5 Must-Have Tools For Every Beginner Travel Blogger

I assure you, these five must-have tools for every beginner travel blogger are essential tools for any aspiring travel blogger! They’ll simplify your journey, especially in the initial stages. I can’t imagine navigating the blogging world without them, and while they may require an investment, they’re worth every penny!

As a travel blogger, there’s a lot of information to absorb, processes to understand, and skills to acquire. When I started my blogging journey, I learned as I went along, which wasn’t necessarily a bad approach. However, with the knowledge I have now, I realize I could have progressed much more efficiently if I’d started with these tools.

If you’re just embarking on your blogging journey, allow me to guide you in the right direction with these fantastic resources. They can’t be missed if you’re committed to establishing a blog and ultimately monetizing it!

Grammarly

If you’re blogging in English, especially if it’s not your native language, Grammarly is an absolute necessity! There’s no room for negotiation on this front. Even if you believe your English is impeccable, errors can still slip through the cracks.

Mistakes are a part of human nature, but the smart approach is to review your writing for spelling and grammar while also receiving suggestions to enhance sentence structure. You want to sound professional, right?

I’ve been using Grammarly for nearly eight years, and it’s become an indispensable tool for me. By installing the browser extension, Grammarly extends its checking capabilities to practically every website you visit.

This tool proves invaluable for crafting blog posts and emails, creating sales pages, writing social media captions and more. When I revisit older blog posts written before Grammarly, I can’t help but cringe at the numerous errors.

It’s Grammarly for the long haul, without a doubt!

Canva Pro

Canva Pro has been my sidekick for almost a decade! But let’s be real: Everyone else has only caught on with Canva in the past five years.

Think of Canva as the superhero for the design-challenged. It’s your go-to for pretty much everything design-related, especially when you are not design or tech-savvy!

Need a logo? Check. Looking for photos? Got it. Want to create some digital products to expand your services? You’re covered. Documents, presentations, and oh-so-many templates? Canva’s got everything you can possibly think of.

While professional programs like InDesign or Photoshop are obviously more extensive, they also have a steep learning curve and a hefty price tag.

Canva Pro, though? It’s affordable at $120 yearly and worth every cent. I’m all over Canva for creating digital products, spicing up my Pinterest pins, crafting reel covers for Instagram, and giving my blog that extra aesthetic sparkle!

Lightroom

Every travel blogger or content creator hits a point where they have to dive into photo and video editing. Lightroom, from the Adobe family, is like the chill cousin of Photoshop and an absolute must-have for any beginner travel blogger’s toolkit!

A must in the top 5 must-have tools for every beginner travel blogger!

It’s got fewer bells and whistles than Photoshop, but that’s what makes it friendlier for newbies. Plus, it’s ready to roll on both desktop and mobile. Not sure where to start? Play around with the settings to see what magic you can create. Honestly, even if you’re not up for a deep dive, sticking to the basic adjustments can still make your shots look fabulous.

YouTube is your best friend for Lightroom tutorials, or get your hands on one of the many presets out there!

And the best part? It’s only $12 a month, which is pretty sweet for what you get.

Notion

Notion has recently crashed the party as a game-changer in my travel blogger toolkit! A while back, I gave it a try but wasn’t exactly head over heels—it felt like trying to read a map upside down. There’s a bit of a hill to climb learning-wise, and initially, I wasn’t ready to put in the work.

However, a couple of YouTube tutorials later, I’ve seen the light. Notion is a one-stop-shop for getting your life organized. From mapping out social media posts to keeping tabs on blog content and even ticking off personal to-dos and travel plans, it’s got you covered.

It’s pretty much everything you need to organize your digital life. Sure, there’s a bit of a learning curve to understanding databases, but there are many templates out there to start with.

RankIQ

If you’re committed to making your blog a success, it’s important to invest in the right tools, especially a solid keyword tool to boost your Google rankings. Understanding and implementing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential for crafting blog posts that rank high on Google.

SEO is a key player in your blog’s strategy, a must for anyone looking to monetize their site. Understanding SEO fundamentals can significantly elevate your blog’s visibility and performance.

RankIQ is a valuable ally in this journey, offering insights into the optimal keywords to get your blog posts to Google’s top slots. Let’s face it, most of us don’t look past the first 8 search results.

A compelling year-long study revealed that blogs on Mediavine (an ad network that helps monetize your blog) leveraging RankIQ saw a staggering 468% surge in Google traffic compared to those not using RankIQ.

RankIQ is a solid keyword tool (comparable to a very expensive Semrush), but it has a price tag. Right now, there’s a deal that gets you 16 reports per month for $49.

While it might be a big investment to make, I highly recommend checking it out!

I hope these 5 must-have tools for every beginner travel blogger will help you get started right!