Someone asked me the other day what blogging resources and tools I use as a full-time freelance writer. So I sat down with a giant mug of tea, had a think about it, and came up with the following list of useful websites, resources and tools.
Useful websites about blogging
1. Problogger
Darren Rowse is a well-established professional blogger and the Problogger site features daily updates on how to be a better writer and how to make money online.
2. Copyblogger
Like Problogger, but skewed firmly towards how to write content. Copyblogger offers copywriting advice for bloggers and online marketers a-like.
3. Skelliewag
Another useful blogging advice site with regular tips and tutorials on how to grow and develop your blog.
4. Daily Blog Tips
As its name suggests, here you’ll find miscellaneous ‘daily blog tips’ covering blog design, promotion, search engine optimization and writing content.
5. Karmic Consulting
Ian Hollander’s website is a fantastic read for web entrepreneurs with some of the longest post titles I’ve ever seen. Check this one out: “The Art of Outrageousness - What Online Dating Taught me About Killer Copy That Converts Like Crazy (No Gurus Required)”.
Online blogging resources
6. Hostgator
Because website hosting doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
7. godaddy.com
Because domain names don’t have to cost a fortune. Did you know you can typically pick up a .info domain for less than $1?
8. Wordpress.org
The web’s most popular blogging system and CMS. It’s reassuringly stable, flexible and expandable with all sorts of plug-ins. You can download it here.
9. Google Keyword Tool
Keyword research starts here.
10. Google Trends
See whether your chosen keywords are part of a topic that’s peaking in popularity or dangerously on the slide.
11. Google Analytics
One of the essential blogging resources for your blog or website, which shows you how many visitors you’re getting, where they’re coming from and what they typed to get there.
12. Google Alerts
Monitor your reputation online (and any mentions of your blog or website) by setting up a series of keyword-focused Google Alerts.
13. Aweber
Popular autoresponder and email marketing software that’s vital if you want to automate some of your business promotion and build a list of loyal customers online.
14. stock.xchng
Royalty-free photos that are perfect for jazzing up your blog posts.
15. Feedburner
RSS management and tracking made easy.
16. Copyscape
Plagiarism checker and duplicate content tracker. Find who’s ripped off your content fast.
17. Website Grader
How optimised is your website or blog? Run it through Website Grader and see what impact your SEO efforts have had.
18. Alexa
Track the rank of your website on a global scale and see how it compares against your rivals.
19. Montastic
Free website monitoring service that alerts you when your website hosting falls over.
Promotional tools
20. Ezinearticles
The daddy of article directories. Useful for site promotion and backlink generation thanks to a PageRank of 7. Submit 10+ articles to qualify for unlimited Platinum membership.
21. Squidoo
Another great promotional tool with a PR7. Sign up and create a mini-website or ‘lens’ on any topic you want to, then link out to boost the rankings of your blog.
22. Hubpages
Like Squidoo, Hubpages is an alternative to a website or blog, a flexible online space where you can write about anything and everything. Use it to build link authority for a blog or try farming it for AdSense clicks.
23. Wetpaint
Another Web 2.0 property, enabling you to quickly build a small website within the larger Wetpaint site. Again, this is useful for promoting your own website or blog by generating a quality backlink.
24. Weebly
Like Wetpaint, Weebly is another idiot-proof blog creation site, featuring drag-and-drop construction and an easy-to-use interface.
25. Twitter
The darling of the Web 2.0 age. First there was blogging, now there is ‘micro-blogging’. Say what you want, when you want, as long as it fits into 140 characters. Then link your blog to Twitter with Twitterfeed.
Monetization options
26. Clickbank
The web’s leading information marketplace and ebook bazaar, filled with hundreds of products (from weight loss systems to magic blogging formulas) that you can promote as an affiliate.
27. Amazon Associates
Amazon’s own affiliate program enables you to direct customers to Amazon’s website and take a cut of any sales generated during the visit.
28. Commission Junction
Promote hundreds of real products from hundreds of Commission Junction partners and make affiliate commissions along the way.
29. Affiliate Window
UK affiliate site with some big-name clients that include Marks & Spencer, Boots, Comet, John Lewis, New Look and PC World.
30. Offervault
A handy affiliate program aggregator, enabling you to search for products to promote across multiple affiliate networks.
31. Paypal
The easiest way to manage electronic transactions and for banking affiliate commissions. Also ideal if you want to start selling your own products.
32. Adsense
Top up your cash flow with context-aware advertising from Google.
Essential Wordpress plugins
33. All in One SEO Pack
Optimises your Wordpress blog for search engines by rewriting page titles and auto-generating META tags.
34. Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin will generate an XML sitemap designed to help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com to better index your blog.
35. Internal Link Building
Define a list of global keywords and the Internal Link Building plugin automatically adds them to your website pages. Like Wikipedia, every time a keyword occurs, it links to the page previously defined.
36. YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin)
Display related posts at the bottom of your blog entries. Improves SEO and encourages visitors to browse deeper into your site.
Downloadable applications
37. Dark Room
Eliminate distractions and keep your writing on track with this minimalist, screen-dominating word processor. Yes, it looks suspiciously like it’s been resurrected from the 1980s.
38. Keyword Elite 2.0
While the Google Keyword Tool is perfectly adequate for basic keyword research, more advanced tools like Keyword Elite enable you to focus in on high profit, low competition phrases with ease.
39. Mass Article Control
This time-saving package features two separate programs - Mass Article Creator (for generating content) and Mass Article Submitter (for firing that content off into hundreds of article directories like Ezinearticles).
40. Bookmarkingdemon
Automatically bookmark your website on hundreds of social networks and bookmarking sites, generating exposure and backlinks for your blog.
41. IrfranView
Freeware graphic viewer and image-resizer for Windows.
42. The Gimp
Freeware image editing program for Windows. It’s a bit fiddly, but very powerful and flexible once you know your way around the menus.
43. OpenOffice
Free alternative to Microsoft Office featuring word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps. It’s worth the download for the PDF export function alone.
44. Filezilla
Excellent FTP program for uploading data to your web host.
Useful books
45. One Week Marketing Action Plan
“How a frustrated, over-worked Georgia mom accidentally stumbled upon the exact steps to making $154,819.96 a year as a super affiliate…”
46. Blogging to the Bank 3.0
“An ingeniously simple formula to create cash on demand without a product or website of your own.”
47. Desperate Buyer’s Only
A great guide to planning, researching and writing an ebook.
48. Blog Profit Blueprint
Yago Starak’s free report that opens the way to his Blog Mastermind coaching program. One of the most highly-respected blogging resources around.
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4 Comments
Dean-
Thanks for putting this list together. I fond you on a search for All In One SEO. Also mentioned this post on my website.
Thanks Evan. There are obviously more Wordpress plugins that I could have mentioned, but All in One SEO is typically the first one I’d install on a new blog.
Why don’t you try http://www.ispionage.com for keyword research tool? This keyword research tool they have searches for related keywords on the Internet and displays a full list of them, including long tail keywords, for you to select. Along with the generated keywords idea also come very important information as the searched volume over the last month, overall searched volume and competitors’ interest, for the generated keywords, which are very valuable data for keeping your campaign on the top. It uses an Internet daily updated keywords database, based on actual search volume. Everytime a user searches for a certain keyword, the results are added to the existing database, so it gets bigger and bigger by the search and you are sure you stay up-to-date with any new keyword idea appearance. It generates keywords ideas, clens the keywords lists, groups the keywords, even builds PPC campaigns. It is really time-saving and a do-it-all service tool. Give it a go on http://www.ispionage.com, see what they can do.
,..] deanfreelance.com is one another useful source of tips on this issue,..]
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