If you are starting a blog for the first time, or you are even looking to launch another blog to go with your collection, it can be a daunting task. There are a lot of things to take into consideration, from the quality of your content to the method in which you post it onto your blog. If you really want your new blog to hit the ground running and become a success, then you will need all the tools and resources you can find.
Luckily, the internet is a treasure trove of free tools that can make your blogging life a whole lot easier. Here we will take a look at the best free online tools you can use to assist you with your blogging. We’ll also look at how you can use these tools so then you get the most out of them.
Hemingway
When you are writing a blog post and you are getting it ready to be posted online, it is vital that you thoroughly proofread your work. If you have spelling mistakes or bad grammatical errors in your blog posts, then your audience will have a lot less faith in the authority of your posts and will look for similar content elsewhere. Proofreading can be a fairly simple task, but there are times when certain mistakes that involve more complicated grammatical rules are difficult to spot.
This is where a tool like Hemingway becomes very helpful. It is an app that will detect spelling and grammatical errors, along with any sentences that run too long or seem too complicated. It also tells you when you are using a passive voice and how you can change it to make it active. Not only can this correct some grammatical errors, but it can also help to improve the overall quality of your writing.
If you are new to blogging and you are just starting to find your feet with your writing, then Hemingway can be very helpful indeed. After using it a few times, you will find that your internal editor will start spotting mistakes like that quickly and you will be able to correct them. All the same, even seasoned bloggers should consider running their work through Hemingway first to ensure that their writing is of high quality at all times.
ZenPen
It is so often the case that when you decide to sit down and get some serious writing done, there are just too many distractions. You could find yourself distracted by background noise, or find yourself burning time on the internet like so many other writers do when they should be working. It’s very difficult to shut out all distractions and simply get on with writing. It’s a problem that nearly every writer faces at some time.
ZenPen is the online tool that helps to prevent that. It is quite simply a basic writing tool; nothing more and nothing less. When you visit the site you will be greeted with a simple message that asks you to delete the text you are reading and then just start typing. With ZenPen you are free to just cruise through your writing without any interruptions. It is a tool that essentially encourages you to let the writing just flow out of you. You can even add bold or italic fonts and website URLs.
If distractions are becoming a bit of a problem for you, then this tool could be a godsend. Sitting down and simply allowing the writing to flow is one of the best ways to get your creative juices going. Whenever you feel like you have too much going on in your mind, simply head over to ZenPen and shut the rest of the world out.
Editorial Calendar
If you have really hit the ground running and you have a lot of blog posts that are now waiting to be uploaded, you might be wanting to set aside time in which to post them. If you have a piece that you would like to post on Tuesday, then you might be planning to get up early that day so then you can get it set up and ready to be posted. This can become a bit of a drag, particularly if you have a lot of posts that you have to upload over the next few weeks or even months.
If you are using WordPress to house your blog, then you could use their Editorial Calendar plug-in. This helpful addition to your WP blog gives you the chance to schedule blog posts over a long period of time using a calendar function, so then you can keep track of all your posts and when they are due to appear online.
This is a very useful feature, particularly if you are planning on having a lot of posts ready to be uploaded. You can have them all edited and ready to go on your schedule without having to set aside time to post them. You can even make edits to your schedule or one of your upcoming blog posts easily without any hassle. This is a great way of keeping on top of things when you find yourself uploading onto your blog on a regular basis.
