Useful And Free Apps For Bloggers That You Must Try
By: Agnieszka Kasperek
Tags: Blogging Tips, Writing Tips, Blog, Writing, Blogging

Photo by Ilya Pavlov on Unsplash

When years ago I started my first blog, I had no idea that different apps for bloggers can make your job so. much. easier. I didn’t have a clue what were they and where to get them from.

And so it turned out that my first blog was text only. But then, the fantastic times came when I started to discover the magical world of online resources. I landed on my first royalty-free picture database (and boy, those pictures were HORRIBLE). I discovered how to make basic banners and edit pictures with Gimp.

It was a struggle. Struggle you don’t have to go through because nowadays we’re drowning in the ocean of apps for bloggers. Most of them are smart, easy to use and free.

But okay, before you get disappointed. By “free” I mean there’s a free plan along the premium one. Yes, it will have some limitations. That’s how most of these tools for bloggers work. If you cough up some money, you’ll get over those limitations and get access to some extra features.

Today I’ll break it all down for you. Let’s jump straight in.

Canva — social media posts, banners and all graphics

Some of you still don’t know this tool exists. But it does and it’s super easy to use. If you’ve got no foggy idea about how to start with banners or social media post, Canva is a great place to start.

It’s based on drag-and-drop and intuitive user interface. The amount of templates they use is astounding, I’ll give them that. All you have to do is to pick and tweak.

Pluses

easy to use and master

lots of templates and icons

you can share your work with others

upload an edit your own files

no Canva watermark on your pictures

Minuses

no resizing available until you upgrade your account to the premium version

Lumen5 — posts turned into videos

When talking about videos, a lot of bloggers think about getting in front of the camera. That’s not necessary. You can make your blog content more attractive without showing your face. Plenty of tools for bloggers that make it possible. Lumen5 is one of them.

So far, the easiest tool that turns your blog posts into videos. All it takes is to link your blog post or upload a video script. Then, choose loop videos or graphics that will flow in the background.

Pluses

likely the easiest and fastest way to turn your posts into videos

a large library of pictures and royalty free videos

huge choice of royalty free music

Minuses

The free plan limits the ability to edit the templates

It’s not very flexible when it comes to tweaking your content

The quality of videos in the free plan can sometimes leave a lot to be desired

A Lumen5 credit screen shows at the end of every video. It disappears when you upgrade to a premium version. But I’m not putting it as a minus — they’ve got to eat, right?

Adobe Spark — pictures, videos and much more

While I like and recommend Canva and Lumen5 alike, I have to say, Adobe Spark nearly stole me as their customer.

This platform is like a mixture of two tools mentioned above.

It allows you to create graphics, banners and videos from one platform. It’s got loads of templates, royalty free music, voice recording, branding, resizing and many other functions that come to you for free. Their premium plan is really cheap too if you want to unlock all the possible options and tweaks.

Pluses

lots of functions that you don’t get for free anywhere else

create videos, graphics and voiced clips in one platform

free royalty music and graphics

Minuses

You’ll need your own royalty free videos

It’s a little more complicated to use than Canva or Lumen5

There some predefined design elements (like the transitions between video slides) that you can’t change

Adobe logo shows up on every clip of every video and on every graphic you make. But again, doubt if I should count it as a minus.

Later — social media scheduling

Later is one of the tools for bloggers that helps you managed your social media. Its primary target is Instagram — and they focus heavily on that one platform. However, they also let you schedule to Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest — and that’s all most bloggers need.

The platform is easy to use and within its free plan, you schedule up to 30 messages monthly per platform. It’s got an inbuilt image editor so in many cases, you won’t even need an external graphics tool.

Pluses

covers the basics channels most bloggers use

inbuilt picture editor

easy to use with a clean and visual interface

allows searching and reposting old posts

the paid plan is really cheap in comparison to other Social Media management tools

Minuses

only works for Instagram business profiles

the free plan doesn’t allow tagging users, scheduling multiple photos or videos

analytics are only available in the upgraded plan

scheduling videos also only in the pro version

Ubbersuggest for SEO

A lot of bloggers skip on SEO research because they’ve got no idea how to go around it. Ubbersuggest is a free and easy to use tool that will help you find the best keywords.

It’s not the most advanced tool out there, I’m aware of that. However, for people who are only starting out and need some basic suggestions, it will do the job just fine.

Pluses

Clean UI, easy to use, very logical — even for a beginner

Keyword ideas, content ideas and SERP analysis

Minuses:

Can’t think of any!

Feedly — Staying in Touch With Your Favourite Blogs

There are people who start the day with a cup of coffee and a favourite newspaper. I start it with a cup of coffee and Feedly.

Back in the day, I bookmarked every single interesting site or blog I’ve found. I wanted to get back to them later, but you know very well what happens to 90% of bookmarks. I was the classic case of “save and forget”.

Feedly turned out to be the PERFECT solution. It’s free and it lets you store all your favourite blogs in one place. So long the site has a working RSS feed, Feedly will alert you each time there’s something new published.

Pluses

Lists new posts from all the sites you put in your collections

Allows sharing and emailing your favourite articles

Organises your blogs in categories and boards

A browser add-on allows you to quickly add newly found sites into Feedly

Minuses

Yet to find some!

Final Thoughts

Well, there you go — all these cool apps for bloggers that you can check out. Probably not the longest list you will find on the web, but here’s the thing. You don’t need a lot to create awesome blog content. I’m a devoted minimalist and I believe that less is more. And remember — there are loads of alternatives to those tools on the web. All it takes is a little research.