tools for blogging

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There’s nothing better than making your writing process more manageable and ranking for competitive keywords. The tools and blogging resources in this list are everything I wish I had when I first started.

My name is Eddy, and I turned full-time blogger after 11 months of writing content online with my little WordPress site.

I’m now a content marketing consultant and want to help you fast-track your blogging career. If you’re new to blogging, make sure to bookmark this page (Or share it on different social media platforms, Cough Cough) because it will be a lifesaver in the future. 

What Are The Best Blogging Tools To Use?

As an expert blogger, you know that having the best tools makes all the difference.

Whether you’re looking to improve your writing skills, increase your website traffic or convert more visitors into sales, using the right blogging tool can help.

Now, we’ll share some of our favorite tools for bloggers and explain why each is so useful. Plus, we will look at an alternative in each section.

The Best Blogging Platform

1. WordPress.org

If you’re looking for a blogging tool to help you rank on Google and that you own, then you can’t go wrong with WordPress.org.

WordPress is the leading blogging platform, and it’s also an open-source platform, which means that you will always own your traffic and stats.

You can also find a wide range of plugins for WordPress, which can add advanced features to your blog.

For example, there are plugins that can help you optimize your blog for search engines, as well as plugins that can help you keep track of affiliate programs, host digital products, and more.

With so many plugin options available, WordPress.org is the perfect platform for anyone serious about ranking on Google.

2. Ghost

Ghost is another great blogging platform that includes over 1,000 themes to choose from and various advanced features to reel in your visitors.

Unlike WordPress, you won’t need separate plugins to achieve the look you want for your blog. It’s an exciting content management system.

If you’re worried about security, Ghost has you covered with automatic updates and an SSL certificate.

We love that Ghost is simple to use and offers a wide range of features without being overwhelming.

Even Ali Abdaal uses this to host his blog content.

While it doesn’t have as many integrations as WordPress, it’s still an excellent platform for creators, authors, and SaaS companies.

If you’re just starting out, Ghost might be the perfect blogging tool for you.

3. Webflow

Are you good with custom CSS?

If so, you’ll love Webflow.

It’s a visual site builder that allows you to create custom designs that are responsive and look great on all devices. 

You can also add e-commerce to your blog with Webflow, which is perfect if you’re selling physical products or digital products.

Overall, we love that Webflow gives you complete control over the design of your blog and makes it easy to create a unique look.

This is perfect for designers who want complete control over the look and feel of their blog but don’t want to spend hours coding it themselves.

One great example is Jasper.AI, the same AI writing tool I use to write these blog posts, run on Webflow

My Top Pick

Jasper AI

5.0

Receive 10,000 Free Bonus Credits

I use Jasper AI (Formerly Jarvis.AI) to write all my articles and social media content. This software lets you create a post in seconds with just the push of one button!

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

The Best Blogging Tools For Writing Content

4. Jasper.AI

Ah, Jasper AI. A great tool that has made me the blog writer that I am today.

Jasper is an AI Copywriting software that creates amazing blog content, sales copy, and topics for social media posts.

I believe that Jasper is one of the best tools for blogging and it’s helped me save hours of writing time and has even increased my traffic by 40%.

Basically, almost every single blog post I’ve written has been the help with AI tools. 

I was even featured in one of your SEO trainings.

If you’re looking for a tool to help you write better content faster, then Jasper is the perfect blogging tool for you. 

5. Grammarly

When it comes to investing in writing tools, everyone should have Grammarly.

Grammarly is a free AI writing assistant which includes an awesome grammar checker that helps you fix typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors.

It also includes other features such as:

  • See the tone of voice in your writing
  • A plagiarism checker
  • Essay checker for students
  • Write blog posts inside of their document editor

It’s available as a free Chrome extension and can also be used all over the web. 

Side note:

You can use Grammarly inside of social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Grammarly is great for bloggers who want to make sure their content is error-free before they hit publish.

And yes, this is a free blogging tool, but their paid plan offers other tools that can help you improve your content marketing further.

6. Copy.AI

CopyAI is another ai blogging tool that will generate blog post topics, social media captions, and sales copy for your email marketing campaigns.

I personally use this free tool to write email subject lines that convert or for my social media captions.

Copy.AI’s free version will do you justice for any content writing you need help with on your own blog. 

7. Google Docs

Google Docs is one of the best free blogging tools when you are writing guest posts or have an outsourced writer.

It’s easy to use, has a ton of features, and you can easily collaborate with other writers.

Plus, it integrates with all of the other Google products which makes your life easier if you’re using multiple Google tools for your business. 

Side note:

I love Google WorkSpace. I also haven’t messed with Microsoft Word before.

There are also a ton of free Google Docs templates that you can use to make your writing process easier.

For example, if you’re writing a listicle, there’s a template for that.

If you’re writing an SEO-friendly blog post, there’s a template for that too. 

8. Surfer SEO

Looking to audit your blog posts and improve your on-page SEO?

Surfer SEO is one of the best blogging tools for that.

It’s an AI-powered SEO tool that analyzes your competitor’s top-performing pages and gives you data-driven recommendations to help you improve your own content. 

How does that work? You’ll need to integrate your Google Search Console which takes less than a few minutes to do.

It will then let you use their Grow flow feature which provides you with weekly blog ideas and content optimization tips.

I like to use Surfer SEO when I’m creating an SEO outline for my articles and once it is published, I’ll run the Surfer Audit feature.

So if you are looking to increase your blog traffic and beat your competitors to the top of the search engines, start using my favorite writing outline tool. 

9. Frase

Frase is an all-in-one blogging tool that helps you research, write, optimize, and measure your content.

It’s an AI blog writer tool that gives you content recommendations, topic ideas, competitor analysis, and real-time feedback.

Very similar to Surfer, but this has a few more built-in SEO tools.

I use Frase in conjunction with Jasper and Surfer to verify that my blog post topic is worth writing about and to help me optimize my article for Google.

If you are looking for a blogging tool that does it all, then Frase is the best tool for you.

Do you have a favorite blogging tool for SEO that I didn’t mention? 

10. RankMath

RankMath is an SEO WordPress plugin that allows you to check search engine optimization stats for your blog posts inside of the WP editor.

The free version is more than enough to work on your meta description, title tags, and image alt text.

I also like that it shows you related keywords that you can use to improve your SEO even further.

This is one of my favorite blogging tools because it’s so simple to use and it’s helped me rank my articles higher in the search engine rankings.

11. Yoast SEO

Yoast is an alternative to RankMath and it’s a bit more user-friendly in my opinion.

It will give you recommendations on how to improve your blog post for the search engines and also allows you to control what appears in the social media sharing preview.

You can also use Yoast to create an XML sitemap which is helpful if you are having trouble getting

The Best Affiliate Marketing Tools For Blogging

12. Lasso Affiliate Plugin

If you want to increase your affiliate revenue, then you’ll want to use Lasso for any blog promotion that you do.

Lasso allows you to cloak your affiliate links, add Call-To-Actions, and create product display boxes for your affiliate offers–all from within WordPress dashboard.

Create high-converting boxes just like this.

Affiliate Link Plugin

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

It’s one of the best blog tools for affiliate websites because it makes it so easy to promote affiliate products on your WordPress blog. 

One solid feature that Lasso has is its Google Analytics integration which shows you the click-through rate of your affiliate links.

Another great is that it can show you any broken links within your blog content.

This information is valuable because it allows you to see which products are performing well and which ones aren’t. 

13. Thirsty Affiliates

Thirsty affiliates is a free link management tool for WordPress that allows you to cloak your affiliate links, add “no-follow” tags and redirects, and much more.

It’s a great alternative to Lasso if you are looking for a free option. 

14. Pretty Links

The same thing goes for Pretty links when it comes to cloaking your affiliate links and adding redirects.

The main difference is that Pretty Links has a few fewer features than TA.

15. Thrive Leads

When it comes to growing your email list, adding exit intent pop-ups, and blog promotion, Thrive Leads is the best tool that I’ve used.

I’ve tried a lot of different tools for email capture, but Thrive leads always seem to outperform the competition.

The interface is easy to use and you can create some really high-converting lead capture forms with ease.

I was able to double the money I make online by adding the best-performing affiliate program to my exit-intent form.

16. ConvertBox

Convertbox is another lead capture tool that allows you to create high-converting forms and pop-ups for your blog.

I like Convertbox because it provides a lifetime deal that allows you to pay once and use the software forever.

Bloggers like Adam Enfroy use this for their marketing automation and leverage the analytics tools when doing CPA deals.

The Best Keyword Research Platforms

17. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is one of the best keyword research tools on the market.

I use Ahrefs to find low-competition keywords and bottom-of-funnel content ideas that I can rank my blog articles.

Ahrefs also allows you to see the estimated organic traffic and search volume for each keyword which is helpful when trying to determine which keywords are worth targeting.

It’s helped me drive a lot of organic traffic to my website and I’m able to find new blogging ideas without any stress.

This keyword research tool let’s see me:

  • Search volume
  • Competitor’s backlinks
  • My own site’s performance
  • How competitive a keyword is from 0 to 100
  • The strength of my overall website

It’s definitely overwhelming in the beginning, but if you want more readers to find your site through SEO then this is a tool you want in your arsenal.

18. SEMrush

SEMrush is my favorite competitor analysis tool and yes, a keyword research platform.

I use it to find out what my competitors are ranking for and to understand the search intent behind the keywords they are targeting.

You can also use SEMrush as a social media marketing tool to help you with your blog promotion.

You’re able to view what’s being searched for and what’s popping up on social media in real-time.

19. Lowfruits.io

Lowfruits IO finds low-hanging fruit keywords for you that your competitors are not targeting.

It’s a great tool if you’re just starting out with SEO and are looking for some quick wins.

It will analyze user-generated content, social media, and even YouTube to find you the best keywords to target.

20. UberSuggest

Ubersuggest is an awesome blogging tool that is much more affordable than Ahrefs or SEMrush.

It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that those two tools offer, but it’s a great tool for starting out your SEO journey.

These are just a few of my favorite blogging tools for keyword research that I think will be helpful in 2022. 

21. Google Trends

Want to write and rank for content that’s becoming popular right now?

Then you need to use Google Trends.

Google Trends allows you to see what people are searching for in real-time.

You can also use it to compare keywords and find related keywords that you may not have thought of.

22. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that allows you to research keywords and get traffic estimates for those keywords.

It’s a great tool to use when trying to determine which keywords are worth targeting.

You can also use it to find new blogging ideas and understand the search intent behind different keywords.

The Best Email Marketing Tools For Bloggers

23. Convertkit

Convertkit is the best email marketing tool for bloggers.

It’s an easy-to-use tool, has a lot of features, and integrates with WordPress perfectly.

So whether you have a professional blog, an affiliate site, or a personal blog, Convertkit can help you grow your email list.

What I love about email tools like this, is that you can customize your email template and even add your social channels at the end or promote a digital product you are selling.

24. ActiveCampaign

If you’re looking for an advanced email automation tool for your blog, then ActiveCampaign is a great option.

It’s more expensive than Convertkit, but it has more features like:

  • List Segmentation
  • A/B Testing
  • Dynamic Content
  • Crazy Automated Follow-ups

It even allows you to set up “cart abandonment” emails for your Woocommerce store.

Overall, it’s a great tool that can help you automate your email marketing and drive more sales from your blog.

25. Moosend

Moosend is another great email marketing tool that can also create landing pages and has a lot of integrations.

You can start with a free plan and then upgrade as your needs grow.

One thing I love about Moosend is that they have a “drag and drop” email builder that makes it super easy to create beautiful emails. 

The Best Themes For Website Design

26. Thrive Suite

Thrive Themes by Thrive Suite is one of the best places to get WordPress themes and plugins for your blog.

They have a lot of beautiful features that are optimized for conversions and they also have powerful plugins to help you grow your website.

I use Thrive Themes on my blog and I highly recommend them if you’re looking for an easy way to create a beautiful website.

Thrive Thrives Membership (Thrive Suite) is the all-in-one theme builder I use to run this blog. Create specific pages for specific categories easily.

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Thrive suite provides all the right blogging tools and even offers built-in social sharing plugins.

I wrote an article showing how other websites are using Thrive Suite which shows you different niches. 

You can see blogs in:

  • Digital Marketing
  • Ecommerce
  • Affiliate Blogs
  • SaaS
  • & Lifestyle

Start creating visual content with Thrive.

27. Kadence

My favorite alternative to Thrive Themes is Kadence.

Kadence is a newer WordPress theme company, but they are quickly making a name for themselves in the blogging world.

They have beautiful themes and plugins that are easy to use and they also offer great customer support.

I’ve used Kadence on a few of my websites and I’m really impressed with their products. 

Kadence also has a few free themes and plugins that you can use on your website.

Side note:

Just from coaching calls alone, I’ve already seen successful blog owners use the free version of Kadence to create beautiful websites that convert.

My buddy Jake over at Startblogging101 has created Kadence blocks that are AMAZING and make creating content so much easier inside of your WordPress post.

Best Blogger Outreach Tools

28. Lemlist

If you’re looking for a cold email software that can help with your blogger outreach, lemlist is a great option to consider.

With this software, you can automate your cold emailing process, which will save you time and energy.

You can also customize your emails so that they are more likely to resonate with your target audience. 

In addition, lemlist provides detailed reporting, so that you can track your progress and see what is working well.

I love how they provide different email templates from other successful outreach campaigns.

29. Respona

Respona is another great email outreach tool for bloggers. They heavily focus on guest posting and brand mentions.

With Respona, you can create personalized emails from other blogs’ text which makes it super easy to get your message across.

You can also use Respona’s “follow-up sequence” feature to automatically follow up with people who don’t respond to your initial email.

This is a great way to increase the response rate of your outreach campaign.

Both Lemlist and Respona are powerful blogging tools.

30. Hunter.io

Hunter io is a blogging tool that allows you to find the email addresses of people who work at a certain company.

This is great for guest posting and also for finding influencers in your niche.

You can start with the free plan, but I recommend upgrading to the paid plan so that you can get more results.

31. Mixmax

Mixmax is a sales engagement platform for Gmail that allows you to track emails and schedule email sequences.

With Mixmax, you can track who opens your emails and click on links inside of your email.

You can also schedule emails to be sent at a later date, which is great if you want to space out your outreach over time.

This email tool paired with Hunter can help you create a successful outreach campaign.

The Top Blogging Organizational Tools

32. Google Sheets

Looking to create a simple yet powerful content calendar? Use Google Sheets!

Google sheets will help plan and organize your blog content.

Here’s a screenshot of how I plan out my blog post and know when I recently published a piece of content.

This calendar includes sections for:

  • Content Topic ideas
  • Drafts
  • Scheduled posts
  • Published posts

You can also create a section for search volume and KW difficulty. 

33. Notion

Notion is an all-in-one workspace tool that can help with blogging organization.

Notion can be used for everything from creating a content calendar to brainstorming blog post ideas.

You can also use Notion to create a simple editorial calendar and add all of your content ideas

Here’s a screenshot of how I use Notion to organize my blog content.

Where To Get Images For Your Blog

34. Canva

Canva is the best graphic design tool for bloggers.

You can use Canva to create images for your web pages, featured images, and even for a social media platform.

Canva has a ton of free templates that you can use to create professional-looking designs.

I love creating Infographics which allow me to create visual content for my skim-through readers.

They also have a paid plan with more features and resources.

35. Pixabay

I use pixabay to find stock videos and images for blogging and youtube.

All of the photos and videos on Pixabay are high-quality and free to use for your blog.

36. Unsplash

Unsplash is another great tool for blog images.

They have a wide variety of photo categories and a search feature so you can easily find the type of photo you’re looking for. 

37. Sketch

Similar to canvas, sketch offers easy and complex designs for bloggers.

I use the sketch app when I am feeling creative and want to design something from scratch.

They have a paid subscription but offer a free trial.

Best Website Monitoring Performance

38. Google Search Console

Every digital marketing nerd and SEO pro uses Google Search Console.

This powerful tool allows you to track your website’s performance in Google search results.

You can use GSC to find out which keywords your website is ranking for and how much traffic you’re getting from each keyword.

GSC will also show you any errors that your website has, such as 404 errors.

You can use this information to improve your website’s performance in Google search results.

I personally use GSC to force index my content and see why it didn’t get crawled.

39. Contentking

ContentKing lets you monitor your blogs in real-time SEO Auditing & Monitoring.

This means that as soon as you publish a new article or page, they will start tracking it.

ContentKing will track your latest blog posts and notify you of any errors that it finds.

They also have a great feature that allows you to see how your website’s SEO has changed over time.

You can definitely use this app whenever you want to improve your website’s SEO.

40. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free website monitoring tool that shows you how much traffic your website is getting.

You can use GA to track your website’s traffic sources, such as organic search, social media, or direct traffic.

GA also lets you see which pages on your website are getting the most traffic.

This information can be used to improve your website’s performance.

I personally use GA to track my website’s progress and see which articles are getting the most traffic.

The Best Social Media Management Platforms For Bloggers

41. CoSchedule

CoSchedule is an all-in-one blogging tool that allows you to optimize your social media, plan your blog posts, and track your SEO progress.

This platform is great for bloggers who want to save time and improve their blogging efficiency.

I recommend using CoSchedule to help you plan your blog posts and social media content.

They offer a free trial and a paid subscription.

42. SocialBee

SocialBee is a social media management platform that allows you to schedule and publish your social media content.

This app is solid for those who are promoting their articles through different social media accounts.

I recommend using SocialBee to help you plan your website content and social media content. 

43. NameCheap

Namecheap is one of the best blogging resources for getting a domain name and easily pointing it to your site.

I personally use Namecheap to get all of my domain names because they’re affordable and easy to use.

Once you have purchased the domain name, you can also sign up with a free Cloudflare account which will give you faster speeds, security, and a few other features. 

Blogging Tools FAQ

Now that I’ve shared my favorite blogging tools with you, I want to answer some frequently asked questions about blogging tech stacks and resources.

What Blogging Tools Do I Need To Start With, And How Much Will It Cost Me When Starting?

So if you are just started out and are on some kind of budget, don’t worry.

You can get started with these blogging tools:

  1. Thrive Suite Membership ($299/yr)
  2. Surfer SEO ($59/yr)
  3. Jasper AI ($59/ye)
  4. Ubersuggest ($290 Lifetime Deal)

The total monthly cost of these different blogging tools will run you around $162 per month. That’s not bad if you learn that my profit margin is 92%.

But no matter what, Surfer SEO is best blogging tool when you want to increase your blog’s performance.

What Are Blogging Tools?

Bloggers use a variety of tools to help with various aspects of their blogs and marketing strategy.

There are blogging tools for every stage of the blogging process, from brainstorming ideas to promoting your content. 

Side note:

I didn’t use every single blog tool when I first, you can gradually invest in other tools as you make more income through the blog.

So just make sure you get the essentials first, which I would say are a WordPress theme (I use and recommend Thrive Suite), and hosting (I use WPX Hosting).

How Do I Use Blogging Tools?

Each blogging tool has its own set of features and instructions on how to use it.

However, most blogging tools are pretty intuitive and easy to use.

If you need help using a particular software or app, you can usually find helpful tutorials on YouTube on the internet or on the company’s website.

What’s My Current Blog Tech Stack?

My current blogging tech stack is:

  • WPX Hosting & WordPress
  • Jasper AI & Surfer SEO
  • Thrive Suite & Lasso
  • Grammarly

This includes my favorite writing tools that I use and recommend.

Conclusion

That sums up all of the best blogging tools I use and recommend in 2022.

Did you see an essential tool or blogging app you use daily or want to try out?

P.S. If you’re looking for a great WordPress theme, I highly recommend Thrive Suite. It’s what I use on my blog, and it has everything you need to run a blog that produces revenue.

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