*This is a collaborative post
Across the world, millions of people run blogs. In just a decade, it has gone from something very few people did, to being one of the first ways individuals try to make money from home. How successful each blogger is, varies greatly.
According to a survey carried out by ProBlogger, around 48% make more than $500 a month from their blog. With 4% earning more than $10,000. So, a blog is a good way to earn some extra income. But, as with all things, the more professional you are the more you make. Equipping yourself with the right tools is essential if you want to be successful.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Plagiarism checker
Every blogger should check for copied text. Google and most of the other search engines hate plagiarism. They favor websites that produce unique copy. Readers like them too. There is nothing more annoying than reading a
second article to try to find out something more only to realize it is exactly the same as the one you have just read.
Copying other people’s work, either deliberately or inadvertently, can really damage your reputation and turn your potential audience off. So, it is good to get into the habit of putting what you write through a plagiarism checker.
Tools that help you to find inspiration
At some stage, most bloggers have found themselves sitting there looking at a blinking cursor searching for inspiration. It is frustrating, to say the least.
We all know that without fresh content, our blogs will slide down the rankings and our audience will shrink. So, simply waiting for inspiration to strike is not a viable option.
Fortunately, there are plenty of fantastic tools out there that can help you to come up with ideas, as well as find out what your target audience is interested in right now.
BuzzSumo is still the best way to do this. Key in a topic, hit enter and see which type of content is trending for that particular subject. Then you just sit down and write something that expands on that topic and provides deeper insight or more resources than what is currently out there. If you do it well and are lucky when you share it via social media and other sources it will “go viral” and you will get a wave of new visitors to your site. You can find out about a few BuzzSumo alternatives, here.
Title suggestion tools
Without a doubt, if you want to get more readers, you need to produce eye-catching titles. The Portent Title Maker is great for this.
Staying organised
As you can see from this article, producing fresh content can make the difference between your blog ranking well and falling off of page one. But, it is all too easy to let life get in the way. Before you know it a month has gone by without your writing anything. Using an organizational tool like Trello is a great way to set up a content schedule. Once you have done that you just need to stick to it.
