A blog is a personal platform for anyone with a story to tell or a message to spread. It doesn’t matter what kind of blog you have, the one thing that will make it work well is a good topic. But in order to become an expert in your niche and deliver a high-quality content in a consistent manner, you must use the right tools.
In this review is featured some of the best tools out there extensive! Below are some list of Free Blogging Tools.
Milanote
Cost: Free for basic plan or $12.50/month for premium.
Milanote is an easy-to-use creative writing app to organize your research, ideas, characters and outline in one place.
The vast majority of novelist-oriented writing software is organized around the idea of a linear document. But for most people, writing isn’t linear — because thinking isn’t linear. Writing is about gradually getting a jumble of ideas into shape, and Milanote’s writing app matches the way writers think.
Check it out if: you’re a plotter who likes a flexible workspace to organize ideas and see a birds-eye view of how your story outline is coming together.
Dynalist
If you’re a naturally organized person and like to minimize chaos in writing (perhaps because you’re a killjoy?), then Dynalist ought to be your best friend. It lets you easily create an outline or structure tier of your thoughts. You can easily convert this into your list article or your long-form written content and never get your thoughts derailed.
Think of this one as a content creation planner, much like how you made college papers back in the day (or currently?). Heck, you can even build the content right on the app itself and then export it to your blog once you’re done. Do note that it’s not exactly a dedicated writing app– you’re going to need something else to fit that purpose.
Grammarly
You probably have this one already but in case you don’t, make sure to grab it. It’s arguably the best proofing and spellcheck tools on the internet and can easily be used as a browser extension. Moreover, Grammarly includes checking in several forms of the English language so you can tailor your written content for the U.K., U.S., or Australia.
If you have some funds to spare for the premium version, by all means, go get it. It can help you improve your phrasing and prose as well as your sentence structures, provided you take advice from the tool. If not, then the free version can easily help you cut down the time you need to clean your articles.
ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is similar enough to Grammarly that the two of them are in direct competition. It’s primarily a grammar checker as well and has a free and premium version. Even the free version is a Google Chrome extension. Additionally, ProWritingAid also works like the Yoast Readability plugin for WordPress which highlights the passive sentences and many other soft do’s and don’t’s in blog writing.
That alone is enough to try out the tool as it can improve your writing style or tone. Additionally, you can use this tool as a way to analyze any content you have written as it will present over 20 different reports to you. You’ll find no other grammar checker that’s as thorough as this tool here.
RELATED: 8 Types of Blog Posts For Those Who Don’t Like Writing
Evernote
As a blog writer, you usually have to work your brain for ideas during all of your waking hours. There are times when ideas just come to you and you’re not prepared… unless you can take notes. Evernote is made for this purpose and then some. It’s one of those writing apps that can help anyone from students to professionals.
It’s pretty much a digital or online notebook you can use to store your ideas if you’re far from your computer. The best part is that Evernote also allows you to check anything you have written even on a different device. If you’re a little too busy to type, audio notes are also a thing in this app.
Ulysses
Cost: $5/month or $40/year (or try a 14-day free trial)
While it’s ultimately a writing tool, one of the best assets of comprehensive programs like Ulysses or Scrivener are their organizational features. At the end of the day, whether you’re writing a blog post or a full-length novel, the seed of an idea doesn’t get too far without the ability to organize that idea into a cohesive piece of writing.
And that’s exactly what Ulysses allows you to do: organize your thoughts into a well-written work. This is accomplished through features like customizable writing goals and deadlines, plain text enhancements, a distraction-free typewriter mode, bookmarks, outlining functions, and more.
Check it out if: you’re working on a lengthy piece of non-fiction, like a blog post or essay. (For a comparison of Scrivener vs. Ulysses, keep reading!)
Scrivener
Cost: $45 (or a 30-use free trial)
Literature and Latte’s word processor is a popular writing tool — also, in large part, thanks to its organizational capabilities that seamlessly allow writers to turn fragmented ideas into a fully realized book/script/research paper/or whatever else you’re writing.
Scrivener vs Ulysses
Apart from the price (Scrivener charges a one-time licensing fee while Ulysses charges yearly), the two platforms offer many of the same features. So we’ll focus on what makes the two programs different.
- Scrivener’s corkboard function is an absolute favorite for writers who rely on visual aid to help with outlining. The function looks like an actual corkboard, and lets writers pin notes to the board in chronological order.
- Scrivener offers templates for works such as fiction, essays, recipe collections, screenplays, comic books — which gives Scrivener another point for versatility.
- Ulysses boasts an interface that is slightly more clean and simple — so if ease-of-use is high on your priority list, it might be the better option for you.
- Ulysses offers a very helpful WordPress and Medium integration, which bloggers who publish on either of these platforms will love.
Check it out if: you’re working on a longer piece of content (like a book or screenplay) and want one comprehensive place to manage all your work. (And don’t forget to check out our equally as comprehensive review of Scrivener’s newest update: Scrivener 3!)
Productivity tools
Alright, let’s kick things into high gear now. You know what you want to use to write, and all of your thoughts and ideas are concisely organized. If you’re finding it difficult to buckle down and get the job done, these resources will help you realize that Nike manta: just do it.
Ommwriter
Cost: free web version or $7 for the full program
Do you find the clacking sound of old typewriters satisfying? Do you find soft, neutral colours calming? Does nothing really get you focused quite like a purposeful, long, deep breath? If so, Ommwriter might be the tool to help you reach your goal. As the site’s tagline reads, Ommwriter is “a perfect place to think and write.”
With soothing background noises, customizable keyboard noises, and peaceful backgrounds to choose from, Ommwriter could just be the “break” from everything else going on around you that you need to write.
Check it out if: your very best writing ideas come to you while in “savasana.”
To Doist
Cost: free or $4/month for premium plan
Have you ever woken up in a cold sweat, panicking about something important you forgot to do? Or, god forbid, gripped in dread about how far behind you are on your word-count goals?
Well, To Doist might be able to help. It’s the ultimate app for creating to-do lists — but these aren’t your grandma’s pen-and-paper lists with little check marks beside them (though we mean no offense to your grandma). It lets you get a daily or weekly overview of your tasks, prioritize the tasks that are most important, and even lets you assign tasks to other people if you’re working on a specific goal with other collaborators.
Check it out if: you have never been able to find an agenda that’s souped up enough to keep you on track.
Marinara Timer
Cost: Free
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method meant to promote productivity. In a nutshell, it stipulates that you should work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, then work for 25 minutes, take another 5-minute break, etc., etc.
The free-to-use Marinara Timer makes this easy for you by alerting you each time your work sessions and breaks are up. It also offers customizable timers in case the 25/5 isn’t quite right for keeping you on track. Fun fact: taking a break to stand up or walk (or do anything but sit!) every hour is also a good way to protect your back if you sit hunched at a computer working for long stretches at a time.
Check it out if: consistent breaks from work help actually keep you focused on the task at hand.
Cold Turkey
Cost: Free for basic plan or $20 for premium plan
“Meet your match, Zuckerberg,” says Cold Turkey’s tagline. In case that, paired with the writing tool’s name, doesn’t make it clear enough, Cold Turkey is a program that allows you to completely rid yourself of distraction. And when we say “completely,” we mean completely.
With Cold Turkey, you can block yourself from accessing certain websites — or even your entire computer — for periods at a time, only allowing you to use the current document you’re working on.
Check it out if: “willpower” is not a characteristic you’d ascribe yourself, and the only way for you to get something done is in a totally distraction-free state.
Tools to brainstorm blogging ideas
The crowdsourced answer website can help lead you to the types of questions that real people are asking, questions that you can answer in-depth with a blogpost. Search for your keyword, and follow topics related to your blog’s focus.
Enter a topic or a URL into the BuzzSumo search box, and you’ll get a wealth of information on the content that performs best for social media sharing. BuzzSumo can be super useful for fleshing out an existing idea to find the perfect angle or in taking a broad look at the content that does well (and the blogs who do it best) in your niche.
Enter a URL into Quick Sprout, and you get an analysis of the site’s performance and content. The “Social Media” tab shows you which posts from the site have been home runs, and you can take inspiration from the highlights on the list.
Enter a subject into the Portent tool, and you’ll get a sample blogpost title, complete with helpful and witty breakdowns of why the title might make for a good read. Refresh as many times as you’d like for new ideas.
HubSpot’s title maker works similarly to Portent’s. With the HubSpot tool, you can enter three keywords, and HubSpot will give you five titles—a week’s worth of content—to work with.
The trending topics section on your Twitter homepage can be a super spot for grabbing ideas from the latest news. You can tailor your trending topics to go uber-local (the big cities near and around you) or even receive fully tailored tweets that take into account your location and those you follow. (Click the “Change” link at the top of the Trends section on your Twitter homepage.)
Similar to Twitter’s trending topics, LinkedIn Pulse pulls content from the channels you follow on LinkedIn and the people in your LinkedIn network.
For additional trending topics on social media, you can check out Facebook’s Trending section and Google+’s What’s Hot page.
Tools to organize your ideas
We like to add all our blogpost ideas into Trello, turning each idea into a card that we can spec out with notes and move from list to list with a simple drag-and-drop.
Calendar tools like Google Calendar can be repurposed as editorial calendars. If publishing one post per day, you can save your ideas as all-day events and move them around the calendar as needed. If you plan on scheduling multiple posts, add a calendar event to the specific publish time. Zoom in and out to see what you’ve got planned for a given day, week, or month.
Place your ideas into a to-do list where you can schedule when blogposts might go live and break down the blogpost writing process into manageable steps. Todoist lets you collaborate on shared tasks with a team, too.
Another useful to-do list tool, Wunderlist can help you keep your ideas sorted into tasks and subtasks. Even consider adding a listicle idea and creating subtasks for each of the list items you want to add.
Tools to create well-optimized content
Is your blogpost idea a popular one? You can run the topic through Google Trends to see search volume for the different keywords and phrases you’re considering using.
How do you frame your awesome idea into a far-reaching blogpost (that people can easily find)? Check for popular keywords. Google’s Keyword Planner lets you enter a series of keywords, and Google returns results on search volume and popularity as well as related keywords that might spark an idea for you.
An alternative to Google’s Keyword Planner, Keyword Tool returns up to 750 suggestions for every keyword you enter.
(For yet another keyword tool alternative, take SERP Stat for a spin.)
SEO plugins can help you fine tune your idea and blogpost into a specific keyword or phrase that will help with search results and help keep your blogpost focused. With Yoast’s plugin, you can type in the keyword that you’re after, and Yoast tells you how many different spots on the page the post appears and a nice green dot for when you’re ready to go.
Tools to help you write easier and faster
Many bloggers go straight to the writing editor in their blog software (WordPress, Ghost, etc.). You can also consider writing in Google Docs for collaborating with others and tapping into the extra power of Google Docs’ spelling and grammar tools.
A super simple timer, tell Egg Timer how long you want to work—15 minutes for research, 40 minutes to write a draft, etc.—and Egg Timer will count down the time. When time’s up, a popup appears and the timer sounds.
One of the most straightforward and fun time tracking tools you’ll find, Toggl lets you add a task, push the Start/Stop button, and check back in to see a full dashboard of stats on how you spend your time. It could be really useful for bloggers who want to focus on the time they spend writing, researching, and editing.
A really interesting free marketing tool, Hemingway analyzes your text for readability, highlighting sentences that are a bit too complex or dense. The readability for the list post you’re reading now: A seventh grade reading level.
Conclusion
There are many tools that you can use to achieve better blogging than ever before. I hate to break it to you, but there is no simple way to be the best blogger out there. Anyone who promises you something like that is simply lying. You have to work for this result, but the tools will definitely help. But you havean edge with great tools!