Most of these resources are free; some have both free and paid versions.
Affiliate Disclosure
Sometimes I use affiliate links. What does that mean? It means that for some of these resources if you use the link on this page and then make a purchase, we may earn a small commission on that sale.
MARKETING TIPS
Plumtree Marketing Blog
The Plumtree Marketing Blog provides marketing tips, thoughts and expert advice for small business owners and other professionals.
WRITING
Find the perfect word
Word Hippo is like a combination thesaurus/dictionary on steroids. In addition to providing synonyms, antonyms and definitions for a given word, Word Hippo also provides rhyming words, sentence examples, pronunciation and more.
Find related words
Related Words helps you find words that are related to a specific word or phrase. This is different than a thesaurus, which provides words with a similar meaning. For example, if you enter “photography,” a thesaurus will give you options such as “picture taking” and “camerawork.” Related Words will list synonyms as well as things like “camera,” “exposure” and “photographer.”
Make your writing easier to understand
The Hemmingway App is especially helpful if you want to bring down the reading level of your blog or newsletter article. Copy and paste your text onto the page and it will highlight difficult-to-read sentences, words and phrases that can be simplified, and the use of passive voice.
TOPIC IDEAS FOR YOUR BLOG
See what’s trending in your field
Exploding Topics analyzes millions of searches, conversations and mentions across the internet to identify topics that are gaining traction in a given field.
Find out what people are asking about
Answer the Public uses search engine data to give you a list of questions that people are asking regarding your keyword. Note that the free version only allows two searches per day.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Create eye-catching graphics
Canva is a terrific online tool that makes it possible for people with no graphics training to create great-looking social media posts, documents and more. The free version includes a huge variety of templates and stock images. A paid version offers even more options.
Remove the background from an image
Remove.bg is a great tool for those times when you have the perfect image for your blog or newsletter but want to remove a distracting background. Just upload your image and—presto—the revised image is ready to download, either with no background at all or your choice of a variety of different backgrounds.
Copy a color
Image Color Picker is a convenient tool for those times when you’re creating a graphic (such as in Canva) and you want to add text, a background or some other element that matches the color in something else. Upload an image or enter a website or image URL to get both the HEX and RGB codes for a specific color.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO keyword research
Ubersuggest is a SEO keyword research tool with both free and paid versions.