25 Productive Apps and Tools For Bloggers and Writers

Blogging is a complex activity. When you’re running your own blog, you’re the brain of the operation, which means that you need to organize everything properly. Running a blog requires the following aspects: content, design, research, strategies, promotion, monetization, branding, and many more things.

In order to improve your overall productivity, you should start leveraging special apps and tools which are specifically designed to assist and complete the blogging activities which you have to perform daily. The list contains 25 indispensable apps for bloggers and writers, so let’s get started.

1. Grammarly

For most of the bloggers, writing could be one of the most frequently needed works. In order to keep your blog fresh, you have to deliver valuable content on a consistent basis. But writing also requires editing…such a daunting task for some of us. There’s a quick solution, though. You can use Grammarly to look for grammar and spelling mistakes. It has both free and paid features. What’s more? It can be integrated into your MS Word processor too 🙂

2. HemingwayApp

As the name also suggests, this app is emphasizing Hemingway’s writing style – short and very concise texts. This style is now extremely popular among the most successful content marketers because it allows even 4^th graders to understand more complex concepts into simple writing. This app shows you the “readability score” of your text. Copy-paste/Upload your text, and in a matter of seconds, you’ll have highlighted sentences that need to be modified. Of course, you also get correction suggestions from the app.

3. Pocket

Blogging requires project management. We’re basically talking about a business format – you need to take care of more aspects such as marketing, sales, products, services, etc. Whenever you’re lurking the web, you can use Pocket to save everything that you find interesting. All the links, pictures, videos, and ideas can be “put in your pocket” and be read later. It features both desktop and mobile platforms, so you have a nice accessibility.

4. Diigo

Diigo app allows you to highlight text, add different sticky notes, take screenshots, and bookmark web elements. So your browser becomes very personalized. This will save you time, as you no longer have to note down your ideas.

5. Dropbox

Dropbox has proven to be quite a success. Nowadays, most corporate businesses leverage Dropbox in order to manage their projects, store important files, and also to be able to instantly transfer information and projects. This can be very useful for bloggers, as we may probably use more than one device. Even if you’re using your phone a lot, and your laptop/PC too, you’re basically using 2 channels. Allow this app to save you time – it’s really worth it.

6. Google Docs

Same as the Dropbox concept, Google Docs is a reliable place where internet users can store their files. You get to have enough store space to save even movies, and it’s all for free. You can access it from every possible device because it opens on any browser.

7. Dragon NaturallySpeaking

This is quite an interesting software. If you haven’t heard until now, apps like Dragon NaturallySpeaking are making voice-to-text typing possible. So whenever you feel inspired, open the software and start speaking like you were writing the article. The little robot from the app will capture the words and it’ll instantly transform them into text. This way, you don’t have to write your articles, but you can speak them out loud.

8. Trello

Also often named as the “best project management tool. Trello surprises its users with an extremely easy-to-use platform which enables many features. You can create boards, notes, comments, and tags. You can create new projects, organize them very well, and let other colleagues access the dashboard. The tool also works on both desktop and mobile, and it provides a lot of flexibility to any project management team.

9. Wunderlist

Wunderlist is a wonderful app that works approximately like Trello. The concept is different, though, as Wunderlist offers lists instead of boards, and it comes with different and helpful features. The app helps you sort and store your ideas into tasks and sub-tasks. I’d recommend checking it out, as it’s also free as long as you keep it that way.

10. Lightshot

Ever need to take, save, or upload screenshots as soon as possible? Lightshot helps you print your screen in a fast way, and it also allows you to instantly save a picture, or upload it on the web. If you’ve ever seen a “prt.scrn” link, then you know that whoever uploaded it might have used this tool. Additionally, if you’re looking for a quality screen recording software that helps you create tutorial videos, our friends at Cloudwards.net have come up with this handpicked list.

11. Google Analytics

Keeping track of your inbound and outbound performance is extremely important. First of all, you need to keep track of your traffic. You need to find out the demographics, experiment interests, and so on. Moreover, you need to understand what your website users are looking for the most. Google Analytics is a free software which has also proven to be critical to any successful website’s organization. Stay informed with what’s going on, and begin optimizing as soon as you can.

12. Google Trends

If you ever have trouble coming up with ideas for your blog posts, marketing campaigns, and even for guest posts, you need to check out Google Trends. It basically shows the most popular things that are being searched on Google. You can choose to look for different time ranges – something like monthly, quarterly, or yearly. This is an easy way to brainstorm new topic ideas for your own unique niche.

13. Google Keyword Planner

If you’re a professional blogger, you should already understand the importance of SEO for any type of website on the web. If you’re not, keep that in mind, and follow our lead. Google Keyword Planner is Google’s keyword analytics and suggestions software. Based on what Google’s users type in the search string, the Keyword Planner tool gives you details like unique searches per month, the average CPC (paid advertising), and different other features.

14. Copyscape

Writing duplicate content is going to hurt both your marketplace reputation and your “complicated relationship” with the search engines. Google, Yahoo, Bing – they’re all penalizing websites that write what others have written. Copyscape shows you every piece of content that might be duplicated or spun. You can then correct the mistakes and distribute 100% original and unique content.

15. BestEssays

BestEssays is an amazing writing service that can assist you with more than one thing. Whenever you’re running out of time, feeling overwhelmed, or just don’t feel like doing things, you can count on this service. You can order personalized content, editing services, proofreading services, and much more others. I’d recommend them, as from our own experience, they have always delivered quality plus affordable content.

16. BuzzSumo

Buzzsumo offers a tool which allows you to brainstorm your content ideas by providing insightful statistics and reports about the most popular topics around a broader subject. Moreover, it provides a database of popular bloggers and influencers that can be easily pitched. You can also check the social media performance of any website, and you can understand how different blogs are bringing their traffic.

17. StayFocusd

StayFocusd helps you keep the distractions away by blocking your internet lurking tendencies. So for example, if you’re using social media channels a lot during the day, you can add each of the networks into the StayFocusd panel. Whenever you’ll try to access those links, you will be blocked and sent back to your work. This can help a lot, as most of the times, we encounter distractions that make us unproductive.

18. Easy Pricing Tables

This WordPress plugin makes price listing look very simple and easy. Easy Pricing Tables helps you create personalized pricing tables for your premium products and services. This can work for any type of membership website, as it allows you to create your own drag-n-drop pricing panels.

19. Namechk

Every time you plan to start a website or blog, you need to make sure that your name is available on all social media platforms. Therefore, you can use Namechk to instantly verify whether your brand’s name is available or not. This software searches through more than 150 social media networks (even the unpopular ones). The tool even shows you the domain availability, an aspect that is quite important.

20. SEO Book

SEO Book is more than just a tool. This website incorporates different SEO tools which are meant to help SEO marketers and webmasters with various tasks. The range of services and tools is quite impressive, as it offers web tools, desktop tools, and also a few browser extensions. Moreover, you get to learn from their professional SEO tutorials which are purposed to approach a broad audience of marketers. It doesn’t matter whether you’re experienced or not, you can leverage their platform to boost your SEO efforts on your own.

21. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an e-mail autoresponder service that allows any blog owner and webmaster develop, organize, and perform e-mail marketing campaigns. Mailchimp gives you free access at first, but once your marketing campaign becomes larger, you’ll often need to purchase a premium plan (which is not that expensive). Good bloggers always have lists – it’s what keeps them connected to their audience members, and it’s also the “machine” that generates a lot of sales.

22. Buffer

Social media promotion often takes a lot of time. There are many tedious and time-consuming tasks such as sharing content on a consistent basis. With Buffer, you can add more social media channels into the same dashboard, and you can create a personalized schedule around your posts. This way, you can automate all of your social media distributing efforts.

23. Quora

Q&A platforms like Quora and Yahoo Answers are goldmines for those who know how to properly manage them. It helps you get content ideas, develop a better understanding of what your customers want and need, and you get directly engage with different people. In addition, you can create an expert reputation and become a reference point for those who’re looking for what you can offer.

24. UberSuggest

If you ever need to find out more information about your competition, put their website link into Uber Suggest. You’ll be provided with relevant stats about their website performance and content. Moreover, you can also observe their social media actions and campaigns.

25. Meme Generator

Memes have become an interactive form of content that can be used as an alternative for traditional images. If you ever want to spice up your content, you can include humorous memes that are specifically designed to capture your target audience’s attention. Use Meme Generator to personalize and download memes.

Conclusion

Choose the tools that suit you best and leave the rest for later. You need to figure out which tools are worth your time and which bring you the most benefits. With time, you’ll keep adding more and more, all according to your present needs.

This post has been written by our guest blogger – Brenda Savoie. She is a content marketer at Essayontime, a private English tutor, and a desperate dreamer. Writing her first romantic novel. Seeking contentment through mindfulness. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.