In this article: Save frustration and time with helpful blogging resources and tools that streamline your blogging business.
The online business world is always changing and growing. As a full-time blogger and online content creator, I’ve found it essential to rely on resources that help me make decisions based on strategic planning, analytics, and trending topics.
Today I’m sharing my favorite blogging resources, tools, and teachers that have helped me along the way!
Grow your Online Business with These Tools
If you run an online business, you know it takes plenty of time and patience to grow one, whether it’s a blog, products for sale on Etsy, or something else! Here are some tools I’m currently using (in 2024) to help with keyword research, trending topics, and SEO. They help narrow down what people are searching for online and when they search for it most.
- Google Trends: This tool is free! Check out what topics are trending right now, or filter by an exact date. Researching what people are interested in and searching for helps me choose what to cover in my blog posts.
- Keysearch: I’ve tried almost every keyword research tool out there, but now that none of them are free, I’ve settled on Keysearch. I use it nearly every day and love it. It’s easy to use and has all the information I need.
- Done-for-You GA4 Reports: If you were online before Google completely overhauled its analytics reporting, you’ll understand how frustrating it is to find the information you need in the new GA4 system. Two blogging friends highly recommended the Done for You GA4 Reports service, and both said, “It was the best thing I ever did for my business!” That was high praise, and I completely agree!!
Done for You GA4 Reports sets up custom reports (the kind bloggers are actually looking for) so you can easily see where your traffic comes from and which pages are being viewed. It even comes with a video showing how to use the reports to make better decisions for your blog. I highly recommend it!
Graphic and Web Design
- Restored 316 is my go-to source for beautiful web designs. I’ve used their products for years and love them! I installed one of their web themes myself by following their tutorials, but if time is tight, I highly recommend Hello Chicky Designs if you’d like someone to do it for you! Deanna is an expert with Restored 316 designs. She can install your site and get it up and running quickly. I’ve been so impressed with her work.
- Canva is where I make all my social media graphics for my blog and social channels. It has an amazing free version, but upgrading to the professional plan might be worth it for you. (It’s what I use.)
Social Media Marketing + Growing Your Newsletter List
If you want to grow your business online, you’ll need to promote it in a variety of ways. Look for your ideal customer or client, and offer solutions to their problems so they’ll want to take action and buy your product, read your solutions, or do whatever your business goals call for.
One important way to stay in touch with your people is through a newsletter list. There are a variety of newsletter services available. I’ve personally used and loved Mailerlite and Convertkit. Others highly recommend Flo-Desk, but I’ve never used it myself. Each one has different price points and plans, so research which one serves your business needs best.
To get people to WANT to sign up for your newsletter, you’ll want to create something digital to give them, an incentive that makes them happy to hand over their precious email address!
That can feel confusing at first, so I highly recommend Restored 316’s Newsletter Growth Course. I took that course myself and it’s excellent! It walks you step by step through getting all the content and tech pieces together so everything works seamlessly. (This course is designed for bloggers, so a basic understanding of blogging is helpful.)
If you have any kind of business online, I highly recommend Pagewheel for creating digital products that can be used as newsletter opt-ins or sold. It’s a relatively new program that’s still being tweaked and perfected, but it is AMAZING and includes weekly training from some of the wisest online coaches I know!
Increase Productivity with AI assistance
I know, I know. AI is a hot-button topic, and I have mixed feelings about it, too.
Still, I like to think of AI as a helpful assistant. It doesn’t do all my work for me, but it helps me come up with ideas when I get stuck.
I like using the free version of chatGPT for things like creative email subject lines or ideas for upcoming content.
Learn from the Pros!
So many online business people have blogs and webinars that teach helpful things for free! Here are some of my personal favorites.
- Jenna Kutcher – She has a free podcast called Goal Digger that covers all kinds of business topics. She also offers lots of courses on specific subjects. I took her course on how to start a podcast, and it was excellent.
- Christina Dennis – Christina is a blogger I’ve admired and followed for years. She recently started a podcast called The Six Figure Creator, and it has really helpful content for creative people with online businesses.
- Jasmine Star – I’ve taken a few of Jasmine’s free webinars on creating social media posts and reels quickly, and I learned a lot.
Update Old Content & Find Current New Topics for New Content
If you’ve been blogging for a long time, you probably have hundreds or even thousands of old posts. They still contain great information that would help people if only they knew about it!
Having a system for refreshing old content can breathe new life into posts that might be cooling off. Here are some tools to help you plan which content to update and what new content to write.
- Clariti – I use this tool almost every day. All my blog posts are imported into this handy program, and I can see useful details (like which posts get the most pageviews) at a glance thanks to its excellent filter system. As I update old posts, I can note what I’ve changed and the results.
- Rank IQ – Use this tool to guide you as you write new posts and look for new blog topics that could rank quickly online.
Want to start a Blog? I highly recommend taking a course to help you along the way…
When I started blogging over 10 years ago, I did everything through Google, searching high and low for tutorials for every.single.little.step. It took FOREVER! And sadly, I didn’t start with the best framework it could have had. Now I’m working to get it whipped into shape.
The good news is that there are now great courses that walk a new blogger through every step needed to start a blog.
I highly recommend you start with a blogging course as your first important step. They will save you hours and hours of frustration, plus many dollars spent on items you think you’ll need but don’t!
However, I’m going to have to get back to you on which courses I recommend. Because the blogging world changes so quickly, the courses I previously recommended are no longer available. When I find something I can recommend, I’ll let you know!
