Great Articles + Tools for Online Marketing

(Last Updated: January 19, 2016)

Guess what, people. You probably won’t need to buy a book about online marketing for your business. Even if you buy the MOST recent book about online marketing published on January 8th, 2015 (That’s the day before this post was first published) it’s already out of date. The internet is such a broad and deep treasure trove of information; you should not have to pay cash to learn something about online marketing. You will have to spend time at it, however, whether you buy a book or read articles online.

To get you started, these are all websites or articles that I have recommended to my clients at one time or another.

The first website that I recommend is dreadfully obvious:

• Google.com | Why you need this: If your question can’t be answered by Google, you’re not asking the right question. If you are about to email your consultant a question that starts with “How do I…” Try typing your question into Google first!

Analytics

• Google Analytics | Why you need this: There’s absolutely NO REASON that you should not be collecting data from your website. It’s fast, simple to set up, and offers tons of insight on how your website is performing for you… or is NOT performing. Even if you don’t know how to make sense of the data you’re receiving, consultants can. The data can help you troubleshoot problems and set performance goals.

Blogging

• Writing Viral Titles | Why you need this: A good title entices people to click into the page, and also informs people about the content they can expect to see.
• 100 Blogging Ideas | Why you need this: Can’t think of what to write about? Here’s a great list of ideas if you’re stumped.

Design

• Free Stock Photos | Why you need this: If you don’t have any of your own photos, and you are starting a new website or writing a blog, you need nice images to help illustrate your content. You cannot use copyrighted images, and you are allowed to use free stock photos.
• More Free Stock Photos | Why you need this: If you didn’t find the image you need from foter.com, check out this list of other free stock photo websites.
• Photo Editing Online | Why you need this: This is a light-weight photo-editing tool. You don’t need to download any software. You can crop photos and make quick touch-ups.

Keyword Research

• Google Keyword Planner | Why you need this: When you’re optimizing individual pages on your website, you may need to reference this tool to make sure you are selecting the best keyphrase.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Website Optimization for Beginners | Why you need this: This tutorial starts from the very beginning of the website-building process and highlights some of the important steps you need to take in order to build a website that is search-engine-friendly.
• On-Page SEO: Anatomy of an Optimized Page | Why you need this: This is an easy-to-follow guide on optimizing a single page for search engines. This is a good article for SEO beginners.
• Google’s Ranking Factors | Why you need this: This is a list of over 200 ways to optimize your website for search engines. Check them all off and you’ll be doing GREAT!
• Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page | Why you need this: Understand how a search result page is laid out, so you can figure out how to get your website to rank in each section.

Websites

• Selecting a Domain Name | Why you need this: Haven’t built a website yet? You need to choose a domain name—make sure you’re selecting the right one.
• New Website Checklist | Why you need this: Building a new website? Make sure all of your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed with this ultimate checklist.

Online Marketing News Sources

What to read? Where to start? What does all this jargon mean? Argh!!! First, start with subscribing to “Who’s Blogging What”. Roughly once a week, this guy sends a curated email digest of all the latest and most important news. He helpfully categorizes the articles by Social Media, Search Marketing, User Experience (UX), Email, Analytics, and “On the Radar”. You’re not going to understand everything right away, but the important thing is to pick a category that interests you and start reading.

• Who’s Blogging What: Email Newsletter | Why you need this: A one-stop shop of all the most recent and important news in online marketing sourced from a many different news outlets. A great starting point for beginners.

• Hongkiat: Design Tips, Tutorials & Inspiration | Why you need this: Tons of great imagery and tutorials for building a beautiful website.
• Mashable | Why you need this: Stay up-to-date on the latest tech news.

Online Marketing | Musicians

• Echoes: Insight For Independent Artists | Disc Makers
• Music Clout
• Music Industry How-To
• Omari MC | The Official Artist Help Blog
• Sonicbids Blog | Expert Music Career Advice for DIY Musicians