A list of 48 blogging tools that cover a wide range of functions like generating new ideas, social media promotion, monetizing your blog and much more.
Last Updated - 21 July, 2016
If you think that blogging is only about scribbling down your thoughts and then just hoping that one day someone will come along and read them, then you’re wrong. If you’ve decided to become a serious blogger, then you need the right tools to save time, publish more, and maximize your overall efficiency.
At one point or another, all bloggers have struggled with generating blog ideas or promoting their posts successfully, besides various other challenges.
Thankfully, we now have access to hundreds of blogging tools, free and paid, that you can use to solve these problems and blog better.
To help you wade through all the noise, I’ve come up with this list of the 50 most useful blogging tools and guides that I regularly use.
I would recommend that you bookmark this article just in case it gets lost under “things to read” (yup, we all do it).
For clarity, I’ve segregated them into ten main categories:
- Courses and eBooks
- Unique and Beautiful Themes
- Blog Ideas Generation
- Grammar and Proofreading
- Blog Titles Generation
- Faster Blog Writing
- Amazing Blog Visuals
- Social Media Promotion
- Tracking and Analyzing Blog Statistics
- Blog Monetization
So let’s get started.
Courses and eBooks: For Those Looking to Learn Everything About Blogging From Scratch
1. Write Like Freddy
A great course for those who want to write guest posts on others’ blogs, increase online presence and expand their email subscribers.
Price: $137
2. 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (via ProBlogger)
If you are not happy with the way your blog is and want to make it better, this step-by-step e-book with 31 tasks – one task per day – can be of quite use.
Price: $29.99
3. Intentional Blogging (via Goins, Writer)
If you are excited about your new blog and want to see it grow, sign up for this 12-day course on blogging. A little time spent on reading and learning doesn’t hurt anyone!
Price: Free
4. Who’s There?
This free eBook by Seth Godin will teach you the relevance of having a blog for yourself, your career, organization and ideas.
Price: Free
5. Make Money Blogging
So do you want to blog your way to loads of money? Then this ebook will make a lot of sense to you. What’s more, you don’t have to shell out a single penny to get this!
Price: Free
6. ProBlogger
This is a blog run by bloggers for bloggers to learn about blogging. Did I confuse you? Click on the website link to find out more.
Price: Free
Unique and Beautiful Themes: For Making Your Blog Stand Out
7. Elegant Themes
If you are not sure how your blog should look like and want to try out plenty of beautiful themes before finalizing one, invest in this tool.
Price: $69/ year
8. Fthemes
What could be better than a tool that lets you download amazing themes for your blog, for nothing! Yeah, I can see you smiling right there!
Price: Free
Blog Ideas Generation: For Fixing That Oh-So-Common Writer’s Block
9. Buzzsumo
If you run a blog that’s all about latest and trending topics, use this tool to generate more and more blog ideas.
Price: Free and Paid versions
10. Quora
If the purpose of your blog is to help people solve their problems by answering their questions or simply write about stuff that most people are curious about, you can gain access to real questions asked by real people on Quora.
Price: Free
11. Visual Thesaurus
Enter a word in the tool and it will generate hundreds of unique interpretations and ideas of topics for you to choose from. Basically, it is mind-mapping without you consuming any grey cells.
Price: $19.95/ year
12. Pocket
So you found an interesting article or an inspirational video that you absolutely must mention on your blog. Only you don’t have the time or the bandwidth to view it right away. Store it in this tool and view it later- simple.
Price: Free
Grammar and Proofreading: Because You’re Too Cool to Be Making Errors
13. Hemingway App
It is a great tool for making your blog posts more readable and hence, more share-worthy, by replacing long, complex sentences and words with shorter, succinct versions. I think I need this tool right away!
Price: $6.99
Note: The beta for the new Hemingway App is out. Give it a try because it’s amazing (and it allows you to format your text right there itself in the editor).
14. Grammarly
A true “Grammar Nazi”, this tool will help you correct over 250 grammatical errors in your writing, besides spotting incorrect and poor usage of words.
Price: $139.95 /year
15. Paper Rater
Want some free (grammar) advice? This tool lets you have it. Simple to use and free of cost, this tool is worth trying out.
Price: Free
16. Polish My Writing (now After The Deadline)
Have you always dreamt of having a friend who will scan through your blog post, point out all mistakes and recommend better usage of words in seconds? Well, this tool could be that friend.
Price: Free
Blog Titles Generation: For Days When You’re Just Out of Ideas
17. Portent Title Maker
Someone rightly pointed out that this tool is addictive. Try it and you’ll know why.
Price: Free
18. Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator
Just enter a couple of key words and this tool will generate a week of blog topics for you! And still you think there are no free lunches in this world?
Price: Free
19. Tweak your Biz Title Generator
Enter a key word and you will receive hundreds of possible blog titles. You are bound to find interesting topics to write on once you start using this tool.
Price: Free
Faster Blog Writing: For those who could use a bit of help to write faster
20. Egg Timer
So you want to finish a blog post before you leave for work in an hour? Don’t waste time checking the clock every five minutes; let this tool work for you.
Price: Free
21. Toggl
If you are particular about how much time you want to spend on researching, writing and editing your blog posts, you should be using this tool to make sure you follow through on your timelines.
Price: Free
22. TimeDoctor
This time tracking tool helps you analyze where exactly you spend your time on the computer. Productivity dramatically improves when you are able to accurately evaluate your time. Another useful feature for blogging is that it helps you stay focused by nudging you when you get distracted from your task.
Price: From free to $10/user
23. FocusWriter (via GottCode)
The reason why we write slowly is because we get distracted too often. But with this tool, getting distracted from your work will be, well, hard work.
Price: Free
24. Focus Booster
This tool will help you become a more productive individual; a quicker writer is just a side benefit.
Price: Free and paid versions
Amazing Blog Visuals: Because Text-Only Blogs Are Dull and Boring
25. Meme Generator
This tool allows you to create your own witty and trending memes. What’s more, besides posting these on your blog, you can also upload them on your social media profiles.
Price: Free
26. Canva
A personal favourite. If you want to create beautiful graphics for your blog or social media profiles, Canva is your go-to tool. What’s more, you can work on this tool for absolutely free of cost, if you don’t use any of their paid features.
Price: Free and paid versions
27. Share as Image
A picture speaks a thousand words. A picture with text speaks thousand-plus words. Still don’t get it? Check the tool out.
Price: $8/month
28: Infogr.am
If your blog is all about charts and graphs that scream data and figures, you will adore this tool.
Price: Free and paid versions
29. Pixabay
Don’t want to spend money on pictures but don’t want to download straight from Google Images also? This tool is the answer to your prayers.
Price: Free
30. Powtoon
Add pizzazz to your blog by adding creatively crafted animations and slides.
Price: Free and paid versions
31. PicMonkey
Edit images or create customized visuals for your blog using this simple and fun photo editor. You’ll fall in love with it, I promise.
Price: Free and paid versions
Social Media Promotion: Because a Blog Not Read Enough Is a Blog That Doesn’t Exist
32. Nutshell Mail
This tool’s for those who are finding it difficult to monitor all of their social media activities. Just download this tool and get access to all that’s happening on your multiple social media accounts- in a nutshell.
Price: Free
33. Click to Tweet
Make it easy for your followers to tweet your blog posts on their Twitter accounts. Start using this tool right away.
Price: Free
34. HootSuite
This tool lets you manage all your social media profiles from one single dashboard. Incredibly cool, I say.
Price: Free and paid versions
35. E-Mailit
Let your readers distribute your blog posts across webs through customized social sharing tools.
Price: Free
36. Onlywire
Do you find sharing the same post on several social media profiles a pain in the backside? You will not, anymore, with this tool hootsuite alternatives.
Price: Free and paid versions
37. Mailchimp
Let your email subscribers know about your latest blog posts, but in style. Use this tool for creating visually attractive and engaging emails.
Price: Free and paid versions
Tracking and Analyzing Blog Statistics: For Those Who Consider Blogging to be Serious Business
38. Google Analytics
If you want to track basic stuff, like the sources of your traffic, how much time visitors are spending on your blog and where they click, use this tool.
Price: Free
39. Mint
If you are a seasoned blogger and want to understand what people find most interesting about your blog, invest in this tool.
Price: $30 per site
Blog Monetization: Because It’s All About The Money, Honey
40. Google AdSense
In all probability, the most popular blog monetization tool out there. Also the most reliable, I believe.
Price: Free
41. Viglink
If you are a popular blogger and want to cash in on your popularity and followership, use this tool to promote products and brands and make a lot of money.
Price: Free
Miscellaneous Tools: Pseudonym for “What Couldn’t Get Featured in the Above Categories”
42. Listly
Do you feature listicles on your blog? Won’t you love it if other like-minded people could contribute to your posts? This tool will let you do that.
Price: Free and paid versions
43. Blog2Print
Love your own blog? Want to turn it into a something more tangible? Use this tool for turning your blog into a professionally printed book.
Price: Starts from $14.95/ book
44. ManageWP
If you have multiple blogs on WordPress and want to manage them all on a single dashboard, this is the tool you need.
Price: Free and paid versions
45. Google Docs
Besides being extremely popular, accessible and free of cost, Google Docs should be definitely used while collaborating with other bloggers.
Price: Free
46. Launch Effect
It is a great tool for people who are yet to launch their blogs but still want people to start noticing it, subscribing to it and spreading it in their own clouts.
Price: Free and paid versions
47. Namechk
So you are all set to launch a well-thought of blog with its own social media profiles, customized email ID and what not. But how do you know that you that all of these accounts will be available in your chosen name? Well, with this tool, you can find it out in a jiffy. I tried it and fell in love at first sight. I’m serious.
Price: Free
48. Pingdom
Want to find out how fast or slow is the speed of your blog site? Use this tool to find your site’s loading speed as well as ways to fix the bottlenecks.
Price: Free
It’s Your Turn!
The blogging tools mentioned above are amazing and I am sure if you have been blogging for a while, you very well know and use many of them. But I reckon that there are various other equally good, or even better, tools in the market which you may be aware of but I do not.
It would be great if you could contribute to the list by commenting. I and the readers of this blog could really use your tips and experiences. Until then, happy blogging!
Authored with the help of Pranav Sukhija
Photo Credits:
FAQs
The blogging platform allows authors to publish articles, opinions, or product reviews (known as posts), which can be delivered through standalone websites, email, feed syndications, and social networks.
A blog (a truncation of “weblog”) is a discussion or informational website that consists of discrete, often informal text entries (posts). The most recent post appears at the top of the web page in reverse chronological order.
By far, the most popular blogging platform in the world is the self-hosted version of WordPress.
Shubham is a digital marketer with rich experience working in the advertisement technology industry. He has vast experience in the programmatic industry, driving business strategy and scaling functions including but not limited to growth and marketing, Operations, process optimization, and Sales.
