I moved my site to a new URL, so I’m reintroducing myself.
Historically, my domains reflect the chapter I’m going through in life. When something major happens, my domain eventually changes as well. Usually, this change is reflective of my self-development.
I never change my blog name on a complete whim — it’s all premeditated.
(I mostly ask myself if I’m sure I want to go through the process again.)
(Unfortunately, it’s a definite yes.)
A lot of changes have been made that I’m going to answer under headings.
Why I moved from Autistic Jane & changed my domain name
Humans have been convinced that we’re nothing without branding who we are — that our identity doesn’t matter.
So when we detour off the socially accepted and expected path to “success”, as is defined by capitalism, to carve our own path to self-defined success — as is defined by ourselves — we’re shamed and put back into our place.
Calling, or branding, myself as “Autistic Jane” placed me into a neurotypically-acceptable box where my autism was at the forefront.
After writing 100+ articles about autism, I realized I didn’t want this to be the only thing about me that people remember. I’m not a dictionary — I’m a human being.
I’ve many unpopular opinions on niching it up. I have many special interests and hobbies.
They’re not going to live in a box.
I will still post and share about autism — but I want to post about more than that without feeling as though my blog is in a box.
Why “Freya J.”?
I’ve decided to change my entire birthname into one that is completely my own and helps me feel like myself and not like someone else’s doll.
“Freya J.” has a similar ring to it as Mary-Kate or Barbara Jean. I like it for the three syllables it kind of has — and it’s fitting for a blog, methinks.
Overhauling the content
I’m deleting and redirecting many posts to “collection” blog posts to avoid hundreds (500+) of 404 errors.
Most of these had already been hidden and deindexed by Google, and hidden from my homepage archives and search. In other words, you’d only have seen them by directly visiting that archive’s link or an unhidden post taking you there via link.
Any old blog post worth keeping is being optimized for search engines and formatted for readers. Some posts are receiving complete overhauls.
Important details in personal posts are being compiled into a Google Doc as reference material for my memoir + fiction novel inspiration.
Keeping old domains
Every domain I’ve let expire since 2020 has become a premium domain. One expired on accident, and it’s being sold in a registrar’s marketplace for thousands of dollars.
So the two “iconic” blog names I still have the domains from — janepedia.com, autisticjane.com — are forever mine. They redirect here to my blog now.
I don’t plan on letting them go, especially since my egg donor’s creepy husband used a previous domain to harass me.
Other changes
- 👩💻 blog redesign in progress
- 👩🎨 this corner of the internet will soon become more creative
- 🤳 more selfies and personal photography
- 💃 you might see me dance on social media
Other hints at changes: 👗🧢🐈⬛🧶🍄🏳️🌈🥨🎹🧜♀️🧚♀️
🍪 No third-party cookies
The only cookie my site utilizes for non-logged in users is the light/dark mode switch.
I verified my site via Google Search Console, but am using Fathom Analytics to monitor traffic.
This decision was mad after weighing the pros and cons of applying to SHE Media (because I totally could have!) versus privacy and more accurate analytics. I’ve decided to go for digital products, affiliate marketing, and sponsored content instead of third-party cookies.
I want my blog to remain simple, lightweight and personal even as it grows — not inundated with ads.
🤏 Less life update-style posts
Kind of like this one.
I’m forcing myself to be more creative and express myself through other blog posts that are less about me and more about my hobbies, etc. Or more well-rounded in general.
Also less focused on meeting certain word counts.
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