ProBlogger: Tips from the Trenches: Best Blogger Productivity Tools

Tips from the Trenches: Best Blogger Productivity Tools

Posted: 24 Mar 2012 07:09 AM PDT

When we put together Blog Wise, I thought I would be the only blogger who didn’t use many (okay—any!) of the productivity apps I downloaded. As it turned out, very few of the pro bloggers we spoke to relied on any apps or tools other than Gmail, Google Calendar, and Evernote.

So I decided to ask some of my connections on social media what kinds of tools they use, and I got a great response. Here I’ve compiled the list so that, if you’re interested, you can try some of these tools for yourself. Of course, if you have other time-savers you’d like to add, let us know in the comments.

Software

WordPress plugins

WordPress SEO by Yoast WordPress SEO plugin, recommended by The Emotion Machine
Bulletproof WordPress security plugin, Itzik Atia
Drafts Scheduler WordPress plugin for post scheduling, recommended by Itzik Atia

Blogging software

MarsEdit for editing blog posts offline, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
Skitch for capturing screenshots, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
Pixelmator for fast image editing, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
BlogStomp, for managing image layouts, recommended by
Natalie Link Norton
Sticky notes Mac note reminder software, recommended by Morgan Barnhart
Springpad mobile note-taking software, recommended by Morgan Barnhart
Akismet for spam management, recommended by Itzik Atia
Zemanta blog publishing “assistant”, recommended by Michele Neylon
InboundWriter for keyword optimization of content, recommended by Michael Roberts
Any.DO” mobile note taking software, recommended by Servando So Yong Silva
Blog desk for writing blog posts, recommended by Hitesh Bhasin
Scribfire post management tool, recommended by
Jazili M. Idris

Other services

Pomodoro Pro iOS app for using the Pomodoro productivity technique, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
Bluehost web hosting, recommended by Brittany Baughman
Stumbleupon for bookmarking sites to write about later, recommended by Leah Quinn
Rainymood.com for getting in the writing zone, recommended by Daun Gardiner Jacobsen

Hardware

An ideas notepad, recommended by Sean Keats
A Mac, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
Big monitor(s) , recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
Classical music, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
A cheap kitchen timer for getting started on tasks, and managing social media time, recommended by Sonia Simone
A coffee machine, recommended by Brittany Baughman
An iPad, recommended for mobile blogging by Apple Lim.