16 Free Blogging Tools to Use in 2024 (Write Blogs That Convert)

As someone who’s written over a thousand blog articles over the years, I know how helpful it is to have free tools that make blogging easier. In this article, I’m sharing my favorite free tools for blogging.

While there are many paid-for tools worth checking out, it’s easy to stick with free ones because there are plenty of useful options. These are also ideal for small business owners and bloggers who want to write blogs that rank on Google and drive results.

What tools do I need as a blogger?

To write blogs your target audience can find and wants to read, you need tools for keyword research, finding and optimizing photos, editing, and organizing.

Not only do you have to use appropriate keywords to rank on search engines, but you need to create attention-grabbing headlines. You should also include high-quality photos, and before you publish, you need to edit the content.

Let’s not forget to mention that being organized while doing all of this can make a world of difference. But it doesn’t have to be as tricky as it sounds!

Here’s a quick overview of 16 blogging tools to create a scroll-stopping blog post and turn your blog into one that stands out. More details on each below!

1. Google Keyword Planner

2. Semrush

3. Ubersuggest

4. Answer the Public (my best blogging discovery!)

5. Sharethrough Headline Analyzer

6. Advanced Marketing Institute Analyzer

7. Blog Title Generator

8. Capitalize My Title

9. Pixabay

10. Unsplash

11. TinyPNG

12. Hemingway

13. Grammarly (my all-time favorite!)

14. Cliche Finder

15. Chrome Groups

16. Google Drive (can’t live without it!)

For Keyword Research

One of the most important things to understand about writing blogs is how critical keywords are for search engine optimization (SEO). The right keywords are necessary for successful blogging because this is how your target audience finds your content.

These are the best free blogging tools I’ve found to help you find keyword and blog topic ideas.

• Google Keyword Planner

• Semrush

• Ubersuggest

• Answer the Public

Note: Once you’re ready for a more in-depth keyword research tool, check out Keysearch. This paid resource is my go-to.

Google Keyword Planner

I used Google Keyword Planner for years to find almost all my blog article topics. You can use it to get keyword ideas related to your business. Unlike other free keyword tools, this one doesn’t have a daily maximum. Or if it does, it’s high enough that I’ve never hit it.

Google Keyword Planner also shows monthly average searches for a phrase and competition rates (low, medium, or high).

When you initially start with Google Keyword Planner, you’re prompted to answer questions about your business (i.e. name, website, etc.). When it asks for payment information for ads, you don’t have to fill this part out. It’ll still take you to the free keyword tool.

Google Keyword Planner shows keyword ideas, average monthly searches, and competition rate.

Semrush

Semrush is very similar to Google Keyword Planner. It gives keyword ideas, average search numbers, and competition density.

It also shows keyword difficulty and gives a quick tip for ranking that keyword for SEO.

If you use the free version of Semrush or the keyword magic tool, you’re limited to 10 searches per day.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest offers a ton of tools for SEO, but the ‘keyword ideas’ tool is free to use. It shows you search volume, SEO difficulty, and a couple of other money-making things.

Since the free version of Ubersuggest only allows for a few daily searches, I usually use this as a backup. I also use it to compare what I find on Google Keyword Planner or Semrush.

Answer the Public

my best blogging discovery!

I can’t believe how long I wrote blogs without knowing about Answer the Public.

How often do you go to Google to type in a question? Maybe you ask how to start a blog or why SEO is important.

Well, Answer the Public will give you examples of popularly searched questions for topics you want to write about. Simply type in your topic idea, and tons of questions will come up. I love to use Answer the Public when I’m writing a FAQ-type post, or sometimes I’ll use questions as headers.

Pro tip: Similar to Answer the Public, you can also type your keyword into Google and see what questions pop up on page 1 of Google under “people also ask.”

For Headlines

After keywords, headlines are the second most important piece of a blog. The headline is the first thing a potential reader will see, and it needs to be catchy to draw them in. In fact, you have 8 seconds or less to grab your readers’ attention.

These tools will analyze your headline for you to ensure it’s click-worthy. And, if you’re struggling to even begin creating a headline, check out the blog title generator.

Sharethrough Headline Analyzer

I use Sharethrough Headline Analyzer for every single headline I create, and it’s easily one of my favorite free tools for blogging!

Use Sharethrough Headline Analyzer to create headlines or titles that capture attention and create engagement.

All you have to do is put in your headline idea, and it’ll give it a score. Then it gives suggestions.

Suggestions include things like using more alert words, increasing length, and using positive sentiments. It also provides resources to expand on advice given.

Advanced Marketing Institute Analyzer

Like Sharethrough, Advanced Marketing Institute Analyzer scores your headline based on word usage.

With your score, it expands to share more information about what audience it will connect well with.

While it doesn’t give tips on how to make your headline better, you can change it up as many times as you’d like to see what improves the score.

Blog Title Generator

As much as creating headlines is one of my favorite parts of blogging, I get stumped sometimes. When that happens, title generators come in handy.

It’s important to know that generated headlines sometimes make no sense, but they can help get your creative juices flowing.

This blog title generator usually seems to give practical ideas. It has you put in your keyword, then select what kind of term it is (i.e. location, product, event, etc.). Then, it gives you headline ideas and keeps generating more if you ask it to.

A blog title generator gives ideas based on your topic.

Capitalize My Title

Am I the only one who sometimes forgets what words should be capitalized in a headline? Even as a grammar nerd, I second-guess myself sometimes.

Capitalize My Title allows you to insert your title and select what style you’re using, such as MLA, APA, etc., then shows you the correct way to capitalize it.

For Photos

One of the most common blogging mistakes is not adding visuals to the article.

Photos are necessary for blog posts because they allow you to break up your text, keep your reader's attention, and optimize for SEO.

These free tools for blogging to find and optimize photos are my go-to’s for every blog post I write.

Pixabay

Pixabay offers stock photos that are free to use for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You can also find videos and music on Pixabay.

Some media on Pixabay requires you to share attribution – meaning you must give the author credit if you share it on your blog post or anywhere else. I personally haven’t come across any photos that require attribution, but be sure to do this if directed to.

Unsplash

Unsplash is similar to Pixabay in that you can access countless high-quality stock photos. All images are free to use and share.

I can almost always find what I’m looking for on Unsplash, and Pixabay is a great alternative otherwise.

Unsplash is one of the best free tools for blogging to find high-quality photos.

TinyPNG

When you have all the images you want to use for your blog post, it’s time to optimize them for search engines.

One of the best ways to do this is by reducing the file size because using large files within a blog post slows your site speed down and negatively affects SEO.

I like TinyPNG most for this because it’s free and incredibly easy. All you have to do is upload your photo, reduce the file size, then download the reduced file to use in your article.

I talk more about this and other simple SEO hacks in this article.

For Editing

One of the most overlooked techniques for writing blogs that drive results is editing. During the editing process, you can tweak your content to be just right for converting readers into potential customers or clients.

While you want to use editing tools at your discretion, these resources can help ensure your spelling and grammar are accurate and that your content is easy to read.

Hemingway

Hemingway Editor is a website that’ll inspect your content and give suggestions for improving its readability. It’ll show things such as which sentences are too long or what can be rephrased for simpler alternatives.

You can also see what grade level readability your content is, which is a valuable tool. Most Americans read at a 7th or 8th-grade reading level, so you want to follow this to ensure your content is accessible.

I will say that sometimes it doesn’t make much sense to follow what Hemingway suggests, so use your best judgment. However, I can usually trust it to help me get on the right track with editing.

Grammarly 

my all-time favorite!

After I use Hemingway to improve my blog’s readability, I paste my edited content into Grammarly.

It scores correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. Even though Grammarly is fairly accurate (and much better than many other editing tools), you need to be careful. Double-check that its suggestions are correct for your specific content.

Grammarly can be used in your browser on your computer and as a plug-in to show changes directly on your document. I like to use the browser format and paste my content there when I’m finished writing and make suggested changes as I see fit.

You can also download the app and add it as a keyboard on your phone. This is good for you if you work on your phone or send professional emails on your phone.

Pro Tip: While Grammarly’s free plan is useful, Grammarly Premium is a super affordable game changer. It’s so good that I skip the Hemingway step now that I have this. As of early 2023, it’s $12/month for an annual plan, $20/month for a biannual plan, or $30 paid monthly.

I love Grammarly so much that I’m on a 150-week streak at the time of writing this and used it to edit more than 326,000 words in just one month.

Cliche Finder

To be honest, I don’t use Cliche Finder often. However, I’ve used it several times and really liked it.

Simply paste your content into the platform. Then, it’ll find and highlight expressions and phrases that are overused.

It also gives suggestions to create more unique content. It can be overwhelming because it does give many suggestions, but using it a few times helped me be more aware of how to be more original in my blog content.

For Organization

As a business owner who runs my own blog and has worked with many blog clients, staying organized has been critical to my success.

I know there are many fancy tools and platforms for this, but I keep my organization simple.

Google Drive

can’t live without it!

It doesn’t get much simpler than Google Drive.

I have a folder on my drive for each of my clients. In their folder, I organize completed content, content that I’m working on, and whatever else.

I do the same for my own blog. I create a folder for all my Google Docs with blog drafts. In that folder, I create other folders for further organization.

I’ve figured out what works for me to organize content, so I don’t have to dive deep into Google to find documents.

Here’s what the folder for my personal blog looks like:

I have a Google folder to keep all of my and my clients’ content organized.

Chrome Groups

I was a couple of years into my business when I discovered Chrome groups, and it changed my life!

If you have several tabs open (like I always do when writing a blog), you can sort them into groups so that multiple tabs aren’t everywhere.

Simply right-click the tab, click ‘add tab to new group’ and give the new group a name (or pick a group you’ve already made).

Here’s what it might look like for me:

• ‘Office’ group: all tabs related to my organization, time tracking, etc.

• ‘Client’ group: all tabs related to my client, like their website, article outline, and my notes on their previous feedback

• ‘Resources’ group: all tabs that I’m using for research/resources for the article

Of course, your groups will vary based on what you’re working on. But in any case, it’s ideal for decluttering your screen.

Free tools for blogging: final thoughts

I hope you found this article helpful and feel ready to use the best blogging tools without spending too much money.

Blogging can feel overwhelming, but it’s easier to write purposeful and efficient articles when you know how to blog well and what resources to use.

If you want more blogging resources on a budget, snag a free preview of my blogging toolbox. It has customizable templates to help you write results-driven articles with confidence!