8 Must-Have Online Marketing Tools for Bloggers

With all these roles, it’s important to be as efficient as possible. The following tools are ones I frequently use to optimize my marketing efforts.

CrazyEgg: displays visitor interaction with your site via heatmaps. It’s a great tool for optimizing ad placements, and improving user experience. For example, Crazy Egg might reveal that users are missing your free report on blogging; by positioning in a more visible location, you can significantly boost your opt-in rate. If you’re using WordPress, this heat plugin offers similar functionality for a one-time price (Crazy Eggs has monthly plans).

LinkAssistant: Part of the SEO Powersuite, Link Assistant compiles top websites in your niche, and includes the website name and contact info. Then, simply create a standard email and Link Assistant sends it out to everyone on the list. It even personalizes the contact name automatically.

Admittedly, Link Assistant is primarily marketed as a link prospecting tool. But you can use it for oh-so-much more. For example, I’ve used Link Assistant to hire writers, developers, graphic and web designers. It’s a great time-saving tool and worth checking out!

SENuke: All-in-one link building software. SENuke lets you create content and send it out to top article directories, video sites, and social media sites like Blogger, HubPages and more. But the real benefit is that SENuke can then create social bookmark accounts, bookmark those pages, and then submit the RSS feed from each site to over 20 RSS directories.

Think about this for a second. You’re creating one piece of content, then syndicating it across 30 – 60 websites, then bookmarking each site with over 50 social bookmark accounts, then submitting each of those bookmarking sites to over 20 RSS feed directories. That’s a LOT of links!

XMLSitemapGenerator: Creating, updating and submitting sitemaps to the search engines is necessary to keep all your content in the search results. This generator makes it easy to do. If you use WordPress, this sitemapplugin automatically updates and submits your sitemap whenever you publish new content.

SEOMozToolbar: This handy toolbar shows the Domain Authority of each site you visit. The higher the authority, the more valuable a link will be. If your considering writing a guest post, check the Domain Authority score (hopefully 40 or higher) to make sure the SEO value is there.

Aweber: This autoresponder lets you create unlimited messages to follow up with your subscribers. An easy way to keep in touch with your market, and build your brand. I’ve used other autoresponders (like GetResponse, Constant Contact and Campaign Monitor, but Aweber remains my favorite for its ease-of-use and competitive pricing.

RankTracker: Also part of the SEO Powersuite, Rank Tracker lets you track your website’s position in major search engines for any keyword you want. A free, limited alternative is SEOBook’sRankChecker.

MyBlogGuest: Need to get your content out there? MyBlogGuest makes it easy. Simply upload your original blog post, and receive requests from blogs willing to publish your content. It’s a great way to build your own brand, reach new audiences and get high-profile links (just remember to check the Domain Authority first!).

But it’s not just for guest posting. You can (and should) accept other bloggers’ posts and publish them on your blog. This is a true win/win: both parties get free content, exposure and links.

So there you have it: eight high quality resources to help promote your blog. Now get to work!

Author Bio: AdamCosta is a blogger and professional marketer. He helps small and midsize firms create dynamite marketing materials, from sell sheets to brochures.