While I do my main blogging from my laptop, there are several apps that I absolutely love and actually even prefer to use over the desktop versions. Now, I can't guarantee that you won't become even more obsessed with checking your blog, but I can guarantee that you will become even more obsessed with checking your blog. I'm sorry. It's fun though.
[Tweet "My top 8 favorite blogging apps & how I used them! #bloggingtips"]
WordPress
Um, this app is my life. My favorite part is the comment section, because I can reply super fast and easy to all of the comments left on my blog. I added a plugin Comment Email Reply so that all of my readers are notified when I respond to them, and I just respond to everyone right from this app. I LOVE IT.
My second favorite feature in this app would be the stats section. As we all know, Google Analytics has the most accurate reflection of your blog's stats, and I have found that the WordPress app's stats for my blog are generally half of what they are on GA. So I can just double the numbers and I get a better idea of where my blog is at for the day. I love being able to see what my readers are clicking on and also who is linking back to me.
Google Analytics (Android users click here).
Gotta check this baby every day! I love seeing how many people are on my site at any given time and what the hot times are during the day for traffic. Just like on the desktop site, you can access a ton of info on the app, like where your traffic is coming from to what keywords are being used to find your site.
Adsense (Android users click here)
I love seeing how many pennies I've made since yesterday! Hahahahaha! My favorite part about this app, besides seeing how much I'm earning, is being able to quickly access which ads are doing well in the reports section.
MailChimp
I send my weekly newsletter through MailChimp, so one thing I love about this app is that I can check it and see how well my most recent newsletter is doing. It will tell me how many people have opened it, what they clicked on, etc. I can also see how many people subscribed to my newsletter every day. I do all of my actual editing on the desktop version of this site, but I love using the app to watch the stats.
Photobucket
I use Photobucket to host all of my photos for my blog, but the desktop site itself can get pretty bogged down and slow, plus they have some annoying popups and videos that start playing while trying to upload photos. If I have the photos I want to use on my phone, I'll upload into the app instead, it's SO MUCH faster. Then when I'm putting together my post, I'll get on the desktop version and get the share codes I need. Makes things a lot easier.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is amazing for scheduling tweets. Every night that I write a blog post, I schedule out the tweets for that post up to 2 months out. You can pick the time or you can use their feature to auto schedule for optimal impact.
StumbleUpon (Android users click here)
StumbleUpon is my most favorite recent discovery!!! I currently have a post gaining lots of traction over there, 5 Morning Rituals for an Inspired Day. Take a look at the numbers on my StumbleUpon share icon at the top of that post. Woot woot, baby!! StumbleUpon brings traffic! And lots of it if a post starts getting stumbled a lot. I had another blogging buddy whose post went viral over there the other day, a post that was just a regular post without much action before she submitted it. My new nightly ritual for StumbleUpon is to stumble 10-20 articles that I like and then submit one of my own. It takes me 5 minutes. Which is beyond worth it considering the traffic it's bringing my blog. Today it's literally 50% of all my traffic referrals.
Crowdfire
This app used to be called Just UnFollow. It basically shows you all of the people who have followed or unfollowed you on Twitter and Instagram. For a long time I wasn't very good about checking Twitter, and I'd just use this app to follow back all of the people who had followed me and unfollow those who had unfollowed. I put this app last because I don't really use it daily, maybe like once a week. I'll see who has unfollowed me on Twitter and unfollow them, make sure I'm following everyone who is following me, check to see who's been inactive for several months and also unfollow them. There appears to be new features to this app, like schedule posts for Instagram, but I have yet to look into it.
I hope you found this post helpful! Apps are amazing and usually so much quicker than the actual desktop site. They're great for quick checkins and keeping an overall eye on your site and the stats throughout the day. If you have any favorite blogging apps that I didn't mention, DO TELL in the comments below, I'd love to hear about them!
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom
Awesome Jessica! I like your disclaimer that you "can’t guarantee that you won’t become even more obsessed with checking your blog, but... that you will become even more obsessed with checking your blog." LOL
I only use the StumbleUpon app - as you know... I love that site! It's one of the most undervalued blogger's treasures that's for sure! It actually runs much faster on the app than on the desktop... I have no idea why.
I also do most of my pinning from my phone. Although that might change soon because I'm thinking of investing in Tailwind.
Thanks for sharing these! I'm still on the fence over the WordPress app. It seems so convenient... but I'm scared. LOL
Wishing you a lovely day!
xoxo
Jessica Dimas
StumbleUpon is so amazing!! Wish I would've jumped on that boat a lot sooner! If anything, the WP app is amazing for commenting, but it totally IS too convenient and addicting lol.
Chelsea
Ah! I can't wait to be able to use the WordPress app when I switch! And I definitely use the Google Analytics app all the time. I didn't know Mailchimp had an app, though. And the Crowdfire one sounds really helpful! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica Dimas
Google Analytics is one of my favorites for sure! You will LOVE the WordPress app, especially for commenting.
Meg O.
Hey! There's my face in your comments! Haha. I love the WordPress app. I need to download StumbleUpon... I'm still trying to figure it all out.... I have gotten hardly anything from it. I guess I'm not stumbling correctly?
Jessica Dimas
No, it really just all depends. SU is like going fishing, you just don't know when something is going to bite lol. But fish will definitely bite and you'll be shocked at the traffic!!
Tawnya
Brilliant!! I didn't know about crowd fire but I'm excited about it!! I find I get a lot of people who follow me and then unfollow quickly, as a way for me to go follow them and I HATE that! Now I can fire em' 😉
I also love stumble upon on my phone but man oh man is it a time suck!!
Jessica Dimas
I REALLY loathe that. Such a low down thing to do lol. I love clicking unfollow on someone who followed me just for a like.
Ailee | Snapshots & My Thoughts
This post is AMAZING. I just signed up for Hootsuite - I've never really been a big Tweeter, but if I can pre-schedule them, I'm game. I am also downloading Crowdfire. Ugh, thank you, thank you!
Jessica Dimas
I loooove Hootesuite!! And Crowdfire too, both extremely helpful!! 🙂
Tiffany
Yes!!! These are all soo good, and the fact that I DON'T have them all downloaded yet is just a crying shame. Looks like I"ll be spending the first few hours of my work day downloading some apps!
Great list Jess!!
Jessica Dimas
I hope you like some of them!!
Emily @ Words I Wheel By
Made me laugh to see one of my comments in a screenshot 🙂 Good round-up!
Jessica Dimas
Lol yes!! Thank you Emily!
Alycia
I love this post!! I should get the GA app! Sounds useful!!! And I use photobucket too, but recently, it told me That I maxed out on my usage for the month?!? What the crap?? So it stopped showing all my images on my blog from there! Super annoying!!
Love these tips, I will definitely be looking into these apps!!!
Jessica Dimas
That's so crazy Alycia!! I've never gotten that notice before! Did you get it fixed or did you stop using them?
Cami
Thanks again for the great advice! I need to download the wordpress app for comments for sure! Pinning for future reference as well.
Jessica Dimas
It's super helpful for commenting, you'll love it!!
Ida
Blogging apps make blogging so much easier. I didn't know there was an app for Google Analytics. Thanks for the heads up!
Jessica Dimas
Yes they do!! And the GA app is so helpful!
Kristy
Love this list! I feel a little left behind since I'm not on WordPress yet, but you better believe I will be referencing back to this when I do. I just started using Hootsuite today, and I had no idea that it was an app! Looking into that pronto. And I'll be looking into Crowdfire, too! 🙂 Hope you're having an amazing week!
Jessica Dimas
Yeah I haven't used the Hootsuite app a ton yet because I just discovered it too but it will be so helpful to schedule things when I'm doing boring mommy duties like laying in bed with the kiddies while they fall asleep 🙂
Tamara
WordPress is my favorite too!! And comment email reply is a great plug-in! I reply to comments right in there, which is how I do it so effectively.
I love Crowdfire too. I do get amazed at how many people unfollow me, though. I'm like.. "What did I do wrong??"
Jessica Dimas
Yes, it's the most effective setup for commenting and your readers receiving your response!! Yeah I always get slightly offended when I'm unfollowed lol
Kelli {A Deeper Joy}
This is great! I haven't heard of some of these apps. Thanks for sharing, Jessica!
Jessica Dimas
I hope you like some of them Kelli!
Lindsay Gallimore
Ok so I am CLEARLY not maximizing my smartphone's functionality! I use most of those services on desktop.... but aside from WP... NONE on my phone! I definitely prefer working on a big screen, but sometimes I can't get to one!
Jessica Dimas
Me too Lindsay!! I always open up my laptop to do my main work, but these apps make life easier in between 🙂
Monica
I am definitely going to have to check out that plugin on commenting by email. That would be SO nice for commenting on the go! And I do love using stumble upon on my phone. It's totally fun! <3
Jessica Dimas
Yes, it's the perfect plugin!!
Tabitha Blue
Great post!! I use most of these too, and love how quick and easy they are to use!! I pretty much only use the WP app for comments, but it does make it super easy!! Great roundup babe!
Jessica Dimas
Yes, me too!! And ditto for the WP, makes it SO easy to comment.