Blogging has become such an incredibly competitive industry – it’s the most creative it’s ever been but it’s also the toughest. There’s a lot of criticism from bloggers, of bloggers… People judge you for not trying hard enough, people judge you for trying too hard. One thing that I’ve always enjoyed about blogging – literally since day one – is the process of self-improvement. And not even the most critical of people can bash that! Over the years I’ve learnt that you can find just about everything, every hack, every tip on the interwebs. Whatever you can think of – someone else has already been there, done that, perfected it. And you can learn from it, shape it here & there, add it a little something something – make it yours. Make it work for you. I’ve collected these 50 FREE blog resources which I’m positive you will love & will be able to use next time you’re revamping or just tweaking your blog!
Perhaps before you start – BOOKMARK this page because it’s bloody long & I can promise you – you will want to come back to reading some of these!
BLOG PLANNERS
📅 The ultimate blog planner kit (here) is my favourite (and the one I personally use). You can customise pages which you want to use, print them off & put them in a folder. BOOM!
📅 Another beautiful printable blogging planner (here) if you don’t fancy the one above.
📅 This blog planner workbook (here) is a shorter version for those who don’t want to faff about.
📅 Trying to give your social media a boost? Then this social media weekly planner (here) might be for you!
📅 Or perhaps you don’t care for printed planners at all – then you might want to try the Evernote app (here).
CLEVER BLOGGERS
💁🏻 One of my favourite bloggers who gives excellent blogging tips is Fee from Makeup Savvy. One of my favourite posts of hers is on how to re-use your old blog posts (here). And the girl has some serious blog photography skills!
💁🏻 A blog that always pumps me up with inspiration is Wonder Forest by Dana. Her HTML cheat sheet is priceless (here)!
💁🏻 Mandy’s blog – A girl, Obsessed (here) – is one of the very first blogs I’ve ever followed. Ever wondered how to get the perfect ‘bag spill’ for flatlays (here)?
💁🏻 Melyssa Griffin is a social media genius. Her focus is on e-mail list conversion but she also runs free webinars and publishes her income reports (here).
💁🏻Another clever bean is Kotryna Bass – if you subscribe to her newsletter you will get access to a whole library of free resources! You can also start by doing these 10 things which will improve your blog now (here).
USEFUL TOOLS
✏️ Not skilled in Photoshop but want pretty blog photos with bold text? Canva holds the answer (here). It will also help you create Twitter, YouTube, Facebook & G+ headers in the right sizes!
✏️ Unsure about your spelling skillz? Grammarly will sort you out (here).
✏️ Looking for fancy fonts and graphics? Sign up to Creative Market (here) and receive freebies via e-mail!
✏️ DaFont is another useful resource for free fonts – there are thousands available, just don’t forget to check the copyright! (here)
✏️ Including a recipe in your blog post? Don’t forget to use this tool (here) to make the recipe printable!
SOCIAL MEDIA
💬 Are Instagram hashtags a mystery to you? This post (here) will tell you which hashtags to use to triple your likes!
💬 Time management & organisation are the two key things that will keep a blogger sane. Use Hootsuite (here) to schedule your posts & keep your shit together (and have the occasional day off, hurray!).
💬 Hootsuite doesn’t support emojis – which is a terrible shame because tweets with emojis are more likely to be read & RTed. What to do? Copy & paste them from here.
💬 If a cat tells me to post at 1am I will. Maybe you should too? Find out when’s the best time to post here.
💬 What? Instagram can make money?! Read a clear breakdown of how here.
MONEY MAKING
💸 Want to start making money from your blog without too much hassle? Try Skimlinks (here) – it’s ever so easy to set up and you’ll have fun playing around with all the options!
💸 Wondering which monetising platforms to sign up to? There’s so many! Find some useful tips here.
💸 A super easy to follow guide when you’re starting to look into monetising your blog (here).
💸 It’s also important to consider what the downsides of monetisation are. One of them is discussed here.
💸 Some bloggers are more transparent than others – Kat from Tales of a Pale Face got it spot on with this open discussion on monetisation (here).
BLOG POST INSPIRATION
🎨 All those different types of blog posts, styles & features you can add! Browse loads & loads of inspiring options here.
🎨 Struggling for blog post title inspiration? I’m sure you will pick at least a handful from this list of 150 attention-grabbing blog titles (here)!
🎨 Do you suck at tripod photography? This girl knows how to take a good outfit selfie (here).
🎨 Here is a list of 20 questions that will inspire you to write new exciting content!
🎨 And finally – one (here) that elaborates on how to deal with blogger’s block (& gives you more content ideas).
BLOG TWEAKS
🖥 Add a signature to the bottom of your posts (here)!
🖥 Have you got a thought-through about page yet? Find how to write one here.
🖥 Media kit? What’s that? Find how (& why) to make your own one here.
🖥 Looking to tweak your design to attract more readers? These tips (here) are super useful & easy to put into practise!
🖥 Now a bit of a fancy shmancy one: how to make the first letter of a paragraph large (for Blogger only) – learn how to do this here.
COURSES & TRAINING
🎓 If you’re using WordPress then this free WordPress course might be of interest to you (here).
🎓 There’s workshops & courses on everything – even on how to treat your blog like a magazine (here)!
🎓 This free course will guide you through Photoshop basics specifically for bloggers (here).
🎓 You can learn how to promote your posts effectively here.
🎓 And a little Pinterest course to top it off (here).
FOR STARTING BLOGGERS
👶🏻 This infographic journey of a new blogger (here) wins it for me – it’s beautiful and describes the first steps spot on!
👶🏻 When you’re starting a blog you don’t have to (and shouldn’t, in my opinion) spend money on a blog design. There are some beautiful ones out there that are completely for free! Like this one (here).
👶🏻 Not sure what bibs & bobs to include in your blog? This is a list of 22 must-have elements for an effective blog (here).
👶🏻 Sometimes it’s easy to spread yourself too thin on the internet – to want to be everywhere at all times. And whilst being a busy bee you might have forgotten that safety always comes first. Read about risks of exposing your privacy (& how to tackle them) here.
👶🏻 Don’t forget that your blog is an entry to a more exciting world – your world. Learn more about how to build e-mail lists & how to use them to share your insights here.
MORE INSPIRATION & IDEAS
🔓 Blogger networks & groups are incredibly useful & helpful, it’s one of the greatest perks of blogging – to belong. Find events, tips & opportunities via BloggersRequired here.
🔓 If you’re taking the blogging life seriously – and by that I mean you want to make it your job, perhaps you want to have a look at writing up a blog business plan. Get a free template here.
🔓 Here are some more coding basics for those blog geeks out there!
🔓 And you can find Twitter chat times for bloggers here.
🔓 Follow my Pinterest board on blogging – I pin like crazy – all day, every day. Follow me here.
from Cityscape Bliss http://www.cityscape-bliss.com/2016/10/50-free-blog-resources-youll-love.html
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