The content marketing landscape continues to evolve, with an ever-increasing focus on understanding consumer intent and delivering high quality, relevant and reliable content.
And to meet the needs and demands of your audience you need the right tools to plan, write, optimize and promote your best work.
So what keeps writers, editors, SEO pros, content marketing managers, and others in their content tools now?
We asked our network of content experts what tools they use to improve their content research, creation, optimization and much more.
Check out the 30+ content tools they recommend, how they use them, and why they all have a place in their toolkit.
Content Research & Strategy Tools
There are three categories of tools for content strategy that Alexis Sanders, Senior Director of Merkle Digital, finds very useful:
Each of the tools offers its own unique features and reports. Some of her favorite features include:
Kayle Larkin, SEO Strategies and Larkin SEO owner, shared her favorite tools:
Miranda Miller, Managing Editor here at Search Engine Journal, uses BuzzSumo to see what content on any particular topic is already gaining traction.
“The first thing I want to know when thinking about writing about any particular topic is what it already is. Who else is talking about this? Which take is more common? ” she said.
Miller noted that she also uses AnswerThePublic.
Content Writing & Optimization Tools
Daniel Smullen, Senior Head at Mediahuis Ireland, shared the following list of tools that content marketers should use when researching, writing and managing content projects.
For text content, Laura Herman, CEO of Mint Marketing Inc., recommends SEO Surfer, which is helpful when figuring out what content is needed or what you may be overusing.
“For video content, I will take almost any platform that will help me create engaging and professional content,” Herman added.
Morgan Flores, Sr. Content Manager & amp; SEO at Clutch said that while she uses many tools during her work, she has three favorites.
“I use Google Analytics for overall traffic analysis, user engagement and trends. Ahrefs is my top choice for keyword tracking, keyword research, and competitor analysis. I also use the GS site changer Chrome extension to hide my search site in browsers, ”explained Flores.
Cynthia Hoy, a SEO specialist and self – employed writer, told us that she uses the Hemingway app to capture and correct examples of the passive voice in her content. “Now that I have improved my passive voice, I am working on translated words,” she said.
Miranda Miller shared her favorite online writing tools here. In addition to those mentioned above, these include:
Content Promotion
Alexandra Tachalova suggests reusing material as a great way to promote it.
Canva or Venngage, for example, are two simple drag-and-drop design options that allow you to quickly and easily create hero images, infographics, social graphics, and more to enhance your content.
Tachalova also recommends trying out RawShorts for fast, simple video production using the content you already have. (Biteable is another video maker with stock pieces, animations and effects you might want to try.)
On their behalf, Kari DePhillips, CEO of The Content Factory and co – founder of the Sisters Facebook Group in SEO, said, “I’m going to go out of the box here and say Mixmax, which is an email tool.”
DePhillips gave three reasons why she recommended the following platform:
“First of all, at $ 12 a month, it’s my best bet for my investment buck.
Secondly, it allows me to track all emails that open (yes, I can see when email clients open invoices that they claim to be lost…)
And thirdly, their templates are a time saver. I get at least 10 backlink / guest post requests a day, and some of these people follow relentlessly.
I have a killer ‘We don’t allow this. Please make me a template for your list that these people will remove from my hair with two mouse clicks, ”she shared.
For me, I still like Hootsuite for social scheduling. Sendible, Loomly, and CoSchedule are great options for customizing and scheduling your content for various social platforms, as well.
Each has advantages and disadvantages and features that may be appealing to some users but not others. Check them out, make a demonstration, and see which one best suits your needs.
The important thing is that you go out there and shoot new tools. You will find new ways to automate time – consuming processes, optimize content to match search intent, improve the quality and tone of writing, and much more.
Search is a fast moving space and if you are not looking for something new and getting all the advantages you can, you are likely to be overwhelmed by competitors.
Stock up your Arsenal with content tools that will give you the advantage.
Featured Image: breakermaximus / Shutterstock
