Web marketing isn’t easy and without tools to help, it’s even more daunting!
Our clients often contact us and ask about emails and phone calls they receive from vendors selling everything for social media bots to SEO miracle cures. Remember the old TV westerns where a peddler comes into town, in a wagon, selling cures and potions? At Alpine Web Media, our Vermont web design services are honest and reasonably priced to fit the budget of most any business, large or small.
These days “snake oil” is still selling and profitable but it just has different names
More often than not, these offers are intent on generating an income for the seller, rather than helping you with your Internet marketing.
We’ve found some of the very best deals on web marketing tools and have decided to compile a list here with links. Note that some of the links are “affiliate links” and we get a small fee for recommending them. That is why we are only recommending the ones that we have purchased ourselves and found useful. These are all well respected vendors with money back guarantees, so buy and try. If you’re not happy, get a refund. Simple as that!
First up is our favorite:
AppSumo. These folks work to get the best deals on web marketing and other tools at a fraction of the price you’d pay if you were to buy them directly from the vendors. Best of all, these are lifetime purchases and never expire!
Reviews are posted by other about what they like or dislike about the products, and you can even post questions yourself before you buy. Some of the software and offerings are free deals and that is pretty sweet! If you’re on a budget, this should be your first stop for web marketing tools.
The only downside is that the special deals are only available for a limited time. If you snooze, you lose! If you see something interested, grab the deal. Try it out for up to 60 days and if you don’t like it, get a refund (which is fast and easy).
Domain Names
My first stop for domain names is NameCheap.com. They are an excellent company to work with. I prefer them over GoDaddy, which I no longer use because of issues with their sub-standard web hosting offerings.
E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is one of the oldest and still most effective way of web marketing for your business. If you have a small business, free services such as MailChimp might be sufficient. If you’re ready to get into more advanced e-mail marketing and flexibility, GetResponse is a great tool to use. In addition to creating e-mail campaigns, you can create high converting “landing pages” to attract visitors to sign up to your e-mail list.
E-mail Lists and Autoresponders:
- I have also used Aweber for my e-mail marketing, which is pretty much the industry standard.
- ConvertKit is a relative newcomer but is getting glowing reviews
E-Commerce
If you need an inexpensive e-commerce solution that integrates into your website AND Facebook page, check out Ecwid. Several of my clients use Ecwid and I have also used it myself. It’s great for selling online on a small scale and comes with a full administration back end. However, if you do a lot of online business and need a more robust e-commerce system, contact us for other solutions that might be a better fit.
Password Manager
One of my favorite tools is the RoboForm password manager. This is one tool I simply cannot go without! RoboForm allows you to store all of your passwords and logins for websites you login to, social media and more. It also has a handy auto-form fill function. No more typing your address, credit card info, etc. into forms. RoboForm can do it for you. Best of all, you can install RoboForm on all of your computers, tablets and phones so that you can easily access and use your web logins and passwords anywhere, at any time. Give it a try. Once you’ve used it for awhile, you won’t want to be without it.
SEO Tools
If you’re considering taking on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) yourself or in-house, SEMrush is one of the best tools to use. See where your own company website stands in terms of backlinks, keywords, etc. Get insights into your competitors’ strategies in display advertising, organic and paid search, and link building.
Social Media Tools:
- Anything I can automate and make things easier is a big plus. FPTraffic is a must for automating Facebook posts and increasing Likes.
- Snip.ly is a great tool for social media sharing. When you share an article or page, etc. it automatically places a small banner at the bottom of the page to attract visitors to your website.
Note that some of the above references may contain affiliate links. We may receive a small fee for promoting these products which is really helpful for our much needed coffee budget. Thank you!
