Smart Tools to Boost Your Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing Tools
SERanking
Are you even a digital content marketer if you’re not tracking search results? There are numerous tools available, but SERanking is my current weapon of choice. It has an excellent ‘historical ranking data’ view that lets you visualise your ranking trends day by day, week by week, rather than simply comparing two points in time, and it updates rankings daily, even on the most affordable plans. It’s a no-brainer because entry-level pricing is affordable and includes a slew of features.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a free tool that displays what people are currently interested in. You can come up with high-performing content ideas for your niche based on trends and industry news. The best time to write about the iOS 14 update, for example, can be seen in the graph above. This was the update that asked iOS users if they wanted to be tracked across platforms for each app that used device tracking. We can tell the topic won’t perform as well now that searches for iOS 14 have dwindled.
SEMRush
Let’s talk about search engine optimization. We know you’re not going to throw spaghetti at a hypothetical content wall and hope it sticks. You’re being strategic with the content you publish, ensuring that it will generate the traffic, subscriptions, and conversions you desire. SEMRush has remained a popular tool among content marketers because of this. You can get more views on your content with SEMRush, and you can track the data that helps you get even more views.
Loomly
Loomly’s self-described “brand success platform” is a useful tool for small social teams who want to organise and collaborate on content. Content scheduling and brainstorming are made simple with built-in calendars, deadlines, and workflows. Loomly also curates new content ideas for users based on trending topics and Twitter conversations as an added bonus.
Ahrefs
More data is always better when it comes to search, which is why Ahrefs is at the heart of so many content marketers’ tech stacks. If at all possible, I want multiple data sources to ensure that one platform’s guesswork is validated by another. But, more importantly, Ahrefs’ feature set is so extensive that you’ll never run out of new ways to improve your search profile thanks to tools like Link Intersect, Content Gap, and the Ahrefs Chrome extension. That’s not even taking into account its market-leading blog.
Canva
The two words you see above will be the first thing you see after creating your Canva account: Anything can be designed. Canva isn’t joking. Content marketers can create high-quality, on-brand graphics for their social media, paid ads, and articles using their full suite of graphic design tools. Canva also has templates for each type of deliverable, allowing you to make them brand-friendly with a single click.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a content marketing tool that you should begin using even before you need it. Add your Google Analytics pixel as soon as you finish setting up your website (or as soon as you finish reading this and haven’t finished yet). You’ll have months of data to work with when you’re ready to start content marketing, and you’ll be able to launch a solid strategy as a result. You can see how many page views you’re getting, the source of your traffic, conversions, demographics, and so much more with Google Analytics.
SendGrid
SendGrid provides a comprehensive suite of email marketing services, many of which are user-friendly for both beginners and seasoned email marketers. For example, the platform provides a variety of design options, including visual, drag-and-drop editing, coding, and a combination of the two. SendGrid also includes detailed deliverability and performance analytics, allowing marketers to see which messages are performing well and which need improvement.
