Entrepreneurship

Best Blogs to Follow Before Starting Any Online Business

Discussing with a friend over a cup of tea, he asked me “What’s my point of view about starting an online business in 2019?“. In other words, he wanted to know whether starting & keeping up an online business is still easy as it was when I started?

My answer: It’s easy and tough both at the same time. If you keep thinking about it, it is tough, but when you start doing it, it becomes easier.

Online business is a general term. It includes everything from blogging to freelancing to selling products online.

Once you start online, there are certain things that one needs to know. There are bloggers one should follow. So let me share some 30 odd blogs that everyone should follow before starting a business online. For your convenience, I have distinguished these blogs into three parts – Marketing, Social Media & Entrepreneurs.

Online Marketing Blogs to Follow

A collection of blogs that can help your online business up and running in no time. These blogs answer almost every question alongside related to marketing, advertising, writing, search engine optimizing and monetizing.

1. BackLinko

Backlinko (Twitter) provides a definitive guide on SEO and backlinks. He also helps enrich with building website traffic with SEO.

2. Quick Sprout

QuickSprout (Twitter) is an SEO tool for online business looking to grow their traffic. The blog will educate you about online marketing, advance SEO, email marketing and lot more.

3. MOZ

The MOZ (Twitter) blog and the whiteboard Friday are a must watch for anyone willing to do online business. The blog has everything between online marketing and revenue growth.

4. Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal (Twitter) provides the latest news and best practice for online businesses all by real time experts. It has more of a community-based approach where experienced marketers share their views and ideas. Distinct minds share new ideas on a common goal.

5. HubSpot

If you are not reading HubSpot (Twitter) blogs than you are seriously missing some of the most valuable information about online marketing. Hubspot allows the reader to grow with them significantly. It’s an integrated and easy-to-use digital marketing and learning platform.

6. Internet Marketing Ninjas

Internet marketing ninja (Twitter) have a pretty good collection of webmaster tools like broken links checker, redirects and site crawl tool, image and link analyzer, image resizer and on-page optimization tool.

7. Duct Tape Marketing

Duck tape marketing (Twitter) believes in doing online marketing for small business simple, affordable, and effective at solving problems. Generally speaking getting to know people, doing business with them.

8. Shout Me Loud

Shout me loud (Twitter) have stylishly named their followers and community members as “Shouters”. You will find personal stories and practical tips given by Harsh very inspiring.

9. WPBeginner

WPBeginner (Twitter) is the #1 free resource online to build a WordPress website. If you are a non-technical person who doesn’t know anything about WordPress, then WPBeginner is for you. According to, Neil PatelWPBeginner is one of the best resources on the web for anyone who is looking to start a WordPress Blog“.

10. Yoast

Yoast (Twitter) is a complete SEO plugin. It enables small business as well as large companies to rank in the search engines. Yoast is 100% free. On the positive side, it provides a free SEO plugin for WordPress, easy to understand blog post and online courses. Using these free resources, one can quickly learn to write scalable SEO content.

11. Inc.com

Inc.com (Twitter) gives a variety of information and industry news on diverse topics like startup, growth, lead, innovation, technology, money, etc. They provide a well-organized collection of best business tools and articles. It helps a reader to walk through the decisions while starting and running an online business.

12. Enchanting Marketing

Enchanting marketing (Twitter) teaches you everything about persuasive writing. Surprisingly it is one of the best skill that can make you earn a fortune. So, if you want to learn how to sell with copywriting, then this website is the perfect reference.

13. Fizzle

Fizzle (Twitter) is a popular business blog. You get thoughtful articles to read on topics like content creation, marketing, product making, social media. Henceforth, if you care about earning a living doing something, then Fizzle is an excellent blog to start following.

14. Content Marketing Institute

Content marketing institute (Twitter) teaches you how to get started with content marketing. They teach you how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling.

Also Checkout The Top SEO Blogs to Follow For Every SEO Expert

Social Media Marketing Blogs to Follow

Social media marketing has become an inevitable element. If one wants to keep pace with the fast-moving online environment, then marketing on social media is a must.

You will get all the helpful tips, tricks, and resources to up your social media marketing game.

1. Social Media Examiner

Social media examiner (Twitter) is indeed the best guide to the modern social media jungle. A reader gets everything between latest news to social media how-tos. Whether it is Facebook or Twitter, you get every single tip you need to start.

2. Amy Porterfield

Amy (Twitter) is a must follow blogger for Facebook marketing. Get the latest trade tools, podcast, and blogs from her to get an edge to your Facebook marketing strategies.

3. Buffer

The buffer blog (Twitter) has some awesome insights about social media marketing. On top of that, they also offer a social media content scheduling tool which is also part of my list for effective social media marketing.

4. Sprout Social

Sprout Social (Twitter) is a social media management and optimization platform. It integrates social media publishing, analytics, and engagement under one roof for all your social profiles. It offers tools for analytics, engagement, publishing, monitoring and listening to the social media world.

5. Socialnomics

Socialnomics (Twitter) is by bestselling author and keynote speaker Erik Qualman. It educates you with all the latest buzz of the tech world. If you want to know all the nitty-gritty of the digital world, social media and business then start following his blog.

6. Socially Sorted

Do you like stories? Everyone loves. The same is with Socially Sorted (Twitter). It enables online business owners to tell their story in a visually creative way on diverse platforms. Donna Mortiz is the brain behind socially sorted.

7. Convince and Convert

Convince & Convert (Twitter) is by Jay Baer who is an excellent blogger. Along with social media marketing, he also provides email marketing tips.

Blogging Entrepreneurs to follow

These blogs offer real-life motivating tips from awesome bloggers.

1. Seth Godin

Seth Godin (Twitter) is a thoughtful writer and speaker. He is an entrepreneur but more of a teacher. Purple cow, linchpin and What to do when it’s your turn are his best selling books. I will recommend every online business owner to follow him for inspiration.

2. Chris Ducker

Chris Ducker (Twitter) gives you all the tool, tips, and tricks to start and manage the business in the 21st century. He shares excellent content that is very easy to follow.

3. Neil Patel

Neil Patel (Twitter) is the modern marvel of online marketing. According to Wall Street Journal Neil is a top influencer on the web. He is the best one to read when you are new to the online world.

4. Gary Vaynerchuk

GaryVee (Twitter) is a highly sort public speaker, successful author, and a prolific investor. If you are searching for some serious motivation, then he is the best. His pyramid content marketing model is instrumental in marketing a single idea in different ways on various social media channel.

5. Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy (Twitter) guides you on a wide array of subjects including personal development, sales training, business training, leadership, time management, public speaking and book writing. Hence, whether you are a blogger or a seller, Brain will help you out some way or the other.

6. Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn (Twitter) is the blogger to follow if you want to learn to niche blogging. One can get all sort of details related to earning passive income alongside.

7. Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse (Twitter) is the best to learn about blogging. If you are eying to build a blog in just 30 days, start following his blog.

8. Brian Clark

Want to learn to create killer online content? Follow Copyblogger (Twitter). According to Brian (the man behind CopyBlogger), content should attract prospects and turns them into loyal customers or clients. Copyblogger teaches you the same. It is something beyond just SEO, social media, email marketing and stuffs that you see online.

9. Ray Edwards

I can’t find anyone writes copy or content better than Ray Edwards (Twitter). Ray is writing for some of the most popular and influential businesses. He’s a renowned speaker and author. If you want your online content writing business, he is the best blogger to follow.

10. Robin Sharma

Robin Sharma (Twitter) is the grand master. He is a leadership guru. He is one of the top leadership experts in the world. Celebrities and billionaires glitter his loyal list of clients.

11. Jeff Goins

Jeff Goins (Twitter) is the best selling author of 5 books. The “Art of Work” and “Real Artists Don’t Starve” to mention a couple. Read about life, writing and creative work on his blog.

12. Marie Forleo

Marie Forleo (Twitter) has a very inspirational story, and I follow her for more such stories. After watching her Oprah Supersoul Session, I started following her and has been watching every video she shares. Marie inspires to be successful online.

13. Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek (Twitter) is an optimist. Has given the mantra of success – the concept of WHY to the world in 2009. Along with being a successful author, he is the 3rd most-watched TED talk speaker.

14. Chris Lema

Chris Lema (Twitter) is an advisor of many WordPress companies including Woothemes, LiquidWeb, and WP101. If you want to start an online business and is thinking about WordPress, he is a blogger to follow along with WPBeginner.

Final Thoughts

I use Feedly to subscribe to these blogs. The first thing in the morning I do is to catch with these blogs in my Feedly. Then I use the Buffer browser extension to schedule the content I found useful to my twitter.

Shabbir Bhimani

Blogging Since 2009. If I can leave my high paying C# job in an MNC in the midst of global financial crisis of 2008, anybody can do it. @BizTips I guide programmers and developers to Start and Grow an Online Business. Read more about me here.

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