Living in 2015 means we live in a digital world – we’re never too far from our phones, we can do virtually anything on-line, and most importantly, businesses have a lot to keep up with to make sure they are tracking and measuring all our on-line activity. Easier said than done, right? Not if you have the right tools in place. With the proper digital marketing tools on your side, you can connect with your customers, compare your success with that of your competitors and “virtually” stay ahead of the game.
Here are 5 digital marketing tools you need to know about:
1. Google Analytics: This is one of the most important tools to track your website traffic. You want to know how users are finding your site and what they are doing once they reach it – and Google Analytics tells you all of this. Having access to this information allows you to make better digital marketing decisions, and who doesn’t want that?
2. Google Trends: Trying to figure out what topics in your industry are being searched most on Google? With Google Trends, you can search up to 5 topics and the tool will show you how often they are searched for on Google, as well as which geographic regions they are searched in most and how recently the topics have appeared in Google News stories. Understanding what your consumers are searching for helps you understand what information they need and what products they are looking for, so tapping into this tool can really tell you a lot about how to reach your ideal customer.
3. Hootsuite: If you’re managing a ton of different social media sites, you know how time consuming and tedious it can be. You sign in and out of different accounts daily and have to keep up with questions and comments at all hours, all on top of keeping posts regular and current. Sounds like a pile of work right? Not if you use Hootsuite. Hootsuite lets you schedule posts and manage all your social media accounts all in one dashboard. It’s easy to use, has an intuitive interface and is generally a huge time-saver.
4. WordTracker: You’ve probably heard all about how you need to optimize keywords for your content and it may sound simple, but it can get tricky depending on your industry. You may have an idea of the types of keywords people use to search for the products or services you offer, but it’s often difficult to get any sort of traction with broader, more general keywords. WordTracker lets you reveal high-performing keywords in minutes, and more importantly, it lets you figure out which keywords to focus on to ensure that your target audience finds you over your competitors.
5. Yoast: If you have done any research at all on internet marketing, you’re probably tired of hearing the phrase SEO. With so many different opinions on the best SEO strategies and so many different tools out there that are supposed to make SEO easy, it can get overwhelming trying to understand how search engine optimization works and more importantly how to make it work for you. If you’re trying to find a good place to start and you have a WordPress site, SEO Yoast is the tool for you. It’s a plug-in that gives you access to all the key SEO elements, all in one place.
As a business, you’re always looking for ways to work smarter and be more productive and profitable– the only way to do this is to ensure that you’re in tune with the latest technology and are keeping up to date with the latest digital marketing tools and trends. Remember, practice makes perfect, and the more you play around with these tools, the faster you will become an expert. If you’re not ahead of the game, you’re behind. We’re betting most or at least some of your competitors are using these tools, so make sure you’re fighting the good fight and doing all you can to maximize your online presence and digital footprint.
