Best blogging tools to boost your productivity over the roof in 2020
Can you guess what the one thing that every blogger struggles with is?
It’s productivity and how to find the right package of blogging tools to help maximize the ROI.
And if these blogging tools are free, that’s a win-win every blogger loves.
So, today I decided to share these 17 best blogging tools for beginners or established bloggers.
Some of them come with the option to go premium, but the free versions might be just enough for you.
How to be productive as a blogger – free blogging tools
I often feel like bloggers are some of the most productive people out there.
At the beginning of the blogging journey, we all do everything: creating content, editing that content, publishing, social media marketing, affiliate sales, creating and selling products, etc.
We are our own bosses and our own employees. Getting things done is as essential as getting the right hosting.
And that’s why every blogger faces the question: How to be more productive as a blogger?
I use a combination of different tools to keep me focused and on track of everything I do. I’ve got a bullet journal for my daily planning and a simple notepad for a post outlining. Everything else, I try to transfer it to online platforms, and I’ll share them with you.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you sign up or make a purchase I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my business. See full disclosure.
17 Best blogging tools to use in 2020
1. ClickUp
I found out about ClickUp a little bit over a month ago. I was looking for a better way to structure my content planning, keyword research, and blog post organization.
To be honest, I found ClickUp a little bit hard to understand at the beginning, but that was until I actually came up with my system. I started small, just writing out ideas for blog posts, then I created a template of how to write every blog post and added it to every keyword. After that, I started outlining the headings, and so on.
Now, I use ClickUp daily, and I am surprised how easy it is to keep track of my progress on each blog post.
Just after starting doing those little things from above, I managed to write two and a half months of content ahead – and that’s something I’ve never done before.
Here’s just a simple list of how ClickUp could boost your productivity as a blogger:
- Create and track projects: from blog posts to creating a course or e-book
- Outlining the steps to finish each project
- Writing keyword ideas and turning them into blog posts.
- Updating blog posts
- Keeping track of the affiliate links on your blog – I just created a list with the name of the affiliate product, and I added every post that has that affiliate link. In this way, if I have to update or remove the link, I know exactly where to go.
- more and more
Click here to try ClickUp for yourself. I use the free version, and have hundreds of functionalities.
2. Trello
Trello is another project management system to create and track your projects.
It works on the base of boards, and every board gives you the option to create lists. It’s a very visual and easy to navigate tool you could use for your blog. I use Trello for my Pinterest marketing strategy to drag and drop the pins straight from Pinterest.
It’s free to use, and there are tons of tutorials on how to maximize your productivity using Trello.
Sign up for Trello and use it for free through this link.
3. Google Calendar
Google Calendar is probably the most famous productivity tool every entrepreneur uses.
It allows you to schedule your days, block time out, set reminders, and see a week, a month, or a year at a glance.
As I mentioned, I use a simple bullet journal for this, but if you’re a digital person and want to synchronize your schedules with all your devices, then Google Calendar is your tool.
Of course, it’s free to use.
A little tip: You could even add a hashtag calendar to your Google calendar. As a blogger, you might use the hashtag calendar for your social media content planning. You could get the calendar by clicking here.
4. Canva
Canva is the easiest to use image design tools on the market.
I use it since the very beginning of my blogging career, and I’ve tried a few other image designing tools, but I always go back to Canva.
It’s simple, and its free version might be all you need. I only use the Premium version because of the thousands of photos I get to use almost-for-free. In fact, I create 20-40 new pins a day and use at least 20 new images every day—all that for $12 a month.
If you make your own photos or use another source for your images, then the free version of Canva will help you do everything else. They also offer templates you could use, many of them for free.
Here’s what else you could do with Canva:
- Create your pins
- Create all social media posters
- Create simple videos
- Create book covers
- Planners
- Calendars
- Printables
- Magazines
- For personal use: cards, invitations, mind maps
- more and more.
Sign up for Canva for free by clicking here.
5. Pinterest Scheduler
I used to love using Tailwind. And I would still use it… if it was actually helping me with my Pinterest traffic. My Pinterest traffic thrives when I pin manually, or I use Pinterest’s scheduling tool.
Besides, with the latest changes on Pinterest, the use of a third-party scheduling tool is almost pointless.
If you’re a fan of Tailwind and it works for you, that’s great.
But if you love the results you get from pinning your pins manually, then the Pinterest scheduler might help you stay sane. I schedule some of my pins there and pin the rest manually. If you’d like to know my exact Pinterest strategy, I’ve got a detailed post on it right here.
6. Grammarly
No matter if English is your mother tongue or a second language (like me), you will need help with editing your posts. The small mistakes, the comas, and the misspelling are always there, no matter how long your text is.
I use Grammarly to help me catch all those little mistakes and improve my posts.
They offer a Premium option, but they also have a free version. You can sign up for Grammarly for free here.
7. Evernote
Evernote is a simple tool to help you create to-do lists and track them on every device.
You get to set notifications, record audio, add photos, and even draw spreads as you’d in your bullet journal.
Evernote has a premium version, but I’m in the process of learning how to maximize it in the free version.
You can sign up for Evernote by clicking here.
8. E.ggTimer
Have you heard of the Pomodoro technique for boosting productivity?
The idea of the Pomodoro system is to block out 25 minutes of undivided focus on doing a task and then have 5 minutes break before you go for another 25 minutes of hard work. After four cycles of 25 minutes of work, you get a longer break.
The Pomodoro way is trendy because it requires you to focus on a task for a short period of time, and then get a break. By doing so, you might be able to increase your productivity and get more things done.
Here’s where E.ggTimer comes in. It’s a simple online timer that helps you set timers for a different period of time, even the Pomodoro, and notifies you when the time’s off.
9. Asana
Asana is another project management tool similar to ClickUp and Trello.
You could create projects, track them, add team members, and assign tasks to each team member. You could have private boards and shared boards.
Asana, just like ClickUp, is great for your blog post planning, projects for your blog, updating content, and so on.
It’s for free, and you can sign up for Asana by clicking here.
10. Blog topic Generator
Did you know that HubSpot offers a free tool called Blog Topic Generator?
You could get hundreds of ideas for headings, blog post ideas, keywords, and so on.
It guarantees to inspire you and boost your productivity as a blogger.
Check the blog topic generator here.
11. Unroll.me
This is a free tool to help you unsubscribe from emails, newsletters, and offers you never open. Instead of going on each one of them and clicking the unsubscribe button, Unroll.me does all that for you.
Unfortunately, if you live in a country from the EU, you cannot use it, but it’s opened to everyone else.
Try Unroll.me for free by clicking here.
12. Toggl
Toggl is another time-tracking tool to help you optimize the way you spend your time.
Many bloggers and VA use it to track the time they spend on certain tasks and projects. If you work with clients, for example, you could track the time you work for each client.
Are you curious how long it takes you to write a blog post? Use Toggl.
Do you wonder he long it takes you to create pins in Canva? Use Toggl.
You could sign up for Toggl for free here.
13. Google Drive
Google Drive is a great productivity tool that allows you to upload and store data for free for 15 GB.
For example, I use Google Drive to exchange guest posts with other bloggers or send answers to questions on round-up posts.
I’ve also seen bloggers who use it to store their freebies and place a link to the freebie on their website.
14. Dropbox
Another great tool for online storage is Dropbox.
I used to use it for storing my blog backups from UpdraftPlus.
Dropbox is free for 2GB.
15. Stay Focusd
Do you often go down the rabbit hole and read post after post instead of writing your own content?
Yep, we all do that.
And we all would like to be a little more focused.
This is where Stay Focusd comes in.
Stay Focusd is an extension for Google Chrome that keeps you away from time-wasting websites for a certain period of time. Yes, you can block yourself out of visiting other sites and focus on getting things done.
16. Skitch
I recently found out about Skitch and cannot believe I’ve never heard of it before.
Skitch is the tool that allows you to take screenshots of your desktop and edit them adding text, arrows, blurring images, and so on. Everything you need for creating a post-tutorial.
It’s user-friendly and gives you precisely what you might need to edit your screenshots.
It’s for free — sign up here.
17. Loom
Another great free productivity tool for bloggers.
If you’d like to create a simple video tutorial for a client or a reader, Loom is your perfect choice.
You can record your screen and yourself, or you could choose to record your screen only. Then all you need to do is to send the link to everyone who needs to see your video.
And that’s it. Simple. And free. Sign up for Loom here.
Which ones of these productivity tools for bloggers did you know about? Have you already used any of them?
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17 Free Blogging Tools To Boost Productivity
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
This is one of the most helpful lists that I have seen! I may have just fallen into a rabbit hole, but I just opened three more tabs to programs that you recommended. Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words, Rachel! I totally get it about the rabbit hole (I went into a few just to discover these tools, lol)! Wish you all the best with your blog!