I started my blog back in 2018 and have been growing ever since. Throughout that time I have found some amazing resources that I use all the time for my blog that I wanted to share with you that can help you whether your new to blogging or you just need some new websites and apps to try. In today's post, I'll be sharing with you all 15 resources I use to build my blog!

1. GoDaddy 

This website is very important if you're wanting to start taking your blogging seriously. The first thing I did when I started my blog was to buy a domain name that I pay for once a year and I'm able to have my own web address with a .com at the end. I will suggest everyone do this as I find that it makes your blog look more professional to brands and it helps with your DA score which is really important. GoDaddy is a really easy website to use that you can get all the help you need applying your domain name right in the website and they are always really quick to reply. For my first year of having my domain name, it only cost £9.99 and in my second year it went up to £19.99 which isn't bad and I've been able to keep my same domain name. Depending on the name you want to buy you can spend as little as 99p for the whole year!

2. Google Analytics

Once you have your blog up and running and your starting to post more I would suggest for you all to install Google Analytics and it doesn't matter what blogging platform your using (i.e Blogger, Wordpress or WIX). Google Analytics is an analytics service that tracks and reports your website's traffic which is really important if you want to be aware of your engagement and reach. I have been using it since I started my blog and it is so nice to see my progress over the years. Knowing your analytics is also really important if you want to start working with brands because they might want to know how many monthly page views you get or what social platforms give you the most traffic. I found it slightly confusing at first to understand how to use Google Analytics but watching tutorials on youtube and playing around with it I finally got the hang of it and I use the app on my phone constantly.

3. Moz

Moz is a website that I was introduced to me a year after I started my blog, I'm not the most technical person and there are certain things that I had no clue about when starting my blog like DA scores, Keywords and SEO. Over the years I have learnt (still learning) what these terms mean and one of the websites to have installed that is really important for your blog is Moz. You can download the Moz extension onto your computer that you use for your blog and it will calculate your DA Score (Domain Authority) for you. When you are working with different brands there is a high chance that they will ask you what your DA Score is which is a search engine ranking score, The higher the score the better and this depends on different things like internal linking (linking your own blog posts), Keyword usage and more. With Moz, it tells you your DA score instantly and on their website, you can also use their Keyword Search tool for free and different SEO tips to help you grow your blog.

 4. Grammarly

This web extension has been a lifesaver for me when writing my blog posts and I use it all the time. Grammarly is an app that you can download on your laptop or computer that I downloaded through Chrome. Grammarly checks your text for grammar mistakes and basically does your prof read for you and eliminates errors. I must admit I am not the best speller and I make spelling mistakes quite a bit so Grammarly has been a godsend to me. You can use Grammarly for free but you can also go premium to use to enable advanced fixes, I use it for free and it does everything I need it to do. Grammarly is also able to detect the tone of your writing which I have found really helpful, and it can see whether your writing is formal or informative. I would suggest everyone have this installed just to help you not have those pesky spelling mistakes.

5. Social Media (Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest)

Social Media is probably one of the most important tools to use for your blog and to help your blog grow. I think most bloggers already know how important it is to promote your own posts but if your new to the game I would suggest everyone start their own accounts for their blog.

Twitter - Twitter is probably my favourite social media platform as it can help you grow your audience in so many ways. I use Twitter to promote my new blog posts to my followers and looking at my Google Analytics I was able to see that twitter brings in my most views. I also like to use twitter because you can share posts with other bloggers through Rt accounts and do comment threads which are an amazing way to get people to read your blog but to also find new blogs to read for yourself.

Instagram - When I first started my blog I didn't have an Instagram, I would just promote my posts on Twitter or Pinterest and that that was it and then I decided to make an Instagram account. Having Instagram is the best way at sharing your images to people which you can also link different posts to. Some brands also like to have different product images shared so it is also important for that. With my Instagram, I have been constantly growing and have recently just got over 1k followers which is a real achievement for me.

Pinterest - Pinterest is probably one of the most important resources to use for your blog. I have found it pretty complicated to get the hang of but when you do you can really see the improvement in your views and engagement. On Pinterest, you can add pins to different boards that can be linked to your blog and you can see how many impressions, saves and link clicks you get per image to your blog. I am not the best with Pinterest but doing some research definitely helps.

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6. Canva

Canva is one of my most favourite websites to use and use it every time I make a new blog post. Canva is a website that you can design all different graphics for your blog including blog headers, Pinterest pins, leaflets and logos. I love this website because they offer a lot of different templates, images, text and backgrounds all for free. You can subscribe to their paid version for some extras but I've lasted great with just all the free options.

7. Amazon Affiliate

Affiliate links are an amazing way to start earning money through your blog. When mentioning a product or item on your blog the chances are that Amazon will have what you're looking for and you can use your own link in your blog post and if someone buys it through that link you get a percentage of that! What I really like about using Amazon Affiliate is that it's really easy to apply and you don't have to jump through loads of hoops to get accepted.

8. Media.Net 

Media.Net is the Ad site that I use on my blog, this is another way to make some money through your blog. Media.Net puts ads on your site that your readers can click on which generates money. I applied when my blog was quite new and got accepted straight away so its a website where you don't need loads of views to be accepted making this a perfect ad site to use for new bloggers.


9. Etsy 

When I first got my blog I would change up my theme every other week and would try all different free ones that I never really liked the look of because I didn't want to spend too much money on it. I then decided to look on Etsy and there were thousands of themes for a really reasonable price (the theme I'm using at the moment is from Etsy). You can also get lots of other things for your blog on Esty like Logos, Headers and Instagram story highlights all for pretty cheap. Most of the sellers on Etsy will also help you to install your theme and help you out with any queries you may have.

10. Get Blogged 

Once I had been a blogger for about a year I wanted to start properly working with brands and I didn't know where to start. Looking on twitter I went through #bloggerswanted and found the Get Blogged Website. With this website, all you need to do is sign up for free and put in the details of your blog and it will show you all the brands looking for bloggers to write blog posts for them depending on your DA score and you will get paid for it which is a massive plus.

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11. Lightroom

While I have been blogging I have changed up my style of photography and editing a lot and over the last few months, I have been obsessed with the Lightroom app. I use this app on my phone to edit all of my pictures. With the Lightroom app, you can create your own presets of edits and use them for all of your different photos to give them a theme. Now that I have a preset saved that I created it literally takes me seconds to edit my photos. You can also purchase different presets for images on websites like Etsy.

12. Facetune 

Im sure everyone has heard of Facetune and it's an app that I don't use all the time on my blog but its definitely needed at times. Facetune is an editing app that you can add details, reshape, defocus and smooth out your images. I like to use this app on the rare occasion that I take a photo of myself and use it in a blog post, I hardly edit myself but I like to use it to smooth out a spot here and there and to also blur out the background of my photos. Facetune is really great for editing out little imperfections but I try not to go overboard when editing and leave my photos looking at natural as possible.

13. BeFunky 

This is another website that I don't use all the time but it is definitely a handy one that I use from time to time. I mainly use this website to create different collages of photos or if I need a side by side photo for a before and after or a comparison image. There are loads of different websites that you can do this on but I get along with BeFunky a lot and again it's Free!

14. Splice 

Splice is a newer app that I discovered when I wanted to start making videos for my Instagram page. I haven't done any videos for my blog before and I wanted to give it a try but I needed something to edit my videos on and I was introduced to Splice. In this app, you can cut out parts of the video you don't want, speed it up, add text, filter and music and again its all Free, you can use their upgraded version but I haven't needed to yet.

15. Unfold 

Instagram is easily one of my favourite social media sites and I don't post my photos every day but I like to add something to my stories pretty often. To make my stories look for interesting I like to use the app Unfold, this app gives you different unique layouts and templates to use that you can add your own images to and text to juice up your stories. I use this app a lot and even though it is free if you want more of the templates you do have to pay but only a small price of around £2.99 which is a steal!

Related Post: 10 Free Flatlay Stock Images!

Pin For Later... 
15 Resources To Help Build Your Blog

All of these resources are the reason that I can put my blog together easily and upload my blog posts for you all to read and enjoy. What resources do you use for your blog?

If you aren't already don't forget to follow my Socials!

Aaliyah xo 

15 comments:

  1. Ooh thanks for the suggestion about amazon affiliate! I use amazon all of the time so I really need to sign up for that!

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    1. Amazon Afilliate links is probably one of my favourite resources to use because they have everything available! x

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  2. Yes to all of these! Moz and Google Analytics have been great when I've wanted to take blogging a little more seriously. Canva has also been a lifesaver after other simple graphic editing sites shut down and it's now my new fave :-)
    Sarah x

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    1. Moz and Google Analytics has been such a good help for my blog and they have definitely helped me to grow my engagement and DA! Canva is definitely a lifesaver x

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  3. These are all great resources for blogging! Like you, I'm just about getting the hang of how to use Pinterest to my advantage! x

    Lucy | www.lucymary.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! Pinterest is definitely complicated but once you get the hang of it is really great for your blog x

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  4. Thanks for the suggestions will be checking out Moz for sure!

    Momena | Stylewithbrunette.com

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  5. Thank you! Im glad you like it. I am discovering new resources to use everyday now. Canva is a website that I use all the time, I dont know what id do without it! x

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  6. Aaliyah these blog resources are so helpful! Ok I want to check out Splice because I've been filming myself and need something free for editing, this will help so much. I wanna research more into Media Net and Get Blogged to take my journey to the next level.

    Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com

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  7. Thank you for sharing all of these resources, I've heard of some, but not all so I'll have to check them out! I use canva a lot, and I find Twitter to be one of my fave social media platforms too as its so nice to chat to other bloggers and find new blogs to read!

    Chloe xx
    www.chloechats.com

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  8. I agree so much with almost all of these! I've never heard of media.net, I need to look into that. And I've never used Facetune before but I've heard a lot about it before. I should probably give it a go, it sounds like a really easy to use for quick edits x

    Sophie
    www.glowsteady.co.uk

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  9. This is a great post and definitely agree! Moz and Google Analytics are amazing for improving SEO knowledge. Social media of course is essential. I think Canva is one of my favourite tools. I could spend ages designing graphics on there!

    Megan | https://meganelizabethlifestyle.com/

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  10. Great list. I use a few of them. I love using Canva for making pins for Pinterest.

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