Here are 5 software programs and websites that can help you maintain and grow your blog, and maybe help you save a little time.
1. MyHours
Myhours may not save you time right away. But it will allow you to track your online hours to work more effectively. You can track anytime and anywhere you can access their website. Everything is done in the browser and there are no downloads to take up space on your computer. Tracking can be broken up by project and you can email reports. This is perfect for figuring out if all the time you are putting into your blog is actually worth it.
2. PR Checker
Once you have figured out just how much time you are putting into your blog, check out how popular your blog is with PR Checker. Simply visit the site and add the mentioned code onto each page that you wish to track. You can even add page rank buttons to your blog that display your ranking. The ranking is given in a points system, with 10 points being the highest rank you can attain.
3. Mailchimp
Free is good, especially when it can drive more traffic to your blog. Mailchimp is an email list mailing service that is free if you have less than 2000 subscribers. This is a great way to stay in touch with readers who may not visit your site daily.
The service also has paid plans for those with larger subscriber’s bases or who wish to send more than 12,000 emails monthly. They offer templates to make your messages visually appealing and tracking to see who is actually opening and clicking on your message links. There is also Mailchimp Mobile so you can view stats and manage your subscribers on the go.
4. Rafflecopter
Many bloggers love to offer giveaways. They drive lots of traffic to your blog, and can gain you a lot of subscribers each one you do. Giveaways can be difficult to manage, but with Rafflecopter it can be easy. You simply log in on the website and input some information about your giveaway.
A custom form with your giveaway details is created and you can place it on your blog. It gives visitors information on the giveaway, and how much time is left in the contest. For the blogger, Rafflecopter collects, validates and organizes all entrants. It can even draw a winner for you.
5. TweetDeck
As a blogger, using Social Media websites to drive traffic to your blog is an everyday occurrence. You can spend hours going from Facebook, to Twitter, and then Google+ updating, accepting friend requests and sending tweets. With TweetDeck , you have a dashboard of all your social media sites on one page. From TweetDeck you can manage all your social media in one place saving you a lot of time and aggravation.Blogging is definitely not easy, but using software programs like these designed for bloggers will help you manage and produce your blog as quickly and productively as possible. Most of these programs are run over the internet and do not need to be downloaded to a personal computer. Since they are used online, these software applications make blogging easier from anywhere in the world.
Cody Wydman writes for DownloadHaus.com, where people can download audacity for free.
