Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!

Tools I Used To Start My Blog

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As a new blogger like myself, it's important to grab some affordable tools to get things rolling. From hosting to plugin recommendations and themes!! Disclaimer: As an affiliate, I receive commissions from purchases made through these links.
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Hosting & Builders

For every blog, you need a hosting platform for your website to reside in. Below are recommendations for services that offer affordable hosting, domains, and support!

 
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I personally use Green Geeks and their customer support is incredible!
GreenGeeks® | Fast, Secure and Eco-friendly Hosting
 
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They have user-friendly features and reliable service and most often selected hosting for most bloggers!
Leading Web Hosting, Domain, & WordPress Provider | Unleash Your Website's Full Potential
 
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I have used Go Daddy in the past and they offer great packages at a decent budget!
Domain Names, Websites, Hosting & Online Marketing Tools - GoDaddy
 
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Squarespace is a great option with multiple pre-made templates to choose from!
Website Builder — Create a Website in Minutes — Squarespace
 
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Another great hosting platform with budget friendly packages!
Hosting Services Crafted with Care - SiteGround
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if you are looking to blog and have an e-commerce store, shopify is a great option!
Shopify - Start and grow your e-commerce business
 
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I use wordpress every day for my blog and it's an easy to use platform even for beginners!
WordPress, Your Way
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I use elementor on my blog and they offer great support and AI features to help with coding!
Create a Website - Elementor Website Builder for WordPress
 
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I have been coding for a few years and code academy offers great resources to teach you how to code!
Learn to Code - for Free | Codecademy
 
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If you need help with hosting, building or putting your blog together, check out fivver and hire someone to help!
Website Design Services - Design Your Own Website | Fiverr
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Weebly is easy to use and afforable option for beginners and those with limited budget!
Weebly is the easiest way to create a website, store or blog

Wordpress Plugins

I use plugins on my blog to help manage certain things like social sharing, disclaimer policies and email sign ups! 

 
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Using a caching plugin will help optimize and speed up your website! I have been using WP Rocket for awhile and I get passing scores on pagespeed!
#1 WordPress Caching Plugin | WP Rocket
 
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I personally use this plugin to optimize all my website images.
Short Pixel - Website Image Optimization
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I use this social sharing plugin on my blog! I love the floating layout option and analytics it provides!
Social Warfare: The Ultimate Social Sharing Weapon
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I use termly for disclaimers and policies on my website!
All-In-One Compliance Solution for Small Businesses
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Handy plugin to organize recipes, pinterest pins etc.
WP Tasty - Handcrafted WordPress Plugins for Food Blogs
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Integrate your social media feeds to your blog!
Smash Balloon: #1 Social Media Feeds Plugin for WordPress
 
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This plugin is a great tool to keep your website safe!
WordPress Security Plugin | Wordfence
 
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If you need to add code to your header or footer, this plugin is easy to use!
WPCode - The Best WordPress Code Snippets Plugin
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I personally use this plugin on my blog to help find free stock images! I pulls images from pexels and unsplash.
One-Click Image Uploads for WordPress - Instant Images

Blog Themes

A collection of wordpress, shopify, and squarespace themes for bloggers and affiliates! Themes are a great way to style your blog without needed to code.

 
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Gorgeous elementor themes with a feminine style!
Feminine WordPress Themes | Web Design + Development
 
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Need a wordpress theme? This platform offers themes, builders, templates, plugins!
WordPress Themes & Website Templates from ThemeForest
 
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I recommending wordpress themes that are prebuilt for bloggers who are beginners! No coding necessary
WordPress Themes | Creative Market
 
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An elementor wordpress theme with a simple an elegant layout
ChicSavvy Elementor WordPress Theme
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Such a fun and vibrant theme!
Jelly Bean Wordpress Theme Blog
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If you are using shopify, check out this pretty theme!
Layers - Beauty Shopify Theme
 
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I love the simplicity of this squarespace theme
Squarespace Website Template | Linen
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A boho vibe for this elementor website!
Willa - An Elementor Pro Theme
 
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A blog focused theme yet I love the style!
Lexi Theme • Genesis Child Theme
 
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Another favorite from Pixie and Hue!
Brielle - Elementor Pro Theme
 
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Affiliate ready theme for bloggers!
Emily Grace - A Blog & Shop Theme

SEO Tools

SEO tools have been a game-changer for me! With their insights and analytics, I've boosted my website's visibility and reached new audiences easily. 

 
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I use keywords everywhere to do keyword research and it can also integrate with chatgpt!
Online marketing research without breaking the bank
 
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Ahrefs is another great tool to monitor keyword placement and more!
Ahrefs - SEO Tools & Resources To Grow Your Search Traffic
 
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So many classes offered and tools to teach you SEO!
SEOBUDDY - SEO Tools to improve your online visibility
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Another favorite! Semrush offers free tools that I use daily but also paid resources that will guide you in better practices!
Semrush - Online Marketing Can Be Easy
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Need blog ideas? Answer the public helps generate blog ideas based on your niche!
Search listening tool for market, customer & content research - AnswerThePublic
 
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Surfer offers seo tools, blog writting and AI assistance for your blog!
Surfer — SEO, simplified.
 
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RankIQ is helps with seo research and content writing at the same time!
RankIQ - The AI-Powered SEO Toolset for Bloggers
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I use Google Site Kit on my site and it allows me to quickly see ranking keywords and other analytics in my Wordpress dashboard!
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed
 
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A free resource to check your meta titles
Headline Analyzer

Marketing & Social

When you start a blog, social media and marketing are crucial to drive traffic and build an audience! These tools help streamline that process!

 
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I use tailwind daily to help generate Pinterest Pins and traffic to my blog!
Tailwind Social Media Management Tool | Create, Schedule & Optimize
 
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Great plugin to track affiliate links!
Lasso - Affiliate displays that increase your earnings
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Easy to use platform to manage your emails, newsletters and campaigns!
Turn emails into revenue | Mailchimp
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I use beacons to add a link to my social media profiles to include my blog and other links to make it easy and convenient for your audience!
beacons.ai - link in bio
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Great tool to write blog posts, schedule social media posts across multiple platforms and collaborate on posts with others!
Planable | Social Media Collaboration Platform
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Schedule your social media, published blog posts with HooteSuite
Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard - Hootsuite
 
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Helpful grammer tool to use for writing in your blog, emails, etc
Grammarly
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Always good to have business cards on hand to promote your blog at events or socially! Moo.com has a ton of well designed options!
Custom Online Business Printing & Design | MOO US

Design Resources

A list of recommendations to help with creating graphics, designs, and finding stock photography and videos for your blog and social media accounts!

 
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I use Canva every day to create graphics for my blog and socials!
Canva: Visual Suite for Everyone
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A canva alternative that offers tons resources for graphic design!
Create Presentations, Infographics, Design & Video | Visme
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iStock offers a variety of sotck images, vector icons, video and more!
Stock Images, Royalty-Free Images, Illustrations, Vectors and Videos - iStock
 
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A variety of editorial type of stock photos!
Get creative with stock photos and videos from Alamy
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Creative market not only has stock images but resources for web, templates, social media and more for content creators!
Creative Market: High-quality Stock Photo, Graphics, Fonts, & Design Templates
 
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I use vecteezy frequently for icons, graphics, templates and even Photoshop brushes!
Download Free Vectors, Images, Photos & Videos | Vecteezy
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Envato is a great resource for “all things” that you would need for design, blogging and social!
Envato Elements: Unlimited Stock Videos, Music, Photos & Graphics
 
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I use unsplash daily to find free stock photos and videos!
Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash
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Another great resource for free stock photos and videos that you can use on your blog!
Free Stock Photos, Royalty Free Stock Images & Copyright Free Pictures · Pexels