I am often asked about the products I use for XYZ, so I thought it would be a great idea to get them together on one page for you. These are the products and services I use on a regular basis to help me to manage my blog.
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, however these are all products or services that I use on a regular basis and I am happy to promote.
Blog basics
If you are looking to start a blog to make money then here are my recommendations for hosting, domain names and themes.
Website hosting – Siteground. I use Siteground to host lots of my websites, and their first year discount means you can get started from just £5.99 per month.
Domain names – Namecheap. If I am buying an add on domain to attach to my hosting (for a second blog, etc) then I use Namecheap. All domain names come with FREE Whois guard, which a lot of other domain name providers charge for.
Themes – Studiopress and then a child theme. I use Genesis from Studiopress, then add on a child theme. I love the child themes from Restored 316 (here on MyBlogMyBusiness I use Darling, and on EmmaDrew.Info I use Sprinkles).
Getting visitors to my blog
The more visitors that come to my blog(s), the more money I can make. That is why I am always looking for new ways to bring visitors to my blogs. Here are some of the best resources I use.
KeySearch – keyword research. Doing keyword research has resulted in me seeing a 40% increase in traffic to my main blog – WOW (read more here). I use KeySearch to carry out my keyword research to help me to rank higher on Google.
Tailwind – schedule Pinterest pins. Pinterest can be HUGE for blog traffic, and I use Tailwindto schedule pins for various blogs.
Email marketing
Having a mailing list is so important when it comes to really serving your audience and monetising your blog. I actually use two different email marketing providers – you can get started with both of them for FREE and I highly rate both of them.
Mailerlite – for MyBlogMyBusiness and EmmaDrew.Info. Mailerlite offer a free plan up to 1,000 subscribers. It is great to use for delivering opt in freebies, automations and sending regular newsletters.
FloDesk – for Christmas Shop Holt. FloDesk works really well for an e-commerce website, and I think it would be wonderful for a blog starting out. The templates are really easy to use, and the long-term costs are really manageable – just $19 a month no matter how big your mailing list grows, if you use an affiliate link(usually $39/month)
Learning & Training
I am always investing in learning and training to help me to take my blogs to the next level. Here are some of the best courses and training I have read/taken.
Elite Blog Academy e-course is the most expensive course I have ever taken, but also the one that I got the most out of. It only opens once a year, but once you register you have access to every course that launches afterwards – so all the updates at no extra cost. Click here to register your interest in the Elite Blog Academy.
