Resources/Tools-DIY

Online Marketing Tools for Success

To master the intricacies of internet marketing, it takes not only the understanding of SEM techniques; it also takes the proper tools that will give you the analytics and productivity you need. Here are some of our favorites. We like these particular tools for their ease of use as well as the vital information they provide.

Recommended PPC Online Marketing Tools:

The basis of a successful PPC campaign is finding the right keywords and using them at the right time. Keyword research tools can provide you with all possible related keywords and combinations of terms for your basic search terms. Provides date for the searches performed under each keyword (also known as search volume). Each of the major search engines provides a basic keyword research tool as part of your PPC campaign, but we recommend you use a more sophisticated version. (This might very well give you the jump on your competition, as many web owners are unaware these tools even exist.)

1. Trellian Keyword Discovery http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/ — compiles search statistics from over 200 search engines worldwide!
2. Wordtracker ttp://www.wordtracker.com/ — helps identify keyword phrases most likely to be used by search engine visitors. Determines how many competing sites are using those same keywords and identifies the phrases with the greatest traffic potential.
3. Google Keyword Tool http://www.googlekeywordtool.com/ — a terrific free tool from Google; what else can we say!
4. MSN Advertising Intelligence http://advertising.microsoft.com/small-business/adcenter-downloads/micro... — allows you to effectively plan keyword strategies based on relevance, cost history, demographics, and much more.

We also recommend:

• Google AdPreview Tool https://adwords.google.com/d/AdPreview/?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000 — displays all the ads Google is currently displaying for a given keyword. Fantastic when writing your PPC ads; see what your competition is doing and then do it better.
• Dynamic Keyword Insertion http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=74992 — an ingenious way of coding your ad titles. The search engine will automatically insert the exact words the user types into the search bar, and those same words will appear as your ad title. Magic!

Recommended SEO Online Marketing Tools:

If you have put the money, time and effort into a fabulous website, and gone out of your way to optimize the content for your highest ranking keywords--here are all the online marketing tools you need to see how successful your SEO efforts have been, and where you need to keep tweaking your content.

• Google Webmaster Central http://www.google.com/webmasters/ — provides you with detailed reports about your pages' visibility on Google. Free, easy to understand.

• Yahoo! Site Explorer http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ — allows you to explore all the web pages indexed by Yahoo! Search.
• BING Webmaster http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster/ -- lets you see your site as Bing does; view crawl activity, index coverage, traffic stats, and more.
• Ranking Reports http://www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/ranking-reports/ -- free, instant, online reports of web site rankings in the top 4 search engines: Google, Yahoo! Search, Bing (MSN) and AOL.

Recommended Social Media Marketing Tools

Yes—social media is free, but time is money! These tools will automate and organize your social media marketing campaign, letting you get back to work. The can also provide all the metrics you need to know you are getting a real return on investment from the time you are putting in. (And convince those social media skeptics in your company.)

Consider these free social media tools:

1. Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/ --gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Easy-to-use features let you see and analyze your traffic data, including data from social media sites, in an entirely new way.
2. Hootsuite.com http://www.hootsuite.com/ —Time management tool for Twitter that also gives custom Analytics including custom reports from over 30 individual report modules to share with clients and colleagues. Track brand sentiment, follower growth, plus incorporate Facebook Insights and Google analytics all without leaving the dashboard.
3. SocialOomph.com http://www.socialoomph.com/ —allows you to track the clicks on your shortened links, and get all kinds of useful and insightful click statistics.

You don’t need all these tools to have a successful online marketing program, but if you are not getting the results you want, and are not sure why—these tools will give you the answers you are missing.

Overwhelmed? We know receiving a huge amount of technical information can short out your circuits… but these tools and the concepts behind them are too important to ignore.
Let us help…contact us at info@findabilitygroup.com for a consultation or training seminar.

“Phenomenal Findability Workshop! You identified the SEO problems we were experiencing, and then you presented solutions that could potentially maximize our ROI.  Thank you for educating our organization on the importance of search engine marketing!"  

 ---Barbara Arnett
WMBarr.com