Struggling to find enough time? Overwhelmed by your workload? Check out these free writing apps designed to make blogging easier.
Neglected blogs litter the internet. We’ve all seen them. There are 4 or 5 carefully crafted blog posts then… silence. No new posts for 2 years. The blog is a visual reminder that they’ve given up. Or even worse, they’ve gone out of business.
It’s a lousy first impression for potential customers. But it’s easy to let good writing habits slip.
You have too much on. It’s hard to find the time to write a blog post when you have impatient clients waiting. And home life is just as busy.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. The Content Marketing Institute found that “57% of B2B marketers say that producing content consistently is their biggest struggle”.
The blogging pain is real! But don’t worry, these timesaving writing tools will cut down the time it takes, and may even make writing fun again.
They’ll help you:
- Write without distractions
- Organise your research
- Manage writing projects
- Come up with content ideas
- Boost your views
- Edit your content faster
And they won’t cost you a penny.
1. Time Management – Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer & To Do List
This highly-rated app combines the much-loved Pomodoro technique with a to-do list. You focus on your work in 25-minute chunks separated by 5-minute breaks. No replying to messages, checking Facebook or cleaning the fridge!
What’s great about this app is it also allows you to organise your work into separate tasks. You can also add due dates, reminders and even white noise to help you concentrate.
This free app crams in loads of handy features to help you get your work finished.
2. Write anywhere – Google Drive
Do you really need to be told about this one? I don’t know how to work without it now. With Google Drive, you store your files and folders in Google’s Cloud. And you can access your work from anywhere. From your mobile in a French café to a hotel computer in Honolulu.
The best bit is you can share your files with whoever you want. Even someone without a google account. And as you write, your work automatically updates and syncs. So your colleagues can view the files in real time, without having to wait for an email and then write a reply.
This is a real timesaver.
3. Research helper – OneTab
If the internet is your chief source of research material, then you probably have a million tabs open at the same time. I know I do.
To use, you install this OneTab extension to Chrome or Firefox. Then click on the icon and it will turn all your tabs into a list. Those tabs at the top disappear, saving you precious memory space. You then reopen the ones you want by clicking the links individually and close them from the list when you’re done.
A clutter-free way to see and access your research.
4. Spelling and grammar – Grammarly
This is an app or extension that will check for common spelling and grammar errors. There are always words we need to double-check we’ve got right. This online tool is brilliant at correcting those common mistakes.
The free version does a great job of giving your work the once-over. And if you need more help, there’s an option to pay a fee for the Premium version.
Cut out those spelling mistakes.
5. Get inspired – Portent’s Content Idea Generator
Sometimes all we need is a superb idea to get us started. Simple, huh? Finding an attention-grabbing headline can eat up a lot of time. This website asks for a keyword, then finds a click-worthy subject your readers will love. If you don’t want to use it, just click refresh and it’ll give you another.
There’s a sense of humour behind this, so it’s perfect for blogging. But not so handy for a funeral director’s website.
Use this to fire up your imagination.
6. Create a winning headline – CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
The website asks you to put in a headline. Then it uses a database to give you an overall score and tell you what you got right. If it comes back with the word ‘generic’, have another go.
It logs your headline history so you can compare your headline scores. And it helps you identify which words stand out and why. This tool can be addictive, so test out your headlines and see if you can get a top score.
Although free, it needs you to put in your name and email address to access it.
7. Make it easy to read – Hemmingway Editor
This site will cover your newly written blog post with a highlighter pen. Pointing out your lengthy sentences, over-complicated words and over-use of adverbs.
It’s like going back to school and having that strict English teacher Mrs Appleton from Grade 9 scribble all over your work. But it’s a cracking free tool to use before you hit that ‘publish’ button. Once you’ve fixed the problems it’s spotted, your blog post will be easier to read.
Get your words and readability analysed before you publish.