Blogger Resources for Vegan Bloggers

By KD Angle-Traegner / Last Update: November 2020

Blogging is not only fun, it’s rewarding to help animals by spreading the vegan message.

Those who blog know that there is much more to blogging than just writing. Creating content is only one part of a more massive job. Bloggers have to be writers, web designers, and social media gurus all rolled into one.

Putting these jobs together can sometimes be a challenge.

These blogger resources are products and services that I use and recommend as useful tools for building websites.

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Getting Started

Tools of the trade that I recommend, and use myself.

Useful Blogger Tools

First things first. The following services or tools are perfect for bloggers who are just starting out. I’ll continue to update this space regularly, so be sure to check back as you build your blog.

Bluehost – Bluehost has been the hosting company of Your Daily Vegan since the very beginning. BlueHost has free domain name registration, is ridiculously affordable, and a great place to blog. Plus, they have a great technical support department who have been consistently helpful the past seven years I’ve been a customer. Bluehost is a great place to start.

Vegan

I get that the whole hosting-domain-Wordpress-website-stuff can sometimes be confusing when you’re just starting out. I’ve created a step-by-step guide to walk you through setting up your Bluehost account, installing WordPress, and picking a great looking theme. It’s everything you need to create a great looking vegan blog. Visit How to Start a Vegan Blog for more information.

photoshopPhotoshop – Everyone has heard of Photoshop and with good reason, it’s an amazing tool that can create gorgeous photos. I know, Photoshop isn’t cheap and it’s a subscription service so you’ll have to pay each month to use it but if you want the gold standard in photo editing software, Photoshop is it. I use it nearly every day and find it invaluable in editing content for the web. The monthly subscription service is $9.99 per month but there is a free trial that you can take advantage of to see if Photoshop is right for you.

tasty-food-photographyTasty Food Photography – Face it. Photography has an incredible impact on the life of your blog or website- especially if you want to have your own vegan food blog. Generally speaking, I like to take pictures in natural light, but that’s not always possible, especially in Ohio where it almost seems as if the sun never wants to visit. This book is great for anyone who wants to improve their blog photography and gain more professional looking photos to take your blog or website to the next level and get recognized. Written by Lindsay Ostrom of the widely successful, Pinch of Yum.

freddie-opengraph

MailChimp – MailChimp is the email marketing software we use to send the Your Daily Vegan posts via email . This is called an RSS-to-Email campaign. Bottom line: it’s simple, it’s powerful, and they have awesome customer support. Still not convinced? How about this: they have an account option that’s completely free!

wordpress-logo

Free Themes for WordPress – WordPress has thousands of free themes available for your new blog. It’s a good starting place for those who are just starting out and not looking to invest a lot of money up front. Be sure to check the theme for things like a good rating  before installing it on your site. If you don’t find a free theme you like, you may want to buy a Premium WordPress Theme to customize. Want more information on premium themes? Click here.

Promoting Your Blog

People can’t visit if they don’t know you’re there.

Driving Traffic to Your Blog

According to Pew Research, nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking sites. This is up from just 7% in 2005.

That’s significant and presents a big opportunity to vegan advocates trying to spread their message. 

So, which social media platform should you use?

That depends.

Not all social media platforms are the same. Get help picking a social media platform that will get your content in front of more people who are likely to share your content by visiting Top Social Media Picks for Effective Vegan Activism.

Social Media

Did you start a vegan food blog?

You might want to submit your photo to some of the large food photo submission sites. Keep in mind that it can take some time to go through the process of entering a submission, but the traffic you gain will make it well worth the trouble.

It’s not uncommon to see a surge in traffic if you get a submission featured on the right site at the right time!

There are lots of them out there to choose from, this is only a few suggestions to get you started:

Plugins

Customize your blog and make it unique, just like you.

WordPress Plugins

A plugin is software that contains functions that can be added to any WordPress website. They can add new features, or customize current features of your website.

Thankfully, plugins are written in PHP programming language. Using PHP means that they integrate seamlessly with WordPress. Users can customize a basic WordPress install, and make it completely their own without knowing a single line of code.

Here are a few plugins that I find helpful and are being used right here on Your Daily Vegan:

  • Akismet –No one wants 10,000 comments about where to buy the latest fashion knock-off. Akismet is a comment ninja, making sure no spammy comments or links get through to your site. You need this.
  • WordPress SEO by Yoast – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is how search engines like Google find your blog on the internet. This is especially important if you want to grow your audience. WordPress SEO can help you write better content and have a fully optimized WordPress site. This is the plug-in that I use to help the world find Your Daily Vegan online.
  • WordPress Editorial Calendar – This is one of my favorite plugins that I use nearly every single day. The WordPress Editorial Calendar makes it possible to see all your posts and drag and drop them to manage the content schedule of your blog or website. This is especially helpful if you have multiple authors.
  • Limit Login Attempts – Did you know that a standard WordPress setup allows unlimited login attempts to the backend of your website? Pretty scary, right? Limit the number of times someone can try logging into your website with this slick little plugin.

Blogging as Activism

You can change the world, one blog post at a time.

Blogging Can Change Hearts & Minds

You might be asking why I have a section of resources for vegan bloggers. Fair question.

It might seem weird to see things like cameras and hosting plans on a vegan blog. These tools help you set up and run your very own vegan blog.

That’s important because after living a vegan life, talking about veganism and sharing information is the next most important thing you can do as an advocate.

People have been told their entire lives that animals are just things. It’s so ingrained that people rarely think of the animals in any other way. Animal agribusiness has been busily misdirecting our attention so that we’ll forget that animals are individuals with interests of their own.

Here’s the scary part, it worked.

Most people, should you ask them, don’t want to hurt animals.

Yet they don’t realize that a non-vegan lifestyle does exactly that. Exposing people to veganism provides them the opportunity to make choices that are more aligned with their own beliefs.

With that in mind, I’ve created a series called Blogging as Activism, where I teach you how to create, design, and promote your very own vegan blog.

Starting a vegan blog is a great way to combine your love of animals and passion for vegan activism.

Let me help you start a blog that matters today.

Read the full Blogging as Activism series →