6 Blogging Tools I Can’t Live Without

written by Marie

Last updated on: October 1, 2018

Published on February 27, 2017

Find 6 blogging tools I can't live without! Find tools you need to use in your business! #bloggingtips #blogI started again to blog every day almost a year ago. During the past year, good habits have resumed, and I can present you the tools that I would not be able to do without in my life as a blogger.

I use all these tools in free version since I am a student and do not have a job! On the other hand, if I would be able to pay for some services, other tools would be found here as CoSchedule and TailWind – but this list focuses on free services! If you want to try TailWind, by the way, the link gives you $30 in credit which is a whole month of upgrading your Pinterest game! 🙂

This article contains affiliate links, but I only recommend those I can’t live without! I don’t earn ANY money with this blog. I only have expenses! So, each cent I can earn through these links is very important to me. It helps me to have a bit less of expenses at the end of the month. Thank you so much. 

 

Blogging Tools I use every day

Hootsuite

Blogging Tools

Usefulness: Plan ahead the publication of tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram and so much more!

Social media is the most important thing when we have a blog – but at least there is Hootsuite! Indeed, we must be able to do a good promotion of our articles if we want to have visitors. That’s what Hootsuite allows me to do. I plan tweets every week to be published on my account and my Facebook page. It allows me to concentrate on other things for the rest of the week.

 

Grammarly

Blogging ToolsUsefulness: Correction of texts in English

English is not my mother tongue; it’s French. I have learned this language at school and over the years. I make several mistakes when I write in that language. I use Grammarly to make sure that my articles contain as few errors as possible.

A few months ago, I heard about Grammarly in an article from another blogger. There is a free version as well as a paid version. I installed the free version, and I immediately noticed how Grammarly could help me write the best article possible! I also use Antidote, except that the latter and Grammarly complement each other very well. These two tools do not always detect the same errors.

I had a 1-month trial of the premium version of Grammarly, and I must say I am considering investing every month to keep it and write better articles. As you can see in the screenshot above, all the yellows errors would not have been detected if I didn’t have the premium version – and I think those errors can make a significant difference in a text.

I might also add that as a tech blogger, I regularly talk about programming languages and other words that don’t exist in the dictionary. What I like about Grammarly is that you can add those words to your account dictionary and it will never detect them as errors again!

 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics Blogging Tools

Usefulness: to know the habits of our visitors (number of pages visited, technology used, time spent on the blog, where they come from, etc.)

It is so useful to know the habits of its visitors. By using Google Analytics, you can find out the most visited articles on your blog, know where your visitors come from, and several other information that will help you focus your promotional efforts. There is no use in spending hours per weeks on Twitter if that social media is bringing you five visitors a week. Google Analytics will help you find these numbers!

 

Trello

Trello Blogging Tools

Usefulness: Plan your editorial calendar + other tasks to do

I use Trello to plan the next articles to publish on my blog. Seeing all my future articles in a timetable allows me to keep my motivation. I don’t know what I would do without Trello – I started taking blogging seriously when I created my editorial calendar.

 

Canva

Canva Blogging Tools

Usefulness: Create images to illustrate its articles / Pinterest

I have a Facebook group for women in tech. Every week, I create images to illustrate our themes of the week. Canva is of great use to me! Also, I create images to promote my articles on Pinterest – or just to make them look better.

With a free account, you can even create a team to work on images with friends on collaborators!

 

Search Console

Google Console Blogging Tools

Usefulness: Detects the dead links of your blog (404 errors)

One of the main reasons I like Google Search Console is that it tells you where your broken links are.  The ones that would make you end up on a 404 error page. This allows me to add 301 redirects so that these errors do not happen! I’ll share how I do that in an upcoming article!

 

 

Conclusion

There you go! I hope this article will help you and may allow you to improve your blogger life. Let me know in the comment what are your thoughts and if you have any questions!

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59 comments

M. C. Frye February 27, 2017 - 9:07 pm

Thanks. These are some good reminders of tools I know about but don’t always use to their fullest.

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Marie February 28, 2017 - 2:56 pm

It’s always good to have a reminder! 😉

Thank you for your comment!

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Catherine February 28, 2017 - 10:33 am

I use most of the same tools. I have trello, but haven’t used it yet, however Grammarly is a life saver.

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Marie February 28, 2017 - 2:56 pm

Yes, Grammarly really helps a lot!
What are you waiting for, about Trello? 🙂 Try it! You won’t regret it.

Marie

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Laura February 28, 2017 - 11:04 am

Great post 🙂 I’m in my first year of blogging so it’s handy to read about useful tools, especially when they’re free! I haven’t tried Grammarly or Canva before so I’ll have to check these out. Thanks for sharing.

Laura // http://www.thosepositivethoughts.com

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Marie March 2, 2017 - 11:28 am

Hi!
No problem, I’m glad I could help! 🙂
Thanks for your comment!

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Marie March 17, 2017 - 10:37 am

Thank you for your comment! Grammarly a best if you want to avoid making any mistakes while writing.

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Sung February 28, 2017 - 2:26 pm

Thanks, Marie.
These are the gems I’ve been looking for since I just got started with blogging.

Are you using a paid version of Trello?
If so, which version? (I can’t tell which versions are available now since Trello is down… http://www.trellostatus.com/)

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Marie February 28, 2017 - 2:53 pm

No problem! I’m glad it can help you! 🙂

I am using Trello Gold – If I remember correctly it costs like $5/month. Since I refered 12 people to Trello, I have a full year of Trello gold for free, so that can be a good avenue for you! 🙂 Also, the only benefit with Trello Gold I think is you can put your own background to your boards. (But I really like that! It changes all the dynamic when you visit your board!)

I think you need to actually pay more than Trello Gold to have the real good advantages: having more than 1 power-ups. But I still do everything I need with just the Calendar power-up activated. Does it makes sense?! 🙂

Edit: I was wrong, there is a lot more benefits when you get Trello Gold, see their page 🙂 (like 3 powerups)

Marie

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Sung March 2, 2017 - 7:40 am

Thanks for the reply, Marie. Very helpful tips indeed!

I am reading “Kanban in Action” just to understand how I should approach using Trello. It seems like I should probably get used to Trello Kanban board first before jumping into subscription plan.

How did you learn to use Trello? Did you just dive in and got started or were there any resources you read before starting?

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Marie March 2, 2017 - 11:27 am

Pretty much dived into Trello and learned from there. 🙂 You can also read my post about What is Trello and How to create an editorial calendar using Trello, the latter has some tips on how to use some tricks with Trello that you don’t see immediately when you first use it. You can also ask me anytime in private if you want some advice – no problem 🙂

Kanban in action looks interesting 😀

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Sionann March 1, 2017 - 3:38 am

Canva looks interesting! Do you really like Hootsuite that much? I heard there’s issues with duplicate posts and stuff, have you experienced that?

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Marie March 1, 2017 - 7:02 pm

No, never! And I’ve been using it for a year with multiple accounts. Thanks for your comment!

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Francheska Suero March 4, 2017 - 6:49 pm

Thank you for the insight! Very helpful!

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Marie March 5, 2017 - 10:25 pm

I’m glad it helped you!

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Sushmita March 5, 2017 - 11:26 am

Marie, thank you for sharing the list sweetie. Rest all I do use already and was looking for options to start working on my editorial calendar seriously and you provided me the answer. 😀
Thank you for sharing!

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Marie March 5, 2017 - 10:24 pm

Hi Sushmita! I’m so glad you found my article right on time haha! Tell me how it goes for you and if you need any help! I’ll be glad to help you if you need anything 🙂

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Tiana March 6, 2017 - 11:31 am

Lovely information. Never heard of Hootsuite. I must try it

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Marie March 6, 2017 - 10:57 pm

Hi Tiana! Yes, you definitely should! Thanks for your comment!

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Michelle March 6, 2017 - 4:45 pm

Trello looks really cool. I just bookmarked your “how to create an editorial calendar” post. Excited to dig into that.

Thanks for sharing! 🙂

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Marie March 6, 2017 - 10:57 pm

Hi Michelle! I’m glad you bookmarked it! Tell me how it goes and if you have any questions, I will be happy to help you 🙂

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Sulfen March 8, 2017 - 4:17 am

I didn’t think about using a planner like Trello. I will have to give it a shot.

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Marie March 8, 2017 - 1:21 pm

Yes, you totally should! Check out my article about my editorial calendar, that is a lifesaver 🙂

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Rafa March 8, 2017 - 5:18 pm

Very nice post! I did not know about Canva, I usually just search for a term that relates to the subject I’m writing about on free image banks. Will try Canva 🙂

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Marie March 17, 2017 - 10:36 am

Definitely do! I’m sure you’ll love it 😀
Marie

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Enes March 9, 2017 - 12:51 pm

Great Post, definitely going to check out these tools 🙂

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Marie March 17, 2017 - 10:35 am

Thank you! I’m glad you liked it.

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jiselle jones March 20, 2017 - 3:45 pm

very helpful post thanks much. i will be implementing some of them you mentioned.

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Marie March 20, 2017 - 4:57 pm

Thank you! Let me know how that goes and if you need anything!! xx

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Erfan Besharat March 25, 2017 - 5:11 pm

Thank you for this article! Grammarly is really helpful 🙂

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Marie March 27, 2017 - 9:45 pm

I’m glad it was! Did you sign up? 🙂 Thanks for your comment!

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Traci March 28, 2017 - 12:58 pm

Thank you for sharing these! I have my own personal blog and also manage the blog for a business, so these are super valuable for me. I already use a few of the tools mentioned, like Hootsuite and Canva, but I have never heard of Trello – it looks awesome! Can’t wait to check it out thanks to your recommendation!

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Marie April 4, 2017 - 8:21 pm

Thank you so much for your comment! I’m glad I could help!

Reply
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SKYuvraj April 19, 2017 - 12:30 am

Nice post, Attractive design and very informative posts.Thanks for sharing your knowledge.Using 2 out of 6. And now going to try all of them @ http://www.androroot.com

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Marie April 23, 2017 - 8:09 pm

Hi! I’m glad you liked the post! 🙂 Thanks for your comment

Reply
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Harsh Kumar May 1, 2017 - 6:25 am

Nice tools. Very nice and helpful for begginers . I am also having a blogger blog – https://grabupdates.blogspot.com

Can you please suggest me some tools for my blog .

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Marie May 13, 2017 - 10:51 pm

Hi Harsh. What kind of tools are you looking for more particularly? The 6 ones I recommend are the ones I use the most. All the best!

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Vanessa @ Blushing Geek May 19, 2017 - 11:39 am

These are awesome list Marie! I’ve got 16 tools in my list so far 😉

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Marie May 22, 2017 - 12:33 pm

Thank you! I’m glad you like the list! What are these 16 tools!?

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Bel June 4, 2017 - 12:58 am

First of all, I love the work you’re putting in here. I wouldn’t be able to tell that English isn’t your first language. Secondly, I love French. I’ve tried to learn it but I fail miserably. Third, I like it when a French native speaks or writes in English. I think it’s the cutest thing ever. It always sounds so formal yet cute.

Keep it up. I’ll definitely hang aorund here.

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Marie June 7, 2017 - 10:32 pm

AWWW. Thank you SO SO much! You don’t even know how happy your comment makes me. 😀
I really do hope to see you around again!
I just bookmarked your blog.
Thank you again. xxxxxxxx
Marie

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Jelena June 10, 2017 - 5:52 pm

Great tools! 😀 I use most of those also. Here is the one that I use regularly and it is very useful http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ . 🙂 You can google more about it, so I don’t write too much.

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Marie June 12, 2017 - 9:48 pm

Oh, I remember about Hemingway now. What do you use it for, though?
Thanks for your comment Jelena 😀
Marie

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Debbie June 12, 2017 - 11:54 am

Hi Marie,
Thank you for a very helpful blog. I’ve really enjoyed reading some of your articles. I am relatively new to blogging (I started mine about 5 months ago). I have a question for you that I’m hoping you can help me with.
I’ve included Google Analytics on my site, but I don’t think it’s giving me the correct results. I say this because my pageviews on Analytics are way, way lower than the results I see on Jetpack.
Is there a correct way to install Google Analytics? And where should I include it on my site’s template? I’m thinking that maybe I put it in the wrong spot. Would you be able to give me some guidance please?

Many thanks!

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Marie June 12, 2017 - 9:56 pm

Hi! I use this plugin https://girlknowstech.com/go/monsterinsights to track my visitors with Google Analytics for free 🙂

First, Google Analytics and Jetpack statistics don’t count the page views the same way, so it’s really normal to have a gap – even a huge gap – between the two of them.

Jetpack Stats, for example, don’t track the following:

  1. Visits to uploaded documents and files
  2. Visits from browsers that do not execute javascript or load images
  3. GoogleBot and other search engine spiders/robots
  4. Visits by users that are logged in

However, from my searches on Google, it seems that Google Analytics should be higher than Jetpack considering what I just said, so I’m confused about your situation. Where did you put your code? You could also just try the plugin I suggested and see if the results are changing. If you are already currently using a plugin, which one is it?

Let me know, I’d be glad to help you figure this out 🙂

Marie

Source:
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/site-stats-vs-google-analytics/

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Nishma June 21, 2017 - 6:03 am

This was a very helpful post. I use Grammarly. Going to start Hootsuite, Analytics and Trello.

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Marie June 22, 2017 - 10:54 pm

Awesome! Have fun with these tools 🙂
Marie

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Melly July 24, 2017 - 9:04 pm

Oh this is super helpful!! Thank you so much! 🙂

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Marie July 27, 2017 - 11:11 pm

Hi Melly!
My pleasure to help1!! 😀
Marie

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Shannon July 24, 2017 - 10:16 pm

I need to get into google analytics and definitely need to get into scheduling posts. These all look so useful thank you so much and I will be pinning for later- need to actually use them now 😉

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Marie July 27, 2017 - 11:10 pm

Hi Shannon!
Yes! You definitely should schedule post. It’a a life saver 😀
I plan to post a complete guide on Google Analytics in the next couple months, for people who are just getting started!
Marie

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Crystal Green July 25, 2017 - 3:12 pm

These are wonderful tools for bloggers to use to help them grow their blogs. I can’t say enough good things about Tailwind.

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Marie July 27, 2017 - 11:07 pm

Hi Crystal! I’m glad you liked the blog post! 😀
I haven’t made full use of Tailwind yet. I don’t like making good looking graphics to post on Pinterest. Lol 🙁
Marie

Reply
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Reply
Luis February 11, 2018 - 2:18 am

Great list… I’m a writer and editor myself but sometimes mistakes happen, and Grammarly catches those errors. Worth every penny in my opinion.

Reply
Marie February 24, 2018 - 4:03 pm

Hi Luis,
I agree, worth every penny!
Marie

Reply

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