With so many website builders and tools available on the internet, setting up a new blog is so easy, anyone with a laptop and internet access could become the next star of the blogosphere. However, for this very reason, merely providing great content is no longer enough to set you apart from the competition.
Instead of passively praying for traffic, here are some handy tools to put to use that could help attract a loyal audience, nurture leads and deal with miscellaneous tasks, to help keep you productive:
Whether you are running out of ideas or are interested in writing on new subjects and need a spark of inspiration, blog topic generators can help you create enticing content. By simply inputting 3 keywords, the generator will do its magic and send you 5 related topics.
Consistent blogging is crucial. According to Hubspot, blogs that post more than 16 times per month get 4.5 times more leads than those that post four times or less per month. Frequent updates will not only help retain readers, but also the blog’s SEO, as search engines tend to rank websites that update frequently higher. Hubspot Topic Generator is useful when planning content calendars ahead to ensure that you are publishing on a consistent basis.
If you have a popular blog with a solid membership base and are looking for ways to monetize it, selling digital content is an alternative to ad placement or sponsored posts. ClickFunnel is a platform that allows you to create a paid membership page with call-to-action features, so your readers can purchase and gain exclusive access to premium content in addition to your regular content.
This is a tool that helps you uncover valuable information about your visitors and business-to-business leads. Lead Forensics is able to monitor and report what businesses have visited your blog in real time, and whether they have made any inquiry actions. Not only that, it also provides their full contact information for you to follow up and maximize your potential business opportunities.
Marketing automation is gradually replacing traditional email marketing as it has a much greater impact on conversion rates. Drip is an affordable option in marketing automation solutions. It can integrate with multiple digital tools, which allows you to effortlessly create smart, effective and dynamic emailing campaigns based on your subscriber's behaviors. Predetermined emails or content will then be sent to the right person at the right moment, creating a sense of personalization. Through Drip, you will be able to auto-engage with your subscribers consistently with relevant content in your blog.
Arranging meetings is always hectic and troublesome, especially when you have a busy schedule. Instead of hiring a secretary, try hiring Amy, a smart AI personal assistant that handles all the tedious scheduling emails for you. Amy integrates with your personal calendar, simply copy her when you respond to a meeting invitation, she will automatically coordinate with your guests in English and send you a calendar invite that matches everyone’s preferences and availabilities.
It is vital to clean your email list regularly to reduce the number of bounce-back emails, as it could negatively impact your deliverability rate and lower your email credit score. Once your credit score gets too low, all your outbound emails will be regarded as spam and eventually blocked by the domain. Briteverify is an email verification service that does the daunting and time-consuming verification process for you: you can either drag to upload your email list or utilize their real-time API that automatically validates your email list on demand.
First impressions matter. People usually form an opinion about your website within 50 milliseconds by assessing the visual appeal, and decide whether to stay or leave. Having a blog with great content buried in a busy and cluttered layout is not helpful in making a positive impact. As important as your content is, a good-looking layout is just as crucial to retaining your readers and encouraging them to keep reading. However, testing out multiple layout options is a complicated and time-consuming process. VWO is an A/B (split) testing solution that provides users a better understanding of which layout works best for their websites without the need to code. Users can easily create changes on their website and run a test of multiple layouts in real time to evaluate which has the highest conversion rate. By using a website optimizer like this, you will be able to know what kind of layout provides the best experience to your readers.
Developing a unique, eye-catching and coherent brand identity is important, but hiring a designer is not always an affordable option for start-ups or beginner bloggers. Tailor Brands is an easy do-it-yourself design studio. It offers an algorithm-based system that helps you craft your ideal logo within 10 minutes as you answer their questions about your preferences. It also allows you to further customize the design to ensure it conveys your own identity and message. Having a customized logo makes your blog more recognizable than having plain text, which in turns make it easier to build your reputation and credibility over time.
With thousands of options to choose from, it is not easy to know which tool can take your blog into the next level. At BoldGrid, our team understands what works and what doesn’t work for your business and provides beautiful templates to help at every step.