Suppose you’re aspiring to be a digital marketing freelancer or build a career around Digital marketing. In that case, you should be aware of some of the digital marketing tools that are widely used. This can get overwhelming since there are hundreds of tools out there and it can get difficult to choose the right one for you.
However, the saving grace for today’s digital marketer is that there’s a tool for everything you want to do. You need to know which one to use.
In this article, I list some of the more popular and easy-to-use digital marketing tools that you should try out.
Now, in order to attract clients and employers, you need to create an appealing portfolio of yourself. This solidifies your online presence and helps to make a good first impression.
A digital marketing portfolio ideally starts with a website. That is your online store, however, even before you build the website, you should research the niche you want to dive into. It’s crucial to know the trends around that subject and what people are looking for. Solid research sets the foundation for success.
Tools that I recommend you use for research are :
Google Trends – (Free)
Google Trends is an excellent tool for beginners and advanced digital marketers. It provides real-time keyword search data based on the search queries on the search engine results page (SERP). What’s even better is that it segregates search queries according to regions and languages to give you in-depth information about the subject you are looking for.
Answer the public – (Partially Free)
Answer the public is another excellent keyword tool that shows you popular user search queries in a diagrammatic format that they call “search cloud”. The search trends are broken down into 5 categories – How, Can, Are, Which and will. They allow up to 2 free searches per day after which you have to subscribe to the paid version or wait until the next day.
Once you are done with research, you can move on to website design tools and my favourite ones that will help you are:
Canva – (Free/Paid)
Canva is a graphic designing tool that offers thousands of templates that you can customize. Some templates are offered only in the paid version, however, the free version should be enough to get you by in the beginning.
WordPress & Elementor – (Free/Paid)
WordPress has literally revolutionised the way websites are made. So much so that anyone with basic computer knowledge can design a website. Many plug-ins are available on WordPress to make the process seamless. There are plenty of video tutorials available on the internet to get you started and I suggest that you use Elementor along with WordPress to make the process much easier. Elementor has built-in widgets that you can simply drag and drop to design your website. While WordPress is free, Elementor offers a free version with added features in the pro version. My advice is to start off with the free version until you feel the need to upgrade.
Hosting and Domain (Paid)
Website hosting and Domain are the two things you should pay for while designing your online portfolio. Of course, there are free versions available, however, they have very limited options. Hosting services provide a backup for your website, meaning, that’s the place which stores your content. Domain on the other hand provides a domain name, for eg. www.yourwebsitename.com. Both hosting and domain are essential to creating your website and it is important to pick a reliable service provider that can provide consistent support.
Once you have finished building your website, it is time to work on website traffic. Over a period of time, you will see your audience growing and this is when you should create a newsletter to keep them engaged and build a dedicated fan base.
The only tool that you will likely require to monitor traffic and user behaviour is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is one of the most popular analytics software out there which allows you to measure your campaigns and analyze data. It is free to use and all you need to do is link your website with Google Analytics, and you can do this easily using a plug-in on WordPress.
After this, you can use email marketing tools to send out newsletters and build a dedicated user base. Tools I recommend for the same are:
Mailchimp and sendinblue (Free/Paid)
You may select either of the two tools, although there are plenty of options available in the market. These tools essentially help you with sending bulk emails to your users and then analysing the open rates, interaction rates and much more. These platforms keep updating from time to time and keep adding new features. Moreover, they provide options like SMS and WhatsApp campaigns.
Overall, these tools will suffice until you grow and once you are ready, you can always choose to upgrade and switch service providers. A few other notable mentions are as follows:
Pixabay, Unsplash (Free)
These are websites that provide free stock images that you can use on your websites, and social media posts and don’t have to worry about copyright violation.
Grammarly (Paid/Free)
If you write your own content, you must use Grammarly. Grammarly helps you to write better by detecting spelling and grammatical errors and prompting corrections. They have a free as well as a paid version with more options. Also, you may install the free chrome extension for easy access.
Ubersuggest – (Paid/Free)
Ubersuggest provides monthly search volume, cost per click and competition data on the specific keyword you want to look up. It also provides alternative keywords and content ideas. It is free for up to 3 uses a day, but the paid version has more options. For easy access, you may install the free chrome extension.
There is a plethora of tools available in the market and the suggestions I shared are a guide to make your journey easier. However, if you find or use digital marketing tools apart from these, feel free to comment and let me know. I wish you the best in creating your online portfolio.