The Best Resources for Bloggers You Have to Know Right Now
Hi, lovelies! Let’s admit it, blogging is no easy task. It’s overwhelming and time-consuming, well at least for a mom like me.
You’re not alone, dear ones. I also feel uninspired and cloudy at times that I couldn’t write anymore. But reading these blog posts below again and again always rekindles my passion somehow.
So, I compiled some of my blogging related articles from the beginning of this journey (just for me to always look back) and a few favorite posts from other bloggers. (You know I always love to read others’ posts – those that inspire and motivate me.)
I also included my Best Free Blogging Tools at the end of this post, so make sure to read the entire article, okay? (thanks!)
QUICK NAVIGATION:
- INSPIRATION FOR BLOGGERS
- MY TOP BLOGGING RELATED ARTICLES
- A LITTLE BACK STORY
- MY RECOMMENDED FREE BLOGGING TOOLS
- FINAL THOUGHTS
via The Cheerful Spirit
2. 3 Smart Strategies for Unproductive Bloggers
via The Cheerful Spirit
3. It Started like this: My First Step to Blogging
via The Cheerful Spirit
So you want to blog? Click the image below to learn more!
MY TOP BLOGGING RELATED ARTICLES
1. How To Start a Blog in 10 Minutes: Step-by-Step Tutorial Using BlueHost
via Love and Paper Flowers
2. 18 Places for FREE Girly and Styled Stock Photos
via Twins Mommy
3. How To Write Consistently Everyday
via Where Comes The Sun
What really matters, in the end, is writing, so just do it. Even if it sucks. It’s gonna suck at some point, it has to. So accept this and go on! Remember that you can always edit it later, so why feeling this pressure?!
4. 3 Reasons Why You Need to Take a Blogging Break Periodically
via Chasing Dreams
Rest your weary heads, bloggers, if you’d like. Breaks are good and healthy and constructive, and a fresh perspective changes everything. And sure, when you return, you might have less of your readers. But you’ll have more of yourself.
A LITTLE BACK STORY…
When I first set up this blog, I promised myself I wouldn’t spend on anything related to blogging (aside from my monthly internet subscription of course!).
I just wanted to be practical then. I mean, I still wanted to see for myself if there really is a potential income from it.
So, I didn’t follow what most bloggers say like investing in the domain name and hosting or enrolling in some costly blogger courses. Everything that I did was organic.
And you know what?
Even if I didn’t pay for anything and just used the free blogging platform – Blogger.com, I was still able to hit my goals:
1. Grew my social media following
FB, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest which means an increase in traffic. Coz you see:
2. Scored a paid Sponsored post from Nuffnang.
3. Be approved by Google Adsense.
4. I landed two of my articles on Google’s first page.
SEO is helping the search engine find you. SEO is making your site more visible and transparent to the search engines. The primary goal of SEO should be connecting your site to the search engine. – SEO Hacker
To illustrate, please see the screenshots of my two posts:
Ok, they aren’t on Rank 1 yet but it’s still good to know that they’re on Page 1 in Google. Meaning, there are more chances that those kinds of articles will be clicked.
Again, that’s another increase in traffic.
HOW DID I DO IT?
I just followed one of SEO’s techniques to put the keyword/s in the title, in the first paragraph, in the middle, or at the end of the last paragraph.
I still need to improve more on this though.
Check out this very well written article for further details about SEO.
Therefore, I found out that it is possible to earn from blogging.
It just requires some techniques, hard work, passion, and dedication. Read this article on one blogger and see for yourself! It’s mind-blowing!
MY RECOMMENDED FREE BLOGGING TOOLS
1. Blogger. My fave blogging platform, very easy to use and navigate as compared to others. Best for newbies and those not so much into coding. I find it very user-friendly. Lots of beautiful designs are also available now.
2. Sora Tasty. A smart and clean look Blogger theme perfect for personal bloggers. You can customize it to your taste to make your website more appealing.
It’s a responsive blogger theme optimized and displayed perfectly on any device.
3. Google Docs. Since I’m always on the go, this app has helped me a lot. It’s like a mini version of MS Word. You can type, edit, format, insert images, and more. Just do the work offline then copy-paste it to Blogger when everything’s set. You may download this app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
4. Canva. It’s very popular among bloggers so I gave it a try and it’s been my fave graphic designer since. It’s easy to use and there are thousands of beautiful templates to choose from.
5. Free Stock Photos. Ever wonder where the other bloggers get their awesome photos? Most of those are free. Many websites are offering free photos but I love those stunning images from Pixabay, Picjumbo, and Unsplash.
6. Tinypng. I love uploading lots of pictures without knowing it affects my site’s load times. And we don’t want a slow website, right? That’s why I’m enjoying Tinypng’s service. It reduces the file size of PNG files, JPEG, and animated PNG too! Isn’t it cool?
7. Pinterest. If you’re not yet familiar with Pinterest, it’s a visual search engine. (Think of Google where you can search about anything)
Here, you can discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration, crafts, and a lot more using images. I love that it continuously brings me free traffic even if I don’t update my account there for a long time.
8. Grammarly. English is not my native language so I need this app to check my grammar and spelling. So far, it’s doing a great job! Instead of spending more hours to proofread, it saves me a lot of time.
And lastly… (this isn’t free but I don’t want you to miss this, guys!)
9. My VIVO V5s. Who says you can’t blog through your smartphone? I’m using it 80% of the time for writing drafts (via google docs), taking and editing pictures, publishing my posts then promoting to social media.
It’s like my mini-computer! I couldn’t afford to lose it! My brother was even surprised when I told him I initially set up this blog site through my phone (it’s a Cloudfone then).
What I’m trying to say is, you don’t have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars if you want to start a blog.
Buuutttt, if you’re “REALLY SERIOUS” about blogging and want to take it to the “NEXT LEVEL – money-making blog, then I strongly recommend you go for a hosting company like Bluehost.
I’m using it on my other lifestyle blog and I’ve no regrets signing up on this. In less than a year, I was able to monetize my second blog and make enough money from it every month! Owning a website is definitely one of my best decisions ever!
If you also want to up your blogging game, you may use my affiliate link to sign up and get a special offer at $3.95/month + FREE domain name registration (Only on this link, guys) Thank you!
So, that’s it, lovelies! I hope you find this article useful. Share these Best Resources for Bloggers with your friends!