photos now, that I hope most people are not doing what I did at first, and downloading pictures from Google. This is a good reminder that we need to go through and maintain our blogs. I never did finish with all the broken links, but I keep working on it. I am working on the page and posts for next year’s Story Chat, which will go up soon! I’ll be off the last week of Dec.
I used to download what I thought were free images from Google, Marsha. Even though my search was ‘free images’, of course, I had no idea that what Google was showing me was actually free to use. All those images have long gone not only from my posts but also from my media library. Some people forget to delete images from their media library as well as from their posts.
Broken links are a pain, especially when doing it for the first time or when it’s been a long time since it was last done. Deleting old, outdated posts that have no value also helps get rid of them.
Good to hear that you are working on Story Chat 2026. What a success it has been. Some brilliant stories this year.
Thanks for all you do, tips and stories, and just being you and being real. Every time I read one of your posts, I’m busy for the few hours or days following through. Your advice is so helpful for maintaining a blog.
Your service to Story Chat is beyond words. It wouldn’t have happened without you. Two books so far, four years of stories, So many dear friends.
Thanks, Hugh. Have a Merry Christmas. xxxxx
Thanks for the reminder, Hugh. I’ve been through and deleted all my royalty free images! I’m in the process of replacing those that were header images, but will consider deleting old posts which will now have empty image attributes in them. I feel attached to them, because of the work that went into creating them, but as you say, they hurt your SEO if they’re not active. Do you save them anywhere?
Hi Jacqueline, I delete any old posts that are no longer relevant or are outdated, especially if they are getting no views. I’ve been blogging for almost 12 years and must have published over 2,000 posts in that time, but currently I only have 402 active posts. I don’t save them as I know I’ll never go back to them. Once they are gone, they’re gone.
The header images I use are either my own images or free ones that come with the WordPress theme I use. I tend to use my own photos now for headers. However, the current header is one I created using Canva. I only use the free version of Canva, and the image comes as part of that package. I may change it and use one of my festive photos.
I probably should part with all those old posts… :-)
I use the paid version of Canva because I love it and use it a lot to create blog and book advertising images. Canva owns Pixabay I get royalty free images through Canva, and hope I don’t get the same issues with Canva, as there’s no attribution for the images! Thanks again for all your wonderful advice, and have a happy and restful festive period. xx
I’ve always been very careful about images, Hugh. But your comment about song lyrics caught my eye. From time to time, I have quoted snippets of song lyrics if they support what I’m writing about. Hmm.
Hi Michelle, it is not illegal to publish song lyrics on your blog as long as you have permission from the copyright holder. Publishing entire lyrics without permission is a copyright infringement, though using very short excerpts may be permissible under fair use. However, what ‘fair use’ means is something I would recommend you look into.
I’m always wary of song lyrics because fair use of even a small snippet comprises quite a lot of the song. Titles are not copyright, and a parody seems to be okay, but as Hugh says, I would look into it. It has always stayed with me that the humorous Viz comic was sued by Blondie for using the Tide is High lyrics in their story about Captain Morgan and his Hammond Organ!
I think it’s best not to use any song lyrics at all, Jacqueline. That way, at least we know that we are not doing anything wrong.
I agree. I never do, because it’s just too risky. Artists have a lot of legal backup and funding to pursue infringements!
Oooh, it’s that time of the year again. Yes, I should do some housekeeping and maintenance on my Roaming About blog, but I really need a break from all things internet and social media soon! Let’s see if I find the energy later this month…
Good luck with your blog maintenance, Liesebet, but enjoy your blogging and social media break too.
Excellent reminders, Hugh, and because of your post relating to images, I have replaced more than half of my images using the AI tool provided by WordPress. Other royalty-free images have been given proper credit when published, but I’m taking a second look, and replacing some of those, as well. Actually, I enjoy creating my own images from AI.
I see many inactive themes being used, which is unfortunate. There are many themes to choose from, whether classic or full site editing themes. I recently read, despite the rise of block themes, classic themes remain dominant in the market. Classic themes may load slower than block themes, but are still favored by most WP users.
Enjoy your holidays, Hugh.
I still use a Classic theme, Eugi. I’ve been tempted to try a Block theme, but haven’t made the jump yet. I hope WordPress will continue to support some Classic themes.
That’s great work on replacing some of the images on your posts. I like the WordPress AI generator, although it isn’t always good when it comes to adding words. Too many, and it doesn’t seem to cope very well, but hopefully it is something WordPress are onto.
My blogging break doesn’t start until around December 21st. Season’s Greetings to you.
From what I read, the Classic themes are here to stay. I use AI only for images, and I like it a lot. I take one category at a time so I can keep track of my progress. It has taken quite some time, and I have changed over 800 posts, thus far. A lot of work, and no regrets plus my content has a new look.
All that hard work is well worth it, Eugi.
That’s great news about the Classic themes.
I appreciate your post about the images more than you know. Thank you, again.
Well done Eugi! I have deleted all the royalty free images from my blog and am in the process of replacing them – often with the same image but with proper attribution. And I have kept a copy of the new download! I figured a few blanks in posts is preferable to being pursued for copyright infringement as I was earlier this year.
I have two blogs, one with a classic theme and one with a block theme. I have to say I prefer the classic theme – it looks much cleaner in my view, and is far more intuitive to edit. I’m sure the block themes give more flexibility to ‘do’ stuff, but I have not found it the easiest to work with. I would like to change my block theme as I don’t like the look of it, but I’m reticent to do so in case it mucks everything up. It’s comforting to know that the classic themes will continue to be supported!
Best of luck with your clean up. I feel for you – it’s hard work, but I assure you that it’s worth it not to have the horrendous experience I did with a copyright troll!
Have a wonderful Christmas and happy creating! I have created a few images with WordPress AI and quite fancy giving it a go with other tools, but that’s a whole other thing to discover and learn!
Thank you, Jacqueline. I’ve switched images to AI, in over 800 posts, and I enjoy creating them. There are few images via Pixabay, I left alone since proper credit was given. It took quite some time but, worth it, plus the new images gave my blog a fresh look. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season.
enjoy your break Hugh! And thanks once again for such a well researched and thought out post! :-)
Thank you, Carol Anne. I’m here until around the 21st December, then I’ll be taking my break.
Season’s Greetings.
It is an excellent idea to do blog housekeeping at this oftentimes quieter time of year. I hadn’t thought about potential copyright issues from linkups, but added to that, some image links on older posts have broken links or “no attribute” error messages. (if you have been blogging before gutenberg arrived).
Thanks, Hugh.
I check my blog for broken links at least twice a year, Amanda. There are some great free broken link tools out there. It’s a horrible job at first, but once you are on top of it and keep doing the checks, it becomes much easier. I either fix them or delete them.
I’ve always added attributes to images that were not my own, but to my horror, I discovered some I had not linked back to. Some free images don’t require you to give credit to the owner, but I always do, even if the content licence summary states ‘Use Content without having to attribute the author.’
What a collegial blogger you are attributing even those images that are free to use. I admire your diligence in checking links regularly. I am not nearly that disciplined with my blog. I find it rare that older posts are viewed, or there may be one or two that are and I check the links on those. It is often the case that blog posts have a transient and short life, don’t they?
They do, Amanda, although my most viewed blog post (which has had over 10,000 views this year) was written and published in October 2020. I delete any dormant posts, especially if they are outdated and no longer relevant. It also helps remove broken links.
That is impressive stats for the blog post. What was the topic? Blogging?
No, it was a true story post about how I came out to my mother. My most popular blogging tips post is way down the list at number 9.
Ah! Emotional stories engage readers. Well done!
Hola Hugh, I commented on your site yesterday and then started sorting through some old papers and, oddly, came upon one of my son ‘s humorous offerings a few years ago when he was working as a Professional Carer in a ‘Safe House’ in the UK where needy people stayed before returning to a so-called ‘normal life.’ He and a colleague ran a monthly newsletter with humorous content, in the hope it would entertain and help balance their residents! They typed an ‘alternative’ prediction of star-signs futures. Under a heading of ‘Madame Leneck Predicts’, under Gemini, it read: “Be wary of Hollywood film makers pursuing you about your early years as a contract killer for the Welsh mafia (Dai Hard in Swansea?) A phone call at 3.21pm on the 29th will be a wrong number. A good month for adopting a marsupial. ‘ Quite mad, but he did. . . The forecasts became quite popular. (Jason is a natural artist/designer/photographer/writer.) Cheers. Joy Lennick
What a great thing your son and his colleague did, Joy. Their newsletters must have brought a lot of smiles and joy to many, especially those in the safe house. I’ve never been very good at writing humour, even though my blog won 2nd place in the ‘Funniest blog’ category years ago at the Annual Bloggers Bash awards. I still have a go at writing the odd piece of humour, but I am not sure if it shines through.
Thanks for replying Hugh. We all love words and humour in our house. My husband is 97 and still does around six crosswords every day (luckily, he has a retentive memory!) and we both do the ‘Wordwheel’ & ‘Nanogram.’ We wrote a modest poetry and joke book, with limmericks called The Moon is Wearing a Tutu, which was fun. . .and can recommend the magic of words to combat the woes of the world!
You are to be congratulated if suffering from Dyslexia and battling your way through! Cheers. Joy Lennick
Thank you, Joy.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Excellent reminders to use our breaks from blogging wisely, Hugh! As a challenge host for two features now, I enjoy reading others’ blogs, but also discover that some blog sites are OLD and outdated and don’t play well with the Jetpack App, which I use daily. I always send the blog to myself via e-mail and read it on my phone and computer to see if there is any weirdness. Viewing on my phone is a bit different than on my computer.
I’ll be on a short break right after Dec 21and back to it in time for Year end review post on Jan 4th. It already snowed again today!!
That’s the problem with some of these outdated, unsupported WordPress themes, Terri. I think many readers wouldn’t even bother emailing the post to themselves, so bloggers who continue to use old themes are not helping their audience. Plus, they’re putting themselves and the device they use at risk because security updates don’t work on unsupported themes.
I tend to read all blog posts on my desktop computer, as I find screen reading on a mobile phone uncomfortable, but that’s a personal preference.
Enjoy your blogging break. And I’m very jealous of the snow. Send some my way, please.
Great advice, Hugh. I spent some time going through my earlier posts to get rid of any pictures either I didn’t take myself or that were iffy. Fortunately, there weren’t many. One thing I noticed in doing so: if the earlier post was done with the Classic editor, I got a pop-up asking if I wanted to update the post to the Block editor style. Some I switched, especially if I made any changes to the post, like deleted pictures, and some I didn’t. Do you have any insight on what should be done and, if the switch is made, does it impact anything else?
Hi Janis, once I started using the Block editor and got used to it, I updated any posts written in the Classic editor as and when I came across them. I prefer the look and feel of the Block editor, and my blog posts look much better in Block form. I like to keep everything looking the same, especially as the Block editor gives a much more modern style. The Classic editor seems outdated to me, but I know some bloggers still prefer it. Fortunately, as someone who deletes old blog posts I consider no longer of any value, I don’t have many to go through. I hope that helps, but feel free to ask any further questions.
As always, a great reminder. Thanks Hugh – and I hope this holiday season is very enjoyable for you and your loved ones! One for the books, as they say! Jan
Thanks, Jan. I’m still in the blogging world for another two weeks, but thank you for the season’s greetings. Of course, my warm wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family, too.
Thanks for the reminders. I will be joining others in taking a blogging break starting next week. A good time for some housekeeping.
Have a lovely break, Jan. Thank you for all your support this year. Season’s Greetings to you.
Thanks for the reminder, Hugh. I need you to visit me and straighten out my blog site – I am a digital idiot.
I find that doing a little every now and again is much better than trying to sort it out all at once. And the best thing about WordPress is that you can revert to how your site looked if you don’t like any changes you made.
Thank you for this post to keep us safe.
You’re welcome. I hope it helps
good reminders!
Timely advice, Hugh. Thank you!
Lots of great advice and insight! Cleaning up for space reasons is smart no matter what but the copyright issue is also a very important one.
It is, John. I’m still shocked by bloggers who don’t seem to consider copyright infringement, especially those who publish other artists’ song lyrics on their blogs. I know of two bloggers who have been fined for downloading and using copyrighted material.
This post is a good reminder. The suggestions you share are relevant and meaningful.
Gonna do all necessary things for my blog!
Thank you sharing, Hugh!
I hope you enjoy all upcoming festivals well.✨🎉🎉
I’m glad it has all helped, Lokesh.
Season’s Greetings to you.
I agree, Hugh, getting caught out if using copyright material just isn’t worth the risk, or the cost if you do get fined.
As for housekeeping, Im trying to get back into a routine of checking broken links. Im also slowly reviewing earlier posts to check they’re still relevant and if they can be updated.
Sounds like you are on the case, Brenda. And I know you also recently changed the theme of your blog, which looks excellent.
Thank you. I remember one of your earlier posts about ensuring your theme is active. The one I was using was, but it was time for a change.
Great post. And I have looked into this. Is it okay to use pictures if you give credit. Ie make sure all identifying labels are in tact. 🤣😎🙃
Only if those pictures are not copyrighted and are free to use. If you are 100% confident that they are, then it’s not a problem. However, do check time limits, as some pictures and images are only free to use for a limited time. Ensure you check the contents licence as the details will be there.
OK I’ll have to look a little deeper 🤣😎🙃