Blogging Tools (Step-by-Step)
We’ve tried and tested many blogging tools in our time, but we’ve seen the most success with this comprehensive list of resources below. However, no blog is one-size-fits-all, and what works for us might not work for you. With that in mind, explore all your options and try as many blogging tools as possible. It’s all in the research!
Note: We’ll be sharing exactly how to use these resources in our Blogging Masterclass. Here’s a sneak preview so you can get a headstart.
Step 1: Organization
If writing is the body of your content, then your organization is the bones! Before you begin the writing process, you’ll need to get on top of your organization — whether working alone or in a team. This helps you streamline your processes, structure your ideas, and stay on track with your posting plan.
On the other hand, Notion is fantastic for going into more detail. We’ve chosen to use this blogging tool to build out our course; there are calendars for us to keep track of what we need to do daily, and we can write out the scripts for our video recordings in a more structured way.
Tip: Always add dates to your content boards. This helps you stay on track with a regular posting schedule. We aim to have a backlog of articles written so we can stick to our weekly posting plan.
Step 2: Writing
Now it’s time to get into the body of your content – the actual writing! You probably already have plenty of ideas, so let’s make them a reality.
Google Docs
Google Docs is where we (and our team) spend most of our time! Yep, hundreds and hundreds of documents with our blogs, trip plans, and future dreams are stored there. It’s a great way to collaborate with others, leave comments, and keep everything secure.
For even greater benefits, Google Workspace (which includes Google Docs) offers multiple other services, such as personalized email and extra storage. You can sign up for Google Workspace here.
Did you know? In our Blogging Masterclass, you’ll get exclusive access to some of our most-used templates — for our students only!
Grammarly
Typos no more! Install this extension on your browser to correct your grammar and spelling as you write. It even makes helpful suggestions for ‘easier to read’ sentences.
You can also change your ‘language’ whenever you need to; this is really helpful for us writing in both US English and Dutch!
Tip: While correcting your mistakes in Google Docs is easier, you can also use Grammarly in WordPress if you need to make corrections further along in the process.
Step 3: Curating
Now, the creative bit: curating your blog so it’s visually appealing for your audience. You want to focus on great images, clear headers, and an easy-to-read structure. This encourages people to stay reading until the very end!
WordPress
Your blog’s home. With easy-to-use themes, wordpress.org makes your website look like it’s been designed by a pro, all from the comfort of your sofa. You can use blocks to create a readable layout for your article and choose your fonts and colors.
In terms of themes, Elegant and Kadence are both great options for beginner bloggers and those who are further along in their journey. While Elegant is slightly easier to use, Kadence offers more detailed features if you upgrade to the paid program. For example, an advanced color palette and SEO-friendly code for rapid website speed.
Did you know? Slow-loading pages will affect the success of your blog, as readers won’t stick around if text and images take too much time to load. Optimizing your website is key!
Join our blogging masterclass to find out exactly how to set up WordPress, understand its functions, and launch your blog.
Canva
Ready for a glow-up? Canva helps you create beautiful visuals for your blog with easy-to-use templates. There is a free option and a paid one, and it’s great for creating logos and any design features you’d like to include within your website.
Step 4: SEO
You can have the most readable, informative, and visually appealing blog, but it won’t help anyone unless you can attract readers to your website. This is where SEO comes in. You’ll want to use these fantastic blogging tools to nail your keyword research and distribution to rank well through Google.
Note: Need help figuring out what SEO is? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. We’re going into advanced detail in our Blogging Masterclass.
Yoast
SEO can feel overwhelming, but Yoast makes it so much easier! Install the plugin to WordPress; it’ll check that you’re using your keywords correctly. It has an easy-to-use traffic light system that shows you where you’re doing well and where you can improve, focusing on keyword use, distribution, and SEO title and meta descriptions.
It also focuses on your ‘readability’ and will highlight if you’re using too long sentences or not enough connecting words. These are all things that make your blog more accessible for readers. Additionally, if your blog is more ‘readable’, you’ll rank higher on Google: the more people read to the end of your blog, the better you’ll do!
Tip: Don’t ‘stuff’ your blog full of keywords. It’s better to focus on a few important ones and distribute them evenly throughout the text. You want your blog to feel natural, not robotic.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a fantastic free blogging tool that helps you find the right SEO keywords for your blog. You can see what questions people are asking, how trends fluctuate, and the highest searches in your niche. It’s not only an excellent way to choose what keywords to use in your blog, but it helps you work out what to plan next.
Mangools (Our Favorite SEO Blogging Tool)
Mangools is our SEO blogging tool of choice! This also works on a traffic light system, showing which keywords and phrases rank best for our blog.
You can also do site profiling, showing where you stand against other industry competitors. This is a great way to explore what you need to work on in the future.
Social Media
Social media platforms are the easiest way to showcase your hard work. Promote your blog on Instagram or Pinterest—or whichever works best for you—and watch the readers roll in.
Our strategy is to promote our latest publications through Instagram Stories, Reels, or Pinterest. In this way, we’re not only updating our followers, but if a reel goes viral, we can reach an even greater number of people. It’s an excellent way to promote not only ourselves as content creators but also the piece we’ve just worked so hard to publish!
Brevo
No spam here! Brevo helps you create incredible email campaigns to engage your readers and keep them returning for more. We use this platform to send our Travel Letter every month and regular course updates!
Depending on your niche, email marketing campaigns can also be a great way to promote your blogs. You might consider doing a weekly or monthly round-up of your latest offerings or promoting blogs seasonally according to the time of year/trends. For example, we might promote our Thailand travel blogs in January as it’s one of the best months to visit.
Tip: Unsure how to grow your email marketing list? We’ll give you all our best tips, tricks, and tools in our Blogging Masterclass.
Step 6: Monetize
If you’re anything like us, your blog is your passion project and a place to share your talents and interests with your following. However, we would be lying if we said we weren’t happy when we started seeing financial rewards for our efforts. In fact, monetizing our content has meant we can make Salt in our Hair our full-time job and now even pay a team to help us! These are the best tools for blogging that will help you earn on the go.
Also read: How to make money online (the best jobs!)
Mediavine
You’ve written the blogs, added photos and visuals, and hit publish. Mediavine then places ads throughout your page so you can earn some sweet passive income from your hard work!
Although Mediavine is better suited to those who already have a greater reach (50,000 sessions in the last 30 days), they also offer a more accessible program called Journey, which only requires you to have 10,000 sessions in the previous 30 days.
Beginners Tip: If you’re just starting out, Adsense can be an excellent program to join as there’s not as man qualifying factors.
Affiliate Marketing: One of our Favorite Tools for Blogging
Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make passive income from your blog. For example, most people think we make money from our Instagram, but in reality, 92% of our revenue comes from our website, of which 70% is affiliate marketing!
Affiliate marketing works like this: you place a unique tracking link in your content that directs your readers to an external product or service. For every purchase through that affiliate link, you earn a commission (which usually gets higher depending on the size/reach of your blog).
Affiliate Networks
Initially, it’s a good idea to join an affiliate marketing network like Awin, Partnerize, or Impact. They work with all the individual affiliate marketing programs (in our case, we use those in the travel industry, like booking.com, but this will vary depending on your niche).
The downside with these networks is that you get a lower commission rate than you would if you joined all the programs individually, but it simplifies management. Your payment will be based on what you make in combined sales through the network.
Affiliate marketing can seem overwhelming at first, but don’t worry! We’re going to go into detail about how you can set up your affiliate marketing and make a profit from it in our Blogging Masterclass. We think this is one of the best ways to monetize your content.
Step 7: Track
Once you’ve completed all the steps in your blogging journey, published your blog, promoted it, and gained more views, you’ll want to track how it’s doing. This helps you see who your audience is reaching, where people might be dipping out in the reading process, and how you can do better. It’s a great way to improve your website and inform future work.
Google Analytics
This is one of our favorite blogging tools for tracking your stats. Google Analytics helps you assess which blogs are working, which need more work, and who you’re reaching. For example, blogs within travel can be seasonal depending on the destination, so GA helps us track which destinations to promote during which months of the year. It also allows us to see who our primary readership is so we can tailor our content accordingly.
Google Tag Manager
Tags are like ‘sensors’ that track what your readers do on your website. For example, if you want to know how many clicks you get on certain links or visits to specific pages, you can apply tags that track both.
You can add all these tags manually to your site’s HTML, but this takes time and technical coding know-how. Instead, we recommend using Google Tag Manager, a tool that allows you to set up all your tags and track them in one place.
Tip: You can also use this in conjunction with Google Analytics, which is excellent for examining user behavior and engagement.
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