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Estimated reading time: 8.5 minutes
Are you busy juggling your business?
Client projects, catching up on admin and scheduling time for content efforts is enough to consume most people’s week. Fortunately, the right business tools in your arsenal can make all the difference.
Digital toolboxes are built around your business and contain all the essentials to make life easier. They streamline your day, fine-tune writing tasks, help track website activities and make your products and services more attainable. Once built you have the best tool (or tools) to tackle the job at hand.
There’s a great quote by Stephen King that sums up the importance of building a well-constructed toolbox. These wise words apply whether you’re a writer, business owner, parent, manager, tradie, creative, employee or apprentice.
“It behoves you to construct your own toolbox and then build up enough muscle so you can carry it with you. Then, instead of looking at a hard job and getting discouraged, you will perhaps seize the correct tool and get immediately to work.”
Stephen King.
Whether you manage a team of people or you’re a sole trader, reliable resources are a must. Here are my top picks for tools every business owner needs in their belt.
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics offers key insights into your audience, website and content.
It shows you who’s visiting your site, the device they’re on and how your pages are performing. Once you create a free account and add the code to your website, you can:
- Analyse traffic channels
- Track how users find your site and what keywords they’re searching for
- See what people are looking at on your site
- Gain a greater understanding of how people are interacting with your site
- View reports and make better business decisions
If your goal is to attract more people, Google Analytics is a must. While it is for SEO it also serves as a valuable tool for understanding your audience and how to target and create content for them.
Google has a plethora of free business apps. Here are a few more to try:
- Google Search Console – The perfect pair to Google Analytics. Fix site issues to rank higher, review search results performance & use the inspection tool to encourage Google to find, crawl & index new pages sooner
- Google Mobile-Friendly Test – Make sure your site is optimised for mobile
- Page Speed Insights – Analyse site speed & use suggestions to improve your score
- Google Calendar – Set notifications, block time & take control of your schedule
- Google My Business – A free online listing (pictured below) to help your business get found. Use a GMB plugin to show genuine listing reviews on your site
More Information
- Start here
- Access from your web browser or download the free app
2. Headline Studio
CoSchedule’s Headline Analyser tool evolved into Headline Studio last year.
While it still, in my opinion, is the ultimate headline analyser tool around, it’s now packed full of other awesome features for strengthening your content. Whether you need a basic headline for a new blog article or want to re-optimise old titles, you can use it to improve your headings based on the tool’s recommendations and extensive word bank.
- Keep your character & word count in check
- Boost heading score with metrics like clarity, sentiment, reading grade level, word balance, competition, skimmability & more
- Access a headline score to outperform competing sites
- Access an SEO score, with keyword suggestions, average monthly searches, competition & search preview (pro version only)
- Word bank for emotional, uncommon, common and power words
- Free and paid versions available
More Information
- Use it here
2. Trello
Try Trello if you get overwhelmed with project management or prefer a more creative approach to task-tracking.
This visual mood board lets you collect resources, store important data and organise your collaborations. Track your thoughts, tasks and projects. Manage major projects into bite-sized chunks and generate new ideas for content.
I find Trello valuable as a content bank for inspiration and essential files too. For example, my business board covers:
- Client projects with boards & to-do lists for each stage such as Brief, Keyword & Competitor Research, Pre-Writing Research, Create, Launch etc
- Reviews – organised into platforms where the review/testimonial was published & the service provided ie: regular blog management or web copy
- Publications – with links to publications I’ve written for
- Client showcase -portfolio work & screenshots of content created for clients
More Information
- Start here
- Access from your web browser or download the free app
3. Yoast SEO
The Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) world is complex and constantly changing. Plugins and business tools can help with long-term strategies but it’s not enough to install one (or a few) and watch your site skyrocket. To get results, you need to put the effort in.
While you should engage with an SEO specialist and/or an SEO copywriter for site work, it’s a good idea to arm yourself with the right SEO tools.
Yoast SEO is the best.
Powerful, easy-to-use and current with Google’s ever-changing algorithm. Yoast SEO gives you a range of tips to make your content stronger, fine-tune your metadata and help your audience understand your site better.
Download the plugin for free or pay for the premium version with 24/7 support. Some features like setting up redirects and adding more than one focus keyword are only available for the paid version ($89US yearly).
Yoast SEO allows you to:
- Manage your meta titles & descriptions
- Streamline your copy with SEO analysis, readability score & suggestions on where & how to make improvements
- Add breadcrumbs for a more user-friendly site
- Access training & DIY resources
More Information
- Download the free or paid version here
- Use the plugin with your WordPress site – view installation guide
5. UberSuggest
I don’t always like to suggest free tools for keyword research because they won’t give you a free strategy. Unless you’re working with an SEO specialist or an SEO copywriter who’s skilled in the keyword process, no amount of free data can give you the right keyword choices and a long term plan.
Ubersuggest is a great tool for research, once you have an SEO strategy already in place.
With UberSuggest you can:
- Understand your site & its competitors
- Find areas of improvement
- Source fresh content ideas
- Get ahead of your competitors
- Find & review keyword ideas based on search volume, average cost-per-click, estimated competition in paid search & estimated competition in organic search
- Search for long-tail keywords
- Adjust your strategy to take advantage of industry or content gaps
More Information
- Add the free extension to your Chrome browser or use online
- Access how-to guides and tips here
Final Thoughts
The right resources and small business tools are a gamechanger for success. Start building your digital toolbox and tackle your website’s content with a qualified SEO copywriter.
Contact me today to find out how I can help.
