If you blog regularly, it can take up a lot of time in your day. And of course, blogging isn’t the only thing you do. You’ve got to ship products or provide services, answer emails, and take care of administrative tasks. That’s why you need to make blogging as efficient as possible. How do you do it? By using tools that can help you create, publish, and promote your blog posts faster and smarter. Here’s a list of 24 blogging tools that will save you time at every stage of the blogging process.
Short on time? Want a brief summary of the tools in this post that you can save or print?
Download my resource list on these 24 time-saving blogging tools.
Coming up with blog post ideas
1. Feedly
This blogging tool makes it easy to come up with topics for blog posts by looking at what popular blogs are publishing. Instead of visiting blogs individually to see what they’ve got, this RSS reader collects all the posts published on your target blogs and puts them in one place for you to scan.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5.41/month.
2. BuzzSumo
Find content with the highest engagement by topic or website. When using this blogging tool, just type a topic or domain into the search box and you’ll see stats for relevant posts broken down by social platform.
Price: Paid plans start at $79/month
3. HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator
Use this blogging tool to help you transform a target keyword into a topic. Just type your keyword into one of the “noun” fields and let the tool work its magic.
Price: Free
Related: How to generate blog post topics your readers will love
Creating blog post titles
4. Portent’s Content Idea Generator
Want to finesse each element of your blog post title? This blogging tool is for you. Enter your blog post topic or keyword into the white box and click the arrow to see the first generated title. Want to view more? Keep clicking the refresh arrow. The bonus you get with this blogging tool is that it explains the rationale behind different elements of the titles it generates. See the text in the blue boxes above for examples.
Price: Free
5. Tweak Your Biz’s Title Generator
If you want tons of potential blog post titles to choose from, check out this blogging tool. Just type in a keyword, specify whether it’s a noun or verb, and select the case you want your title to be displayed in. In an instant, you’ll have a long list of potential titles that are sorted into categories, including list and how-to title categories.
Price: Free
6. CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer
This blogging tool is one of our favourites. It not only scores your blog post titles on a variety of key dimensions but also gives you tips on how to improve them. Just paste your title into the box and click “analyze now.”
Price: Free
Related:
- 9 blog title generator tools to help you craft the perfect headline + 72 blog title templates
- 3 free blog title analyzers that are insanely easy to use
Finding stock images for blog posts
7. Negative Space
Sorted into handy categories, the photos on this platform are all free of copyright restrictions. This means you can use them in any way you please. New photos are added to the site every week, so you’ll always have fresh options to choose from.
Price: Free
8. Death to Stock
Want free, high-quality photos sent straight to your inbox? Death to Stock lets you sign up to get a new batch of photos by email every month. The platform was made for businesses and bloggers who need photos that fit their “vibe and tribe,” so you’ll get more than your average cheesy stock photo here.
Price: Free plan available. Premium plan is $15/month.
9. Unsplash
Don’t want to worry about restrictions or attribution requirements? Check out Unsplash. This platform offers up 10 new photos each day, all of which are licensed under Creative Commons Zero. Use, modify, and distribute them in any way you like.
Price: Free
Creating visuals for blog posts
10. Canva
If you search for blogging tools that help you create great images, you’ll find Canva on nearly every list. Canva makes creating images for blog posts and social media updates a breeze. No graphic design skills required here!
Price: Free plans available with the option to add paid elements for $1 each. Paid plans start at $12.95/month.
11. PicMonkey
Need to quickly edit a photo or create an image? Give this blogging tool a try. PicMonkey lets you add overlays to photos, play around with lighting options, and even add special effects.
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $3.99/month.
12. Piktochart
Want to add an infographic to your blog post but don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on a graphic designer? Say hello to Piktochart. This blogging tool makes it easy to create infographics that add value to your blog posts and look great too.
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $15/month.
13. Jing
Want to add value to your how-to posts by recording screencast tutorials? This blogging tool lets you capture images and record videos of what you see on your screen so that you can show your fans exactly how to do something.
Price: Free
Optimizing blog posts for search engines
14. Yoast SEO plugin
Another one of our favourites, this is the go-to blogging tool for optimizing your posts for search engines. Available for WordPress blogs and sites, it helps you ensure that your blog post title, text, subheadings, images, meta description, and URL are SEO friendly.
Price: Free version available. Paid version starts at $69.
15. Google Search Console
Want to know how much SEO juice your blog has? Use this blogging tool to find out how many impressions and clicks your blog posts are getting from organic search traffic. You can also use it to find out which keywords your content is ranking for.
Price: Free
Related
- Ebook: SEO Basics for Blog Posts
- 5 blog post SEO tips you need to know
- 7 ways to increase blog traffic by updating old blog posts + free SEO ebook
Proofreading blog posts
16. Grammarly
This blogging tool does more than spot misspelled words. It can also point out grammar mistakes, awkward phrases, and bad word choices. Although electronic proofreading tools aren’t perfect yet, Grammarly can help you spot some of the mistakes you may have otherwise missed.
Price: Free plan available. Premium plan starts at $11.66/month.
17. Hemingway Editor
Good content is well-written and easy to read. Need a blogging tool that can help you with this? Check out the Hemingway Editor. It highlights sentences that are difficult to read and flags passive voice and hedges. Find out what you need to polish so you can make your blog posts clear and concise.
Price: Online version is free. Desktop version is $19.99.
Related: 7 proofreading tips and tricks to save your future and your reputation
Promoting blog posts on social media
18. Buffer
Promoting your posts on social media is a great way to drive traffic to your blog. But sharing content on social media can be a job in and of itself. That’s why using blogging tools that help you automate social media tasks are a huge help. Buffer lets you schedule and automatically share posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. This way, you don’t have to worry about being in a meeting or out for dinner at your optimal posting time.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $10/month.
19. Later
Instagram doesn’t let users use apps that automatically post photos on the platform. But you can still use a tool like Later to schedule your posts and receive notifications to publish them. You’ll need to manually share your post, but at least you’ll have your image, caption, and hashtags all ready to go.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $9/month.
Related: The 5 best social media platforms for promoting your blog
Building an email list
20. MailChimp
We always say you should be building your email list from day one. MailChimp helps you make this happen. If you’re looking for an accessible and affordable option for getting your email list off the ground and sending content to your subscribers, look no further than MailChimp.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $10/month.
21. ConvertKit
Need something a bit fancier and more powerful than MailChimp? Take ConvertKit out for a spin. This blogging tool lets you send emails, create autoresponder sequences, automate emails, and even build opt-in forms and landing pages.
Price: Paid plans start at $29/month
Creating landing pages for blog posts
22. OptimizePress
Want to start offering products or asking people to sign up for a webinar? You’ll need a landing page. OptimizePress is a WordPress blogging tool that lets you create simple landing pages to provide your blog or website visitors with a seamless experience.
Price: Paid plans start at $97/month
23. Leadpages
This tool is one of the most popular in the business, and there’s a reason why: it’s packed with powerful features. With Leadpages, you can create opt-in forms to encourage people to sign up for lead magnets and design landing pages that convert to sell products or services.
Price: Paid plans start at $25/month
Measuring the performance of a blog post
24. Google Analytics
Use this blogging tool to find out how much traffic you’re getting to your blog posts, who’s reading them, and how they’re finding your content. Identify the types of content and promotion channels that are giving you the best bang for your buck so you can focus on them in the future.
Price: Free
Use these 24 blogging tools to work smarter
You can’t get more than 24 hours in a day. But you can make these hours go further by working smarter. Use the 24 tools I’ve outlined above to not only blog more efficiently but also produce better content that your fans actually want to read.
Short on time? Want a brief summary of the tools in this post that you can save or print?
Download my resource list on these 24 time-saving blogging tools.
