Out with the Outdated, the Errors, and the Broken Links

An easy and necessary (though admittedly not fun) New Year's challenge for writers to update your online presence

We associate this time of year with reflections and resolutions, taking stock of what we’ve done and setting intentions for what we will do. It’s spring we designate as the time to clean house. Out with the old, dust off the shelves, and all that. This made sense in the olden days when most of what we had to clean up was outdoors, and we were waiting for better weather. But in the year 2025, and for most of us here on Substack, the most important “spring” cleaning we can accomplish lives right there on our hard drives—and there’s no time like the present to get in there and do it.

Growing up, the year 2025 seemed implausible, a number in a distant future that felt as far off as the “Star Trek” episodes I watched on Thursday nights. Who among us could have fathomed the evolution of the personal computer, the advent of social media, the existence of a platform like Substack that allows anyone to dispatch a regular column to subscribers? This is the future, and I marvel at this aspect of it—the connectivity it provides us all.

But . . . our online presence also comes with a responsibility to tidy up, and I see too few authors doing so, especially on the regular. I need to hear my own gentle reprimand, too. I am as big an offender as anyone of not updating my bio, my site, my links. It’s tedious and sometimes difficult to come face-to-face with your own online presence. Cleaning out the shed in the spring is a far easier chore. The shed doesn’t make you look at the way you’re presenting yourself to the world. The shed lets you know it’s time, too, because the frustration of not being able to find what you need kicks you into action. For most of us, our online presence rarely frustrates us because we throw stuff online and don’t revisit it. We let our sites, our language, our links go and go for ages. I can’t tell you how many sites I look at when I’m considering authors for my podcast where it’s clear that no author nor author admin has waded into the backend of the site for years. And I mean yeeeeaaarrrrrs.

So, instead of or in addition to resolutions this week, take stock. Carve out two hours—that’s all you need!—to tidy up your online presence. If you do this on the regular, amazing. Tell us your secrets! If you don’t and you haven’t, start yourself off on the right foot and in the best headspace as we enter into 2025 by checking off the following list as a starting point:

Your bio

Your bio is constantly updating. You’re likely more impressive year over year, whether you started a Substack, got something published, were a guest on a podcast, or had a personal win worth sharing. Writers and authors often forget to update their author bios with even the most important facts—like having published a new book! And updating your bio doesn’t just mean on your website. Check Author Central (Amazon); Substack; Google; if you have a publisher, update with them as well since they feed your data to retailers. Stay fresh and relevant by remembering to do this periodically (once a year, for instance)—and if you haven’t updated your headshot in a while, throw that into the mix, too.

Your website

Beyond your author bio, comb through your site for broken hyperlinks, content that needs to be updated, language that needs a little lift. Your website is not a static thing, or it sure doesn’t have to be. Read the content on your pages aloud. Is there anything you’d write differently? Anything that could be said in a more interesting way? Spruce it up. Hang a new photo. Don’t let your site be a wing in your home that you never ever enter. If you haven’t spent time on your own website in a while, take a tour. See what you still like, and fix what you don’t.

Links to your book(s)

If you are a published author, or if you have a book forthcoming, you have or will have a dedicated page or pages on your site for your books. Make sure to list multiple retailers or platforms where your books are available. This year, my authors on She Writes Press and SparkPress got distribution through Simon & Schuster—yay, us—which means that each of our books has its own listing on Simon & Schuster’s website. The first thing I suggested to authors was to get this listing up on their sites, primarily for prestige. I used the occasion of today’s self-reminder to finally update my own books! It’s easy, especially if you’re self-published, to only list availability on Amazon. But don’t let that be enough. Make sure you give your readers buying options, and if you have something to highlight, like your book being available on a platform with name recognition, or from a local bookstore you love, list it!

Media hits, speaking, and blurbs

This is one that’s easy to fall to the wayside. Not many writers and authors do a great job archiving all the media hits they get, the speaking gigs they do, or the blurbs and reviews their work receives. If you haven’t centralized these things, consider doing so. Lists of hits, where you’ve spoken, and blurbs/reviews you’ve received can easily live on a page on your website without being too overbearing. My “Speaking” page on my site is not even accessible from my menu; it’s a subpage where I can direct people if I want to, and where I list all the places where I’ve spoken, which serves as a catalogue for me and a place I can point people who ask me to come teach or speak for them.

Substack

Most of us here on Substack have author sites we’re still using, if only as calling cards. Get your Substack on your menu if you don’t already. What this means is that Substack is listed on your site, much like you would have had a listing for your blog back in the day if you ever hosted a blog on your website. (Maybe you still do!) My own site simply lists “Substack” as a menu item. It’s subtle, the way I want it to be, but it’s there—and if you’re posting here on Substack regularly, you want to make sure people who are tooling around your site can get directed here to see what you’re up to.

Readers, I made updates while I wrote this post this morning. I want to report that I found errors, broken links, and outdated content, and I do look at my site—not a lot, but semi-regularly. So let’s get this done. Please also share what else you would recommend updating/reviewing/tidying up/archiving? Contribute to the mindhive below in the comments and thank you.

Happy New Year, friends and readers. Thank you so much for being part of my Substack community.