shoutmeloud.com 
 

Why Do You Need This Toolkit? 

A note for readers from Harsh Agrawal 
 
Blogging has evolved as a serious business, and a lot of users like you are 
adopting this as a career opportunity. On 1st December 2008 when I started 
ShoutMeLoud, I made a mission to help establish blogging as a career, and 
I’m so happy that even after 12 years of blogging, we are doing our best.  
 
This eBook is a collection of my secret toolkit which helped me to create an 
award-winning blog (ShoutMeLoud), and reached out to millions of people 
around the world. Today, I’m passing on this knowledge to you, so that you 
can repeat the success that blogging offers. 
 
Feel free to pass on this eBook to anyone who is interested in blogging, and 
they would thank you for your kindness. 
 
Harsh Agrawal 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 

What You’ll Discover? 

I have structured the entire toolkit in various categories, so that you can pick 
the one that suits your needs.   
 
Hosting Services 
Blogging Platform 
WordPress Themes 
WordPress Page Builder 
WordPress Security Plugins 
WordPress Cache Plugin Tools 
SEO Tools 
Keyword Research Tools 
Visitor Stats And Analytics Tool 
Desktop Blog Editors 
Content Idea Generation Tools 
Blog Post Title Tool 
Proof-reading Tool 
Stock Images For Blogs 
Blog Reading And Content Discovery Tools 
Desktop Image/Video Recording + Editing Tools 
Outsourcing Websites 
Productivity Tools 
Social Media Tools 
Social Media Content Creation Tools 
Blog Monetization 
Affiliate Marketplace 
Email Marketing Tools 
Landing Page Tool 
Blog Promotion Tools 
Content Marketing Tools 
Other Miscellaneous Blogging Tools 

3 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 

Hosting Services 
I have several websites apart from ShoutMeLoud and I use different hosting 
services for each site. Here are the 3 best hosting sites that you can use. 
 
1. ​Bluehost​:​ Bluehost is my top choice for starting a new WordPress site, 
and as a real user; some of my websites are hosted on bluehost as well. A 
most affordable and beginner friendly website hosting platform. The best 
part is, you can buy one hosting package from Bluehost and host multiple 
WordPress websites on it. The cost varies from $2.95-$5 depending upon 
the package you select.  
 
2. ​Siteground​: ​SiteGround is one of the most popular and highest rated 
hosting providers in the WordPress community. I started using SiteGround in 
January of 2015, and I loved it immediately because of their customer 
support. So far, I have not found any shared hosting that offers such instant 
and HQ live chat support. They also provide unique in-house WordPress 
speed and security solutions to make your site as fast and secure as 
possible. 
 
3. ​Kinsta​:​ Kinsta hosting is top in the managed WordPress hosting as they 
build specially for hosting heavy WordPress sites. It is the best choice for 
high-traffic WordPress sites. Currently, ShoutMeLoud.com is hosted on 
Kinsta. 

Blogging Platform 
There are a number of websites that allow you to start your own blog but not 
every platform allows you to monetize your site. Here are few platforms that 
you can opt to start your blog 
 
 

4 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
 
4.​ ​WordPress.org​: It is an open-source blogging software which you can 
install on any server and launch your website.  
 
5.​ ​WordPress.com​: It is also a free blogging site managed by Automattic Inc. 
You can start a blog, add a theme but it doesn’t allow you to monetize the 
site via ads. Moreover, in order to add plugins for more functionalities, you 
will need to get one of their paid plans which starts at $4/month. 
 
6.​ ​Blogger​: It is a free blogging platform provided by Google. To start your 
blog with Blogger, you just need a Google account. It allows you to 
monetize your site using Google Adsense but customization is very limited 
and is not flexible like WordPress.com and WordPress.org 

WordPress Themes 
Although there are several blogging platforms, WordPress is the best of all 
and in this guide, we will go ahead with WordPress.org only. Here are the 
best WordPress themes that you can pick to start your blog. 
 
7. ​WP Astra​: This theme has been around for many years and the free 
version has more than 600,000+ downloads and 3100+ 5-star rating. Astra 
theme is ideal for individual bloggers or agencies. It is compatible with all 
popular WordPress page builder plugins and is very light-weight (Below 
50Kb) 
 
8. ​NewspaperX​: When it comes to WordPress magazine themes, there’s 
one name that stands out – Newspaper. This multi-purpose theme is well 
suited for news websites. 
 
 
 
 

5 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
Pro tip​:​ If you are just getting started, you don’t need a premium theme to 
start your blog. WordPress.org offers a ton of free themes that you can pick 
to start your blog. 

WordPress Page Builder 

Once you have selected a theme for your blog, you will need a page builder 
to create custom pages like homepage, contact page and more. Here are 
the best page builders that you can use - 
 
9. ​Elementor​: It is the most powerful, feature-rich and also the value for 
money page builder WordPress plugin. Elementor comes in free and paid 
variation. The free variation is good enough for a lot of basic features which 
you may need, and pro features (low cost), can be bought to add enhanced 
features. 
 
10. ​Beaver Builder​: Beaver Builder is a generic WordPress page builder 
plugin that can also be used to create beautiful landing pages. The plugin 
lets you build any type of page using lots of elements and a simple drag and 
drop interface. 

WordPress Security Plugins 

WordPress is a PHP and database-based CMS which is often targeted by 
hackers. However, there are many WordPress plugins out there that are 
useful in preventing WordPress hacking. 
 
11. ​Jetpack​: ​Jetpack scan is one plugin that you can use even on a hacked 
WordPress website to find hacked files, and fix it as well. Even if your 
website is not hacked, for only $7/month, you could keep your WordPress 
website into constant monitoring against malware and vulnerabilities. 
 
 

6 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
12. ​Wordfence Security​: Wordfence is a firewall and WordPress security 
scanner plugin. Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware 
scanner that were built from the ground up to protect WordPress. With over 
3+ million downloads and 3,257, 5-star ratings, Wordfence is one of the most 
popular security plugins for WordPress. 

WordPress Cache Plugin Tools 

WordPress is a memory-hogging CMS. To ensure WordPress doesn’t make 
your web server crash, use a cache plugin along with powerful servers such 
as Bluehost or Kinsta. 
 
13. ​WP Rocket​: ​WP Rocket is a premium WordPress cache plugin and we 
use WP Rocket on ShoutMeLoud as well. They have been into the industry 
for the last 3 years and they are the best choice for premium WordPress 
websites. If you are using Kinsta hosting, this is the only cache plugin which 
they allow. 
 
14. ​WP Super Cache​: ​WP Super Cache is a very popular plugin and also one 
of the most recommended WordPress caching plugins. WP Super Cache is 
easy to install, easy to use and also give you a good performance boost.  

SEO Tools 
A collection of free and paid SEO tools that you should be using in 2021. 
 
15.​ ​Google Search console​:​ Free tool from Google which shows various 
data such as links to your website, duplicate content and keyword ranking. 
 
16.​ ​Bing Webmaster Tool​:​ Similar to Google Webmaster Tool, but for Bing 
search engine. 
 
 

7 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
17.​ ​ScreamingFrog​: ​Desktop SEO tool which lets you check your blog from 
the web-spiders point of view. Available for Windows, Ubuntu and Mac OS. 
 
18.​ ​SiteBulb​:​ Another great desktop-based site crawling and auditing tool. I 
have discovered this recently and love it. 

Keyword Research Tools 

Do you want to identify the best keywords to target for your blog? You will 
need a Keyword research tool and these are the best keyword research 
tools for SEO. 
 
19.​ ​Google Keyword Planner​:​ A Free and easy-to-use keyword research 
tool. 
 
20.​ ​SEMrush​: Atypical keyword tool that allows you to find keywords that a 
given website is ranking for. Use it to find long-tail keywords which are easy 
to rank for. 
 
21.​ ​Ahrefs​: ​Cloud based keyword research tool. Perfect for those who have 
little experience with keyword research. 
 
22​. ​KWfinder​:​ ​I discovered this tool while doing research for this post. 
Guess what? I have fallen in love with it. I will share a detailed review soon, 
but for now, you should bookmark and try it. The free plan lets you make 5 
searches in 24 hours, which is pretty neat. 

Visitor Stats And Analytics Tool 

“Data is the new oil”. Use these tools to know more about your website 
visitors. 
 
 

8 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
23. ​Google Analytics​:​ The best solution for viewing advanced details about 
your blog traffic. Also shows live traffic status of your blog. 
 
24. ​Jetpack plugin​:​ Offers a module called “WordPress.com stats”, which 
allows you to see traffic details from your WordPress dashboard. 

Desktop Blog Editors 

These are the writing tools that you can use on your desktop. Some of them 
help in writing SEO friendly content, and some just help in writing. 
 
25.​ ​Hemingway Edito​r:​ A great desktop writing tool which will enhance your 
writing. Get an instant reading level grade and word count. Available for 
Windows and Mac. 
 
26.​ ​Frase​:​ A web-based writing tool that integrates with WordPress, medium 
and a few other platforms. It uses AI technology to help you improve your 
content. 
 
27.​ ​Open Live Writer​:​ Best desktop editor for Windows OS, and you can 
publish directly from your desktop. 
 
28.​ ​Evernote​: I use this to take quick notes on my iPhone, and it’s available 
via cloud syncing. 

Content Idea Generation Tools 

Running out of new ideas? Well, these tools will help you come up with new 
content ideas. 
 
29.​ ​BuzzSumo​:​ Enter a website or a topic to find the most shared and 
engaging content. 
 

9 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
30.​ ​Quora​:​ Search for your keywords in a search box of Quora, and you will 
get unlimited ideas for your blog content. 
 
31.​ ​Blog topic generator​:​ Enter your keyword and it will give you post ideas. 
 
32.​ ​Google Trends​:​ Check the currently trending topics or find the search 
trend for any keyword of your choice. 

Blog Post Title Tool 

Use these tools to write better titles. Do remember, it is the title that makes 
others click and read the entire article. 
 
33.​ ​EMV tool​: ​Checks the emotional marketing value of a title. The higher 
the EMV score is, the better it will perform on social media channels. 
 
34.​ ​Headline Analyzer​:​ This is the best tool in this lot. Regardless of what 
you know or don’t know about blogging, you will be churning out the best 
titles for your blog posts. 
 
35.​ ​TweakBiz title generator​:​ A comprehensive title generator by TweakBiz. 
 
36.​ ​Potent idea generator​:​ Call it a content idea generator or a title 
generator – it functions as both. 
 
37.​ ​UpWorthy title generator​: ​The only viral topic generator you need. 

Proof-reading Tool 
Need a second pair of eyes to read your article for grammatical and spelling 
errors? This is what you will find in this section. A set of modern tools that 
helps in proof-reading. 
 

10 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
38. ​Grammarly​: ​Saviour for a non-native English speaker like me. Helps with 
proof-reading, suggests words, is a great companion. 
 
39.​ ​ProWriting Aid​: Another popular grammar and spell checker tool. 
Supports multiple platforms. 
 
40. ​Hemingway App​:​ Free web-based tool to improve your writing. I’m sure 
you will end up bookmarking this one. 

Stock Images For Blogs 

Where can you find images for your blog? Well, these are some of the 
resources. 
 
41. ​Flickr Advanced search​:​ Use Flickr Advanced search to find images with 
a creative commons license. 
 
42. Google image search: ​Use images with an appropriate license which 
you can use on your blog. 
 
43. ​Pixabay​:​ Another great site where you can download high-quality 
images. You don’t have to give credit links. 

Blog Reading And Content Discovery Tools 

Reading is an essential part of growing, and these tools have helped me the 
most to learn and grow in my career. 
 
44. ​Feedly​: ​Subscribe to any blog feeds or search for your interested topic 
to discover new blogs to subscribe to. 
 
 
 

11 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
45. ​Pocket​:​ A “read it later” app which is also a productive app. Integrated 
into all the reading apps mentioned previously and lets you save articles for 
later reading. 
 
46. ​Zest​: ​This one is for marketers and available as a chrome add-on. 
Mobile apps coming soon. 

Desktop Image/Video Recording + Editing Tools 

Video editing is one such skill that you should have in this era. These are 
some easy to use video editing and recording tools. 
 
47. ​Camtasia​: ​Available for both Windows and Mac OS, and let you record 
screencasts. Offers a one-month free trial. 
 
48. ​Loom​:​ A brand new tool which also offers desktop recording. You can 
use it to record a screencast with your face in a bubble. 
 
49. ​Snag it​:​ Image capturing and editing tool for Mac and Windows OS. One 
of the best, and highly recommended for bloggers. 
 
50. ​Image Optim​:​ Mac Image compressor tool which optimizes your images 
for the web. 
 
51. ​MPEG Streamclip​:​ A powerful desktop video converter software for 
Windows and Mac. You can use it to convert, cut, trim and join videos. I 
usually use it to convert my video format to reduce the size of the video. 
 
52. ​Audacity​:​ A sound recorder tool for every major desktop OS. Useful for 
podcasters, as you can record and then edit your recordings. 
 
 
 

12 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
53. ​TubeBuddy​:​ If you are a Youtube publisher or video blogger, you should 
get Tubebuddy. This one tool can double your Youtube channel traffic & 
make it easier to manage your Youtube channel. Highly recommended for 
YouTube publishers. 

Outsourcing Websites 
 
54. ​Fiverr​:​ Outsource things like YouTube video intros or buy social media 
likes & much more for only $5. 
 
55. ​Freelancer​:​ Great place to hire virtual assistants or freelancers to get a 
job done. 
 
56. ​99designs​:​ Crowd-sourcing websites for your web design needs. 
Cheap, but high quality. 

Productivity Tools 
How much you can do in 24 hours? Well with the help of these productivity 
tools, you could achieve much more than many others. 
 
57. ​Headspace​: ​Tired of blogging constantly? Use Headspace and meditate 
for 5 minutes. You will thank me later! 
 
58. ​ToDoist​:​ Manage your to-do list with To-Doits. Available on all platforms, 
and stores data in the cloud. 
 
59. ​Trello​: A card-based task management tool. I have used it in the past, 
but have now shifted to Wunderlist. Still, ​Trello​ serves a different purpose 
and is very popular. 
 
 

13 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
60. ​Rescuetime​:​ Sends you weekly stats (configurable) of which site you 
spent the most time on during the previous week. A good idea to start 
taking note of your counter-productive activity and save your precious time. 
Install, configure and it runs in the background. 
 
61. ​SelfControl​:​ App for Mac which lets you block access to certain sites. Try 
blocking Facebook, and notice how your productivity increases! 
 

Social Media Tools 

These are the best social media tools to help you drive traffic and sales from 
social media. 
 
62. ​SocialPilot​:​ New kid on the block of social media tools, but I love it as 
they offer an iOS app (and an Android app too). 
 
63. ​BufferApp​:​ This will never let your social media profile run out of 
content. Also offers a mobile app called “Daily”, which lets you add 
high-quality content to your social media profiles. 
 
64. ​AgoraPulse​:​ One of the best social media management tool in 2020. Do 
try their mobile app and you will thank me later. 
 
65. ​Tailwind​: ​Perfect for Instagram and Pinterest scheduling. 
 
66. ​ClickToTweet​:​ Create a single link to a tweet. You can use it within your 
blog post to increase your number of tweets. 

Social Media Content Creation Tools 

Use these collections of tools to create images for social media. 
 

14 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
67. ​Stencil​:​ Create beautiful images and download or share them directly to 
your social media channels. Easy to use and requires zero experience. 
 
68. ​Canva​:​ The most talked-about social media image tool. Offers images of 
various sizes based on specific social media platforms. 
 
69. ​PicMonkey​:​ Online photo editing and photo design tool. Also lets you 
create photo collages. 
 
70. ​Pictochart:​ Infographics are the most shared content type on social 
media, and Pictochart is the best free Infographic tool available right now. 
 
71. ​QuotesCover​:​ Create visually appealing quote images. 
 
72. ​Pablo​:​ This free web app is by Buffer. Lets you add text over images and 
share it on social media sites with a single click. 
 
73. ​Vid to gif​:​ .gif images increase CTR, and sites like Facebook, Twitter 
support .gif images. Use this tool to create a .gif from any online video. 

Blog Monetization 
Proven services that help you in monetizing your blog. 
 
74. ​Google AdSense​:​ The best contextual advertising network. It’s easy to 
manage and pays on time. 
 
75. ​Media.net​:​ An ad network by Yahoo and Bing. High-quality ads just like 
AdSense. 
 
76. ​Properllerads​:​ A good alternative to ​Google AdSense​ with a lower 
minimum payout. 
 

15 
 shoutmeloud.com 
 
77. ​VigLink​:​ Perfect for bloggers who use commerce-related words in their 
articles. Search engine friendly, and lets you earn money from an outbound 
link. 

Affiliate Marketplace 
Best affiliate networks to help you discover new and popular affiliate 
programs. 
 
78. ​ShareASale​:​ Another popular affiliate marketplace with tons of affiliate 
programs from which to choose. 
 
79. ​Impact Radius​: Gaining traction lately as many popular companies like 
MaxCDN and Media Temple use IR to run their affiliate programs. 
 
80. ​Commission Junction​:​ One of the oldest & reliable affiliate marketplace 
to find great affiliate offers. You ​can also get paid via Payoneer​. 

Email Marketing Tools  

Best Email marketing tools for bloggers. 
 
81. ​ConvertKit​:​ Best email marketing software for bloggers offering email 
automation, personalization and pre-built templates for sending beautiful 
email newsletters. 
 
82. ​Aweber​:​ Another popular tool among bloggers & internet marketers. 
Offers Webinars support & 30 days free trial without the credit card. 
 
 
 
 
 

16 
 shoutmeloud.com 
Landing Page Tool 
Landing page tools to create beautiful landing pages that convert visitors 
into leads or customers. 
 
83.​ ​LeadPages​:​ One of the most trusted landing page tools for WordPress 
or any other blogging platform. 
 
84.​ ​Unbounce​:​ One of the best and most widely used landing page builders 
out there is Unbounce – named to imply that visitors to their landing pages 
convert instead of “bouncing”. 

Blog Promotion Tools 

Your job doesn’t end after publishing the blogpost, you will need to promote 
it on other platforms as well. Here are few of them you must know. 
 
85. ​Flipboard​:​ Create your own magazines and curate articles from the web 
or from your own site. Your creation combined with ​Flipboard​ can drive 
targeted traffic. You can use ​their bookmarklet​ to add content to your 
magazine or use their mobile app. 
 
86. ​MakeWebvideo​:​ Use whiteboard style videos for your blog intro or for 
any topic. ​See an example here​. 
 
87. ​WhatsNew​:​ Show your blog’s new updates since the reader’s last visit. 
Great idea for a blog and gets tons of return visits. 
 
88. ​Wisestamp​:​ Add visually appealing signatures after your email. Use 
Wisestamp RSS addon and show your latest blog post in every email. A 
clever technique to market your latest post. I use it to gain subscribers to my 
social-channels. This is an add-on for the browser. 
 

17 
 shoutmeloud.com 
Content Marketing Tools 
Here are some of the best content marketing tools. 
 
89. ​BuzzStream​:​ For bloggers’ outreach. Not a free tool, but this is an 
absolutely amazing tool for serious bloggers & marketers. 
 
90. ​PushEngage​:​ Enables web-push notifications for your blog. A new and 
innovative way to let users subscribe to your blog updates. 
 
91.​ ​Optinmonster​:​ OptinMonster is one great plugin that helps you capture 
emails. This plugin offers many advanced features such as A/B testing, 
geolocation targeting, conditional pop-ups and even email subscription 
forms for mobile sites. 

Other Miscellaneous Blogging Tools 

92. ​Google apps​: Create a domain-specific email. Powered by Google & you 
will get access to all Google products. Also helps in getting AdSense 
approval fast with a domain-specific email address. 
 
93. ​Speechpad​:​ Offers transcription services for audio or video. 
 
94. ​GTmetrix​:​ Check your desktop & mobile site’s loading speed. It also 
suggests how to improve loading time. 
 

18