If you want to know what the best tools for blogging are that can help you manage your blogs better, then keep reading.
There are two types of blogging software tools that you can use:
- Server-Based Tools
- Client-Based Tools
Both the above have their advantages and disadvantages and it is up to you to choose the right one for you and your blogging.
Server-Based Tools
There are two varieties of server-based tools – blog hosting service provider tools and server-based publishing tools.
Blog hosting tools are automatically provided by your blog hosting service provider. These types of tools are easy to use and you don’t have to install any software or manage and complicated configurations.
If you use hosted software tools, you are also given an assortment of design templates for your website or blog. The layouts can be easily customized, to suit your individual blog. This includes columns, fonts colors etc.
On the other hand, the publishing tools that you install on the server has the advantage of giving you the level of customization and control you need over the configuration settings.
Through the use of server-based tools, you can decide on how much storage you need to allocate, extend the features of your blog through plugins or add-ins and make custom layouts for your pages.
Client-Based Tools
Client based tools aid you with the publishing of your blog. They are normally installed on your computer and also run from there.
Client based tools can also be categorized as small blogs that are able to run from your hard drive.
Client based tools have editors that allow you to perform word processing applications from your own computer.
Thus, a text blog editor enables you to create and publish your own content at the comfort of your own desktop.
Obviously, the first advantage of using client-based tools, like the text editor, is convenience.
Most bloggers choose to publish their work with a desktop tool rather than a web browser, which entails logging into the blog software control panel to access the web-based text editor.
Additionally, client-based tools can be managed either locally or remotely. Such tools can allow you to manage and edit your posts remotely. More so, the content of your blog can also be managed locally by saving drafts to a local computer.
This can be very beneficial to those with limited Internet connections, since accessing and managing the content of your blog remotely and locally can be done without the need of being connected to the Internet.
Lastly, you can manage multiple blogs through the use of client-based tools. If by any chance you are publishing more than one blog, it might be easier if you consider using a blog editor.
The blog editor can be easily configured to manage all your blogs. You only have to enter the same information that you use to log in into your server tool combined with the particular kind of server software you are using and the blog editor can save that information in its configuration.
For the easiest way to set up your own blog without having to worry about all the technical stuff above, is simply start a blog up through Wealthy Affiliate.
You can read more about this awesome platform here.
The Best Tools For Blogging To Make Your Life Easier
Well, let’s look at some of the best tools for blogging that I can’t do without.
Hosting
There are many places that one can purchase hosting, but be careful as some of the cheaper ones haven’t been around long, and they could disappear overnight taking all your hard work with them when they close their servers.
I do all my hosting with Wealthy Affiliate. They have excellent plans which include website security and great training. The setup procedure is simple and it takes you under five minutes to get your blog up and ready to go with this company.
WordPress
I am adamant on this tool: only WordPress!
Forget about Weebly, Blogger, and all the other free amateur platforms if you want people to take your blog seriously. WordPress has become the industry leader and standard.
Most large web hosts already have WordPress available for installation from within their hosting account. But you can do it yourself by downloading it from http://wordpress.org/.
It’s customizable to support a range of functions as your blog grows and you can set up a good-looking blog without even knowing how to code.
Within WordPress, there is a multitude of tools and plugins to download to improve your blog’s functionality.
There are also multiple themes available for you to choose from.
If you can’t find anything you like within the free themes, you can get a paid theme for a more professional looking blog.
Try Elegant Themes. You only pay $39 per year, and you have access to 86 beautiful state-of-the-art blog themes, as well as the Divi Blog page builder.
Plugins
Remember as a blogger, you want your site to load quickly, so avoid putting too many plugins on your site, no matter how tempting it may be, as the more plugins you have the slower your site will become.
This is my list of essentials:
- Yoast SEO – The first true all-in-one SEO solution for WordPress, including on-page content analysis, XML sitemaps and much more which all help with Search Engine Optimization.
- Social Media Feather or Digg Digg. These plugins encourage people to share your site on social media.
- Sumo – a great way to build a list and it’s free to start off with. Also, has a social media sharing section so if you have Sumo you won’t need any of the social media plugins.
- Pretty Links – a great way to disguise ugly affiliate links.
- Adsense Integration WP QUADS – if you have ads from Adsense you want to include on your blog.
- AdSense Invalid Click Protector – This is useful so you don’t get penalized if you click on one of your ads by mistake, or to stop people from over-clicking your ads which may result in your suspension from Adsense.
- EWWW Image Optimizer – If you don’t want your pictures to take up too much space in your blog bandwidth.
- Related Posts for WordPress – This is one of my favorites as it automatically finds related posts within your blog to link up with, and Google loves this, as it gives your blog continuity.
- BackWPup – Don’t tempt fate. Backup your site regularly. This plugin makes it simple.
Images
We all need pictures/images on our blog to make the pages well, more interesting and eye-catching.
I use the content writer within Wealthy Affiliate which has built-in images that you can download for your blog. You can also use Pixabay.com for free images.
Conclusion On The Best Tools For Blogging
As you have probably guessed by now, my favorite platform for blogging is Wealthy Affiliate. It just makes life so much easier, as they give you full training on how to make a living from your website, and everything is there for ease of use. Within the Wealthy Affiliate training, you will also find recommendations on all the best tools for blogging, and many wonderful and helpful tools are included within the platform itself.
It takes under five minutes to set up your blog, and then you can concentrate more on blogging rather than all the technical issues of setting up a site.
So to me, Wealthy Affiliate is one of the best tools for blogging all around.
Thank you for this great post I find it really interesting and nice. You have really put in a lot of energy in writing this and I really appreciate that. You have really provided great insights into how to start blogging for beginners, am very sure newbies will find it really helpful.
I have tried server-based tools before now and I can confirm that they are really effective, but obviously not as easy to use as the ones on Wealthy Affiliate.
Thanks for the comment, and yes, Wealthy Affiliate definitely makes life much easier, as you don’t need to know any of the technical stuff in order to run a successful blog.
I am a blogger and I really agree with the plugins you listed, I use all plugins except the “pretty links Plugin”.
Hosting a word press site on wealthy affiliate is the best decision I have ever made in the online world, and I got to know about Wealthy Affiliate from a blog like yours where I got tons of ideas.
Thanks for sharing your ideas, this is me heading to try the pretty link plugin.
Thanks for the comment Rahye and I think you will enjoy Pretty Links Plugin.
Nice training on the best tools to ensure great blogging.
Before I used to think WordPress is just a platform for beginners but having joined wealthy affiliate my perception has seriously changed.
Also thanks to all the wonderful training we are receiving on Wealthy Affiliate which is enough for one to experience and run a successful blogging online business.
You are right Tsquare, I wouldn’t be anywhere without the support of Wealthy Affiliate.