Top blogging tools to make your life easier

Recently I shared a day in my life as a travel blogger and mentioned a few things that I do as part of my routine. Scheduling social media posts, editing pictures and making my blog posts easier to find in Google searches came up several times. In order to do all these things I have an online tool box and some essential blogging tech. Here I thought I’d share some of these blogging tools as useful reading for anyone thinking of starting a blog or who is looking for ways to manage their blog workload.

This post was first published on Tin Box Traveller.

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Blogging tools: my top blogging tech

Let’s get the pricey, one-off purchase stuff out of the way right at the beginning. Some of these things I already had and other things I bought especially to help me run the blog and create content.

iPhone

This is my most used piece of blogging tech, particularly while we are travelling. It’s what I use to jot down ideas, make videos, take pictures, do research and manage my social media when I’m not at my desk.

I have a terrible habit of dropping my iPhones so when I bought the iPhone I also got an Otterbox phone protector. It’s doing a great job so far.

iMac

This is my regular desktop and where you’ll find me most of the time. We bought the iMac when my last laptop gave up the ghost about six years ago. I use it the most for work and blogging.

MacBook Pro

This is my mobile office and comes with me on all my trips. All my documents are synced with the Cloud so I can access everything I need for working on the go…when the kids allow.

Blogging tools: social media scheduling tools

Recurpost (free and paid)

I have loads of evergreen content on my blogs and, as social media algorithms never show my followers all my content, I use Recurpost to make sure there’s always something in my social feed.

You can plan in up to 100 posts using the free version. I have a monthly paid subscription which I use to share posts across the Facebook pages for my blogs. It can also be used for X, LinkedIn and Instagram but I prefer to publish fresh posts on these platforms.

There’s be a lot of improvements to the platform since I first started using it. You can add a link to the first comment on your posts, which helps with visibility on Facebook, and add more than one image.

Meta for Business (free)

I use Facebook’s native scheduler to plan out one off Facebook posts, like new blog posts and brand partnerships. It can also be used to schedule Facebook group posts and Instagram posts. The only drawback is that you can’t add links to the first comment (you have to remember to do that live on Facebook).

Blogging tools: picture editing and design

PicMonkey (paid)

I love how easy it is to use PicMonkey and the huge range of templates they offer. The background remover tool is super handy. I mainly use it to edit and resize my blog pictures.

Want to see what PicMonkey is all about? Sign-up for your free trial today!

Canva (free and paid)

I use Canva to design my blog media kits, digital downloads and some more graphic based Instagram posts and carousels. It’s so easy to use with snap-to guidelines and document templates. I can also share my designs with other people. I have invested in the Pro version to get used of premium images and graphics.

Blogging tools: stock photos

For a long while I relied on free photo websites like Pexels and Pixabay. However, stolen images have turned up on free image websites so I’ve been avoiding these for years now. Instead, I have a paid subscription to a stock photo service.

Shutterstock (paid)

In the past I have paid for Shutterstock. They have a reasonably priced package if you just want to buy the odd picture or graphic: £20 plus VAT for two pictures. You don’t have to buy them all at the same time, just within one year. Other price plans are available.

Adobe Stock Images (paid)

Over time I found I needed more stock images so I took out a monthly subscription with Adobe Stock Images. I love the huge range of destination pictures on offer and the ability to filter to find exactly what I want. I can also filter out AI-generated images to support real photography.

This subscription costs me $29.99 plus VAT per month and allows me to download 10 images and one video per month. Unused images roll over.

Blogging tools: video and vlog music

Epidemic Sound (paid)

I love this website. When I was struggling to find good background music for my YouTube videos this is what I used to give them a more professional feel. Epidemic Sound was recommended to me by Alison Perry who uses it on her Not Another Mummy Podcasts.

I did wonder how much value I’d get from it at £10 a month, but it’s definitely been worth it if you are producing lots of video content. Good background music really lifts a video. If you want to try it out you can get a free one month trail.

Find out more about Epidemic Sound.

Blogging tools: Search Engine Optimisation

KeySearch (paid)

I’m a little obsessed by this SEO tool and spend ages looking for the best keyword combinations to help make my blog posts easier to find on Google. It works by showing you how many times a keyword or phrase is typed into a search engine and what alternatives might work better.

Answer the Public (free and paid)

Another SEO tool I subscribe to is Answer the Public. I use it as another way to find questions and keywords that people tap into Google.

Google Search Console (free)

This is fabulously free and a brilliant tool for finding out what keywords people are using to find your blog. If you haven’t already connected your Google Analytics to Google Search Console you have to do it. This free blogging course by Cerys from Rainy Day Mum/The Blog Surgery will guide you through setting up Google Search Console.

So those are my go-to blogging tools. If I start trialing or using anything else I’ll come back and update this post. If you’d like advice on which tools will help you run your business or travel blog more effectively then get in touch. I offer PR and digital marketing consultancy to travel and tourism brands.