30 Content Marketing Tools Recommended by Experts

The landscape of content marketing continues to evolve, with increasing focus on understanding consumer intentions and providing quality, relevant, and trustworthy content.

And to meet these needs and the demands of your target audience, you need the right tools to properly plan, write, optimize, and promote your best work.

So what do writers, editors, SEO professionals, content marketing managers, and others have in their content toolkits now?

Searchenginejournal asked its own network of content experts which tools they use to improve research, creation, content optimization, and more. Check out over 30 content tools they recommend, how they use them, and why each one has a place in their toolkit.

Content research and strategy tools

There are three categories of content strategy tools that Alexis Sanders, SEO Director at Merkle Digital, finds really useful:

• Competitive research tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.
• Keyword trackers like Advanced Web Ranking or BrightEdge.
• And crawlers including Screaming Frog, OnCrawl, Botify and DeepCrawl.

Each of these tools offers its own unique features and reports. Some of her favorite features include:

• Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool for content ideation.
• Advanced Web Ranking for its ability to seamlessly integrate with GDS for keyword-level reporting.
• OnCrawl’s duplicate content reporting and interpretation of canonical and non-canonical clusters.
• Ad hoc extraction and custom search options within Screaming Frog.

Kayle Larkin, SEO Strategist and owner of Larkin SEO, shared her favorite tools:

• Google Analytics, to see which types of content help drive conversions (and their conversion rate).
• Google Search Console to examine click-through rate and backlink patterns.
• Ahrefs for monitoring the share of organic voice.

Miranda Miller, editor-in-chief here at Search Engine Journal, uses BuzzSumo to see which content on a given topic is already gaining traction. “The first thing I want to know when considering writing about a given topic is what’s already out there. Who else is talking about it? Which takes are most popular?” Miller also uses AnswerThePublic.

Content writing and optimization tools

Daniel Smullen, Head of SEO at Mediahuis Ireland, shared the following list of tools that content marketers should use during research, writing, and content project management.

• Google Docs for writing with the Grammarly extension for editing.
• A project management software system like Notion for content planning.
• A keyword research tool such as Ahrefs for keyword insights.
• An all-in-one SEO writing assistant like Neural Text for topic research, identifying similar entities used in the top 10 ranking URLs, and topic-based question research.

For text content, Laura Herman, CEO of Mint Marketing Inc, recommends Surfer SEO, which is useful to understand what content is needed or what you might want to use. “For video content, I’ll use almost any platform that can help me create engaging, professional-looking content“, added Herman.

Morgan Flores, Sr Manager of Content & SEO at Clutch, said that while she uses many tools in her work, she has three favorites.

“I use Google Analytics for overall traffic analysis, user engagement, and trends. Ahrefs is my top choice for keyword tracking, keyword research, and competitor analysis. I also use the GS location switcher Chrome extension to spoof my search location in browsers “, explained Flores.

Cynthia Hoy, SEO specialist and freelance writer, told us she uses the Hemingway app to catch and correct instances of passive voice in her content. “Now that I’ve improved my passive voice, I’m working on transition words,” she added.

Miranda Miller shared her favorite online writing tools here. In addition to those mentioned above, these include:

• Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test Tool by WebFX to improve your content’s readability.
• OneLook Thesaurus to find synonyms and similar terms that can make your writing richer, less repetitive, and more interesting to read.
• Frase.io, InLinks or MarketMuse for SERP analysis, related topics and entities, competitor analysis, and other AI-assisted content insights.
• Google Scholar for finding reliable, reputable, and often peer-reviewed information.
• Yoast as a final on-page SEO check before hitting Publish.

Content Promotion

Alexandra Tachalova recommends repurposing content as an excellent way to promote it.

Canva or Venngage, for example, are two easy drag-and-drop design options that allow you to quickly and easily create hero images, infographics, social graphics, and more to boost your written content.

Tachalova also suggests trying RawShorts for quick and easy video production using existing content. (Biteable is another video maker with footage, animations, and effects you might want to try.)

For her part, Kari DePhillips, CEO of The Content Factory and co-founder of the Facebook group Sisters in SEO, stated: “I’m going to break the mold here and say Mixmax, which is an email tool“. DePhillips provided three reasons why he recommended this platform:

“First, at $12 per month, it’s my best value-for-money investment.

Second, it allows me to track all opened emails (yes, I can see when clients open invoice emails they claim to have lost…)

And third, their templates are such a huge time-saver. I get at least 10 backlink/guest post requests a day and some of these people relentlessly follow up.

I still like Hootsuite for social scheduling. Sendible, Loomly and CoSchedule are good options for customizing your content and scheduling it across various social platforms as well.

Conclusion

Each has pros and cons and features that might appeal to some users but not to others. Check them out, take a demo, and see which one fits your needs best. You’ll find new ways to automate time-consuming processes, better optimize content to match user intent, improve the quality and tone of your writing, and more.

Source: Searchenginejournal