Want to blog for your business? Or maybe you’d like to build an entire business around blogging? You’re going to need some help.
Even if you have the greatest tech know-how and a natural talent for writing, you can’t hope to build a successful blog without utilizing some blogging tools. Luckily, there are tons for you to choose from. Here are 50 killer tools you can use to build a better blog today.
Killer Business Blogging Tools
WordPress
The number one blogging platform out there, you can set up a basic blog site using WordPress.com or create a more professional looking site using self-hosted WordPress at WordPress.org.
GoDaddy
Again, GoDaddy is one of the most popular destinations online for people who want to buy domains for blogs or other websites. The company also offers other services like hosting and email.
Bluehost
But GoDaddy isn’t the only web host in town. Others like Bluehost, which is especially popular among WordPress users, offer quality hosting service as well.
Laughing Squid
Laughing Squid is another hosting provider that’s popular with WordPress bloggers. It also has some options for more speciality sites.
Google Keyword Planner
If you want to blog, then you need to have specific topics and keywords in mind. The Google Keyword Planner is an online tool that helps you research and refine the best keywords for your focus and audience.
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a portal you can use to find assistance and support for a number of different website related areas, including SEO, site testing and online courses.
Bing Webmaster Tools
Bing also offers a similar portal for people who want to ensure their sites run properly and rank highly in Bing searches.
Google Analytics
If you want to create a successful blog, then you need to keep track of what works and what doesn’t. Google Analytics gives you access to data about site traffic, popular content and more.
Jetpack
Jetpack is a popular plugin series for WordPress sites. Features include analytics, security and more.
Yoast SEO
Yoast is another popular plugin that focuses specifically on SEO. You can use it to update keywords, analyze your content and more.
BuzzSumo
In order to research your content ideas and monitor your content, BuzzSumo offers an online platform that lets you find trending topics and more related to your blog.
Photoshop
Most blog posts should include some type of photos or visuals. And if you want those images to look as professional as possible, you might find it useful to invest in some kind of photo editing program like Photoshop.
Canva
But you don’t necessarily need to make a huge investment in order to share great visuals on your blog. Canva is a free online photo editing and graphic design tool you can use right in your web browser.
GIMP
GIMP is another free image manipulation tool that you can download and use to edit photos and create works of art.
Flickr
Whether you want to share photos or find some Creative Commons images to include in your blog posts, Flickr can be a great resource for any visually oriented bloggers.
Shutterstock
You can also find stock photos to include with your posts using sites like Shutterstock if you don’t want to create your own images.
Death to the Stock Photo
For more stylish photos and videos straight to your inbox, you could also consider a resource like Death to the Stock Photo.
Piktochart
Infographics can also be powerful visuals to include with blog posts. And Piktochart gives you an easy way to create your own.
YouTube
Or you could create more in-depth visuals like videos to include with your posts. And YouTube is the top resource for hosting and sharing those videos.
MailChimp
To grow a successful business around your blog, it’s also a good idea to maintain some kind of email list. MailChimp is a tool with both free and paid options for managing those lists.
LeadPages
You can also use LeadPages as a way to gather leads online and to set up landing pages for promotions related to your blog or business.
Sprout Social
If you’re going to have a successful blog, chances are you’re going to use social media to promote it. Sprout Social is an online tool you can use to create marketing campaigns across various social channels.
Buffer
You can also use Buffer to schedule social content across different platforms as well as find inspiration for new content to share.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another option for social media scheduling and management.
Quora
When you’re looking for inspiration for new blog posts, it can help to consider what questions people might have about your particular niche. Quora is a question and answer website that can give you lots of insights about the questions that people might need answered.
Quick Sprout
Looking at your blog analytics is essential to growing your traffic — but it can also be confusing. Quick Sprout is a tool you can connect to your Google Analytics and then use it to get actionable insights and tips for improving your website and blog.
Google Trends
Trending topics, or topics that are especially popular online, can also make for great blog content. And Google Trends is a great resource for finding topics that people are currently searching for.
Twitter Trending Topics
You can also turn to Twitter and look at the platform’s Trending Topics as a source of inspiration for new blog posts.
LinkedIn Pulse
For more professionally focused blogs, you can also turn to LinkedIn Pulse for a way to discover content and influencers that can help you determine new subjects to explore in posts.
Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator
Just don’t know what to blog about this week? Hubspot offers a Blog Topic Generator that you can use by filling in a few quick fields and then receive a custom post suggestion.
Evernote
Blogging requires you to constantly think of new ideas and even refine posts on the go. And Evernote can be a great tool for keeping all of your thoughts and notes on upcoming posts organized.
Trello
Trello is another great productivity tool that you can use to organize your thoughts or even work with a team around your blog.
Google Calendar
For organizing your post schedule and other tasks, Google Calendar is a free online tool that can help you stay on track.
Editorial Calendar
You can also use a WordPress plugin like Editorial Calendar to manage your upcoming post schedule right from your blog dashboard.
Dropbox
Need to share or store large files for your blog? Dropbox is the go-to online service for this function.
Click to Tweet
When you’re trying to promote your blog online, it can help if you get your readers to do some promotion for you as well. Click to Tweet is an online tool that you can use to create snippets of your blog posts that are easily tweetable.
Post Planner
Post Planner is another socially focused app. You can use it to manage and discover content on Facebook and more.
Grammarly
The last thing you want to find on your blog after publishing a post is a myriad of grammar errors. Grammarly offers a browser extension and online tool that you can use to check for grammar and spelling errors before posting.
Hemingway
Hemingway is a more sophisticated online editor that you can use to identify areas where you can improve your writing style.
PayPal
If you plan on accepting any payments on your blog or website, PayPal is an easy way for you to get those payments.
Dribbble
Your blog design is an important part of the overall reader experience. If you want to find a professional designer or some design inspiration, take a look at Dribbble.
Behance
Behance is another online portfolio site where you can find designers and other creative professionals.
Upwork
If you want to outsource any of your content or other aspects of building your blog, Upwork offers a marketplace for professional freelancers.
Gmail
It’s also essential that you have a simple way to reach out to blog sources and collaborators, and for people to reach out to you as well. Gmail offers free email service as well as reasonably priced custom domain addresses.
Skype
Skype is another great way to stay in touch with people. You can use it to video chat with your team or even call people for blog interviews.
Disqus
If you want a more sophisticated or customized commenting system than what automatically comes with your blog, consider using a comment plugin like Disqus.
Feedly
To run a successful blog, it’s a good idea to stay in tune with what others in your niche are covering. Feedly is an online reader that makes it easy for you to follow lots of different blogs.
Bloglovin
Bloglovin is another online reader that you can use to follow blogs and promote your own.
Desk
If you get distracted easily while writing blog post, consider Desk. It’s an app for WordPress and MacOS that eliminates outside distractions on your screen while you write.
CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
Headlines are hugely important to successful blog content. And the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer can give you an idea of how strong your headlines really are.
Blogger Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “50 Killer Tools You Need for Your Business Blogging” was first published on Small Business Trends