In this article: Save time and frustration by using reliable blogging resources and tools to streamline and grow your online business.
The landscape of online business is always evolving. As a full-time blogger and content creator, I rely on practical tools and resources that help me make strategic decisions using analytics, keyword data, and current trends.
Below I’ve gathered the tools, services, and teachers that have been most useful to me as I’ve built and refined my blog and online business.
Grow your Online Business with These Tools
This post contains affiliate links.
Building an online business—whether a blog, an Etsy shop, or a digital product store—takes time, patience, and consistent effort. The right tools make research and planning much easier. The following resources (current for 2024) help with keyword research, trend discovery, and SEO, giving insight into what people search for and when those searches peak.
- Google Trends: A free and simple way to see what topics are rising in interest. You can view real-time trends, compare topics, and filter by date or region to choose timely blog topics.
- Keysearch: After testing many keyword tools, I now use Keysearch daily. It’s user-friendly and provides the keyword metrics I need to prioritize topics and measure competitiveness.
- Done-for-You GA4 Reports: Google Analytics 4 changed how data is presented, and finding the right reports can be frustrating. This service creates custom GA4 reports tailored for bloggers, showing where traffic comes from and which pages perform best, plus video walkthroughs to help you use the data effectively.
The Done-for-You GA4 Reports service configures dashboards and reports that make it straightforward to track traffic sources, page performance, and user behavior—information that’s essential for making content and marketing decisions.
Graphic and Web Design
- Restored 316 provides beautifully designed WordPress themes geared toward bloggers. I’ve used their themes for years. If you prefer to have someone install and customize a theme, Hello Chicky Designs offers reliable setup and customization services.
- Canva is where I create social graphics, pins, and promotional images. The free version is excellent, and the paid plan adds useful features if you want more templates and brand controls.
Social Media Marketing + Growing Your Newsletter List
Promotion across social platforms and a solid email list are essential for reaching your audience. Find your ideal customers, address their needs, and offer solutions that motivate them to engage with your content or purchase your products.
Email remains one of the most reliable channels to communicate with your audience. I’ve used Mailerlite and ConvertKit and found both effective; many creators also like Flodesk. Compare features and pricing to choose the best fit for your business.
To encourage sign-ups, offer a valuable digital incentive—often called a lead magnet—so people feel comfortable trading their email address for something useful.
If you need a step-by-step approach to building your list, consider the Restored 316 Newsletter Growth Course. It walks through both the content and technical setup to deliver a seamless opt-in experience. For creating digital products and opt-ins, Pagewheel is a promising platform that includes regular training and makes it easier to package content for email subscribers or customers.
Increase Productivity with AI Assistance
AI tools can be controversial, but I treat AI as an assistant that speeds up certain tasks—never a complete replacement for my work. For example, I use the free version of ChatGPT to generate creative email subject lines or brainstorm content ideas when I’m stuck.
Learn from the Pros!
Many experienced online business owners share valuable free content through podcasts, webinars, and blog posts. These resources are great for ongoing education and inspiration.
- Jenna Kutcher — Host of the Goal Digger podcast, which covers marketing, mindset, and business topics. She also offers in-depth courses on specific skills like podcasting.
- Christina Dennis — Creator of The Six Figure Creator podcast, focused on monetization and growth strategies for creative entrepreneurs.
- Jasmine Star — Offers practical webinars and tips for producing social content and reels efficiently.
Update Old Content & Find Fresh Topics
If you’ve been blogging for years, you likely have many posts that still offer value but need updating. A system for refreshing evergreen content can revive traffic and extend the life of past work.
These tools help you prioritize updates and discover new topics to write about:
- Clariti — I use Clariti daily to import and organize all my posts. Its filtering and note features make it simple to see which posts drive the most traffic and track changes made during updates.
- Rank IQ — A helpful tool for finding new post ideas that have the potential to rank quickly and guiding on-page SEO while you write.
Ready to Start a Blog? Consider a Course
When I began blogging over a decade ago, I pieced everything together with scattered tutorials and a lot of trial and error. That approach was time-consuming and often led to fixes later on. Today, comprehensive courses exist to walk new bloggers through every essential step, from domain setup to SEO and monetization.
Starting with a well-structured blogging course will save you time and money by preventing common setup mistakes and guiding you through the fastest path to a functioning, growth-oriented blog.
Course recommendations are changing rapidly as the blogging landscape evolves. I’ll share specific course suggestions when I find up-to-date options I can confidently recommend.
