Blogging For Beginners: Blogging resources to help you choose a REALLY GOOD blog name that helps boost traffic, find a website host, find a beautiful blog theme, and so much more!
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
YES! I’m so glad you’re here! If you have that creative and entrepreneurial side to you, and you’ve questioned whether you should start a blog, I’m sharing the scoop on the best blogging tools and resources for beginners to help jumpstart your career as a blogger / content creator / entrepreneur.
If you were one of the lucky ducks that started a blog many moons ago, then you probably saw a future in blogging and realized how profitable (and fulfilling) this career path could be. And you were right!
Things have changed a lot since the early days of blogging (it’s more difficult to rank with all of these Pinterest and Google algorithm changes), but what these early bloggers have showed us is how there is truly NO LIMIT as to how much money you can make being a successful blogger. Sounds pretty ideal, right?
There’s a reason bloggers that have started their blogs in the last few years have become successful: they treat their blog like a BUSINESS.
While there’s nothing wrong with starting a blog as a “creative outlet”, you can’t expect the same amount of success if you’re casually chiming in about what you ate for lunch, who you’re rooting for on The Bachelor, or how you painted your nails for the 4th of July. (Although, you could create a niched-down blog on one of those topics if you’re passionate about them! More on that later…).
But that also doesn’t mean that blogging isn’t creative anymore, in fact, it’s a fantastic creative outlet! You just need to know how to combine the two: 1) creative outlet / passion and 2) business mindset. If you’re ready and willing to marry those 2 together, then you’re already one foot in to creating a successful, creative, flexible, and fulfilling career in blogging. Congrats!
And in order to start your blogging career on the right foot, there are some resources that I have personally found SUPER HELPFUL, and many, many bloggers have as well.
Let’s dive into the details!
Blogging Resources For Beginners
Blogging is not an overnight success story. It can be a long-game, but with a HUGE payoff. If you’re wondering “how can I make money quickly on my blog?” and you want to speed up the process in creating a lucrative blog, I can help!
It can be very overwhelming trying to choose beginner blogging tools and resources, especially since you’re new to the game, but with lots of trial and error, tons of research from the pros, and opinions of countless bloggers that have been in this boat as well, I’ve consolidated a few new blog resources that I have personally loved and found extremely beneficial.
These are some of the BEST blogging tools and resources for beginners that will jumpstart and help skyrocket your career as a new blogger.
Choosing Your Blog Name (Super Important!): The Blog Name Guide
If you’re wondering WHAT you should name your blog or online business, and you want a memorable name that draws readers in and really stands out from the rest, then The Blog Name Guide is the ultimate resource for you! It’s the best $22 you’ll spend on tips and tricks to naming your blog (or online business). And we all know that a good name (along with great content) can help boost traffic to your site!
If you want to learn more about The Blog Name Guide, read THIS POST.
Housing Your Blog: WORDPRESS
WordPress is basically the epicenter of your blogging career. There’s a learning curve and sometimes it can feel a bit too techy, but I promise you get used to it. I use and only recommend a self-hosted WordPress blog (hands down the most popular amongst bloggers), and you can find this via the WordPress.org option. (Not the .com option).
Pro Tip: If things feel a bit too techy in the beginning, be sure to watch helpful YouTube videos, as I can often find answers there. Further down this list you’ll see my recommendation for choosing a pretty (and affordable) theme, and within their setup and support section are tons of helpful articles and visuals about WordPress. Also, in the Blogging Course I recommend (further down the list), the active Facebook group has some fantastic tech-experts (and they’re also students of the courses!) that always answer questions regarding WordPress!
Choosing A Host: BIGSCOOTS
I highly, highly recommend investing in a top notch host and I could not be happier with BIGSCOOTS. It isn’t the cheapest option on the market, neither is it too pricey, but the quality and speediness of customer service and their tech-knowledge has blown me away.
And if you think “how often will I really need tech support?” well, let’s just say the first time you encounter a tech/website issue that you can’t figure out, I won’t judge you if you start crying all over your laptop! Website issues can be extremely overwhelming, so I’d rather keep it in the experts hands.
I had first come across a recommendation of Bigscoots by an experienced blogger who makes over $400,000 profit per year on this single blog, and she also shared personal examples of why NOT to go with the cheaper, more common options. I was SOLD! I highly recommend Bigscoots!
Choosing A Pretty Theme: 17TH AVENUE DESIGNS
I really like 17th Avenue Designs for beginner bloggers for a few reasons. First of all, you might be shocked when you find out the price point of a “custom blog design”. We all want our website to look exactly how we envision, but the price point isn’t feasible for most unless they have thousands to spend.
17th Avenue Designs offers beautiful designs at an affordable price! I personally use the Mia theme (only $69!) and have really liked how beautiful and user-friendly it is. Their customer support has been wonderful and their tutorials / support section of their website is easy to navigate and very helpful.
Browse around this website to see how pretty the Mia Theme is and how it might suit your own blog!
Here is a screenshot of my homepage using the Mia Theme by 17th Ave Designs:
Take A COURSE ON BLOGGING AND PINTEREST
This is one of the MOST important things you can do when launching your blog. Learn the ins and outs of blogging, SEO, and Pinterest (you’ll get a TON of traffic to your blog via Pinterest if you do it right!). I’ve taken numerous courses, and one of my favorites is Perfecting Pinterest + Blogging.
This Pinterest and Blogging bundle is such a gem. Sophia Lee is a SUPER successful blogger/entrepreneur/business owner/turned interior designer who started her blog in college and it quickly boomed in traffic and became wildly profitable.
She created these courses to help the beginner blogger and she does a fantastic job in doing so. I’ve taken other courses where people assume you already know x,y,z, but as a beginner you really need to start at the basics. She covers the basics and so much more.
And one of the most worthwhile “extras” of purchasing this course bundle is access to the course’s Facebook group– I honestly check it daily because there is so much information and advice from other bloggers. From tech trouble, to recommendations, to screenshots of success stories using Sophia’s Pinterest methods, etc. It’s been such a GEM and I’m so grateful to have had it during my early blogging years!
If you’re looking to solely amp up your Pinterest Game, this Perfecting Pinterest course is great.
*On My To-Do List: Life has been crazy busy with running multiple blogs and raising 6 young kids, so I’m guilty of neglecting my email list… but I have heard time and time again how IMPORTANT it is to create an email list and have a solid strategy, preferably early on. I’ll absolutely be checking out Sophia’s Perfecting Email Course (already bought it!), and I’ll circle back once I do!
A Favorite SEO Tool: KEYSEARCH
One of your most useful blogging tools as a new blogger (and experienced blogger) is a solid SEO tool. (SEO= Search Engine Optimization= essentially your blog’s chance at being found on Google). I have personally tried out a few: the first one I liked but was VERY expensive, the other was very affordable but felt it was lacking, and finally I landed on Keysearch and I LOVE IT. I could, and should, do an entire tutorial on Keysearch showing you all of the reasons I love this SEO tool and how helpful it can be during your blog post creation process. This one is a MUST.
I’ve personally been really happy with the Keysearch Starter Annual Plan ($169/year, so only ~$14/month!). This plan allows up to 200 daily searches and analysis for keywords as well as competitive analysis access.
But if you want to test it out for a few months, then the Keysearch Starter MONTHLY plan ~$17/month might be the way to go! *Use my discount code for 20% off your subscription! Code: KSDISC
If you feel you need more than 200 daily keyword searches, then the Keysearch PRO Monthly Plan is ~$34/month (*20% Off Discount Code: KSDISC), and $279 for the Keysearch PRO Annual Plan.
Another Favorite SEO Tool: RankIQ
Wow, I’m SO impressed with RankIQ. I started using this recently and I have to say that it is basically like a cheat sheet for nailing SEO keywords and related words that will actually help you rank of the first page of Google. You type in the keywords that you’d like to write a blog post about, and it will run a report to give you the MUST words (LSI words) that will help you rank.
I LOVE how you can paste your blog post into a box, and it will give you a rating, all the way up to A++, and it will show you exactly the words you need to include to get to that A++. What a relief. This truly helps you feel confident in writing your blog posts and leaves so much guess work out the window.
It’s pricier than Keysearch, at about $49/month for 16 reports. But I still think it’s worth it if you really want to nail SEO right away.
The long intro video included when you sign up for RankIQ is insanely helpful, and the Facebook group is insanely helpful as well. I love seeing the stats of blogger’s traffic (and income) skyrocket from using RankIQ. Total motivation!
You can sign up for RankIQ HERE.
Create Beautiful Pins For Pinterest: CANVA
I love, love, love Canva. It couldn’t be easier to create gorgeous Pins on Canva, whether it be via a pre-designed template, or putting your personal touch on one you design yourself. I use it for script overlays on Pins, changing Pins to different sizes and styles, creating blog post images, creating a media kit, creating long Pins from blog images, and SO much more.
If you upgrade to Canva Pro you also have access to lovely stock photos to use. I personally use the Canva Pro option, and it’s been worth every penny.
Although I almost always take my own photography for blog posts, the Canva Pro option can be extremely useful for someone who needs stock photos. Here is an example of a stock photo (free to use once you have upgraded to Canva Pro), where I added a simple title, my blog’s URL at the bottom, and turned it into a blog post image (which then my readers can click on and it will be saved as a Pin on Pinterest for them to have easy access to this post).
Canva even goes one step further and you can easily switch your image size from a standard blog post image size to a Pinterest Pin size. SUCH A TIME-SAVER!
Here is an example below:
I even quickly changed the blog post image and Pinterest Pin to a different font color, and used it for the first image in this post (scroll back up!). It couldn’t be easier to make these changes in Canva.
Here are a few examples of my own personal Pinterest Pins that I created in Canva with my own photography (no Canva stock photos):
( **If you want to see more Pins I created via Canva, be sure to FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST! )
How To Use Amazon Images: LASSO
Once you’ve been blogging for a bit, make a couple Amazon sales, and become an Amazon Affiliate, you’ll want access to use Amazon images for products. For example, if I’m writing a post about the best gardening tools, I want the reader to have a clear image of the gardening tool to click on and lead them back to Amazon, where I make a portion of that sale.
We bloggers USED TO be able to click a simple “image” button, but Amazon took that feature away (we’re all still scratching our heads wondering “why?!”…), and left us with a “text” (link) option only.
As of now, there are only a couple of ways to obtain the Amazon product images (and you CANNOT just take a personal screenshot!), and the easiest one is via LASSO. It’s easy, it’s customizable, and I appreciate their super helpful weekly emails on tips and tricks to make more sales via affiliate marketing, as well as updates on helpful algorithm changes, and news that impacts bloggers.
Here are a few examples of Amazon product images used as a link via Lasso (these will direct you/the reader straight to the product on Amazon). (I customized the light blue colors on Lasso, too!):
Once Your Blog Starts Making Money…
Using A Business Credit Card: Chase Business Unlimited
Once you have begun to make an income, (because again, you’re doing this with a business mindset!), whether it’s via an ad network, affiliate marketing, digital product, brand collabs and sponsored posts, etc. it’s worthwhile to keep purchases separate from your personal account. This is something new bloggers might not think of right away, but it’s important to keep in your back pocket for when you’re ready. This is helpful for tax purposes and tracking your expenses. (Be sure to talk to an accountant if you have questions!).
I’ve been happy with the Chase Business Unlimited, and Chase offers 3 other business credit card options to choose from. Any successful blogger who has turned their blog into an LLC will tell you to open a business bank account and get that business credit card! It might be one of those first moments for you where you feel “whoa- this is a big deal”- and congrats! that’s part of the process of creating a lucrative blog/business (and one you love!).
These are my tried and true resources for new bloggers (and experienced bloggers!) and I KNOW they will help you on your blogging journey as well. Good luck!
You’ll Also Love These Posts:
The Blog Name Guide: What To Name Your Blog To Skyrocket Your Traffic
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