13 Feb 2017
List of Top Blogging Tools You Should Try in 2017
List of Marketing Tools for Bloggers and Solopreneurs
Blogging has been all the rage for quite some time now, and for all the right reasons. It gives you a platform to express your views, share your content with the world and even act as a business.
While blogging has been in existence for more than a decade, it is only recently that supporting tools have started to be developed in an effort to help you be more efficient and productive. There is a tool for practically every job, and it goes for blogging too. Here are few of the best tools you might need for a great blogging experience in 2017.
1) WordPress
The Facebook for bloggers, WordPress is tried-and-tested by many over the years and it is still one of the best content management systems around. It gives you a readily-available website to host your content, along with some great themes (most of which are free). It allows you to have your personal domain and even migrate from another CMS. Apart from that, there are the traditional features like instant grammar check and noun check. With a huge community of developers making effective plugins, WordPress is bound to be stronger in the coming year too.
2) Long Tail Pro
Finding good keywords is more essential than you could guess. Your keywords play a vital role in deciding your position in Google search results. But most people simply choose to guess some vague keywords and hope that they click! A much better approach is using tools like Long Tail Pro, which analyzes the traffic on major search engines and then tells you about the most popular search terms. It provides detailed information about the keywords and an enhanced filtering- which is why it must be in your toolkit in 2017.
3) BuzzSumo
A great title is like a great first impression; it dictates how the rest of the interaction will go. The service searches for the best titles available online and ranks them according to popularity. All you are left to do is think of a cool title inspired from these results.
4) Yoast SEO
SEO is transforming into an industry in itself, which only highlights its importance in the digital space. As such, using plugins like Yoast SEO is always a good idea. Yoast seeks to improve both the on-page and off-page factors that affect your traffic; be it backlinks, mentions, Meta titles or URLs. Another effective feature is an instant grammar checker, available online free of charge.
5) Canva
Visual appeal plays a great role in making your blog interesting and captivating, instead of just textual content. Simply put, Canva is dedicated to making your blog great to look at. Not only does it let you add quality images, infographics and related media, it also provides templates to adjust the content on your blog according to its overall visual appeal.
6) Readability Test tools
We might be diploma holders in our professional lives, but when it comes to reading stuff online we are practically high school kids who want easy-to-read content. In such scenarios, it is always handy to have a readability test tool that decides whether your content would be easily comprehended by your regular, everyday user, thereby allowing you to better structure the content on your blog. Examples include Readable and WebpageFX.
7) Trello
Another important aspect of managing a blog is team management when you are working with a group of people for a big blog. Like version control systems, Trello is a tool that helps you manage 
the workflow on your blog, structuring content and handling out responsibilities.
8) MailChimp
Even though those promotional emails in your inbox are annoying at times, they are also quite effective if managed properly. For expanding and consolidating your reach, having an auto-responder tool like MailChimp is essential. Every time new content is added, your subscribers may optionally get an mail notification and increase traffic to your blog. Simple, yet effective.
9) Sprout Social
Everyone knows that social media is a powerful medium, but not many know how to use it effectively. A tool like Sprout Social enables you to control the display of content across multiple social media accounts simultaneously. This enables you to manage your audience while improving your traffic all at once.
10) Google Analytics
Once everything is done, you would want to see results and data in a comprehensive manner. Google Analytics is great at displaying in-depth stats about your blog to help you make smarter marketing decisions. Not only does it give you simple details like traffic stats, it also tells you about your audience and what actions they take on your blog. Moreover, it has a great interface that allows you to draw insights about your blog without getting intimidated by these seemingly complex metrics. A great way to form strategies.
Can you recommend additional tools and services to use in 2017 and beyond?
24 Feb 2017
10 Content Tools to Improve & Inspire Your Copywriting Skills
Copywriting has emerged as a vital skill in the digital era, and it’s largely due to the way market dynamics have changed.
Copywriters create content that has a specific purpose (mostly promotional). But among the numerous people out there advertising countless products, what could possibly make your copy unique? Some of it is pure skill, but a large part of it is using the right tools. Thus, using the appropriate ones can improve your copyrighting skills and increase your reach.
Most of us might assume that copywriting is a lucrative job — and with the right approach, it is. In the present web-enabled world, this skill makes better sense in most industries and a copywriter’s work often becomes the primary venue in promoting a product.
1. Twords
Great writers are those who remain punctual, and this is where Twords comes in as an excellent tool that motivates you to write more. It keeps track of the days you have written, finds patterns in your work and gives you reminders to keep you writing more. As such, Twords is a great tool to keep you in a writing mood.
2. BuzzSumo.com
If you would like to get all the blog posts that have gone viral in a single click, then BuzzSumo.com is for you. The website first requires you to come up with a keyword to fill the search space. For instance, if you type in the term ‘content marketing’, you will see around 3316+ results with a number of shares on social media along with backlink details. This is an amazing tool to use if you are struggling with a topic or wish to know how to approach an idea.
3. SEMrush
This could be the best keyword research tool if you understand how to use it. You can get quick information about competitors, shared keywords and traffic-related details. In fact, the free version is prominent because of its large amount of accessible features. All in all, SEMrush is a treasure trove of data.
4. Thrive Headline Optimizer
Thrive Headline Optimizer is the best word tool for copywriters in print media and web promotional content writing. This tool allows you to find unique headlines which are generally not used anywhere on the web. Dedicating some time to headline creation is vital, and this is where Headline Optimizer thrives.
5. Blog Topic Generator
One cannot ignore a tool that offers better title suggestions, as this is where many copywriters get struck. Sometimes creating the material is easier than finding an apt title; if you have too many unnecessary keywords or just can’t come up with a good headline, this free tool holds the potential to help you.
6. HelpMeWrite.co
This is a better way to make sure whether your audience would prefer one topic over another. Create a profile, post your ideas, and fellow readers would provide you with feedback and personal preferences. One shot at this can help you with unlimited blog posts.
Update: This now appears to be suspended. Check back in the future to see if the website is restored.
7. Twinword Writer
Twinword Writer is a free online paraphrasing tool, naturally ideal for the average blogger and avid copywriter. Simply type away and gradually rewrite certain sentences without changing their meaning. A handy thesaurus can never be a bad thing.
8. Spinbot
Spinbot, much like an article or reword generator, is used to get more ideas and make your content unique.
9. Hemingway Editor
Hemingway Editor helps you spot difficult sentences. Longer sentences usually create wordiness and passive voice usage is not recommended. Not all writers/readers have the time to absorb every word, after all. All in all, this editor greatly helps improve your content’s readability score.
10. Articoolo
Articoolo is a recommended free tool for web-based copywriters to get instant, unique articles. Use it to create a new piece on the web page itself or ask Articoolo to rewrite it instantly. While you shouldn’t rely 100% on such services, at least you can use this lightly along with your own natural skills.
These content-based tools can be a great assistant in times of need. From title generation to sensational keyword usage, these make your copywriting job just a little bit easier in the long-run.