1. WordPress  WordPress is a great platform to get started on. It also isn’t too hard to convert to a self-hosted blog. Of course the paid (self-hosted) version has a lot more features than does the free version, but free is good when you are just getting started.

 

2. PicMonkey PicMonkey is a terrific way to edit pictures and create graphics for your website and social media accounts. Watermarking your pictures is so easy to do with this. They offer a free account with no limits on how long or often you use it. The paid features are also fairly inexpensive and well worth it, when you are ready to upgrade.

 

3. Buffer There are many social media scheduling tools out there. Buffer happens to be the one I currently use. It’s free to use indefinitely with just 1 account per platform. You can upgrade to multiple accounts starting at only $10 per month. The great thing here is that you can schedule tweets or Facebook updates so that you aren’t tied to computer all the time.Great for promoting those blog posts.

 

4. Tailwind  Ever wonder how some people seem to pin things on Pinterest all the time? It’s thanks to a pin scheduler like Tailwind. It’s free to use for the first 100 pins that you schedule. After that you can pay a monthly fee to schedule out Pinterest and now they do Instagram too!

 

 

5. CrowdFire Do you want to increase your engagement on Instagram, and Twitter? Then try out Crowfire! This a totally free app for your phone that only takes minutes a day. I find it especially helpful with my Twitter engagement. They have just recently expanded to include Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. I haven’t tried out the expanded version yet. But I’m sure based on how much I already like it, I’ll love the new features as well.

 

6. Stencil   Want to create great graphics? Use Stencil! You get 10 images free per month.Every month. If 10 is not enough, you can upgrade to get 50 per month for only $9 each month. The opening graphic on this post was created using Stencil. 🙂

7. MorgueFile Need decent images for a blog post but have no budget? Check out MorgueFile! Lots of good pictures available for your use. I have used them quite a bit. I would recommend starting here before going to the paid image sites.

 

8. Google Drive is an awesome tool for storage. 15 GB of space is free.  In addition file sharing is quite easy with Google Drive. The price is reasonable per month from there. Starting at 1.99 a month for 100 GB of storage.

 

9.  StumbleUpon This one is an oldie but a goodie. I use it to find content to share via social media. You can also submit your posts to be stumbled but be careful not to share too much. You will hidden from view if you share too much of your own stuff.

 

10.  MailChimp   Are you building your email list? You should be. MailChimp is an excellent tool for this. It’s free until you hit 2000  subscribers which is perfect if you are just starting out building your list. Start sending those newsletters out to your readers, it will help to get returning readers interested in what’s going on with your blog.

 

 

 

And there you have it, my favorite free tools for blogging. Are there any other tools that you think I should try? Which ones are your favorite? Let me know!