Tradesmen Insights

SEO and social media tools are important tools in evaluating your performance. Today we have a guest post by Emma-Julia Fox from Pitstop Media that outlines some of the free ones available. Enjoy.

Manufacturers and business owners are always on the look out for smart SEO and social media tools that can help them increase their visibility as well as ROI. If these tools come for FREE even better!

Here’s a list of SEO and social media tools that can help you gather some very valuable insights in terms of your web pages’ performance.

SEO Tools

One of the most important aspects of SEO is keyword research. You will therefore need effective tools to make keyword research a lot easier. Among the most helpful tools in this case would be the myriad Keyword Density Checkers; the following are among the most reliable.

Webconfs

This tool scans the URL that you provide and then shows you the most commonly used words on the page, presented in a keyword cloud. (A keyword cloud is a visual presentation of the keywords on the page, with the font of high-density keywords slightly larger than others.) You’ll know your main keywords are doing well if they are presented in large font at the head of the cloud.

Screaming Frog

This is a downloadable java program that can scan as many as 500 URLs; you’ll have to pay for a license if you want to scan more. This can be a very useful tool if you’re launching a new website, as it can help you identify 302 redirects, 404 pages, duplicate content, pages with missing Meta data, and title that exceed 70 characters, among other internal issues that may compromise the quality of your website.

You can even use the tool to analyze your competitors’ websites from an SEO perspective.

Screaming Frog is a downloadable program you can use to identify issues on your website.

Open Site Explorer

OpenSiteExplorer is a link analysis tool that you can use to get some valuable information on any website, be that your own or the competition’s. The tool can help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your website and your links.

You can also use it to check how your site is doing as compared to your competitors. More importantly, it can help you identify some good websites to link to your own.

SpyFu Recon Files

This is another tool you should consider. It is currently still in beta and is allowing users to access their reports for free. The SpyFu reports are presented in three categories: Opportunity, Competition and SEO Value.

With this tool, you can identify valuable SEO opportunities and determine your own strengths and weaknesses as well. You can also check what keywords your competitors use on their ad copy and what they’re likely to spend on. The data you collect can be a valuable guide when you’re crafting your own SEO strategy.

WooRank

WooRank is an online tool that assists you with the technicalities of SEO. When you check your website on WooRank, you’ll get a score of anywhere from 0 to 100 along with an explanation as to what your site’s problems are and how you can improve it.

Additionally, you may want to give Marketing Grader a try. Just like WooRank, it shows you how you can improve your website. What sets it apart, though, is the fact that it also has metrics for measuring the performance of your blog.

It is important for you to keep track of how well your site is doing in terms of SEO.

Social Media Tools

Social mentions are very important in social media marketing, which is why you will need tools that can help you count the number of social mentions you have. The following are among the most recommended tools:

Shared Count

This is a very simple tool that shows you some valuable social networking statistics. When you provide your URL, the tool will show you the number of share counts you have on social networking sites.

You can use these statistics to either prove your popularity to your site visitors or take the necessary steps to improve your social media performance.

HowManyShares.com

If you prefer viewing your social media statistics in visually attractive presentations, then you’d do well to take advantage of this tool. When you provide your URL and e-mail address, the tool scans and analyzes all of your social media accounts and blogs.

In less than a minute, you’ll get a report where you receive a score of anywhere from 1 to 100. Naturally, a score of 100 is what you’re aiming for. If you get anything less than that, then you can take steps to improve your social media performance.

When you talk about social media marketing, the focus has always been on the manner in which your target audience perceives your brand. This is why ‘engagement’ is a very popular buzzword in the world of social media marketing.

Social Mention

To ensure success, therefore, you will need to monitor how your brand is being received by your target audience. A good tool to use for this purpose is Social Mention. This tool allows you to take a quick look at what people recently said about your brand or subject of interest. Perhaps the best thing about it is that it is compact and very easy to use.

You need to monitor how your brand is perceived by your social media audience.

Marketing is a constantly evolving aspect of any business and if you want to succeed, you’ll have to learn how to go with the flow. When the Internet first entered the picture, marketers had to learn all about SEO.

However, the Internet and the SEO industry are also constantly evolving and what you learned in the past may no longer be applicable today. In fact, social media marketing is a fairly new concept that online marketers are still getting used to.

As a business owner, therefore, it is definitely important for you to ensure success in both your SEO and social media campaigns. The tools discussed above should do much to point you in the right direction.

Emma-Julie Fox writes for a Vancouver based company that provides white hat SEO services, Pitstop Media.