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Executive Republic
by Susanna Gebauer
culeed from:thesocialms.com
There are heaps of tools to boost your
traffic for online marketing success. Often you have to pay – and
although often it is not much per tool, altogether these tools can sum
up to a considerable amount of money.
image: http://blog.thesocialms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10FreeTools.png
But there are many tools out there, which have a free version which
already provides you with great opportunities to boost your marketing.
Here is a collection of tools we tried, some of these we still use, some
we upgraded to the paid version, because they provide such great
service.
image: http://blog.thesocialms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10FreeTools.png
But there are many tools out there, which have a free version which
already provides you with great opportunities to boost your marketing.
Here is a collection of tools we tried, some of these we still use, some
we upgraded to the paid version, because they provide such great
service.1. Buffer
With Buffer you can schedule updates
for your social media accounts. I use it daily for my Twitter accounts –
but they also offer scheduling for Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
The free version allows you to schedule 10 updates at a time for one social account. For me that is sufficient right now.
The paid account would allow you to include more social accounts, schedule more posts and use the same buffer with more team members.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because you can send out updates at the best times – even if you are actually doing something else.
Canva offers all this: An easy to use online interface to upload pictures, change designs and create great pictures in exactly the right size.
And most of the elements I use on Canva are free – only if you need more proficient designs or use one of Canvas own pictures, they might charge you a small amount. But believe me: the free elements really get you far!
Why this boosts your traffic? Because good pictures boost social media views, shares and clicks.
Marketing without analytics is like flying blind in the dark.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because if you can figure out what works best for your purposes you can scale from there.
On Tweetdeck you can not only have one column for your own Twitter feed. You can ad several other feeds providing you Tweets that could be of interest: Feeds for lists, feeds for searches, feeds for Tweets of one person or one hashtag.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because you can join more conversations, connect to more interesting people and find more good information.
Tweepi is a good starting point to use: You can find followers of accounts and follow them, you can find accounts that are not following you back and unfollow them etc.
Tweepi has a free version which sufficient for a start with this strategy. We used Tweepi for quite a while until we switched to #6 in this list: ManageFlitter.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because more targeted followers give you more traffic from Twitter – if done right.
The following options for the free version are limited, but they offer keyword search and the option to follow up to 50 accounts per day.
If you want to start the folow-unfollow strategy with free tools: I recommend to use ManageFlitter for unfollowing as they have more options than Tweepi and to use Tweepi for following people.
We upgraded to a paid ManageFlitter account after a while.
Why this boosts your traffic? As with Tweepi, more targeted followers give you more traffic.
Why this boosts your traffic? Being able to test marketing assumptions or set up special landing pages for special occasions can give you valuable insight in customer behavior and allows you to easily optimize your marketing efforts.
If you are starting out and do not yet have an overly large list of subscribers, Zoho’s free plan allows you to send a total of 12.000 Emails per month to 2000 subscribers. That’s a good start.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because with your newsletter you can make people come back and provide them with information that builds their trust in you, your brand and your expertise.
It’s that thing called style. My sentences tend to get too long, I use a lot of not needed descriptive words, you name it.
The Hemmingway App allows me to simply paste my post into it and identifies these problems. It also rates how easy to read my text is and allows me to fix the most pressing problems. This results in better content that gets shared more often – which translates to more traffic.
Why this boosts your traffic? Better content always gets more shares, likes and traffic.
There is a recipe for that.
This works for almost any social media site, email, RSS feeds, you name it.
You can also browse the recipes that others have created – there are hundreds, and just by browsing you get new ideas. Some will give you traffic, some will make your life easier, … IFTTT is one of the most powerful tools we know!
Why this boosts your traffic? The options with IFTTT are almost limitless – use your creativity to use it to boost your traffic.
The free version allows you to schedule 10 updates at a time for one social account. For me that is sufficient right now.
The paid account would allow you to include more social accounts, schedule more posts and use the same buffer with more team members.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because you can send out updates at the best times – even if you are actually doing something else.
2. Canva
I am not a design genius. Still in social media and content marketing I need pictures all the time. For each blogpost, for almost every Facebook update, for Pinterest and so – I need pictures that are the right size, that do not hurt the eye and which I can change to my purposes (add text, resize photos, ad elements etc.).Canva offers all this: An easy to use online interface to upload pictures, change designs and create great pictures in exactly the right size.
And most of the elements I use on Canva are free – only if you need more proficient designs or use one of Canvas own pictures, they might charge you a small amount. But believe me: the free elements really get you far!
Why this boosts your traffic? Because good pictures boost social media views, shares and clicks.
3. Analytics
You do not necessarily need to use Google Analytics, there are many other tools that provide good insights. But you need one analytics tool to analyse where your traffic come from, to see what visitors to your site do, to see which content gets the most views and where visitors stay longest.Marketing without analytics is like flying blind in the dark.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because if you can figure out what works best for your purposes you can scale from there.
4. Tweetdeck
Does your Twitter feed get noisy? Do you have trouble in seeing the updates that really interest you? Why not set up several Twitter feeds for exactly the information you are looking for.On Tweetdeck you can not only have one column for your own Twitter feed. You can ad several other feeds providing you Tweets that could be of interest: Feeds for lists, feeds for searches, feeds for Tweets of one person or one hashtag.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because you can join more conversations, connect to more interesting people and find more good information.
5. Tweepi
Are you pursuing the follow-unfollow strategy on Twitter? Then you need a tool to really get it right. It is almost impossible to follow this strategy without a tool to help you find accounts to follow – and to unfollow.Tweepi is a good starting point to use: You can find followers of accounts and follow them, you can find accounts that are not following you back and unfollow them etc.
Tweepi has a free version which sufficient for a start with this strategy. We used Tweepi for quite a while until we switched to #6 in this list: ManageFlitter.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because more targeted followers give you more traffic from Twitter – if done right.
6. ManageFlitter
Just like Tweepi, ManageFlitter allows you to find accounts to follow and unfollow. The free version of ManageFlitter gives you good options to find people to unfollow: People who do not follow back, who are spammy, who post in a language you do not understand, whose account has been inactive for a while etc.The following options for the free version are limited, but they offer keyword search and the option to follow up to 50 accounts per day.
If you want to start the folow-unfollow strategy with free tools: I recommend to use ManageFlitter for unfollowing as they have more options than Tweepi and to use Tweepi for following people.
We upgraded to a paid ManageFlitter account after a while.
Why this boosts your traffic? As with Tweepi, more targeted followers give you more traffic.
7. Strikingly
Strikingly provides “gorgeous, mobile friendly websites in minutes.” And it is true: You can easily set up landing pages to test marketing assumptions – and if you do not need a custom domain, it is for free.Why this boosts your traffic? Being able to test marketing assumptions or set up special landing pages for special occasions can give you valuable insight in customer behavior and allows you to easily optimize your marketing efforts.
8. Zoho
You need an Email list. If you do not have one yet, think about building one (do not buy one). You own subscribers are a valuable asset, they are your best audience and (hopefully) crave for you next newsletter.If you are starting out and do not yet have an overly large list of subscribers, Zoho’s free plan allows you to send a total of 12.000 Emails per month to 2000 subscribers. That’s a good start.
Why this boosts your traffic? Because with your newsletter you can make people come back and provide them with information that builds their trust in you, your brand and your expertise.
9. Hemingway
If you are like me, you are fluent in English – but it doesn’t come as natural as your mother tongue. Spelling isn’t the problem, and spellcheckers could take care of that anyway. Nor vocabulary, as my vocabulary is definitely good enough to write understandable blog posts.It’s that thing called style. My sentences tend to get too long, I use a lot of not needed descriptive words, you name it.
The Hemmingway App allows me to simply paste my post into it and identifies these problems. It also rates how easy to read my text is and allows me to fix the most pressing problems. This results in better content that gets shared more often – which translates to more traffic.
Why this boosts your traffic? Better content always gets more shares, likes and traffic.
10. IFTTT
IFTTT stands for “If This Then That” – and that is probably the best description of what it does you will ever read anywhere. Once you register you can automate almost anything you usually do online – need to crosspost your blog posts over all your social media channels? Simply connect your RSS feed and you social accounts and add a rule for that – or recipe, which is what rules are called in IFTTT. Want to curate blog posts from your five favorite social media blogs on your Tumblr?There is a recipe for that.
This works for almost any social media site, email, RSS feeds, you name it.
You can also browse the recipes that others have created – there are hundreds, and just by browsing you get new ideas. Some will give you traffic, some will make your life easier, … IFTTT is one of the most powerful tools we know!
Why this boosts your traffic? The options with IFTTT are almost limitless – use your creativity to use it to boost your traffic.
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Hemingway has no idea how Google interprets my writing. I still rely on Hemingway, but I’ve been relying on INK’s SEO functionality more and more lately.
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