I am not, nor do I pretend to be, a professional blogger. Therefore, finding tools and applications that can help me blog better are essential.
In this post, I want to share 5 free tools that have helped me and that I believe are essential for every blogger to take blogging to the next level.
1 – Buffer
Buffer is a great browser app that can connect to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. It gives you the ability to share your posts immediately, or if you write and publish at varying times, you can schedule your posts to be shared later. This gives you the ability to write whenever you want and still share your post at times you know your readers will see it.
It also gives you the opportunity to share content at times you will be available to respond to comments, likes, and retweets. Another advantage to the Buffer App is the availability of the Buffer staff. Anytime I have had an issue, I have simply tweeted them @Bufferapp and one of the team members has always responded quickly.
2 – DiggDigg
DiggDigg is a powerful WordPress plugin that was bought out by the Buffer team. It gives you versatility in placing social media sharing buttons prominently on your blog or website. You also have control over which social media sharing buttons you want displayed and available.
All the major social media sites are available on DiggDigg, including Twitter, Buffer, Facebook, Linkedin, Google+, Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, Blog Engage, and more. Not only do you have control over which buttons appear, but also the placement of the buttons, so this plugin is a must have for any serious blogger.
3 – Yoast SEO for WordPress Plugin
This is an easy-to-use, yet robust SEO plugin that will help you ensure your posts are optimized for SEO and that the search engines are happy with your posts. Most of us are not SEO experts (myself included) so we need as much help as we can get.
Plus, what makes this plugin so valuable is that you don’t have to use every available feature. Simply configure the parts you want to use and leave the rest alone. Yoast also provides a step by step instructional video, as well as other forms of support. The best part? You know before you hit publish that your posts are search engine optimized.
4 – Backup to Dropbox
This is a great little plugin that backs up your blog to Dropbox. You never know what will happen today, but you can know that tomorrow, your content will still be available. One great feature of this plugin is that you can schedule your backups daily, weekly, or fortnightly.
5 – Tweet Old Post
This is another great plugin. As the name implies, you can this plugin will automatically tweet previous posts for you. You have control over which categories and posts get tweeted, so anything that is dated (like contests and giveaways that have already ended) can be removed from the tweet list.
Also, you can set how many old posts you want tweeted per day by configuring the number of hours between tweets. This plugin is essential because it keeps all of your content alive without having to go back and manually share all of your old content.
I hope this list of free tools for serious bloggers is helpful. I use these tools regularly and find them to be very valuable in my own blogging endeavors. If you found this post helpful, leave a comment and then share the love with a Retweet, Facebook like, Pin, etc. as I would love to hear about what free tools you use to further your own blogging!
About Tom Jamieson
thanx for shring nice post
i used Yoast SEO for WordPress Plugin i thinx it is better
zameer recently posted..Reduce Bounce Rate of your Blog
Twitter: bloggingdiy
says:
I use Digg Digg its awesome, but the latest update is not working with genesis framework. I don’t know its happening to me, i don’t know about others..
Blogging tips recently posted..How to Get More Traffic for Your WordPress Blog
Twitter: bloggingdiy
says:
I use Digg Digg its awesome, but the latest update is not working with genesis framework. I don’t know its happening to me i don’t know about others..
Blogging tips recently posted..How to Get More Traffic for Your WordPress Blog
Buffer and Dropbox are two great tools that any blogger should have. Thanks for the other suggestions, I think I’ll try out that SEO plugin :)
Luis recently posted..6 Razones para tener una Tienda Virtual
Nice post. I recommend you tu use wordpress seo by yoast. It’s a perfect pluggin. It have everything you need. In the past All in one Seo Pack was good, but now, wordpress seo by yoast is better.
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Twitter: IbangSR
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Heloo Tom Jamieson,
How do I backup my meta title and description from all in one seo pack to seo by Yoast, because I wanted to try seo by yoast. Thanks before.
Riki recently posted..Bugaboo Strollers
Twitter: utahcoupondeals
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Hi Tom,
I was just wondering if you have ever used or heard of SEO Blog Kahuna…would your recommend that over the Yoast Plugin? I need to get rid of one, and I am not sure which is better. Thanks for the tweet plugin! I am installing that now.
Coralie recently posted..The Giveaway Winners of the Disney on Ice tickets, Purex Free Product Coupons, and Fagor Pressure Cooker/Canner are:
I use Yoast- SEO as the primary plugin in my site and Drop box to backup my website data. Anyways, every tool among them are useful for a blogger to meet success in blogging.
Great tools. I have used a little bit of wordpress. Didn’t blog but just used this platform. Nice to see these tools. I will try using them.
Basically I loved all these tools but I think buffer is the best one. Serious bloggers should use it for sure.
Diana recently posted..LOCATION Boudoir Photography
Wow what a great tools !!
i liked more buffer,as Buffer is a great browser app that can connect to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. It gives you the ability to share your posts immediately,
Thanks.
Manisha Singh recently posted..SEO: URL Optimization
thank admin. I like bost
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Twitter: CoolWPTips
says:
Hi Tom Jamieson, Great List of tools! I am using the first four tools and will surely try out the Tweet Old Post plugin. Thanks for Sharing this Great list.
Sai Kumar recently posted..Welcome to TechFlip.Net
Twitter: technoznet
says:
I have used both yoast and all is one seo pack plugins. although yoast has multiple options and gives the more ways to define everything that’s why many ones prefer it. But the problem with yoast is the plugin has open graph and almost many bloggers have jetpack installed in wordpress whose open graph is hard to disable. So because of complications it might harm your seo in future.But all in one seo pack is also the great plugin. Some time Minimalism works. :)
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Twitter: anwarzeb15
says:
Hey, thanks for such a great post. already using 2,3 of that tools.. M new in blogging field. so will check the remaining..
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Twitter: ibpsexams.in
says:
I have just started new blog, thank you very much to providing information about these useful tools to drive traffic on my blog. Please write more about how get top ranking in search engine, Thanks.
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Twitter: semaglive
says:
i notice with yoast seo plugin that after using this my blog was not getting updated cache on google so just went back to all in one seo pack
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Twitter: comonppldotcom
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I use Seoblog Kahuna, for my sites, which I find it way better than,Yoast SEO. But then again Seoblog Kahuna is a paid plugin, whereas Yoast SEO is totally free.
I used Yoast for a while some time ago, and was OK, and as you said, the good thing about it is that you can turn off a lot of unnecessary features.
Bogdan recently posted..How to Improve Seo using Seomoz Toolbar and Services
Twitter: nochrreq
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Thank you for the valuable information. I have always been using All-In-One SEO Pack over SEO by Yoast. Can you share some of your thoughts on it as well? Why not All-In-One but Yoast, is there a specific reason? So far I am content with AIO but am open and would like to try different tools too.
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Twitter: QuantRezCom
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I am very old user of Tweet old post and Yoast SEO for WordPress Plugin. The automatic tweet facility and custom meta title and social integration of Yoast plugin will make my WordPress blog more user friendly. I suggest you to must use these plugins.
Twitter: thetechideas
says:
Nice list, we are using Yoast SEO for WordPress Plugin from a long time, it have great performance. It has new update recently..
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Twitter: problogsuccess
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Tweet Old Post feature was awesome. Suits my needs for sharing over the social media. Fab post, totally!
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Twitter: it_freelancing
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No doubt these are really useful and popular plugins, that every blogger use. Buffer is even used by many people who are not blogger.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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Thanks for reading and commenting. I really appreciate your input.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
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I personally love Yoast SEO. I like the way it keeps things very simple while helping you optimize your blog well. I also love the fact that they stay abreast with changes in the SEO landscape. I have NOT used the other plugins but I guess they are worth checking out.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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The Yoast SEO plugin is very robust and can perform many helpful tasks on your blog or website. I noticed my traffic increased as soon as I installed it. Plus, it’s flexible and you only have to use the parts of the plugin you want. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Hello Tom, The above list are great. backup to dropbox is one great plugin which i love but i haven’t tried others. i should take a look at some letter on. thanks.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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Thanks for the compliment. B2D can definitely be a lifesaver. I hope you find other helpful tools here as well.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Backup to dropbox is a great plugin that is easy to use. Any blogger who has put time and effort into their site must have some kind of backup solution. I’ve been hacked before and having a backup is a lifesaver.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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I must confess that I didn’t take backing up my blog seriously until recently, so I’m glad I didn’t have any issues. However, B2D has been very easy to use. The setup is simple and then you can just leave it alone. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Twitter: freedommmc
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Good list Tom,
I’ll have to look into buffer I’m seeing it more often these days I’m just kinda skiddish about giving out my passwords everybody keeps complaining about getting hacked.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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Thanks for the encouragement. You can login to Buffer using FB, twitter, or just by setting up a Buffer login that is separate. Hope you find it helpful!
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Twitter: davelucas
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I’ve seen tweetoldpost go haywire and make bloggers look like idiots – one time a respected blogger was tweeting tips for having a prosperous holiday season – only it was in July, after tweetoldpost went “nuts” and he had to turn it off!
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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I haven’t had any issues with Tweet Old Post yet. Maybe they got the bugs worked out with the recent update to version 4. Also, you can exclude individual posts as well as entire categories to keep the issue you mentioned from happening.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
I use SEO by Yoast which was recommended to me, I find it very easy to use and gives a clear and simply analysis of your page. I like the idea of Buffer which I’ll have a quick look at. I guess its easy to use
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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I started using the Yoast plugin several months ago and have noticed a considerable uptick in traffic. Buffer is great and I use both the Chrome extension as well as the Android app. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Twitter: OshoGarg89
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I use DiggDigg & for SEO use All In 1 SEO Pack plugin. As your description, it seems other plugins are also helpful. Thanks
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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I started using DiggDigg a few months ago and really like it’s versatility and options. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers
Twitter: HadleyHodgson
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Only familiar with DiggDigg on here so I’ll check out the others.
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Twitter: tomjamieson_
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I’m glad you were able to find some additional resources. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tom Jamieson recently posted..5 More Free Tools For Serious Bloggers