Tool Time 2! 10 Great Free Internet Marketing Tools

In last week’s post – Tool Time: Getting The Right Internet Marketing Mix – I likened getting the optimal online mix to shopping at Home Depot and categorized 17 major  tactics into what they do so you don’t end up with a tool that looked cool but gathers dust.

One major type of tool I left off was measuring tools . So in this post I’ll share the 10 favourite internet marketing tools of this mechanic when it comes to measuring how we’re doing and if we’re on the level. In order…

1. Google Keyword Tool

What else did you expect to be the top tool? It’s free. It’s a ‘database of intention’ of millions. And it’s got so many extras it’s the Swiss Army Knife of internet marketing tools. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

2. HootSuite

Want to eavesdrop on any conversation? Not only can you do that but it’s a masterful way of scheduling your posts to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn… Great team collaboration and they’re adding new bells & whistles all the time. TweetDeck is just about as good but patriotism won out.

3. Google Reader / iGoogle Combo

Plugging customized feeds from Reader into your iGoogle customized homepage and then pimping it with gadgets like Insights for Search for top keywords turns your bland Google homepage into an internet marketer’s dashboard. Shoot me an email and I’ll send you a how-to paper.

4. SnagIt

For capturing and critiquing site design. Okay maybe it’s not entirely free but it’s dirt cheap and one of my favourite tools. Recently discovered Bounceapp.com as well but when you have a tool you can rely on…

5. SEScout

The latest, greatest tool in my toolbelt and I’m loving it! A great simple way to check how your page is ranking according to your targeted keywords on Google & Bing plus traffic for those keywords etc. Careful. It’s gets so obsessive I suspect I’ll be upgrading to the paid version soon.

6. MajesticSEO

Number of links is critical in ranking but so is how fast your links are growing vs. competition. Majestic-SEO’s tool gives you some good data about your backlinks, referring domains and and a slick-looking report on progress.

7. Yahoo! Site Explorer

Site Explorer is a good way to see how your depth of content stacks against the competition as it provides you with a quick read of indexed pages PLUS it’s one more tool that tracks inbound links. It’s also a good platform to explore the nature of those links. Just be sure to select the ‘Except from this domain’ option so you eliminate internal links.

8. Open Site Explorer

Yet another link tracking tool (kinda important right?), SEOMOZ’s tool scores your site in terms of its page and domain authority as a gauge of how attractive you are as a link. It also provides you a list of your inbound links according to those scores. More good info in the paid version.

9. Klout

On the Social Media side the influence of your tweets, those of your fans or potential fans is key. The overall Klout Score has been criticized and admittedly it’s kind of goofy as a goal but underneath that score there are some very valid stats in their Score Analysis such as Unique Tweets & Likers  and Likes or Comments per Post.

10. ManageFlitter

Spring’s a good time to clean out all those Twitter followers you’re following and who aren’t following you back particularly if you’re not getting anything good from them. ManageFlitter makes it easy to unfollow a bunch at a time. Use it too much and too frequently and you could run afoul of Mr. Twitter though.

What’s in your toolbelt? Any of these?

Hope this little list of helps.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about getting brands tuned up for online and being handy if not handsome. He is the founder of BrandMechanics.ca and a regular speaker and guest blogger. Contact us on how to use these tools to get your own internet marketing revved up including a How-To paper on building your own dashboard.