Are you wondering about the best blogging tools for beginners? Blogging is a daunting task. At first, it can seem like you’re climbing an insurmountable hill. The key is to break blogging down into small steps and then stay consistent. However, no matter how careful you are, you’ll need good tools to help you get the job done.
The most important blogging tools include website hosts, content tools, grammar checkers, SEO systems, and platforms to create video content. In this article, you’ll learn about the practical uses of each of these tools and how they can be leveraged to create a better blog that can withstand the test of time – and continue to grow.
The Top Tools for New Bloggers
If you’re an advanced blogger, then you’re probably familiar with these tools and how to leverage them to your advantage; however, if you’re new to blogging, then you’ll find this list helps you familiarize yourself with the most important tools.
Yes, these tools will cost money, but before you go and worry, just know that starting a blog is like starting a business. And, with any business, you’ll have start-up costs that must be paid to achieve the best results. If you choose to hang back, there could be other blogs that have an advantage.
Here’s the list of best blogging tools for starting out:
- The Top Tools for New Bloggers
- 1. Bluehost: Blogging Web Host
- 2. WordPress: Website Platform
- 3. Grammarly: For Clean Blog Posts and Content
- 4. Jasper AI: Fast Content Writing Tool
- 5. Surfer SEO: For Strong Keyword Placement and Ranking on Google
- 6. Adobe: Graphics, Photos, Marketing
- 7. Thinkific: Tool for Creating Online Courses
- 8. AI Writer: Draft Generator Tool
- 9. Yoast SEO: Optimization Tools to Rank the Site
- Final Thoughts on the Best Blogging Tools for Beginners
Now, let’s wade into the details.
1. Bluehost: Blogging Web Host
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting tools. What’s a web host? A web host is like the back end of your website; they are the ones you can contact for technical details related to security and speed. You’ll find that blue host often comes as a package with WordPress, which represents the more interactive portion of the website.
Best for: Those who want a strong web hosting platform that will stay up to date on all the latest features and keep your site online!
Price: Bluehost can usually be purchased for about $2.75 a month; however, this often requires a longer subscription and that you pay in advance. If you’re trying to run an online store, then you’ll have to pay around $15 per month.
Key features: Customer support from anywhere in the world, as well as some simple site-building features. You’ll find blue host offers a lot of customization beyond what we can talk about here. Suffice to say, Bluehost is a fully functional web hosting platform that integrates perfectly with WordPress – the most popular platform for most blogs.
User Interface: It’s simple to use, though there is a learning curve. How fast you pick it up will depend on your aptitude for these types of things, but you should plan to take time to familiarize yourself with the system. The customer service is good, and many people have no problem with controls.
Likes and dislikes: It can be a little difficult to get the site up and running smoothly in the beginning. However, once you get going, it’s not too bad. Anytime I’ve had a problem, their customer support team is ready to answer questions or solve it themselves – if needed.
2. WordPress: Website Platform
WordPress is a worldwide website platform that allows you to build and maintain your actual website. They provide a framework for changing designs, and they are the platform your will use to actually write your blog posts and deal with SEO. WordPress is considered of the best website builders out there, with features for the beginner and the pro.
Best for: those bloggers who are serious about taking their site to the next level as they learn. Yes, there are “easier” options, but they won’t be as fast to scale to your needs as you learn and grow – and it’s difficult to change platforms later!
Price: WordPress does come with a free version; however, this will have an odd-looking web address that includes “.wordpress.” Furthermore, if you’re looking for a full range of features, then you’ll want to at least pay for the first tier, which is usually about 4$ per month – it can change from time to time, and sometimes you can get a good deal through affiliate links.
Key features: WordPress has a ton of plug-ins and features – in fact, one of the complaints against WordPress is that it has too many features, thus making it difficult to grasp. However, as you learn to use all these tools, you’ll come to realize why this system is so effective. They have SEO plug-ins, email opt-in features, and a number of themes that will change the appearance of your site.
User Interface: You’ll find WordPress easy to use once you know your way around. Also, this platform is so popular that you can find a ton of information on the internet about how it works, particularly when you have technical questions.
Likes and Dislikes: WordPress does have a learning curve. You have to be ready for that. Otherwise, you’ll become frustrated. However, know that WordPress is probably the best out there, and once you learn how it functions, you’ll be riding smooth for a long time.
3. Grammarly: For Clean Blog Posts and Content
Grammarly is, as the name implies, a grammar checker. However, it’s much more than what you get from a normal checker on Microsoft Word or Google docs. Grammarly uses AI tools to understand what you’re trying to say and then give you options to say it better. Grammarly is well regarded as the best grammar checker on the internet. For beginning bloggers, Grammarly is a great tool that allows you to write clean content write out of the gate.
Best for: any beginning blogger who doesn’t want to make awkward grammar mistakes! And for those who want their writing to be as clear as possible.
Price: Grammarly premium comes in around $120 for a yearly sub, or about $10 each month. Is it worth it? Yes, it’s well worth it if you’re writing many thousands of words every week. However, it also has a nice free version that is pretty good for those who want to wade into the water first.
Key features: Aside from the in-depth grammar and spell checking, Grammarly has many extra features, including a robust plagiarism checker, a business profile, and style guides – essentially, you can tell it what you’d like to check for (or what you want it to avoid). If you’re writing a formal article, then you probably don’t want any slang in the article. However, if you want to be conversational, then you can set Grammarly to this “tone.”
User interface: Grammarly is very easy to use and does not require a significant learning curve. Everything is built for speed and accuracy, and beginners will have no trouble catching on.
Likes and dislikes: Grammarly is a mixed bag. If you’re an experienced writer, then you might not need extra suggestions because you know the rules (and so you know when you can break them). Grammarly has a hard time understanding that sometimes the rules should be broken.
Further, Grammarly can be a little laggy if you’re trying to edit a large article in their editor. I’ve even lost many words because Grammarly failed to autosave. Further, it can be a little difficult to maintain formatting if you copy and paste an article from word. Regardless of these complaints, it’s a good tool for those who want peace of mind.
Now let’s talk about Jasper AI.
4. Jasper AI: Fast Content Writing Tool
Jasper AI is a full content-generating tool. It uses a system that mimics human speech and sentence structure to build original content for your blog. With a little input, you can use Jasper to help you write full articles. For a beginning blog writer who wants to produce a lot of straightforward content, Jasper AI will be a strong tool. There are many benefits of using AI writing software.
Best for: Those who are writing straightforward content that they expect to keep on their site for a long time. Also, someone who is slow typing up their articles and would like a tool to generate original text for them.
Price: The prices can vary widely depending on the tools you need and the system you’re choosing to use. For full AI writing capability, you’ll end up paying nearly $99 per month; however, they have lesser plans starting at $29 per month – and you’ll still receive some good AI tools. If you pay on an annual basis, you’ll end up getting more for your money.
Key features: Jasper AI has input methods that allow you to steer the content where you want it without using a ton of effort. Jasper can also be integrated with SurferSEO (we’ll talk about that next) to give bloggers the best chance at ranking their content on the Google homepage.
User interface: Jasper is a big player in the AI writing game, so they have their controls and system ironed out to a smooth system. You’ll find that Jasper AI is fast and easy to use once you learn the process. Also, since it’s so large, there are many helpful videos out on YouTube and other sites on how to use specific tools.
Likes and dislikes: if you’re trying to write about a complicated topic, or a recent topic, then you’ll find that AI writing tools can only help so much. However, if you’re just trying to write some simple, evergreen content, such as “what are the top types of camping tents,” then you’ll find tools like Jasper a helpful addition to your blogging tool arsenal.
5. Surfer SEO: For Strong Keyword Placement and Ranking on Google
Surfer SEO is made to help you rank your content on Google and other search engines. As you know, ranking articles can have a lot to do with where you place your keywords and how you format your blog post. How many headings you use, how many paragraphs, how many keywords – these are the questions that SurferSEO helps you answer, and many people have had surprising luck with these tools.
Best for: Those who are unfamiliar with SEO or who would like to make their SEO process more automated, taking much of the guesswork out of when and where you should place specific keywords.
Price: The price starts at $49 per month and goes up from there – if you pay yearly. Otherwise, you’ll pay 17% more per month. But if it helps you rank on your site, it will quickly pay for itself.
Key tools. Surfer SEO will take a single keyword and then build a comprehensive blog post keyword plan. Essentially, they will tell what types of keywords are related to your topic and then give you a real-time score as to how your article is performing. The keywords are very specific, and they also branch out to help make your article more comprehensive. Not only that, but they tell you when you’ve used too many keywords – a common pitfall.
User Interface: You’ll find that the UI for Surfer is very simple. Like Grammarly, any beginner can pick it up in a day. You place your article in the editor, and it guides you through where and how to place your keyword.
Likes and dislikes: If you already understand the principles of SEO, then you might find that Surfer only gives your blog a marginal boost. However, if you’re new to blogging, then you’ll find the tools within Surfer SEO well worth it to help you get your website off the ground.
6. Adobe: Graphics, Photos, Marketing
Adobe offers a ton of resources for beginning bloggers. If you’ll be doing any blogging work that requires diagrams, graphs, or photographs, then Adobe is a super tool for the beginning blogger. With Adobe, you can perform a host of graphic design tasks, as well as format things like PDFs.
Best for: Those who will be creating and downloading graphics and videos for their website and want to make everything look as professional as possible. Adobe is also a very popular platform for viewing and interacting with specific types of downloadable content, so it’s useful to have even if you don’t perform the designing yourself.
Price: Adobe comes in many forms at many prices. The base level price will be about $35/month for their photo-editing tools. However, they also offer tools for diagrams and sketches. You’ll have to browse their site to see what you need.
Key features: Adobe has a huge number of features for many different things. Whether you’re using Lightroom to edit photos or videos, or you’re using the PDF converter to create interactive files, you’ll find that Adobe has all the features you need to get your job done.
Use Interface: You might find that Adobe is a little daunting in the beginning. It’s a big tool that can perform many different tasks. However, if you approach things one step at a time, then you’ll find it’s scalable to your needs and skill level – and there are a ton of resources online to help you get a jumpstart.
Likes and dislikes: The biggest struggle with Adobe is learning how to wield all the tools for your benefit. It requires some time, but once you get there, it will pay huge dividends for your business, particularly for those who are starting out in the blogging world.
7. Thinkific: Tool for Creating Online Courses
Thinkific is a resource for beginning and advanced bloggers who would like to take their current expertise and build a strong online course. These courses could be in anything, but Thinkific gives you the platform to make these courses become popular. As the digital age becomes more interactive, building an online course will become more and more lucrative. If you have skills, someone wants to learn them!
Best for: Thinkific is best for those bloggers who are looking to market a specific skill. For example, if you’re a photographer, you can use Thinkific to create a course that explains photography to beginners who just purchased your camera.
Price: Thinkific offers a host of price ranges based on your preferred needs. It has a free version to test things out, but if you’re serious, you’ll have to pay $39 per month, with prices moving up from there.
Key features: Thinkific allows you to build video courses and interact with your community.
User Interface: You’ll find that it takes effort to learn how to use the tools ad to build your course, but with the paid services, they have support people that can help guide you.
Likes and dislikes: Aside from the expense, this is a great option for those interested in building online video courses.
8. AI Writer: Draft Generator Tool
AI writer is specifically a text generator, and it allows you to build an entire article from a simple title. The software for AI writers advertises itself as a tool that will help you write articles faster, thus being able to build a stronger blog faster.
Best for: AI writer is best for those who will be writing straightforward content that doesn’t need to be news-related. For example, if you’re trying to the right content about a brand new product, you may find that any AI writing tool struggles to produce relevant content. However, for something like “how to keep your house warm,” which is not a timely topic, you will find these AI content writing tools helpful.
Price: AI writer comes in at a myriad of different prices, all depending on how far in advance you pay and whether you choose to go monthly or yearly. The starting price is $29, but it goes up to $59 and even $375.
Key features: the best feature of an AI writer is the ability to build an article from almost complete scratch. Where other AI writer tools require a little more guidance, this AI writing tool goes out of the gate and gets you a full article. Albeit with the need for fact-checking, editing, and the standard stuff.
User Interface: Users will find that AI writer requires some getting used to, but that it isn’t difficult after you’ve learned the process.
Likes and dislikes: With any content writing tool, you’ll find that there is work involved on your end to get the best results. Part of the reason people come to blogs is for a human connection and to have their problems solved by someone who knows what they are doing. While an AI writer will certainly get you the first draft, you’ll still need to place those human touches.
9. Yoast SEO: Optimization Tools to Rank the Site
Yoast SEO is an entire system that plugs into WordPress and performs checks for your content. It works in a similar vein to Surfer SEO but adds a different type of value. Yoast also has extensive courses in SEO, showing you how to get your site to rank and your content to sparkle.
Best for: those who have a WordPress site will find that the Yoast fits perfectly – it’s claimed to be the number one WordPress plug-in, so it’s definitely a tool that new bloggers should consider if they’d like to be competitive.
Price: There is a free version that gives you a significant value. However, you can also pay $99 per year and receive access to the entire course and the premium versions of the plug-ins.
Key features: the ability to train yourself in SEO principles is just the thing you want as a new blogger – with Yoast, you get the fundamentals of SEO – one that’s trusted by many.
User interface: All you need to do is add this to your WordPress site, and it works well. Sometimes it can be a bit slow to load, but this will depend on your computer or internet connections.
Likes and dislikes: the free version of Yoast SEO cannot be beaten, so there’s no reason not to try it out. However, you still need to put in the work to get a strong article. There’s no getting around the hard work needed.
Final Thoughts on the Best Blogging Tools for Beginners
Use these tools to increase your blog’s value. And remember that it takes work, even with good blogging tools. If you’re expecting to pay for tools and have your blog magically become successful, then you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Learn the fundamentals, use these quality tools, and stay persistent.