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Hey you! Looking to start a blog?
Then this blogging resources page is just for you! I created it to help you figure out what tools you’ll need to make one, DIY style. These are all products and services that myself and other bloggers are using to keep our websites and brands functional and thriving.
If you think there’s something I missed and should have included, feel free to pop on over to my contact page and send me a message about it!
DOMAIN NAMES
I’ve bought all my domains through Domain.com and found them to have been very affordable and easy to work with. I prefer not having my domain through my hosting provider so that if I ever need to change hosts it won’t be as complicated. However, if you are on a budget feel free to take advantage of the free domain names that could come with various hosting provider packages.
WORDPRESS WEBSITE HOSTING
The first thing you will need to do if you are going to start a blog is decide how and where you are going to build your website. There are many different platforms you can take advantage of (including SquareSpace, Blogger, Wix, etc.) that will let you build something beautiful and professional. But everyone has their personal preferences, and mine includes using WordPress.org for my blog. I love the plug-ins and customization options that come with it.
That said, if you go with a self-hosted WordPress.org option (not WordPress.com), you will have to decide on a host for your website. The top two I recommend are Siteground and Bluehost. Here is an article that goes over the differences between the two companies: https://www.hostingreviews.website/compare/siteground-vs-bluehost.
Siteground is definitely considered the best budget-friendly option out there right now for bloggers. Most folks I know can’t stop raving about their customer service!
Bluehost is my current hosting company, and although I have not had any major issues with them, I have heard of bad things happening to other bloggers. So if you do decide to go with them because of their cheap hosting plans, I just recommend that you do your research first to see if it is what’s best for you!
WORDPRESS THEMES & DESIGN TOOLS
Creative Market is the go-to when it comes to WordPress themes and design tools. I love that they have frequent coupons available for their customers, and new customers even get a large percentage off their first purchase! Also, they give away six free goods on their website every Monday. That’s right, every Monday. Go check it out!
EMAIL MARKETING
One of the most important things you can do as a blogger is grow your email list. Using an email marketing provider (like one of the ones I’ve listed out here for you) will allow you to send new post notifications as well as newsletter emails directly to your readers’ inboxes.
ConvertKit’s packages start at $29 a month for your first 1,000 subscribers.
I currently use Mailchimp for my newsletters. I love that it is free for accounts with up to 1,000 subscribers!
Mailerlite is also free for accounts up to 1,000 subscribers, and it includes great options for landing pages and subscription popups.
ActiveCampaign’s plans start at $14.45 per month paid annually.
SOCIAL MEDIA
I recently started using Post Planner for all of my blog accounts and I LOVE it. I am able to schedule out the same content for my Facbeook and Twitter accounts without having to switch programs. The starter package for this program only costs $36 a year!
Boardbooser and Tailwind are tools that you can use to grow your Pinterest following. Both of them allow you to bulk schedule your pins to be released during peak hours. This saves you time and energy, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business instead of pinning manually on Pinterest every day.
I use BoardBooster and I love it! They offer a free trial for your first 100 pins, and after that their cheapest plan is only $5.00 a month paid monthly! So you don’t have to worry about paying an annual fee all at once.
Although I primarily use Boardbooster, I know a lot of bloggers who prefer Tailwind! One major bonus with Tailwind is that you can set up tribes with other bloggers, which makes it easy to find relevant content to re-pin to your boards. Their cheapest plan is $9.99 per month, billed annually.
ORGANIZATION
I have a folder in my Google Drive account for everything related to my blog. The possibilities of what you can do with it are endless! You can back up your website with Google Drive (using the WordPress plugin Updraft), save draft blog posts in Google Docs, and keep track of your posts and website goals with Google Sheets. Google Docs is also a great platform to use for creating e-books, in case you want to make one for an opt-in freebie!
I love using Evernote to organize both my life and my blog! You can access it via a mobile app, desktop app, or even through an internet browser. You can create different Notebooks with their own Notes. It’s a great way to keep track of to-do lists, and even blog post ideas and brainstorming sessions.
EQUIPMENT
Macbook Air Laptop*
I am currently using a MacBook Air laptop for all my blogging needs and I love it! It is lightweight and easy to transport, and as I store most of my information on external hard drives, I don’t care about having a little less memory on the laptop itself.
I back up everything for my blog onto two external hard drives. This is because I’ve learned the hard way what can happen when a laptop goes kaput! My last laptop died on me and I lost a few weeks of work that I was never able to recover. So now I use two just to make sure that I will always have a working drive with a backup. 🙂
PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTO EDITING
I currently use my husband’s Canon Rebel T2I camera for taking photos. But as this model has been discontinued by Canon, and I am not a professional photographer, I don’t yet have an alternate model that I can recommend to you!
However, I love using a DSLR camera because I have control over many of the settings. And even though it may seem overwhelming in the beginning for most folks, I firmly believe that it can produce some of the best results if you take a little bit of time to learn as much as you can about it and experiment a little.
I use the full version of Photoshop (CS5), but as that one is a little harder to track down I totally recommend purchasing Photoshop Elements. It’s a little bit cheaper, and it still gives you the ability to edit photos and create amazing graphics!
If you don’t have the funds to purchase photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, Canva is a great website that offers free photo editing capabilities.
One major way that I have upgraded my blog was to start using stock photos in applicable posts. Pixabay is one of my favorites to use because their photos are 100% free for commercial use.
BLOGGING E-BOOKS & COURSES
Find Your Tribe Online Book & Course*
After I purchased the FYTO book from Jennifer Snyder of Women Winning Online, I saw a dramatic increase Pinterest growth. In the book, Jen gives you a link to a spreadsheet with a list of over 400 Pinterest group boards and 440 Facebook groups that cover 25 niches. Networking in these niche-specific FB groups and posting to the Pinterest group boards helped me grow my online presence SO much! I started seeing my very first traffic from Pinterest all because of Jen. And if you aren’t already a part of her amazing Facebook group for women called Women Winning Online, you should check it out!