Official blog of Clark's Blogging for Journalists class, Mass Communication department

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Tools for your blog

Check these two links today and comment below about one or two tools from each link you might consider for your blog.

Free tools

More tools

24 comments:

  1. Although I like to try and use personal photos, it's good to know there are so many sources out there to find free images. Also, I think it would be good to promote my blog eventually. I like that there are websites that help you do that.

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  2. Wordoid because new bloggers can generate some ideas and recieve some catchy names for their blog!

    Fiverr because you can get anything there; graphic visuals, virtual assistance. However, it does charge ($5.50) you, but I think with all the help that you get from Fiverr is worth the $5.50.

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  3. I would use the "Recite" tool. It allows you to turn your text quotes into images. I feel like this could be powerful if you really wanted to emphasize a quote. "PicMonkey" is another one I could see myself using. It gives you the ability to make your images stand out with bold outlines and custom designs.

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  4. Some of these tools are outstanding. I never thought there would be so many options for tools to correct so many facets of my blog that are completely, or mostly free. The Hemingway tool seemed most interesting to me but maybe that was simply because she promoted it so hard. I just know that sometimes my posts get to wordy and that might help to simplify my language and syntax

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  6. I think it's cool that there are a lot of handy sites you can visit that can help you make a better blog. It's good that there are sites where you can get free pictures. That can keep a blogger doesn't always use personal photos out of trouble.

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  7. These were really helpful links. I have been struggling all semester to find good pictures for free online and the first link provides at least 20 links to pages with free pictures. The WP rocket is also really helpful because I know if i'm on a website and it's not loading I move on immediately.

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  8. I try to use all of my own photos, but there are some times when you just need an image from the internet, and it's nice that there are so many free options.
    Hemingway is also a cool tool to check your writing and make sure that it is grammatically correct as well as easy to read, since these can make a huge impact on whether people want to read your posts.

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  9. Via Free Tools:
    I would consider using Bog Topic Generator to come up with a catchy headline for my blog posts.

    Via More Tools:
    Canva is a really awesome tool if you’re not a graphic designer but need to design something that still looks good.

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  10. Free Tools: I would used the blog topic generator when struggling with new post ideas. I would also use plugmatter in order to gain more subscribers to my blog.
    More Tools: I would use Hemingway, what a cool way to streamline your content. I also think Tweroid would be cool, because it uses Twitter to determine what people are reading on your posts.

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  11. I was surprised by all the free tools that are available. I think that Hemingway is a cool tool because I know I always have an error in my writing I do not see myself. I also think I could use the tools that help you find pictures and the one that helps you generate a good headline.

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  12. What a wealth of possibilities! I will have to investigate these a little more in detail. But stock photos are a huge help. I like to have a picture for all my post.

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  13. Wow! Cannot believe we have programs that help people write better headlines! This is unbelievable. I was also surprise with the amount of photos we can get for free just by using the right tools!

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  14. I already use picmonkey all the time when designing photos because it is so simple to use. That's what I used to make my blog signature and it was so easy. I think there are so many tools out there, and these lists show that, to help you be on the same playing field as bloggers who may have more design experience.

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  15. Free tools- keyword tool to help me decide on headlines and Evernote to help keep me on track with my posts
    More tools-WordPress SEO by Yoast to help increase my viewing and WP Rocket to make sure my pages load quickly so I don't lose viewers

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  16. 1. Canva - Pictures are very important when your writing a travel blog. People don't want to go to places that don't give them that "wow effect." This tool would help me ensure that I can design my pictures in order to make them stand out.

    2. Trello - This tool lists your tasks in order to help you stay productive. With my travel blog, I think of places all the time I want to write about. This would help me list out the places I want to cover next, so that I don't let my fresh ideas go to waste.

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  17. I love these helpful links, I will definitely probably use a lot of them for my blog I would say that my top five favorite links would be: 1) Headline Analyzer- Because we all know how much of an impact the headliner makes for a reader. That is the first impression to the reader when they are deciding whether or not to read the blog post. 2) Blog Topic Generator- Sometimes we run out of what to talk about so I think this would be useful in finding what to write about. 3) WordPress SEO by Yoast- Helps with keeping up with our blog content. 4) Hemingway- A good way in checking for any mess ups and making sure it's simplified enough for the reader to stay engaged in the post. 5) Fiverr- Although it costs it's a good way to get advice on how to make the overall blog look better.

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  18. I want to try the free tool Bitly to get more readers from social media. Then I might use the free Google Analytics to see where they're coming from. On the next reading I would like to use the Keyword Tool to help my (small) audience. I'm interested to see what the Hemingway would say about my posts as well.

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  19. I think that I could really use some of these resources to link my stories and opinions to intelligent pictures to help increase the traffic on my page. Linking to external sources can be a huge help.

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  20. From free tool, I would consider using google analytics and keyword tool to track my viewers and see what can I do attract my audience. From the more tools website I would use canva to create grahpics from blog and buffer to make more use of my twitter page.

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  21. I will be using Pexels for free high quality photos. I love anything free of course but the real reason i would use this device is because I need my photos to have better quality. Gratisography is another great tool because it makes your photos high resolution. The SEO search engine is also very important. A great tool to utilize. "This plugin allows you to get a quick page analysis and see how your content stacks up. SEO goes beyond the page, with this tool you can also configure the behind-the-scenes aspects of your content It’s all-in-one meaning you don’t need to drag down your blog’s code with multiple SEO plugins."

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  22. I believe the keyword tool found under 'more tools' is extremely beneficial. Although it might be clumped together with multiple articles of the same topic, using creative tags can draw in an audience that might not normally have given your page a look. Keywords and tags, as well as hashtags, are just some of the powerful yet simple tools we can use to expand our reader base.

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  23. Pexels is a free tool that allows you download free high quality photos. There is some pretty cool photos.
    Buffer is a tool that allows you to craft, schedule and post all your announcements without worrying about keeping up with it.

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  24. It is overwhelming good to know that people like the ones from Successful Blogging want to provide free material to help you succeed. From free photos to how to determine a good name for your blog generators.

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