I recently went back through my comments to check on my fellow Quick Start Challenge (QSC) folks to see how they were doing. When I started this blog, I was part of a much bigger community that was starting our online businesses together. There seems to be comfort in crowds. You can read about the QSC in my post A Challenge May Be The Start You’re Looking For.
So, I went back to see how my fellow QSCers were doing and much to my dismay, many of their blogs are either gone or haven’t been updated since the challenge ended or soon there after.
It is very sad that so many dreams were broken for people hoping to make it online. These dreams were broken by a lack of follow through, lack of effort, life getting in the way or just giving into that tiny voice in their head saying “you’ll never be successful”. Whatever happened, it is sad!
Now I know a small number of these people may have simply stopped writing on their blog and are finding success with another endeavor online…but that would be a very few.
UPSIDE
There is an upside to this…
I feel very lucky and proud that I am still plugging away on my business and my blog, while so many others have failed or just given up.
My success is based, in part, on my hard headedness, my accountability partner (Thanks Tega), and to the great people I have met on the facebook communities I am a part of. In the tough times, when that tiny voice in my head starts speaking, these people and my own persistence are the things that help me to tell my “you’ll never make it” voice to SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!
PROBLEM
Now all these broken dreams and “dead” blogs do present a bit of an issue for me….broken links. Since I use CommentLuv to give my commenters a shout out, when a blog is no more, I have a dead or broken link.
There is a debate on whether Google penalizes a site for having broken links. Since I don’t care much about SEO, I don’t get rid of my bad links for SEO purposes. But broken links do make for a bad user experience and I DO care about that. So here’s what I did to get rid of these broken links on my blog
SOLUTION
1. Enter your website into Broken Link Checker. It’s free! (I had 42 broken links using “report all occurrences of dead links”)
2. Download the plugin WP Ajax Edit Comments. I don’t really worry about changing any settings in the plugin since I delete it as soon as I’m done getting rid of the dead links.
3. This plugin will add two links to your comments, Edit and More Option
4. Locate the broken link comment in your comment area and click on Remove Luv (if you have CommentLuv installed)
5. Then click More Options and choose De-Link. Sometimes only the CommentLuv link is dead and the website is still good, so in that case you would not De-Link. I always verified that the link was dead before deleting it.
6. You’ll need to do this for every comment. This is simpler then editing each comment.
7. Then I remove the WP Ajax Edit Comments plugin. If I need to remove dead links again, I can always download it again.
That’s it! No more broken links. I wish getting rid of the broken dreams was so easy. The 42 broken links on my blog represented 10 blogs that are no longer with us. RIP
For those of you who are still building your business and still blogging…CONGRATULATIONS! WELL DONE! KUDOS TO YOUR SUCCESS! Now get out there and clean up those dead links and KEEP CALM & BLOG ON!
14 replies to "How To Remove Broken Dreams & CommentLuv Links"
Wow Leslie, I was surprised n not surprised…. I had been waiting for one to reappear and really hope he does. His website is currently out n I couldn’t reach him. He had been so helpful n supportive and my only wish for him is everything is well for him. Thanks for the plugin Leslie. Shall check it out.
This happened to me too Sandy! That is what sparked me writing this post.
I was trying to reach another blogger whose post I wanted to refer back to and the blog was gone. And he had been also very supportive and helpful.
I wish all the people whose site are no longer available the best of luck.
LeslieZ
Hi Leslie
I’m one of those who fell off the path and are trying to get an opportunity to get back on. I discovered, several weeks in, that my idea didn’t have ‘legs’ and rather than continue with it I decidede to change tack. The concept, the domain, what I had chosen to develop was too big and needed refinement. It’s what happens when you don’t know what the training would cover. I had thought I was setting up a dummy site to learn from, not the one that would be for real. I Started looking at the areas others had chosen and was well impressed and decided I needed my own territory. I just hadn’t thought the Thing through enough. Real life, then got in the way a bit but I expect to be starting again this month now things have settled down. I still read all he blog postings and will start to reciprocate when my own is properly up and running. Good luck with your journey and thanks for the tips x
Pauline,
I’m glad you discovered your blog wasn’t right for you early in the journey.
And I’m thrilled that you are just making an adjustment in your business and then moving forward.
Those that are in business have to be happy with what they are doing and believe in it to achieve success. Now that you know your blog is for real and have it where you want it, I guess your first blog was a dummy site that helped you learn where you really wanted to go.
LeslieZ
Thanks Leslie. As a newbie to this whole blogging thing, that is one thing I did not think of. This is very informative and I’m happy to know free and easy. Great post.
Glad I could be of some help Jen! Free and easy initially are a great start….it allows you to build momentum.
Keep plugging away on your blog and business and set goals. If you are consistent, you’ll see success.
And if you ever need anything, just let me know.
Good Luck,
LeslieZ
Two great points in this post –
1. Most people give up on their blogs due to problems with creating content. I’m lucky that it’s not a problem for me, in fact I love writing and use it to create PLR that others can use to solve their problems!
2. The idea of going back and checking/deleting dead links is *very* helpful! That’s the first time I had seen it summed up so efficiently, and will be doing with my own blog now – thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
Gordon
Hey Gordon,
I believe you are right! Content was a huge hurdle for me when I started my first blog a few years ago. That’s why my original blog died.
Some blogs die as Pauline mentioned above because they are not right for the blogger. Others are just a failed experiment.
Glad I could help you addressing your broken links!
LeslieZ
Hey Leslie,
Well congratulation for sticking around because this just goes to show you that you’re here for the right reasons.
I also use the same program and plugin for cleaning up my links. I was happy when I found the Ajax Edit Comments plugin so I didn’t have to edit the comment each time. That’s the time consuming part but this gem makes it so easy. Glad you didn’t have a whole lot, it’s always sad to see any blogger leave.
Thanks for this share and here’s to not many more the remainder of the year. 😉
~Adrienne
Thanks Adrienne,
I actually first found this plugin by reading your blog a while back.
It just kind of hit a little closer to home realizing that these broken links were actually people that didn’t realize their dreams.
Ajax does make it really easy to cleanup broken links.
Thanks for the inspiration!
LeslieZ
This has been a really annoying problem for me … thanks for the detailed instructions on how to fix this!
Hi Jeremy,
Yes is was really annoying for me too! It’s great too that you don’t have to keep it installed. Reduces overhead on your blog.
Let me know how it works out for you.
LeslieZ
Hi,
i have question could you tell me if i remove my all broken links or i redriect my all links to home page it will effect my seo ?? if yes so what is a good souliton for it thanks in advance 🙂
Hey Usman. Yes removing your broken links will help with SEO. I explain how to remove them in this post. I’m not sure redirecting all your links to your home page would make sense depending on your content.
LeslieZ