Blogging Resources
Recommended courses, services and resources.
This page contains affiliate links meaning Kit Blogs may make a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase. See the Disclaimer.
Our Preferred Blogging Tools
Below are products, services, and tools we actually use!
WordPress Themes
Astra Theme
Fast, customizable, mobile friendly, and offers a free and paid version with TONS of Starter Templates to choose from! Free and paid options!
Kadence
Fantastic and expanding theme that is amazingly customizable, fast, mobile ready, and can do almost anything you want from a theme. All using Gutenberg (best for speed!).
WordPress Page Builders
Gutenberg
The native WordPress page builder, great for speed and 100% free! You can use this same builder for Pages and Posts.
Elementor
My favorite page builder capable of handling almost everything with ease. Not as fast as Gutenberg (which you should ALWAYS use for blog posts).
Looking for a Great Host for Your Website or Blog?
Email & Tools
MailerLite
This Email Service Provider (ESP) is free up to 1K subscribers and has everything you need to send email blasts, create email automations, and more!
Google Workspace
Set-up a domain email (though most hosts do this for free) and connect to all sorts of Google products! Formerly GSuite.
Plugins
Yes, there are TONS of plugins to choose from for WordPress. See some amazing plugins (free and paid options for each type) and some plugins to avoid!
These are great for everyone:
Caching and optimization (paid)
Link and affiliate link management (free)
Pinterest and share functions (paid)
Media compression for site speed (paid)
These are great for some depending on the needs of the site:
Learning Management System (LMS) for hosting your own courses on your site
Locking of content for memberships or other purposes
Other Tools
ThriveCart
One of my best investments (lifetime deal!) – a cart to sell my courses and digital products with built in funnels and payment processor integration. ThriveCart review.
Canva
Online and mobile program to create images for your blog (Pinterest pins, featured images, etc). I use Pro but there is a free version.
AppSumo
Set-up a domain email (though most hosts do this for free) and connect to all sorts of Google products! Formerly GSuite.
Vimeo
Video hosting (so you don’t bog down your server!) that I use for videos on all my websites and within my courses.
HIDDEN
Online and mobile program to create images for your blog (Pinterest pins, featured images, etc). I use Pro but there is a free version.
HIDDEN
Set-up a domain email (though most hosts do this for free) and connect to all sorts of Google products! Formerly GSuite.
Check out our recommended physical tools (video equipment, lighting, etc) here.
Blogging Courses
A course taking you from nothing to launch with a self-hosted WordPress blog with only 3 recommended investments.
Please note that if you already have a Kit Blog, this course is only to set-up your WordPress blog (which you have already done) and your Master Your Kit Blog course is more in-depth.
Recommended Courses
I have taken so many courses, but I’m only calling out the courses that provided me the most value:
(I have taken many others, but these are my top picks)
Start A Blog
- Blog By Numbers (Suzi Whitworth)
- Becoming A Blogger (Cate Rosales)
- Niche Site Academy (Mike Pearson)
SEO
- Stupid Simple SEO (Mike Pearson, see review)
- Easy On Page SEO (Debbie Gartner, for beginners)
- Pinteresting Strategies (Carly Campbell)
Making Money Blogging
- Affiliate Marketing, Simplified! (Cate Rosales)
- Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers (Carly Campbell)
Email Marketing
- Email Marketing Course: Monetize Your List Blueprint (Chelsea Clarke)
- Email Marketing Fairy (Kate Doster)
WordPress
- Understanding WordPress (FREE – Grayson Bell)
- Understanding Site Speed (Grayson Bell)
- Blog Analytics (Tracie Fobes)
Recommended Facebook Groups
Blogging Groups (free to join):
- Becoming a Blogger (with Cate Rosales)
- Blogging Like We Mean It (with Carly Campbell)
- Blogger Education Network – Learn How To Blog (with Tracie Fobes)
- Getting It All Done: Business Building and Productivity for Moms
Astra and/or Elementor:
Legal help/support:
Hire Help
Below we list all of our suggested contacts for further help with your blog or website. These are all people we have worked with or who come highly recommended.
Developer
iMark Interactive
Grayson Bell has over 15 years of blogging and WordPress development experience. He has services from helping with troubleshooting (“quick fixes”) to speeding up your site to monthly support plans (and so much more).
He is continually helping and supporting WordPress bloggers and website owners through iMark Interactive and by interacting with many Facebook groups to help with all the questions that come up on the technical side of blogging.
Writer
Gill Hill Writing Services
Gillian Hill is a copywriter and editor who loves to dig in and find out about what people do, then showcase that to the world.
She specializes in helping small businesses and bloggers by providing templates to allow them to write their own first drafts, then provides help with editing and polishing so it’s ready to present to the world.
She is available on an hourly or retainer basis to provide a number of blogging services, including strategy and editing. If you would like to know more, please contact her at gillhill@ gillhillwritingservices.com