I have been blogging for over 10 years and in this post, I cover the 10 most important blogging tools for 2020. Do you want to start a Blog in 2020 but there are so many tools out there that you feel totally overwhelmed? Then let me help you. These are the tools and services I use myself on a daily or monthly basis to run my blogging business.
10 Most important Blogging Tools of 2020
1. Tailwind (Free Roadmap to 10K Insta Followers)
Now maybe Instagram is something you are looking to improve or get a strategy ready for 2020? But maybe you are a bit scared about the ever-changing Instagram algorithm?
Are you close to giving up? I can totally relate to that.
It seems like we are putting so much effort and time into creating that super curated feed but we are getting nowhere with followers and our engagement has tanked… Yes, it can be frustrating and that’s why I want to shed some light on how popular Instagram accounts keep growing their reach even in 2020.
Check out Tailwinds free E-Book “The Complete Roadmap to 10K Instagram Followers” here.
Tailwind is a Pinterest and Instagram scheduler use every day as a blogger. It’s the secret weapon to growing your blog and Instagram, so if you don’t already know all about it, no worries!
Just grab your free E-Books about the Roadmap to 10K followers here.
2. ConvertKit (Free Trial Here)
Second, on my list of the 10 most important blogging tools of 2020 is ConvertKit. When I started blogging, I had no idea what an email list was. I though an email list and blog subscribers were something completely different.
On my first blog, I had a plugin where people could subscribe to my blog, but I soon realized that this meant nothing and they were all subscribed to an internet limbo cause I had no way of reaching them.
That’s when I started learning more about how to actually grow blog subscribers and communicate with them through an email list.
An email list is simply that. A list of all email addresses of your blog subscribers in one single place (ideally an email service provider) in order for me to send them emails such as information about my new blog posts or promotions I am running.
There are many different email services out there you can connect to your blog and grow your subscribers. My favorite is ConvertKit. It’s perfect for Bloggers and includes everything you need in one single tool.
Also, I have created Video Tutorials on ConvertKit to make it easier for you to learn how to use and implement ConvertKit on your Blog as well.
There is also zero risks, you can start a free ConvertKit trial here and test it to see if you like it.
- ConvertKit Tutorial Video “Form Builder” here
- ConvertKit Tutorial Video “Sequences” here
- ConvertKit Tutorial Video “Automations” here
3. Blogging Blastoff (Free 10K Challenge Here)
Blogging Blastoff is a blogger online course I took a couple of years back and it’s one of my favorites. Reese and from it’s a lovely life are badass bloggers making a fulltime income blogging for their family while traveling and exploring the world. They are great.
The blogging course includes everything you need to start, build and monetize a successful blog. It’s a paid course but totally worth it.
The cool thing I want to tell you about is their totally free 10K Blog Traffic Challenge. This is a monthly challenge you can take where they teach you to step by step how to grow your Blog to ten thousand blog visits a month. Each day you will get helpful tips and tricks and tasks to implement on your blog to reach those 10K visits.
I love that they are offering this totally for free and I have done the challenge myself and loved it.
If you think its one of the best blogging tools of 2020 and you want to take the challenge too, then check it out here.
4. FreshBooks (Free Invoice Templates)
So, I used to work for this big Swiss bank with a huge HR department. Every month, they would send me my paycheck and that was it. No uncomfortable money talk with my team or boss. It was all handled through this big sub-department by people I had never met.
Sounds familiar?
Now, why am I telling you this and what has this to do with blogging and helping you?
Since becoming an entrepreneur and full-time blogger, bringing in the money is all on myself. No clients or sponsors are sending me money as a monthly paycheck. I have the awkward job of sending my invoices and asking for their money myself.
Now if you know the Swiss…We are not too bad with handling the money, but we actually really hate talking about it! Maybe this is you too?
This is where FreshBooks comes in. FreshBooks is basically an online tool, where I can design my invoices and send them straight to my clients. The tool tracks the invoice status and I can even connect my bank accounts, so when I get a payment, everything runs on autopilot. This is huge for me because it takes the awkwardness out of the process!
FreshBooks has so many cool features and I know it could be super valuable for you as an entrepreneur, business boss, and blogger. But most and foremost, check out these Free Invoice Template, the FreshBooks designers created especially for you. They are totally free, beautifully designed and work on Word, Excel, PDF, Google Sheets, and FreshBooks!
I love them and they save me so much time!
Grab your Free Invoice Template Here!
5. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Have you heard of affiliate marketing? It’s one of the four main ways a blogger can make money online. Affiliate marketing is when you promote a product, this can be an online product or a physical product for example on amazon, to your audience with a specific link. This link tracks the sale you made through one of your subscribers.
So a subscriber is reading a blog post of yours where you talk about a product you love and he or she clicks your link and buys the product, you receive a small commission of that sale. This depends a lot on the product but if you have a 20% commission you can make $2 of a $10 product.
You don’t’ have to create to product or service you simply have to recommend it if you love it to your audience. It’s a very little risk on your side but can create a lot of income if you do it right.
Sounds interesting, I think so.
Now the queen of affiliate marketing is Michelle Schroeder Gardener. Michelle is blogging over at makingsenseofcents.com and is regularly making a crazy $100’000/month blogging.
I think it’s mindblowing and that’s why I took her online course all about how to make money with affiliate marketing a couple of years back myself. It’s still the best course on affiliate marketing out there and if you are interested in making money with affiliate marketing too…
Check out “Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing” here.
6. Siteground
If you are totally new to blogging then this might be a bit confusing but when you start a new blog you should have three things:
- A Blog Host (Siteground)
- A Domain Name (your Blog URL and Name)
- A Content Management System (WordPress.Org)
When I teach people how to start I blog this is always how I recommend doing it. Sites like Wix or Squarespace may offer you a free site but you will soon discover that there is a huge price to pay to start a blog or website on one of those platforms.
The three things I mentioned above are essential if you want to make blogging your job or build a side hustle.
Grab my Free Start a Blog BluePrint here, where I go into a lot more details about why you need a Blog Host, Domain and CMS
The host I recommend and love is Siteground. Siteground is the WordPress Host I trust and choose every time to “START A NEW BLOG”! They helped me tremendously when my site got hacked at a different host and I moved everything to Siteground!
You can get blog hosting at Siteground for as little as $3.95/month through my link here.
7. Stupid Simple SEO
If you are more advanced in your blogging journey then SEO will be something that crosses your path one way or the other. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and basically is the art of optimizing your content for search engines such as Google.
SEO is a tricky thing and I was terrified and overwhelmed by it in the beginning. But I love learning and I did a lot of research on the best courses I could take to tackle SEO and that’s when I discovered Stupid Simple SEO by Mike Pearsons.
This is what happened to my traffic and Google Ranking after implementing the tips and tricks I learned in Stupid Simple SEO.
Now, this is a course which you will have to put some effort in. I am telling from the start because I know you are here because you are dedicated and know that the reward is here if you work hard. It has totally paid off for me and I know it can for you too.
Stupid Siple SEO is super popular and that’s why Mike is only opening the course a few times a year. That way he can assure that he can help everyone taking the course also on an individual basis in his awesome private FB Group.
You can sign up here for my free reminder once the course enrollment opens up again!
8. Interact (Free Plan here)
Number eight on my list of the 10 most important blogging tools of 2020 is “Interact”. Maybe you have seen one or the other cool quiz I have on my blog. I created them with a tool called Interact. With Interact you can create a mini-quiz in a couple of minutes or you can really dig in and create, for example, a personality type quiz to wow your subscribers.
We are all so busy and I know that sometimes we simply don’t have the time to learn how to deal with yet another tool. But that’s literally one other reason why Interact is so great.
You don’t really have to learn how to use the tool, it literally walks you through step by step. You simply create your quiz questions and answers and then follow Interacts instructions one by one and boom your Quiz is created. After that, you only have to copy and paste the shortcode into your blog, post or landing page and you are done!
Again very cool, Interact offers a free plan or a free trial for the paid plans, so you can test interact for free to see if it’s for you.
Create your first Blogger Quiz for free here.
9. Ultimate Bundles – Blogger’s Toolkit
Only two years ago I purchased the Blogger’s Toolkit myself and now my very own online course “The Pinterest Studio” got accepted to be part of the Genius Blogger’s Toolkit 2019 outline.
But maybe you are like the Genius Blogger’s Toolkit what?
The Genius Blogger’s Toolkit is a digital collection of training and tools to help you make more money and grow (or start) your blog. Over 90 products in one single bundle for the price of one!!
Within the Toolkit, you’ll get access to resources from big-name bloggers and creators like:
- Ruth Soukup of Living Well, Spending Less and Elite Blog Academy
- Jennifer Maker, popular craft blogger and YouTuber
- Jeff Goins, writer, speaker & entrepreneur
- Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com
I get my own copy of the Genius Blogger’s tools kit every time it opens (Ps. it’s only once a year!!). It’s one of the best blogging tools of 2020 for sure.
If you got a severe case of FOMO, as I do, then don’t worry!
Click here and get your free reminder as soon as the Toolkit opens up again! HERE!
10. MiloTree (30-Day Free Trial here)
Maybe you landed on here and saw that little pop up in the right bottom corner of my blog and thought heck yes, I want my Bloggin Freebie, join the Pinterest or Instagram Guide or grab the PW for our free blogger resource library.
MiloTree is a pop up service that is super easy to set up. It’s crazy how easy they make it for you. You simply decide which platform you would like to grow on more which include Pinterest, Instagram, Email Subscribers, YouTube and more and the pop up appears on your site with the respective signup link.
Just connect your accounts to Milotree and install it on your blog. The rest happens on auto-pilot. It has literally helped me gain hundreds of followers for several platforms I am on and I love it.
So, again you can test Milotree totally for free to see if it’s something for you.
Just head over here to start your Free MiloTree 30-Day Trial HERE.
Stil with me wow!!! I really hope that these my 20 most important blogging tools of 2020 and they will help you grow your blogging business this year. Comment below and let me know which product you are testing out today!
Your Katie
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