5. Google Analytics

This is the quintessential tool to track where the visitors to your website is coming from, what happens when those people get there, and provides you with website data that will allow you to make better digital marketing decisions. Not having Google Analytics installed on your site and monitoring the data is the rookie-est of rookie digital marketing mistakes. Do you need to figure out how to set up? Use our handy-dandy tutorial.

4. Hootsuite

Wow, there’s a lot of social media channels out there that you could be posting on. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool that allows you to manage them all, schedule posts, and monitor engagement, all from one place? It exists, and it’s free for up to 5 profiles! Posting to your social media manually is SO 2012.

3. SEM Rush

Ever wondered what your competitors are doing to market their businesses online? What keywords are they targeting? Are they spending a lot of money on Pay-Per-Click ads? Do they have a lot of links to their website? SEM Rush allows you to view data on your competitor’s websites, and all you have to do is enter their URL.

2. Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools is an often-overlooked tool. There are multiple reasons you MUST submit your site to Google Webmaster Tools. First, Google Webmaster Tools is Google’s tool to get in contact with you. Like if, for instance, your site becomes penalized or (gasp!) de-indexed. Second, it allows you to submit XML Sitemaps, which help Google to crawl your site faster and more effectively. They like that. Third, Google allows you to see what keywords you’re ranking for and the fluctuation in rankings!

1. Yoast

Do you have a WordPress website? Yoast is a plug-in for WordPress that allows you to access the key SEO elements of your website from one convenient dashboard. Yoast offer amazing SEO tools, including an XML Sitemap generator, bulk Title Tag and Meta Description editor, tools to change your internal linking structure, and the ability to easily add verification code from Webmaster Tools and Alexa to your site. If that last sentence made little to no sense to you, check this out.