Blogging 101: Best Apps for Bloggers

If you’re anything like me you absolutely can’t live without your phone. Whilst articles are increasingly talking about putting the phone down, and helping mental health, self-care detoxes etc. I’m here to give you ideas on which apps you can be using to be productive when on your phone. These are some of the great apps I use to help me with my blogging.

Your Blog

First things first is the apps you need to manage your blog itself, and the immediate things around your blog such as emails and your social media channels.

WordPress/Blogger

The great thing about blogs today is that both WordPress and Blogger have apps which let you see your content, add content, see stats etc. I personally don’t enjoy actually posting via the app – but being able to add an idea to my drafts, check my stats when I’m out and reply to comments easily really helps me organise when I’m on the go. The great thing about the WordPress app is that I can also read other people’s blog posts on the reader, and like and comment like I usually would. I actually find that I’m a lot more focused when I read on my mobile than my desktop too!

An Email App

Whether you use Outlook, Gmail or the email app that comes with the phone, a good email app is necessary if you’re getting emails about your blog. Sometimes you get through emails which need to be replied to ASAP, so having access to them on the go is vital.

Twitter

If you don’t know me, I love Twitter. I love using Twitter for my blog, and it’s honestly my favourite way to interact with other bloggers. It’s also super handy to have on my phone, for quick engagement when I have time for scrolling. I find a lot of my genuine tweets come about when I’m out and about and on my phone!

Instagram

Of course, Instagram is also up there as a must have app. If you use IG for your blog, then you should have it on your phone. The algorithm means if you lack engagement, you posts are shown to less people, so taking time every day to interact with other people may help your own engagement to beat the algorithm too. (This isn’t perfect advice, but see my supporting other bloggers post too).

Facebook

If you still use Facebook… (I know a lot of bloggers have dropped it). It’s an easy one to have, even if you just use the app to engage in group posts rather than actual blog promotion. I put it on here for the people who do use Facebook as a promotion channel for blog posts, and to remind you if you’ve forgotten about your Facebook page or groups!

YouTube

If your blog also has a YouTube element then you need to have YouTube on your phone. Whether you use it to reply to comments and check your own videos progress, or you use it when you’re on the bus and you can watch, support and comment on others videos.

Pinterest

I feel like I yell about Pinterest a lot? And I am sorry, but if you’re using Pinterest the app is so much better for pinning other people’s pins. This may be a complete personal preference, but I think it’s just a lot  more intuitive when you’re scrolling through beautiful imagery and you can just press like one thing and select the board, and BAM you’re done. Basically if your Pinterest game is lacking – download the app and get addicted like me.

Creating Content

Next up is some apps where you can create content for your blog. Some people use the Wordpress/Blogger apps and get on well with them. But personally I like to use separate documents which have more intuitive features (like spelling and grammar checks!). Or where I can just write down all my thoughts in the same place that I will then write my content. These are also things I sync up with my other devices, so I can work on content across them all!

Google Drive/Docs/Sheets

If you don’t know about Google Drive, Docs and Sheets… honestly I am sad for you. I swear I used them every single day, whether it’s tracking my budgets, my metrics, or just random spreadsheets. Or if I’m writing up content and need a spellcheck, or need to share it quickly with a blogger friend. Plus if I need photos fast from my phone to laptop (or vice versa) then it’s simple! Basically – get them!! They’ll up your blogging organisation game, and I’m also doing a post all about them next month too.

Onenote

Similar to Google Docs to be honest, OneNote is an easy way for me to write content and ideas anywhere, and it’s all synced with my laptop and tablet. I really love OneNote as it acts as a literal notebook for me most days – I have multiple sections all for specific categories on my blog and each page is a new content idea. It allows me to plan ahead with multiple series posts (Like Blogging 101!), and it means I have it backed up somewhere if any of my devices decide to break on me.

Time Management and To Do Lists

Next up is the apps that allow you to keep yourself in check and productive. From simple to do lists, to editorial calendars, to apps that stop you from actually being on your phone. These apps are my LIFESAVERS when I’m planning my time – and allow me to understand where I maybe slacking too.

To-Do

The app I use is just called To-Do, but any to-do list app will do! If you’ve got a project, your entire blog, or specific posts, you can organise via to-do lists. If you’re more of a paper person though, don’t worry if an app to-do list doesn’t work – you can definitely adapt so only some items are on the app (E.g. Only project based tasks) or split them so one is for errands, one for your blog, one for work etc. Make it work best for you.

MyHours

As I am currently blogging for free, I like to use MyHours to understand how much time I actually spend on blogging (it’s a lot). I also use it to see how much time I spend on each aspect of blogging – writing my posts is a lot of time, but I also put in a lot of hours on social media or blog hopping to support other bloggers. This can also tell you where you may need to put more time, or spend less time (is all that time on Twitter necessary? Maybe not).

Forest

Because sometimes you need to blog on your laptop and keep off your phone for a set amount of time. Forest basically locks you out of your phone as it plants a digital tree for the time you set it. As the time counts down, the tree grows and only finishes growing once the time is up. If you use your phone in this time, the tree dies. You end up with your own digital forest with loads of grown trees, or dead trees if you keep using your phone. I’m unsure how it’s so effective for me, but killing these little digital trees has some psychological effect which keeps me motivated to stay off my phone.

Trello/Airtable

If you’re anything like me you love a good organisation spreadsheet or kanban. Trello uses the kanban method, and airtable has multiple views from spreadsheet to kanban to calendar. I use both of these for different reasons, and love them to kelp keep me organised. I use Airtable as my editorial calendar and also SEO checker. Trello is used for tracking my books. Both are wonderful.

Planning

Sometimes long term planning is necessary for events, meet ups etc. This means using the more traditional organisation apps.

Calendar

Use whichever calendar you prefer (I personally use Googles as it connects to my email!). But being able to know exactly what you’re doing when, and having it on hand all the time is super helpful. I know some people use paper calendars and diaries, but then leave them at home or in a different bag etc, and it slows down organising events and meetings.

Eventbrite

If you attend a lot of events (or you want to!) it may be worth getting Eventbrite for digital tickets. You can also see events in your local are on Eventbrite, which means you now have somewhere to look for new events. A lot of events are free, but need a ‘ticket’ for legal/health & safety reasons of the venue, meaning you don’t have to break the bank either. So you can attend even more!

Social Media Scheduling

Of course I would bring  up scheduling apps! Having these apps on my phone are so handy as if I think of a great tweet, but I’ve just tweeted like 4 times… I can schedule it.

I’ve talked about both Buffer and Hootsuite before, and both of their apps work very similarly to the desktop version. I would recommend choosing one or the other rather than both though as it can get a bit much with multiple! I personally use Hootsuite and have never had any issues except Instagram logs out every so often, but having it on my phones means it gives me fast notifications if it misses a post.