Blogging Tools that Every Blogger Needs
There’s no shortage of awesome tools available to help you grow your blog, automate your social media, and improve the experience for your readers. In fact, there’s so many that it can be overwhelming. What tools are available? What do these tools actually do?
This massive list of tools and resources for your blog is going to be useful to you as you grow and find yourself in need of more tools to accomplish your everyday blogging task.
Blog Setup & Design
These are the basic tools needed for blogging.
Domains
I recommend buying your domain name separate from your website hosting. It’s just the smart thing to do just in case you ever decide to switch hosting companies or change your URL. More importantly, its an added layer of security. Here are some places to buy domains.:
- NameCheap
They run frequent sales and have every day prices as well.
- Google Domains
I like that it’s all connected to my google account.
- Hosting
I’ve done all the work for you. Here are my favorite places for hosting your website:
- Siteground
Affordable hosting with excellent customer service and up time.
- Lyrical Host
Perfect for WordPress users! I love all of the user extras they include.
- WPEngine
Love them for experienced bloggers who need a lot more space and functionality.
WordPress Themes
1.Solo Pine
Minimalist, modern themes.
2.BluChic
Nice Selection of feminine themes for various niches.
3.Lovely Confetti
Feminine, but also flashy.
4.Station Seven
Modern and neutral (they also make nice Squarespace themes).
-
WordPress Plugins
There are sooooo many plugins available. How do you know which ones are safe? Which ones are useful? What the heck do they all do!? There’s legit a plugin for pretty much everything you could think of (and then some), so here are my recommendations based on a typical user’s need for security and usability.
1.Akismet
Anti spam plugin that checks your comments and contact form submissions against a global database of spam to protect you and your site from malicious content.
2.Loginizer
Security plugin which helps you fight websites and allows you to change the URL of the login form page.
3.Wordfence Security
An endpoint firewall and malware scanner identifies and blocks malicious traffic.
4.Yoast SEO
The best tool for search engine optimization.
5.Disqus
A fantastic commenting system that allows users to log in using various social media platforms or via their email. It looks great on any website!
6.Ultimate Nofollow
Easy to use control over the nofollow tag.
7.SG Optimizer
Performance optimizations provided by SiteGround.
Stock Photography
I love using stock images for my website because frankly, I’m not the best photographer. You should always take pictures of any products you talk about yourself, and images that include you are certainly a wonderful and personal touch. But sometimes….you just need some professional images and there’s where stock photography comes in.
There are some nice royalty free stock image websites you can check out ones that allow you to use images for personal or even commercial use without needing to credit anyone. Just be sure that whatever image you use, that you have the appropriate permissions.
-
Premium
1.Adobe Stock
I feel like it’s so underutilized, when honestly it’s by far my favorite stock image subscription. There’s no shortage of images for every niche and style- and it’s super easy to sort through them too. In addition to the regular search, you can sort by color so you always find images that match your branding.
2.HauteStock
Strictly feminine style photography including curated sets of flatlays, lifestyle images, food, fitness, celebration, floral, tech, product mockups, and more. You can search by category, color, and orientation so it’s very easy to use and find what’s available. It’s a very popular stock photo membership choice and new images are added monthly.
3.Ivory Mix
Mostly feminine style photography, but also includes more gender
Neutral sets. You can search by color to find curated sets that are on
brand, or find sets by niche.
4.PixiStock
Grab yourself the free images offered and you won’t be disappointed. Your membership gets you access to thousands of feminine stock
Images, Canva templates and instagram graphics instantly download for your business.
5.SC Stockshop
One of the largest libraries of feminine stock photography, including a special “social squares” segment designed specifically for instagram. You can shop by color or collection including image categories such as Desktops, Stationary, Seasonal images, Food, Lifestyle, Florals and more.
6.Kate Max Stock
More than 3,000 stock images for you to filter through including simple backgrounds for text overlays and social media images, as well as fully styled scene sets. You can search by category or color and 30+ images are added every month.
7.Creative Market
More than just home to packs of icons, fonts, themes, and other assorted graphics. Creative Market has a large library of premium stock photos that are easy to search through.
-
Free
1.Pixabay
All photos are offered under a Creative Commons Zero(CCO) license, making them free to use for any purpose. Super easy to use search through images using various filters, categories, orientation, and even color.
2.Kaboompics
Collections of free images that are easy to search.
3.Good Free Photos
Especially nice if you are looking for travel based photography.
4.Idpinthat
Designed specifically for helping creators with Pinterest image design. You can only get images by using the search function.
5.Death to the Stock Photo
Register to receive a monthly pack of images via email, including stories that go with them. They also offer a premium plan for $15/mo.
6.PicJumbo
You can register for receiving new images via email that can be used for personal or commercial projects. This site is really easy to search.
7.ISO Republic
Free images for personal or commercial projects.
8.Plixs
Offers a large selection of photos and even video.
9.Splitshire
Free images for personal or commercial projects. This website is easy to search on categories.
10.MorgueFile
Not nearly as scary as it sounds..honest. Hundreds of thousands of images. Some premium, some free. This website is difficult to search.
Graphic Creation
In order to be a successful blogger, you need to spend some time honing some graphic design skills. You’ll find yourself needing to create Pinterest images, feature images for Blog posts, banners, etc….and these programs will help you get it done.
Photoshop
Okay, so it may not be a free tool, but at $10/mo (seriously, you can get Photoshop + Lightroom for only $10/mo), it’s worth it. Adobe sets the industry standard as far as graphic creation is concerned and it’s a lot easier to use than people think. There’s no shortage of YouTube tutorials for it and projects that could benefit from its tools.
Canva
I don’t usually recommend anything besides Photoshop, but I understand that not everyone has the budget or skill level for it (or interest in learning). So if already made templates in a self-contained system is more your jam, then Canva might be right for you. Just be sure to really read the terms of use, because oftentimes you don’t actually own the rights to what you’ve created with it.
PicMonkey
Another browser specific tool similar to Canva, PicMonkey lets you create your graphics with a lot of help from templates. It’s a helpful tool if you don’t have design skills.
SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION
To be a great blogger, you need to work smarter… not harder. These tools will help you make the most of your time spent on social media (and other types) networks so that you can increase exposure to your brand and grow your blog traffic more efficiently. Note that there are dozens of tools available, but these are ones regularly used that I recommend.
Tailwind
You need this if you ever hope to make Pinterest work for you. Imagine being able to schedule your pins at the best times – set it and forget it! In addition to it being the best option for pin scheduling, Tailwind has what’s called “tribes” – a way for you to work with others in your niche to regularly pine each other’s content and constantly find a new audience.
Planoly
My favorite Instagram feed planner and scheduler. It has a gorgeous, easy to use drag n’ drop interface that makes planning your Instagram feed lots of fun. I love that I can store groups of hashtags for me to copy into my posts!
GROUPS FOR BLOGGERS
There are no shortage of groups on Facebook aimed at bloggers, but you really need to find the one that best fits you. Here are a few of my favorites based on my experiences with them. I’ve chosen supportive groups that I’ve been able to learn from and feel comfortable asking questions in.
Grow Your Blog
The best reciprocation group for bloggers looking to expand their reach on social media and improve their traffic. Connect with like-minded bloggers and become involved in a large share for share environment.
Becoming a Blogger
A kind, incredibly helpful community of bloggers, this group is aimed at helping “newbies” find their way in the blogging world. It’s for people that are motivated, positive, and ready to make an impact in the world.
Blogging Like We Mean It
A member of my group told me it was her absolute favorite group so I checked it out to see if it was worthy of this list. I approve! This is an active and helpful support group for bloggers looking to get serious about their blog!
At least now you have some amazing tools and valuable resources so you can get started making the most of this venture we call blogging.
XOXOXOXO
Ristan Eunique
