45 Online Business Tools For Bloggers and Entrepreneurs
Every day I am asked by clients that I work with: Kerry, what business tools can I use for this [fill in the blank] and for that [fill in the blank].
I remember asking the same question myself when I first became interested in making money online back in 2010. At the time I was clueless.
Fast forward twelve years, after helping hundreds of bloggers and small business owners with tech, I have used a lot of tools, and I love finding and testing new ones.
In this guide, I share 40+ of the best online business tools to use in 2022.
Blogging Platforms & Website Builders
1. WordPress
WordPress is the best blogging platform used by more than 42% of all website owners to start a blog or make a website.
Note: There are two types of WordPress. WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
When starting a blog or website for business purposes, I recommend using WordPress.org because it is highly customizable and has no limitations.
Both types of WordPress are free to use, kind of.
WordPress.org is self-hosted, so you do need to pay for web hosting.
And features on the free WordPress.com plan are minimal, so you'll likely need to upgrade to a premium plan.
WordPress is easy to use, however, like anything you do for the first time, it does come with a learning curve. My step by step WordPress tutorials will help.
2. Wix
Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder that can also be used to create a blog.
It includes hosting and built-in tools for design, SEO, and analytics. And Wix takes care of website maintenance and security, so you don't have to.
You can use Wix for free, but if you want to use a custom domain name, remove Wix ads, and more, you'll need to upgrade to one of their premium plans.
3. Squarespace
Squarespace is another popular website builder used by bloggers.
Like Wix, websites created at Squarespace are hosted, secured, and maintained for you. And they have built-in marketing tools to help build your online presence.
Customizing the look of your blog is super easy with their drag-and-drop editor. But there is no free plan. Instead, they offer a 14-day free trial.
Domain Names
4. Namecheap
Namecheap is my go-to domain name registrar. They are one of the cheapest online and have outstanding customer support.
You can get a .com domain name for only $5.98 for the first year. They also offer Whois privacy protection for free.
Web Hosting
5. Bluehost
Bluehost is where I started my blog and where most of my clients host theirs. From only $2.95 a month you get affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use hosting plans that include a free domain name for the first year, free CDN, and a free SSL certificate.
More importantly, they offer responsive 24/7 customer support. For new blogs and websites looking to get started on a budget, Bluehost is my top recommendation.
6. A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is the web hosting company I use now. They have turbo servers that load up to 20 times faster and they will migrate your blog or website for free.
A2 Hosting is my recommendation for anyone looking to move to a faster web host without breaking the bank.
7. Kinsta
Kinsta is a high-performance WordPress hosting company that was created for bloggers and business owners who need speed, security, and scalability.
They offer a wide range of hosting plans that start at $30 a month, and all include expert support, daily backups, free malware scanning and removal, and more.
8. WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting is another WordPress-exclusive hosting company that offers fast, secure, and reliable hosting plans.
Plans start at $29.99 a month and include free site speed optimization, free unlimited website migrations, free CDN, and free site fixes if your site ever goes down.
9. Convesio
Convesio WordPress hosting is the best managed WordPress hosting provider for high-traffic websites. It has never seen before auto-scaling and self-healing features that keep websites online and loading faster at all times.
Read my best WordPress hosting convesio review to learn more.
Writing Tools
10. Jasper
Jasper ai, formerly known as Jarvis ai, is an artificial intelligence copywriting software. Not only will it help you write blog posts faster ...
It will help you create original content that ranks in Google and engaging marketing copy that converts for sales pages, social media updates, emails, Ads, and more.
Plans start at $29 a month but if you're using it to create in-depth blog articles, you'll need the Boss Mode plan at $99 a month.
11. Copy ai
Copy ai is another popular artificial intelligence copywriting tool that will help put an end to writer's block and speed up content creation. Like Jarvis, it helps you create high-quality content in any niche, with no plagiarism.
Copy ai plans are cheaper than Jasper starting at $35 a month paid yearly, or $49 a month paid monthly, but Jasper is much better for writing long-form blog posts.
12. Grammarly
Grammarly is a tool to help you write content free from spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. There is a free and a paid version.
The free version of Grammarly is good enough for most people, but if you want advanced features like plagiarism checking, tone adjustments, and fluency recommendations, you'll need a Premium plan from $12 a month.
13. Hemingway
Email Marketing Tools
14. Aweber
Aweber is the first email marketing tool I ever used and it is my top recommendation for anyone new to email marketing. It is easy to use, come with outstanding support, and free until you reach 500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $16.15 a month.
15. ActiveCampaign
Activecampaign is another email marketing tool that I highly recommend. It's the next best thing to premium tools like Infusionsoft, without the hefty price tag. I particularly love their email automation workflow builder.
16. Mailchimp
Used by 72.68% of the market share, Mailchimp is the most popular email marketing platform in the world.
They do have a free plan but it lacks important features including multi-step email automation, A/B testing, and support. Plans start at $11 a month.
17. MailerLite
MailerLite is a newer email marketing tool that is quickly gaining popularity. It's free to use until you reach 1,000 subscribers and comes with a host of features, including landing pages, A/B testing, and email automation.
18. Convert Pro
Convert Pro is a popular WordPress plugin used to create and add mobile-friendly email sign-up forms on your blog to convert visitors into email subscribers.
It has a range of pre-designed sign-up form templates and types that are easy to customize with a drag-and-drop editor.
You can integrate the plugin with Google Analytics to track conversion rates and all major email marketing services. It is optimized for super fast speed and includes advanced features such as A/B testing and behavioral triggers.
19. Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads is the most popular lead generation plugin for WordPress.
It includes more than 60 pre-made opt-in form templates designed to convert, from lightbox popups, slide-ins, ribbons, scroll mats, and more.
It allows you to see how well your forms are performing with real-time conversion tracking and seamlessly integrates with all popular email marketing services.
Social Media Tools
20. Buffer
Buffer is a leading social media management tool that allows you to schedule posts to multiple social media accounts including Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
On the free plan, you can schedule 10 posts per social profile. Paid plans start at $10/month and include analytics to track how well your posts are performing.
21. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another popular social media tool that lets you schedule posts, track who's talking about your brand, and measure your success. Hootsuite has a free plan that includes basic features, and paid plans start at $19/month.
22. Quuu Promote
For a new business with no social media following, getting your content shared on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is not easy. Quuu Promote can help.
Quuu promote has a community of over 200,000 people looking for topically related content to share with their social media followers. You simply submit your content and Quuu Promote will take care of the rest.
Quuu Promote plans start at $50 /month. You can also use this tool to find content to share on your own social media account and build a following.
23. Social Warfare
Social Warfare is a WordPress plugin that adds social sharing buttons to your blog or website, making it quick and easy for readers to share your content.
There is a basic free version and a premium plan for access to more features including a variety of button designs, content protection to encourage shares, Google Analytics integration, share recovery, click-to-tweet, and much more.
24. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a tool that allows you to find out what content is shared the most on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Reddit.
You can use it to find new 'shareable' content ideas, see what's working for your competitors, find influencers in your niche, track mentions, and more.
They have a limited free plan and offer a 30-day free trial.
Video Recording, Editing, and Publishing Tools
25. YouTube
YouTube is a free video sharing service owned by Google that allows users to upload, comment on, like, and share videos.
With the right video marketing strategy, your videos can rank in Google's search results and drive a lot of traffic back to your blog, and it has built-in tools that allow you to see how well your videos are preforming.
26. Vimeo
Vimeo is a premium video hosting platform that myself and many of the clients I work with use to host videos that are not for public consumption - i.e. they are for an online course or membership site that customers pay for to access.
Vimeo does have a free plan but it's limited to 500MB per week or 5GB total storage. They offer a 30-day free trial and Premium plans start at roughly $6 a month.
27. Camtasia
Camtasia is a screen recording and video editing software. I use it to create how-to videos for my blog and to share important information with clients.
It can be used on a Mac or a Windows system and comes with a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
28. Loom
Loom is a video messaging tool that makes collaboration quick and easy. It allows you to create and share short video messages with business colleagues.
You can record your screen, your webcam, or both. There is a free plan that is limited to 25 videos and a maximum recording time of 5 minutes.
To create unlimited videos with unlimited recording time, and access advanced recording and analytics features, the business plan starts at $8 a month.
29. ScreenFlow
Alongside Camtasia, ScreenFlow is one of the most popular softwares for video recording and editing, but it's for Mac users only.
ScreenFlow is known for having the highest quality screen recording. It is easy to use and jam-packed with powerful video editing tools.
You can get started with ScreenFlow for just $149 a year and they offer a free trial so you can try it before you buy.
SEO Tools
30. Surfer SEO
SurferSEO helps you optimize your on-page SEO for higher rankings in Google. It also has a content editor to help you write optimized content from the get-go.
It integrates with Jasper ai, Google docs, and WordPress to help speed up the writing process and eliminates the need for copying and pasting content. You can even use it to plan your entire SEO content strategy.
31. Ahrefs
Ahrefs has quickly become THE most popular SEO tool since its release in 2011. In my experience, it has the most comprehensive data than all other tools.
You can use it to see watch competitors, uncover their most profitable keywords, reverse engineer their backlinks, run website audits, find keywords, and more.
Unfortunately, there is no free trial anymore. Plans start at $99 a month. However, in the near future they are changing to a 'pay for what you use' pricing structure.
32. Rank Math
Rank Math is the best WordPress search engine optimization plugin.
It allows you to easily optimize your content for your target keyword without knowing how to code. And it gives you tips to improve on-page SEO for higher rankings.
It has an easy-to-use setup wizard that configures your website with optimal SEO settings and includes other useful features including 301 redirects, Google Analytics and Google search console integration.
There's a basic free version and a premium version with plans starting at $59 yearly. Personally, I use the free version. It has everything you need.
33. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free, web-based tool that allows you to monitor your website's search engine visibility and performance. You can track your website's search traffic, crawl errors, indexed pages, and more.
Blogging Courses
34. The Authority Site System
Created by co-founders Marc and Gael: The Authority Site System teaches beginner and intermediate bloggers how to create an authority niche site that makes money with affiliate marketing, step by step.
You will learn how to choose the right niche, find high-paying affiliate programs, find keywords you can actually rank for, and create the right types of content.
35. Wealthy Affiliate
Wealthy Affiliate is another popular blogging course that teaches how to create an affiliate marketing niche site. You get access to more than 1800 expert coaches to help you overcome hurdles, weekly training, live chat, and more.
That said, it's important to know that although the online course is marketed to people of all levels, in my experience, it's best suited to complete beginners.
36. Launch Your Blog Biz
Lauren and Alex, founders of Create and Go, created two successful six-figure blogs with no technical skills or sales experience.
In this course, they show you exactly how they did it, to help you go from complete beginner to earning your first $1000 a month affiliate marketing.
37. Six-Figure Blogger
In Six-Figure Blogger, Lauren and Alex, creators of Launch Your Blog Biz above, help you take your blogging business to the next level with digital products and services, after making your first $1000 a month through affiliate marketing.
38. Stupid Simple SEO
Stupid Simple SEO is an online course specifically for bloggers who want to learn how to grow a profitable blogging business with SEO.
The course is taught by Mike Pearson, a professional blogger and SEO expert who teaches the exact formula he uses to build Google-driven niche sites that consistently earn $15,000+ a month in affiliate revenue.
Ecommerce Tools
39. Shopify
Shopify is the leading eCommerce platform used by millions of online business owners to create an online store.
You can sell unlimited products anywhere in the world, offer discount codes and gift cards, accept payment in your customer's currency, and more.
Creating and customizing your store is easy with Shopify's user-friendly drag and drop website builder. Shopify hosts your store for you and includes 24/7 support.
40. Wix eCommerce
Wix eCommerce is another popular eCommerce platform you can use to create, run, and grow an online store.
Like Shopify, you can easily customize your store with Wix's drag and drop editor. There are over 500 templates to choose from and you can customize everything from the storefront to the checkout.
You can sell up to 50,000 products, offer discount codes, gift cards, product variations, accept multiple currencies, and more.
41. SendOwl
SendOwl helps you sell and deliver digital products like eBooks, MP3s, software, memberships, and more.
You can drag and drop files into SendOwl, add descriptions, set a price, and publish your product in minutes. You can also offer discounts and bundle products.
SendOwl integrates with popular payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to process payments and includes built-in marketing tools to help you get new customers and leverage existing ones.
42. Stripe
Stripe is a payment gateway that helps you easily accept credit and debit card payments online for your products and services.
Stripe integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, SendOwl, and many other eCommerce platforms. It also includes fraud protection to help protect you from chargebacks and fraudulent payments.
Online Course Platforms
43. Kajabi
Kajabi is an all-in-one platform that includes everything you need to create, host, market, and sell online courses and digital products.
It has tools to create sales pages, build sales funnels, send email campaigns, and more. You can also track your student's progress and performance, and see how they're engaging with your content.
Recommended Reading:
- Kajabi pricing - which plan is right for you?
44. Teachable
Teachable is another popular online course platform that includes everything you need to create and sell online courses.
You can connect teachable to your own domain name which helps keep business branding consistent. And all plans include unlimited courses, students, video bandwidth, and coaching services - even the free one.
45. LearnDash
LearnDash is a WordPress LMS plugin that can be used to add online courses to your WordPress blog or create an entirely new online course website.
Because it's not an all-in-one platform like Kajabi and teachable, you'll need to use LearnDash add-ons (free and paid) to bolt on specific features such as a shopping cart, content dripping, quizzes, third party integrations, and more.
Online Marketing Platforms
46. Kartra
Kartra is quickly becoming the most popular all-in-one online marketing since it was launched in April 2018. Most people think that Kartra is just a sales funnel builder, but it's so much more than that.
Recommended Reading:
Any Online Business Tools To Add?
I will be updating this post with new tools frequently. In the meantime, I'd love to know what your go-to business tools are?
Let me know in the comments box below!