Let's Fix This! I found a huge problem with some of my dormant websites.

As many of you know, I am currently working on providing topics to help others see the exact steps I take to operate my niche websites.

I'm not going to go into detail about my previous posts, you can read them on my blog.

What I will say is this.

Those who know me, know that a drunk driver ploughed into me a couple of years back. This resulted in a year of intense physical therapy, then another year of....um...shall we say depression?

Anyone who has ever gone from healthy to DANG WTF just happened in an instant knows what I am talking about.

Only by the Grace of God, I survived and the other driver did as well.

With that being said, I had reached a point a little over a month ago to determine if some websites that used to bring in a very good income, should be deleted or not.

They have been sitting completely dormant since 2020, with zero new content being added.

I was going to delete them because they were not bringing in enough income to justify the upkeep. They are not hosted here, but instead on a VPS. Why not here? Well, because I need complete access to the MYSQL database as a programmer (not as a content writer) so a VPS is what suits me best for those particular websites.

As I started participating actively, here again, another kind member introduced me to Prince Parthas Potions (and more).

I have spent the better part of August reading his posts, trying his methods, getting my hopes up, getting on fire again and all the while, I have been having a TON OF FUN.

That is I was having fun with my new websites

I still was too sad about my old websites, one of them has not just my time invested in it, but my hopes, my dreams, and my heart (literally).

It's only due to the kindness of a dear friend I made here, that they are even still online. She encouraged me to just "leave them be, for now, wait before you decide". This dear friend knows who she is.

Well, after reading another of Prince Partha's posts about how one of his sites sat dormant for a while, and seeing how dormant websites can in fact be revived (beyond anything one could probably imagine), I finally decided this morning to see what I could do to revive my baby, my dear heart, my dream website.

The first thing I did was update the plugins.

Then I noticed a snafu when I tried to view the website on my phone.

It was loading way way way too slowly.

I deactivated some of the plugins, thinking maybe the developers had not kept up with technology, only to see that this in fact did NOT improve my site's speed enough to justify reviving the website.

I tested everything I could think of.

Plugins: Nope, not helping, I have these same plugins on my sites here at WA and speed is golden

WebHost: Nope, I have several sites hosted on my VPS, another is super slow, yet others including one that uses PressBook, is super fast

By this time I am thinking it's my theme, which I did update.

But, I love my site design so much, that I was not ready to change the complete design of my website.

So I came here to research and see what else could be causing the problem.

That's where I discovered this class by Jay

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/classes/how-site-speed-affec...

So, one hour later......I am now in a bit of a red mood because I had already gone through checking everything that Jay covers.

I could NOT for the life of me figure out what I was missing.

So, I try several image optimization plugins.....found one that helped a bit, but the others did not a bit good.

Tried deactivating plugins one at a time, but nothing, I am not in the green yet for the desktop.

I noticed that some of the plugins were horrid as far as causing my site to slow down, but even with images smushed/optimized / put through the wringer and every plugin deactivated......NOTHING

Only then did I revert this site to pressbook, because I KNOW the pressbook theme rocks.

And, believe it or not....still not in the green!

This is when I look at the actual insights when I notice some fonts something or another stupid file from the main theme is still trying to be loaded.

THAT is when I got that AHA moment!

I needed to clear my cache! Something I had completely overlooked. I was so involved with fine-tuning everything else, that I did not pay attention to the cache of the website.

Once this was done, my speed improved dramatically....yet this experience was a huge eye-opener for me.

Is it in the green, no not yet, I am going to have to do a completely new theme because the theme developers have not really stayed up to date with the latest technology, so I shall find something better that is more current.

I have also discovered that altho the plugins I use are current with this version of WP, not many of them have been updated in well over a year so I am going to revamp things a bit and find replacements, or delete the use of them completely.

This website is not just a typical blog, it's a food blog, so it entails a bit more than write and go.

I have said in previous posts, that some of my sites are not making what they used to, traffic has lowered, rankings have plummeted, and I thought all of this was due to no new content in some time.

Yet now I see that it's not just that.

It's a combination of several things, no new content, site design behind the times, outdated plugins, and site speed being HORRIBLE due to all of these an more!

Now that I know what to fix, I am going to FIX IT!

I say this and share this simply because I have told many others here....if you find yourself to run into a problem....FIX IT, do not quit.

I almost quit, I almost gave up. I came very close to giving up on all of my online ventures a few months ago.

And this morning, I had to make a very very hard decision that I was not willing to face.

Delete the site, or FIX IT.

Now I have made my decision.

I am going to fix it, and get it back up and running, with updated content, super site speed, and a great site design....it will now be better than ever!

For those of yo who may be struggling, trying to figure out why things may not be going as planned.

Just read this, and take it from me, there are MANY things that can cause an article or site to not rank well.

The website I am referring to in this post, has my very best effort in everything about it, and yet it still went downhill....simply because I did not keep up the pace.

Jay, Kyle, and many others here provide new training and classes CONSTANTLY.

My greatest mistake, was NOT neglecting my work.

It was neglecting to stay up to date with technology, google, wordpress etc. That is what i regret most, this playing catch up is CRAP CRAP CRAP.

From now on, I intend to KEEP UP by participating more actively in the classes as they are offered!

Now I am off to FIX my most magnificent masterpiece, it's going to be EPIC!

And, I want to extend a great big thank you to all fellow members who provide help, who share, and who encourage. You all know who you are.