5 Must Have Tools For Blogging

Finding the right tools for blogging is so important, for so many different reasons. When you first start blogging you’re really doing whatever you can and not really understanding anything you’re doing. But, don’t worry, we have all been there! There are so many different tools and resources available to you to help make your blog better and writing easier. One of the biggest blogging mistakes I made was not taking the time to research and find out what things were available for me to learn about blogging. It should have been one of the first things I did, because it’s that important.

In todays post I want to share some of the resources I use for blogging almost everyday. All of the tools I’ll be sharing today have really become a staple in my blogging journey. They help me so much in making my content as good as it can be. So I want to share them with you, in hopes they help you too!

FREE STOCK IMAGE WEBSITES

When I first started blogging, I was so amazed and slightly confused as to how so many bloggers could create such lovely and wonderful images to go with their blogs. They looked so professional and I couldn’t understand how they found the time to create images like they did. I then had the realisation that actually they were stock images. Now if you don’t know what stock images are, they are images that photographers have taken and uploaded to various websites to give access to people to use. These can be paid for, or for free.

You Might Also Like: 6 Places to Get Free Stock Images For Your Blog

Alot of my images are free stock images and are available for everyone to use. Stock images really help to take your content to the next level. There are various different licences that come with each website, so always make sure that the images are free for you to use. Here is a list of some of my favourite free stock image websites:

Pexels
Unsplash
Kaboom Pics

SEO GUIDE

SEO was something I really didn’t dive into early enough on my blogging journey. I always kept it to the back burner and didn’t really think it would be something I’d even consider learning. SEO is so important when it comes to blogging, especially if you want your website to show up on search engines.

I recently released a SEO guide for beginners which has 40 pages on everything SEO. My aim for this guide was to make things easier for you. So all the hard work has already been done, and all it includes are easy to understand instructions. For my lovely followers today, I’ll be sharing an exclusive 20% off discount for the next 24 hours only.

You Might Also Like: My Top 5 SEO Tips

Use code 20Monday for 20% off your SEO guide purchase.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Something I love using is Google analytics for blogging. Gathering data and analytics is important for you to understand who your target audience is. My analytics show that most of my audience is female, so I always keep that in mind when creating content. Of course content should be for everyone, but if you want to learn and understand about your audience, you have to have an element of crowd pleasing!

If you are self hosted or if you have the WordPress business plan you can download the Google site kit plugin. Its a really easy plug-in to use and allows you to track your Adsense (google ads revenue) and also your search analytics too.

YOAST SEO PLUG-IN

Something that really helped me on my SEO journey was downloading and using The Yoast SEO plugin. The Yoast SEO plugin is the best (in my opinion) plug in for everything search engine optimisation. It has a really handy traffic light system that helps you to know what you need to change in your writing and what you have done well. It literally has a step by step instructions telling you what you need to add and remove from your work to make it more SEO friendly.

I have learnt so much about SEO from using this plugin and it is for sure one of my favourite tools for blogging.

EMAIL MARKETING

It’s only been in the last 5 months or so that I have really got stuck into email marketing. I didn’t realise how important it was until I saw other bloggers getting so much success from it. Aside from people being able to sign up to your blog email list, you can also have a third party email list too. I use Flodesk and it really makes life so much more simple for you. They have tonnes of beautifully designed email templates which really help to make your email content look that extra bit professional.

Having a email subscriber list really helps you to make better connections with your audience. You’re able to share more exclusive content with them and its just a more in-depth relationship with your readers. Its something I would recommend doing.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I make a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my link. This is at no cost to you.

What are some of your favourite blogging tools? Do you have any you can share with us? Do you have an email marketing list?

Olivia x
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