'There is no love,
there is just Google Analytics'. This was my first thought when I
was asked to write a brief article on the Top
3 tools very blogger should use and once I started to study them thoroughly.
Is it really so? Are social media only about
numbers, traffic and blogging tools? No love? No authentic
creativity and need for communicating and being connected? Well, fortunately,
this is not true, at least not entirely true.
Both in real life and in social media a good combination of
'love' and 'common sense' seems to be what you need to succeed. Why is that? Let's stick
to the social media and the blogging tools here!
As a blogger, your job is not only to create a good quality content (the 'love' part), but also to make sure it will reach your target audience and, most importantly, that it will meet their needs. Much has been said on whether or not a great content is good enough for your website to be successful. The blog you are just reading has showed me...it is not. Content Might be the King, but it Has to Be Found and this is where blogging tools (the 'common sense' thing) play their part.
This is an article is to describe the 3 top tools I reckon as essential for creating a successful blog, be it a personal website or a business platform. Do you have to agree with me? No. And I bet you won't. Let me know about it! I am so curious to know what your blogging survival kit is. Leave me a comment and share your favourites!
The 3 top tools every blogger should use
OK. This one is the most basic out of the basics. Even thought I believe it will never replace 'love', it can help your love for blogging to flourish. Why? Google Analytics reports track your website effectiveness by providing you with the essential information on your readers' behaviour. There are many benefits of using Web Analytics and it can all be summed up by a single word: data. Where your audience come from? What they look at? How long are they staying at your website? Are the traffic figures going up or down?
This sort of information are an ultimate must-have in any blogger's wardrobe. Why? Well, if you understand your audience needs and expectations, you have the key to design and improve your content strategy, and ultimately, your business. Imagine the otherwise, you have no feedback on your blogging efforts, and as such, no data to tailor your success or even worst, to react when something goes wrong.
Have you ever heard the phrase: 'if you do not know where you are going, you'll end up somewhere else?' (thank you Yogi Berra!). Well, you will never hear it again with the Google Analytics tool. It is not perfect. Agreed. But it is for free. More demanding users can always turn towards more advanced Web Analytics Tool or even reach out for Internet monitoring options with an instant insight into all the mentions about their brands or products.
2. Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Let people find you!
Keywords planner will help to make your blog more search engine friendly. Each search engine developed a formula for ranking websites. Keywords play a crucial role in all of them. All we want to do here is to make it easier for a search engine to understand what keyword your post should be ranked for. This will help your website to be placed among the returned results once that particular keyword is being searched. Simple? Very simply! And how do we to that?
Well, using the right words has never been an easy thing, both in real life and in the Internet. Keywords planner provides you with the list of keywords your potential customers might use to find you. The idea behind keyword research is pretty straightforward: to identify these keywords, or more precisely, to identify keywords with maximum traffic and less competition. For example, when you do an exact match search for: 'blogging tools' and 'top blogging tools' they will give you completely different results in terms of traffic. Just look here:
Now a moment of truth has come! I committed one of the worst bloggers' crimes. I haven't been optimizing my old posts for any Keywords! Ouch! But I will! Promise. Don't make the same blogging mistake. Let people find you, use the power of the Google keywords Planner tool!
3. BuzzSumo. Stay inspired and stay connected.
OK. How do you find ideas for a new post? How do you know what is hot and what is not in the social media world? How to identify the 'red carpet' influences in your niche? Well BuzzSumo tool is here to help you out. It works like Google search engine by crawling and indexing blog posts and then presenting them sorted up according to the social shares count. The bigger social engagement, the higher the position on the list. All wrapped up in a very simple and user friendly visual form. Reorder your results by social network name and have fun! If you think in pictures as I do, you will love it!
We all know how important it is to know the Big Names. Don't waste your time, get to know them!
Cons - BuzzSumo tool is not for free.
To the point.
You can save your love for social media and for your blog simply by use the blogging tools! These are my top tools, which one are yours? Please do share your discoveries and add to the fun! The comments section is yours!
Photo Credits: Za murami za dachami
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