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I started blogging in 2014. At that time I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Somebody else set up my hosting and domain and all that technical stuff. I just assumed that they knew best because they’d been blogging for years and so I let them take over.
Unfortunately, that meant I didn’t do my own research in the beginning and only ended up learning about some incredible blogging tools years later!
SO I’m here to share with you 3 incredible blogging tools (1 for each year I’ve been blogging) for creating and running a beautiful blog that I wish I’d known about when I first started blogging.
It’s not just all about having great internet, if you’re not using the right tools to save yourself time and effort then blogging will get very tiresome very quickly. I hope these blogging tools make your blogging journey that little bit easier!
3 Blogging Tools I Wish I’d Known About Earlier
1 – Canva
This free online program and app (iOS only) is incredible for designing all sorts of graphics for your blog. It has a library of free images and photos for your use. Of course, you can also upload your own images.
There are templates for specific social channels, such as Pinterest images or Twitter cover graphics etc. It’s SO easy to use. Nearly every blog article I post has a Canva designed pinnable image embedded into it.
I used it to create my media kit to send to PR companies and tourism boards. You can upgrade to the pro, but honestly the free version has everything you need, especially if you’re just starting out.
2 – Wix
Man, if I’d known about Wix in the beginning I would have advanced so much quicker. Oh well, it’s too late for me now, I’ve struggled my way to where I am now! But if you’re considering starting a website/blog I really recommend Wix. It will just makes it so much easier to build a website.
You can register a domain, build your website, register a custom email and sort out hosting all through Wix. It takes all the hassle out of designing your perfect site. They have a really simple “drag and drop” feature where you can just pick the bits you want and slot them into wherever you want them. No need to learn code or anything painful like that.
I particularly like their Wix Pro Gallery which would really work for me, or anyone into photography/aesthetics. Make sure to watch the video below for an example. And you can create a store in just minutes, which is something I’m struggling with at the moment via plug-ins etc. The mobile-editor is super handy too. If I ever start a new site I’ll 100% save myself myself some hassle and use Wix.
3 – Hootsuite
When you start blogging you try to do everything yourself. The sooner you discover scheduling tools the better. Hootsuite is my favourite scheduling tool. It saves me SO much time. The free version (which I currently use) has plenty of features! I used it to schedule my tweets and Facebook posts. You can also use it to send you reminders to post on Instagram.
My favourite feature of Hootsuite is that you can create a dashboard of “streams” for different search terms or social media dashboards. It basically gives you one place to keep an eye on ALL of your social accounts and relevant hashtags, it’s SO handy. You can even add it to your Chrome tool bar as an extension so if you see something cool while you’re browsing you can click on the little “Hootlet” and schedule it in to be shared on your social channels later.
So there you have it. I hope my 3 blogging tool recommendations help you! Let me know if you try them and how you get on 🙂
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