Do you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to manage your blog the way you want to? Between creating content, promoting posts, connecting with readers, and handling all the backend website tasks, blogging can quickly start to feel overwhelming.
The good news? With the right blogging tools by your side, you can automate repetitive jobs, work more efficiently, and ultimately free up more time to focus on the fun stuff – like creating awesome blog content!
In this post, we’ll dive into 12 of my favorite time-saving blogging tools to help streamline your workflow. From task management apps to make content creation easier to social media schedulers for automation, these tools will help take your site’s productivity to the next level.
Let’s get started!
Task Management Tools
Asana
When you manage all aspects of a blog, keeping tasks organized is essential for efficiency. Asana is one of the best task management tools out there with features like:
- Create projects and subtasks
- Set due dates
- Comment and collaborate with team members
- Attach files
- View all your tasks on a calendar
With Asana, you can break down big blog projects like revamping your editorial calendar or launching a new opt-in freebie into smaller, actionable steps. I love using Asana to manage my personal blog tasks and content team projects.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $10.99 per month.
Trello
If you’re more of a visual person, Trello is another excellent choice for task and project management. It uses a kanban-style board where you can:
- Add cards to represent tasks
- Organize cards into different lists
- Move cards across lists to mark progress
- Set due dates, assign members, attach files etc.
Trello gives you flexibility to manage tasks exactly how it suits your working style. I like to create a separate board for each major blog project.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $12.50 per month.
Writing & Editing Tools
Grammarly
What’s one of the fastest ways to improve your blog writing workflow? Catch writing mistakes BEFORE you hit publish using Grammarly. This tool helps you fix:
- Grammar and punctuation errors
- Misused words
- Spelling mistakes
- Plagiarism (unoriginal content)
Grammarly integrates with your browser and word processor, so you can get real-time feedback as you write. This allows me to write blog posts faster knowing Grammarly has my back.
Price: Free version available. Premium plan starts at $12 per month.
Hemingway Editor
For bloggers looking to fine-tune their writing style, Hemingway Editor is a game-changing tool. It analyzes your text and highlights sections that are:
- Hard to read
- Too complex
- Verbose
This allows you to pinpoint areas of your writing that need simplifying to improve readability. Hemingway has helped me adopt clearer, tighter blog writing that resonates more with readers.
Price: Free online editor available.
Keyword Research Tools
SEMrush
Creating blog content that ranks requires lots of keyword research. SEMrush makes this process SO much easier by showing you:
- Monthly search volume data
- Keyword difficulty scores
- Related keywords
- Best topics to target
I use SEMrush reports to inform my blog editorial strategy and surface profitable keywords to focus on. This data saves me tons of guesswork.
Price: Plans start at $99.95 per month. Offers free trial.
Ahrefs
Similar to SEMrush, Ahrefs is a robust keyword research platform that reveals untapped blog post ideas with information like:
- Keyword difficulty
- Search volume
- Clicking trends
- Related keywords
I love exploring the Ahrefs keyword explorer when planning content. Finding profitable, low-competition keywords is a breeze.
Price: Plans start at $99 per month. 7-day free trial available.
Image Creation Tools
Canva
Images are essential for catching readers’ attention in blog posts and on social media. But hiring a designer every time you need a graphic can get expensive. This is where Canva comes in handy!
Canva makes it stupid simple for non-designers to create on-brand graphics like:
- Social media posts
- Blog headers
- Infographics
- Printables like ebooks covers
- And more!
With Canva’s massive template library, you can design beautiful, professional images in minutes without any design expertise. It has saved me SO much money and time outsourcing graphics.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $12.95 per month.
Email Marketing Tools
Mailchimp
Email is still one of the most effective channels for engaging blog subscribers. But managing email campaigns on your own can be time-consuming.
This is where Mailchimp helps big time! Useful features include:
- Customizable sign up forms
- Segments to divide subscribers
- Pre-designed email templates
- Automations like welcome emails
- Insightful reports
Mailchimp takes care of tech headaches like deliverability so you can focus on creating compelling email content. And it makes growing and nurturing your email list SO much more manageable.
Price: Free plan for up to 2k subscribers. Paid plans start at $11 per month.
Analytics Tools
Google Analytics
The best way to grow your blog’s traffic and revenue over time? Look at your site metrics!
Google Analytics should be the first analytics tool you install. It tracks useful data like:
- Pageviews
- Visitors
- Traffic sources
- Top pages
- Engagement metrics
- Conversions
- More!
Reviewing your Google Analytics dashboard periodically can uncover opportunities for improvement. I check weekly to learn how content and campaigns are performing.
Price: 100% free!
Social Media Scheduling Tools
Buffer
Running a blog means managing multiple social media accounts to expand your audience reach. But posting quality content daily on each platform can be crazy time-consuming.
This is where Buffer shines! Key features include:
- Browser extension to easily add posts
- Re-share old evergreen posts
- Add images, hashtags, captions
- Schedule posts in advance
- Analyze what content resonates
Buffer saves me 1-2 hours per week scheduling social posts in advance. And it helps my content get more visibility so I can grow my blog’s following.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5 per month.
Hootsuite
Similar to Buffer, Hootsuite is an invaluable social media scheduling tool. Standout features are:
- Post to multiple accounts in one click
- Schedule unlimited posts
- Monitor keywords and mentions
- Track post analytics like clicks and engagement
- Collaborate with team members
I like Hootsuite for organizing my social efforts into streams and monitoring brand mentions. It’s enabled me to scale my social media without getting overwhelmed.
Price: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $29 per month.
Get More Time Back with These Blogging Tools
Whew, that was a lot of tools! While it may seem daunting, don’t feel like you need ALL these apps right away. Start with 1-2 that fit your biggest pain points.
The key is to experiment with different tools to see which streamline your workflows best. Over time, you’ll assemble a customized tech stack that transforms your ability to manage a thriving blog business.
What other favorite time-saving tools am I missing? Share your top picks in the comments! I’m always looking for new apps to try.
