Grow your blog with the best
resources and tools
Check out our favorite blogging resources and tools for the beginning or seasoned blogger!
We have Worked with bloggers for more than a decADE and know the best tools to help your website succeed.
Clients often come to us to find out what some of the top plugins and hosting platforms are, we aim to be completely honest and transparent with every client as to what we recommend (or don’t in some cases) and why.
To help others we’ve put together an extensive list of all the best tools we personally use and recommend or that have come highly recommended to us by trusted partners and clients. These resources are constantly updated based on any new trends or changes, so check back often!
Many of the below links are affiliate links but trust me – i would still share them even if they weren’t!
Website platform
the best website platform
There’s honestly only one clear winner here, for us that’s self hosted WordPress.org.
WordPress (Not to be confused with WordPress.com) is a platform with over 830 million installs (and counting). It is self hosted, which means you need to signup for a hosting service (see more below on that) and install it on that host. Most hosts already have this as an available setup option so it’s quite easy to do.
Domain and hosting
Website Theme
favorite wordpress theme
We are huge fans of one theme, and for good reason!
Kadence is one of the top themes out there in 2024! We have been using it for a few years now and could not be happier with it, and our clients love it’s ease of use and customization abilities!
If you’re ready to invest further you can reach out to us for a custom website design built on Kadence to help your brand reach the next level!
WordPress Plugins
popular wordpress plugins
the key to plugins are to use ones that are solid and well maintained.
WP Recipe Maker is the only one I recommend for recipe bloggers, it’s not only user friendly but has great structure to help improve your SEO game!
Hubbub (formely Grow by Mediavine) is our favorite social sharing platform, it’s not only lightning fast but has fantastic built in features to help grow your blog!
Google Sitekit is a great plugin to help monitor your traffic, core web vitals and more! Easily connect it to your site to monitor directly from your dashboard.
Yoast is the leader for SEO and for good reason, their plugin is extensive and easy to manage for even the novice user! Plus they offer highly detailed articles to answer most questions you have.
WP Rocket has almost become industry standard when it comes to optimizing your website! With easy to use settings and lightning fast results, they are on the must-have list!
Grow provides multiple resources to help keep your readers engaged in your content! Help your readers favorite articles, get more in-depth search functionality, find related articles and more.
Newsletter
newsletter providers
Your newsletter should be easy to manage and work for you!
ConvertKit is our top choice for good reason, their easy to use funneling system truly helps you turn subscribers into returning customers.
Flodesk is another great choice if you’re looking for a more hands off approach to send out your emails without a lot of extra fluff!
SEO tools
SEO tools
Make the most out of your content with the best SEo tools on the market!
SEMRush helps you research keywords, analyze your competitors and run audits on your content. Their toolkit and workflow is super easy to use for any novice!
ahrefs is a SEO program to help you find keywords, optimize your content and discover content ideas.
Ubbersuggest is an online tool by NP Digital to help you track growth and work to improve your ranking, monitor traffic, and more!
Keysearch is a keyword search tool for bloggers. Research keywords, analyze competitors, track keyword trends and more.
Make money
make money blogging
Make sure your blog is working for you!
If you’re just starting out Google AdSense is a great ad network to sign up for! You’ll need content on your site to pass approval and they do have regulations to follow.
Amazon Associates is a great way to monetize your site and make money by recommending products for the largest e-commerce store.
Once you’ve had the chance to grow your traffic Mediavine is a popular ad management option for many bloggers. They handle the placement for you in the best possible positions on your site.
Raptive (formely AdThrive) is another great ad management option, like other networks they do have requirements to meet before applying you will want to look into.
Website tracking
must have website tracking tools
YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE TO GROW IT!
Google Analytics is a must have for any website! Track your site’s traffic, create custom reports to see what devices visitors are using and more.
Google Search Console is another must have for websites. Measure your site’s search traffic, performance, fix any reported issues and more!
AI tools
ai tools for bloggers
IT’S A NEW WORLD WHICH MEANS WE HAVE TO ADAPT AND AI IS A TOOL OF THE FUTURE!
Grammarly is a fantastic proofreading tool that helps you find the words to fill in those gaps! It’s easy to hit a wall when you’re writing so much content, Grammarly helps with that!
Copy.ai is an online tool to help you generate unique content and audit your current content. A fantastic tool when you just can’t find the right words!
Blogging tools
more blogging tools
there’s more to running a site than hosting and plugins, below are some of our favorite misc tools.
Squoosh is great for optimizing your images before uploading them to your site. Eliminate the need for extra plugins and make sure you’re optimizing beforehand!
If you need a platform to create Pinterest images and Photoshop is out of your budget (or skill level) Canva is a great user friendly option!
I am a huge Adobe fan, but I may be biased! Their Adobe Express is a great option for creating social media images without the learning curve that comes with photoshop.
WP 101 is a great resource if you need a bit more hand holding when it comes to learning WordPress! We utilize their tutorial plugin for new clients and also recommend their online program!
