Tools I Used To Start My Blog
As a new blogger like myself, it's important to grab some affordable tools to get things rolling. From hosting to plugin recommendations and themes!! Disclaimer: As an affiliate, I receive commissions from purchases made through these links.
Hosting & Builders
For every blog, you need a hosting platform for your website to reside in. Below are recommendations for services that offer affordable hosting, domains, and support!
I personally use Green Geeks and their customer support is incredible!
They have user-friendly features and reliable service and most often selected hosting for most bloggers!
I have used Go Daddy in the past and they offer great packages at a decent budget!
Squarespace is a great option with multiple pre-made templates to choose from!
Another great hosting platform with budget friendly packages!
if you are looking to blog and have an e-commerce store, shopify is a great option!
I use wordpress every day for my blog and it's an easy to use platform even for beginners!
I use elementor on my blog and they offer great support and AI features to help with coding!
I have been coding for a few years and code academy offers great resources to teach you how to code!
If you need help with hosting, building or putting your blog together, check out fivver and hire someone to help!
Weebly is easy to use and afforable option for beginners and those with limited budget!
Wordpress Plugins
I use plugins on my blog to help manage certain things like social sharing, disclaimer policies and email sign ups!
Using a caching plugin will help optimize and speed up your website! I have been using WP Rocket for awhile and I get passing scores on pagespeed!
I personally use this plugin to optimize all my website images.
I use this social sharing plugin on my blog! I love the floating layout option and analytics it provides!
I use termly for disclaimers and policies on my website!
Handy plugin to organize recipes, pinterest pins etc.
Integrate your social media feeds to your blog!
This plugin is a great tool to keep your website safe!
If you need to add code to your header or footer, this plugin is easy to use!
I personally use this plugin on my blog to help find free stock images! I pulls images from pexels and unsplash.
Blog Themes
A collection of wordpress, shopify, and squarespace themes for bloggers and affiliates! Themes are a great way to style your blog without needed to code.
Gorgeous elementor themes with a feminine style!
Need a wordpress theme? This platform offers themes, builders, templates, plugins!
I recommending wordpress themes that are prebuilt for bloggers who are beginners! No coding necessary
An elementor wordpress theme with a simple an elegant layout
Such a fun and vibrant theme!
If you are using shopify, check out this pretty theme!
I love the simplicity of this squarespace theme
A boho vibe for this elementor website!
A blog focused theme yet I love the style!
Another favorite from Pixie and Hue!
Affiliate ready theme for bloggers!
SEO Tools
SEO tools have been a game-changer for me! With their insights and analytics, I've boosted my website's visibility and reached new audiences easily.
I use keywords everywhere to do keyword research and it can also integrate with chatgpt!
Ahrefs is another great tool to monitor keyword placement and more!
So many classes offered and tools to teach you SEO!
Another favorite! Semrush offers free tools that I use daily but also paid resources that will guide you in better practices!
Need blog ideas? Answer the public helps generate blog ideas based on your niche!
Surfer offers seo tools, blog writting and AI assistance for your blog!
RankIQ is helps with seo research and content writing at the same time!
I use Google Site Kit on my site and it allows me to quickly see ranking keywords and other analytics in my Wordpress dashboard!
A free resource to check your meta titles
Marketing & Social
When you start a blog, social media and marketing are crucial to drive traffic and build an audience! These tools help streamline that process!
I use tailwind daily to help generate Pinterest Pins and traffic to my blog!
Great plugin to track affiliate links!
Easy to use platform to manage your emails, newsletters and campaigns!
I use beacons to add a link to my social media profiles to include my blog and other links to make it easy and convenient for your audience!
Great tool to write blog posts, schedule social media posts across multiple platforms and collaborate on posts with others!
Schedule your social media, published blog posts with HooteSuite
Helpful grammer tool to use for writing in your blog, emails, etc
Always good to have business cards on hand to promote your blog at events or socially! Moo.com has a ton of well designed options!
Design Resources
A list of recommendations to help with creating graphics, designs, and finding stock photography and videos for your blog and social media accounts!
I use Canva every day to create graphics for my blog and socials!
A canva alternative that offers tons resources for graphic design!
iStock offers a variety of sotck images, vector icons, video and more!
A variety of editorial type of stock photos!
Creative market not only has stock images but resources for web, templates, social media and more for content creators!
I use vecteezy frequently for icons, graphics, templates and even Photoshop brushes!
Envato is a great resource for “all things” that you would need for design, blogging and social!
I use unsplash daily to find free stock photos and videos!
Another great resource for free stock photos and videos that you can use on your blog!