Frequently, people ask me for suggestions on a variety of tools, training programs, resources, and services that are available for blogging. They are particularly interested in knowing which tools I use to manage my blogs. Therefore, I have compiled a list of recommended blogging resources that I have either used personally (in most cases) or which have been highly recommended to me by people I trust.
It is worth noting that this page contains affiliate links. This means that if you decide to make a purchase through my links, I will receive a commission, but this will not cost you anything.
I will continue to update these lists as I come across new blogging resources that I would recommend.
Blog Platforms
When it comes to blogging platforms, my top recommendation is WordPress.org. I have been using this platform exclusively for the past decade, and it is also the preferred choice of most bloggers today.
While there are a few other platforms available, including
| WordPress.com | a free hosted blogging platform |
| Blogger | another free hosted option owned by Google |
Hosting
There are several hosting services available for bloggers to choose from. If you are just starting out or have a smaller blog, I highly recommend checking out BlueHost, which has put together a special discount offer for ProBlogger readers.
WordPress has been recommending Bluehost for web hosting since 2005. With 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7 support, and a super affordable rate, Bluehost is an excellent option for building your first website or blog. You can learn more about how to start a blog in this step-by-step tutorial or enroll in ProBlogger’s FREE Ultimate Guide to Starting a Blog Course.
I should note that on my blogs, I currently use AWS for hosting. However, my blogs have a lot of traffic, and this service would probably be overkill for many blogs, which is why I recommend starting with Bluehost.
Update: While Bluehost is an excellent option for beginners, we have been hearing a lot of great things about WPEngine if you have an established site with more traffic or want to position yourself for that in the future. They are more expensive, but they are WordPress specialists and are doing some fantastic things for bloggers. If you sign up for an annual plan using this link, you will receive 4 months for free.
Blog Design/Themes
There are countless blog themes available for WordPress blogs, but my advice would be to choose one that is updated regularly to avoid security vulnerabilities. You don’t want your blog to get hacked due to a poorly designed template.
As for premium theme suppliers, the one that I have personally used over the years and highly recommend is StudioPress (aff). I have used their themes in the early days of several blogs and have always been impressed with their design and level of support.
Tools for Graphic Design
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canva | Design visuals for my blog. Useful for social media graphics. | Lets an amateur like me design decent visuals |
| PicMonkey | Another helpful tool for blog visuals. | |
| 99designs | Professionals design logos, graphics. Thousands of options. | Need some graphics, a logo or some other design element created by a pro? |
| Easelly | Turns your info into an interesting infographic. Free and paid service. Helped with our writer’s guide infographic. | The free way to turn your information into an engaging infographic. |
| 24slides’ team | Makes awesome PowerPoints and Keynotes. An efficient service to make me look good. | are a team of professional presentation designers who specialise in building awesome PowerPoints, Keynotes and more. |
Tools and Services for Email Marketing
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ConvertKit | Email service for bloggers. Free plan for 1,000 subscribers. Includes landing pages, lead magnets, tagging, automations.Good tutorials. | Built for bloggers. For beginners, intermediate, and pro bloggers. Now offers free plan. Has landing pages, lead magnet delivery, tagging, automation. Very good tutorials to start quickly. |
| Drip | Email service for advanced bloggers. Used by ProBlogger. Monetizes blogs, improves email marketing. | Recommended for advanced bloggers monetizing blogs. Wanting to boost email marketing. |
| Feedblitz | Manages RSS feeds and email. | Great tool to manage RSS feeds and email. |
| SumoMe | Collects email addresses through popups, bars, welcome mats, tools. | Helps collect email addresses through popups, bars, welcome mats, other innovative tools. |
| OptinMonster | Similar to SumoMe | |
| LeadPages | Creates landing pages for your blog. | Powerful tool to make landing pages for your blog. |
Tools for Social Media Management
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AgoraPulse | Schedules social media updates, monitors social accounts. | Powerful tool we use for scheduling social media updates and monitoring our social media accounts. |
| CoSchedule | Manages social messages, blog posts, editorial calendar in WordPress. | Essential blogging tool. Can manage social media messaging, blog post publication and editorial calendar – all from within WordPress. We love using CoSchedule for ProBlogger. |
| Edgar | Revolutionized social media strategy. Creates reusable social updates. | Social media tool revolutionized our social media strategy. Very powerful. Lets you create tweets, social updates to keep working indefinitely. |
| Sprout Social | Similar to AgoraPulse. Used previously. |
Tools for Productivity and Team Management
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Evernote | Manages brainstorming, notes, ideas, blog posts. | Where I manage a lot of my brainstorming, note taking, capturing of ideas, writing of blog posts and much much more! |
| Slack | Used for team internal communications. | |
| Trello | Used internally for communications, project management. | |
| Fantastical | Great calendar app for Mac, iOS. | |
| Wunderlist | My to-do list app. |
Other Blogging Resources and Tools
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ecamm Live | Creates Facebook LIVE videos for Mac users. | An amazing tool for Mac users to create Facebook LIVE videos |
| BuzzSumo | Analyzes how well content is shared on your site or others’. | A fantstic tool for analysing how well content is being shared on your site (or anyone else’s) |
| MarsEdit | Little Mac blog editor to write, upload to blog without logging into WordPress. | |
| Easy Digital Downloads | Sells products from your WordPress blog. | A fantastic solution for you to use from within WordPress if you’re selling products from your blog. It’s what we use to sell our eBooks here on ProBlogger. |
| E-Junkie | Another shopping cart if you’re selling products from your blog. Not as powerful as Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) but very simple to set up and use. Used it but now shifting to EDD. | |
| Auphonic | Levels out different tracks, levels for podcast production. | Great little online tool we use in our production of podcasts to level out different tracks and levels. |
| Zoom | Used for webinars, broadcasting to Facebook Live. Allows guests, screen sharing. | A tool that we use for webinars but also to broadcast to Facebook Live video that allows bringing on guests and screen sharing. |
| ScreenFlow | Tool for recording screencasting. | |
| Grammarly | Chrome extension checks your spelling, grammar. | Very cool Chrome extension that checks your spelling and grammar for you! |
| Google Analytics | Free metrics/statistics program. Industry standard, need it installed! | A great free metrics/statistics program. It’s an industry standard, you need to have it installed! |
Blog Monetization
| Content Tool | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AdSense | Google’s ad network. One of the most used blog monetization strategies. | There are many ways to make money blogging – many more than I can cover in great detail on our resources page. But a few networks and services that might be a good starting point include |
| Amazon Associates | Make money recommending products from the biggest online store. | |
| Genius Links | Great tool/resource for managing your affiliate links. Useful if you have a global audience and monetize with Amazon’s affiliate program. |
