Top 10 Online Marketing Tools You Can't Afford to Ignore

SEO tools, PPC tools, link building tools... the list goes on and on! It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when you're just starting out in online marketing, but it's important to understand that you don't need all the bells and whistles right away. It's better to focus on finding the few marketing tools that will help your business thrive, even if they take time to master. Here are some of our favorites!

1) Analytics

These online tools help you track and measure your efforts, gain insights into your digital traffic, set goals and determine how well you're reaching them. A/B testing: These online tools allow you to test different elements of a website in order to see which ones lead to increased conversions. Landing pages: These online tools help you quickly create attractive landing pages that persuade visitors into buying products or signing up for newsletters. Content marketing: These online tools allow you access a variety of high-quality, copyright-free content (such as images) that can be used on your site without incurring legal issues with copyrights or plagiarism. List building: These online tools help create email lists for communication, either for direct sales purposes or for email newsletter promotions.

2) Web Designer

A web designer creates and develops websites for businesses. These professionals often have at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or web design, although many employers require or prefer a master's degree. Their tools include graphics and software development kits (SDKs), content management systems (CMSs) and application programming interfaces (APIs). For example, Adobe's popular Photoshop CS software helps designers create mock-ups of how their websites might look. Once created, a designer might turn over development of that aspect of their site to an engineer working with APIs from Google's open source Chrome browser platform. The biggest challenge for any designer is knowing what questions to ask in order to make sure their projects are delivered on time and within budget.

3) Backlink Checker

Linkbuilding is crucial for improving search engine rankings, and with Google's recent updates it’s more important than ever. The importance of backlinks in search engine optimization cannot be overstated – especially when you look at how many people there are out there building backlinks (badly). Use Backlink Checker to make sure your backlinks are clean, while also finding new places to get quality links from. Linkbuilding can take up quite a bit of time and resources if you’re not careful. Save yourself time and effort by using software like Backlink Checker. There are plenty of other good linkbuilding tools available but few that are easy-to-use as well as comprehensive. Backlink Checker will help you save time without sacrificing quality results.

4) Social Media Posts Scheduler

Social media scheduling tools let you pre-plan your posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. These tools make it easier for you to manage multiple profiles, keep an eye on conversations with social influencers and avoid getting buried in email—while still giving your fans real-time engagement. (Try Hootsuite or Sprout Social.)

5) Google Keyword Tool

Before you can effectively market your business online, you need to know who your target audience is and what they’re looking for. That’s where Google’s Keyword Tool comes in. It helps you figure out which keywords are most popular for certain types of searches. If, for example, you want to sell a vitamin supplement online, typing in how do I get more vitamins? might lead you to search terms like vitamin supplements side effects or pregnancy vitamins reviews. Knowing these terms will help direct your marketing strategy.

6) Email List Management

Email marketing is as crucial for online marketers as it was in years past. Rather than dumping your newsletter or other email blasts into junk folders, make sure your readers see your messages by using one of these services: MailChimp and Constant Contact are popular providers that help you manage a clean list and provide analytics to track open rates, link clicks, and site visits. Aweber and iContact are also options; just note that these don’t provide assistance with list hygiene. With all three of these programs, you can collect information about where each subscriber comes from (such as Facebook or LinkedIn), how often they’ve clicked on links in previous emails from you, and what content they tend to engage with more often.

7) Wordpress Themes

In terms of getting a professional-looking website up and running, Wordpress is one of your best bets. To put it plainly, Wordpress makes setting up a website as easy as writing an email. It’s easy to use and highly customizable, making it perfect for both designers and amateurs alike. This theme also has great SEO capabilities, plus plugins that let you add live chat support and mobile versions. At just $70 (or $30 if you’re using a free Wordpress plan), there is no reason not to start your site off with one of these themes.

8) Copywriter

Copywriters use words to change minds. They write persuasive, conversational content for a variety of media, from blogs and social posts, to sales pages and white papers. A good copywriter has a sharp eye for detail, as well as an intuitive understanding of human psychology and behavior—ideally gleaned from years in a sales role. Top-notch copywriters know their target audience better than most marketers do. And they're able to channel that knowledge into hard-hitting (but pleasant-to-read) messaging that resonates with readers—and gets them to convert on an offer. Sound like something you want in your corner? Here are some must-have tools...{see table below}

9) QR Codes Generator/Scanner

QR codes are popping up all over these days. From tags and stickers on advertisements to entire business websites, it's almost impossible not to see a QR code. What most don't know is that making a QR code is easy. With a free app for your smartphone or tablet and some instructions from WikiHow, you'll be able to make your own QR codes in no time at all!

10) Annotate It

Do you frequently come across articles online and think, I'll read that later? More often than not, we bookmark an interesting post only to forget about it a few hours (or days) later. One way around that problem is Annotate It, a service that makes it easy for you to save your favorite web pages for later reading. Annotate It turns any web page into an easily viewable PDF that includes all of your notes, highlights and annotations; it's essentially a one-stop shop for all of your content consumption needs. Bonus: A new subscription plan allows you annotate up to five PDFs per month on any topic of your choosing—knowledge truly is power. ($9/month)