In 2018, Google’s Medic/YMYL update all but killed this blog. I managed to get it on a bit of life support until AI Overviews finished off the damage in 2023. Today, I’m doubling down on fixing the site.
Google’s AI Overviews wasn’t the only thing driving the site to near extinction, though. A lack of “high-quality” content and no updates to older posts sealed the site’s fate. Seriously, I published 13 posts in 2025. That doesn’t help with driving traffic.
In 2026, I’ve decided to turn it around and see if I can get the blog back to its former glory from 2018. It’ll be difficult, considering how rampant AI search has become and how few visitors are actually exploring blogs today.
Nonetheless, I love a challenge.
What is Coming to Crossing Colorado in 2026?
Effort. It takes effort to succeed in anything in life. Without a plan of action or taking steps to see that plan through, all you have are daydreams and wishes. So, I’m starting 2026 with a boatload of effort and motivation.
The benefits of working on your mental health…
Time Into the Blog
The plan is to spend the first few months making sure I can get the blog on a schedule of two pieces of content each week. That’s going to be somewhat difficult, considering all of the blogs, books, videos, and school work I have coming up.
So, instead of focusing too much on trying to meet deadlines for published posts, I’m going to center on spending five hours per week working on the blog. Theoretically, that would be two blog posts and a dash extra. But it really depends on how deep I dive into a topic and what I have going on for the week.
I am on campus Tuesdays and Thursdays while taking an online anthropology course. So, the first few months are going to be someone sporatic. However, if I can squeeze out an extra $100 per month, I can afford to hire a writer for at least two or three pieces of content for the site. That’s if I can find anyone interested in writing about health and fitness from both a physical and mental standpoint.
New High-Quality Posts
I have a new research tool that doesn’t use AI to find topics and analyze competing blogs. I suppose I’m just old school, but I’d rather not use AI for as much as possible. Research is a skill that I developed over a long time, and I love flexing the muscles in my brain to succeed.
Anyway, I’m putting more effort into writing about topics people are interested in while reducing the amount of fluff on the site. Sure, I’ll still have some one-off pieces of content here and there. But for the most part, we’re targeting some great topics for losing weight, cholesterol, blood conditions, mental health, and a whole lot more.
Besides, I have a few physical conditions I’d like to address, and what better way than to help others while helping myself through research? For instance, I have secondary polycythemia. I am going to explore all facets of that condition in the hopes of helping others.
New Fitness Challenges & Case Studies
I’m getting a bit tired of trying the same old fitness challenges each year (that I wind up failing). I’m going to work on a few new ideas and see if I can get more people involved.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to set up a three-month fitness challenge next week, as I am curious to see what I can do to myself in 12 weeks of actually putting in the effort. But I’d like to come up with a few fun things that can get others as psyched about healthy living and losing weight as I am.
Perhaps I can do more with the premise of this blog, which is to cross the entire state of Colorado on a bicycle. Maybe we can use Runkeeper or similar apps to challenge bike riding miles each week.
The bottom line is that I would love to do more with challenging myself and actually maintaining a case study through to the end. A lot of this has to do with my motivation to get fit. I’m going to be 50 this year, and I want to do everything possible to ensure another 50 years. Besides, I have plans of being on camera for a few live-action trailers of my books on YouTube this summer. I want to look the part I want to play.
In Shadows of Atlantic City, Jack Spencer is not obese.
Updating Older Content
Updating old content was one of the biggest contributing factors for generating traffic in Google. In 2018, I tracked an 8,000% increase over six months from an article we updated for a client. I’m talking about tens of thousands of visits, mind you. However, I don’t know if the same result could be achieved today.
As I said, AI Overviews has made a mess of Google.
Nonetheless, there are a lot of older posts on this blog that can easily use a fresh coat of paint. This is another reason why I don’t know if I can maintain two new posts per week. A lot of the older posts will need to be completely rewritten, which takes time. So, there may be weeks when I have a new blog post and an update published. Maybe I’ll have two updates and no new posts.
Well, at least until I can afford to hire a writer. I refuse to let AI write any of my content and would rather pay a professional for their insights, personality, and style.
Deleting Old and Obsolete Content
Unfortunately, I’m going to delete a lot of the older posts and obsolete pieces of content. Some topics are just so thin that Google deems them as low-quality, which impacts the website as a whole.
For instance, there’s no need to keep the journal entries for a case study I never finished.
In some cases, I might set the page to noindex and remove it from the sitemap. That way, Google doesn’t penalize me for having thin or low-quality posts. But a good number of articles over the past seven years are going to get deleted.
In case you’re wondering, yes, I am doing a case study on WriterSanctuary to see if these changes make a difference when rebuilding a blog. It’s also part of why I am putting effort into reviving this one.
YouTube and Podcast
I would love to get more content on the YouTube channel and get the podcast on a regular schedule. This is one thing that we might be able to do in 2026.
The plan is to train Sam and anyone else who wants to help on how to manage the podcast, as well as create video content for YouTube. Perhaps the most difficult part of this is motivation and time. We don’t have a lot of it to spare, but as a team, we might be able to get everything rollin’ this year.
I’m also considering using apps like Gling, which uses AI to help edit videos. Essentially, it cuts out the dead spaces in a video, much like I do with Adobe Premiere. It does more than this, but it’s all I really use Gling to do while creating writing videos.
The difference is that Gling shaves off about an hour’s worth of work when producing video content. If it works well enough, I might just pay for the service, especially if it helps us monetize the YouTube channel while streamlining the podcast.
In any case, I want to light a fire under everyone’s ass (including mine) to do something with the other content related to Crossing Colorado. There’s a lot of financial potential while helping others, as long as we actually do something about it.
Possible New Website Theme
Although I like the current theme of the blog, I am debating taking a look at other fitness layouts. Of course, I can’t make too many judgments on the performance of the blog since I haven’t really done much to maintain it over the past few years.
I mean, my most successful year for the blog was 2016 in terms of publishing 210 posts while racking up 270 likes. Since then, it’s been a bit lacking. Then, after the algorithm update, everything just lost momentum and sank like a stone.
Anyway, I’ll take a look at a few other themes, but won’t lock anything in until about halfway through the year if I decide to change. I might just wait until next year. That way, I can take a look at how the site performs while building up its content and possible traffic over the next 12 months.
Why Work So Hard On Crossing Colorado?
At one point, Crossing Colorado was my flagship blog. I created it shortly after WriterSanctuary, and it displayed some incredible potential as I documented my health and fitness journey. Then, after the Google algorithm strangled the site, WriterSanctaury became my flagship site. The damage Google caused created a bit of a depression, as I watched all of my hard work evaporate like a fart in the wind.
Although the blog only gets 15 visits per day on average today, it’s always had a special place in my heart. And now that I’m much older and working harder to keep myself alive, it has the potential to become great again.
I’m focusing on helping others, especially those over 45, with mental and physical fitness. I’m not trying to become an Instagram fitness influencer or coach. I just want to help by showing what has and hasn’t worked for me. That way, you can make a decision for your own needs while having insight into my experiences.
After all, we have unique physiologies. What works for one person may not work for another.
Besides, working on this blog helps motivate me in my own fitness journey. I find it inspiring and energizing to blog about health and fitness from the position of an aging desk jockey. Perhaps I can help a few people while making an extra buck or two through ad revenue or maybe even an affiliate link.
But don’t misconstrue what I’m trying to build. While it would be nice to make a lot of money, my primary function is always to help. In this case, I’m helping myself as much as anyone else reading the blog posts.
Here’s to a Great Year!
The plan is set; the motivation is present. All that’s left is to follow through with action. That’s the gist when it comes to just about any goal or challenge in life. Creating a plan and writing it all out is one thing. Following through with that plan while not setting yourself up for failure is another.
I’m relatively confident we can do something great with Crossing Colorado in 2026. I have several people interested in helping, and all it will take is a few moments of my day to train them.
I think that is perhaps one of my biggest failings, while also inspiring an idea for a future blog post. I have a hard time delegating tasks because I can’t trust others to do it correctly. I need to step back and let someone give it a try. If I don’t, rebuilding this blog and the YouTube channel is going to be incredibly difficult.
No matter what, though, I think we’re going to have a great year all around. Let’s keep ourselves motivated and engaged. Our health is important to continued success in everything life has to offer. In other words, we have to prioritize ourselves more than anything.
We’re no good to anyone if we’re dead. It’s a bit of a dark way to end a blog post, but it’s true. Proper health and fitness influence everything from rational thought to carrying heavier loads (physical and mental). So, yes, being healthy is ideal for every situation in life.
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