Running an engineering blog can be an effective element of any digital marketing strategy. But sometimes you need a little help to get you going.
After all, there are multiple facets to running a successful blog. You need fantastic text and good images, of course, but you also need to be targeting the right keywords and sharing your content on social media. It’s a lot to think about.
And that’s where blogging tools come in. They can really help give you a leg up if you’re looking to create the best content in the most efficient way possible.
So to help you get started, here are 10 vital blogging tools that I’ve found super helpful — and which will help give you and your engineering firm what you need to hit the ground running.
1. Google Analytics
Good ol’ Google Analytics is a non-negotiable in the content marketing world.
While there are other search engines out there, Google is still the most dominant and has a 92% market share. So, in order to make the most of your time, it makes sense to focus on Google.
Google Analytics integrates directly with your website and gives you literally everything you need to understand about your website traffic and the success of your blog, telling you who your readers are, what posts they’re looking at, and even how long they’re spending on each page.
The data you get from Google Analytics is vital in helping you optimize your existing content and craft better posts in the future.
2. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a popular online tool that helps digital marketers track content present on the interwebs, helping you figure out what topics you should be focusing on.
Generating great content ideas can be difficult, but BuzzSumo makes it much simpler.
- It allows you to analyze what topics are currently trending.
- You can use it for keyword research.
- You can track competitors and see how well their content is performing.
- BuzzSumo also helps you identify key influencers that you could be working with.
- You can set up content alerts, keeping you up to date with the latest on a certain topic.
And so much more. This really is a great one-stop shop for all things digital marketing.
3. Yoast SEO
Yoast is an extremely popular SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool that integrates directly with WordPress and other content management systems.
Not everyone is an SEO expert, but Yoast makes SEO super easy. It helps you with some of the technical SEO bits that can be more challenging, and it also helps you take care of all the on-page SEO essentials, reminding you to set keywords without overstuffing your content, setting meta information, and even working on how your links appear on social media profiles.
It really takes the stress of SEO away by reminding you of everything that needs to be done.
4. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a fantastic SEO and keyword research tool that allows you to literally do anything your SEO heart desires.
By now, we all know that SEO is a non-negotiable, and working on your SEO strategy should definitely be one of the first things you do.
Ahrefs can help you with this, allowing you to do keyword research, track rankings, run competitor analyses, and even understand backlinks and overall linking strategies.
Conveniently, Ahrefs also gives your site a health score, allowing you to quickly jump in and do emergency procedures if your health score drops too low, as might happen if you have broken links or orphan pages (pages on your site that don’t have any other pages linking to them).
5. Semrush
Semrush is similar to Ahrefs in that it can help with your SEO research, but it’s often known as a far more comprehensive digital marketing tool.
It can offer you insight into keyword research and competitor analysis, help you craft content marketing strategies, and even help with social media and PPC* management.
It’s particularly useful on the PPC side, allowing you to set up effective Google Ads campaigns that can help put your site in front of new audiences.
(*PPC refers to Pay-Per-Click, which is an advertising method where you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.)
6. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a social media management tool that allows you to take control of all your social media efforts.
You can use it to schedule posts, monitor engagements, and even analyze performance across a range of social media platforms.
It’s similar to other social media management tools, like Later, MeetEdgar, SocialBee, Buffer, Sprout Social, CoSchedule, and Hootsuite.
7. Asana
Asana is a project management tool that you can use to manage all of your different projects. You can add multiple team members to a single account, plan projects, and keep on top of your content production process.
You can also use other project management tools like Trello, though Asana is slightly more suited to complex projects.
8. ChatGPT
No modern-day list on blogging tools would be complete without the addition of AI. Of course, you don’t have to use ChatGPT, though that’s currently still the most popular option.
AI writing tools can help you with a bunch of blogging aspects, including keyword research, outlining, inspiration, and helping you with initial drafts.
It’s worth noting, though, that AI should be a tool to help you with your work and not a tool to replace your work. The content AI produces is prone to error, which is an absolute no-no for engineering content. It also often reads quite stiff and may be penalized by Google, so I’d only ever recommend using AI for inspiration and to help with the initial stages of a project.
9. Canva
Canva is slightly different from the tools listed thus far because, unlike the tracking and management software discussed, this one is all about the creative side.
It’s best known as an easy-to-use graphics design tool that allows even the most novice of designers to develop stunning visuals.
The free version already gives you access to thousands of templates, photos, and images, which you can use to create flyers, media kits, infographics, and more. It’s easy to drag and drop elements, change colors, adjust transparency, and even work with layers.
All of this allows you to create great original graphics for your engineering blog, even if you currently don’t have the capacity to work with a designer.
10. Grammarly
Grammarly is a fantastic proofreading tool and grammar editor that ensures you can publish your engineering content without having to worry about spelling errors.
We all make mistakes when writing, even if we’ve proofread the text a thousand times. This is completely natural, as we often read what we think we wrote and not what we actually wrote. Grammarly will help catch those errors.
Just be aware that Grammarly now also offers AI suggestions, which can often alter the meaning of what you’re trying to say, so it’s vital to actually read through the suggestions Grammarly offers you before blindly accepting.
Making blogging tools work for you
By making use of blogging tools, you can help take your engineering blog to the next level.
These won’t only help you craft the best content, but they’ll also help you be more efficient in your efforts, helping you achieve your goals faster.
But if you’re looking for someone to assist you with your engineering blog needs, drop me a line.
Blogging Tools FAQs
A content management system is simply a tool that makes the complex world of web management more accessible to those less technically oriented. WordPress, Wix, and Shopify are super popular content management systems.
Definitely not. If you’re using Semrush, for example, you may not need Ahrefs. And if social media isn’t a major concern for you, you may want to skip the social media management tools. It’s important to identify which of the tools are most relevant to your blogging needs, and then take it from there.
It’s not necessary to go for the premium versions of all these tools. Canva, for example, has a great free version. But if graphics are vital to your blog, then investing in the premium version will be worth it. For each of these, it’s worth checking which offers the most value to you.
Since Google is clamping down on spam and AI content, it’s really important to ensure that you’re publishing original content. Plagiarism, of course, is always a massive no-go. But AI detectors can also help you pick up if your content is sounding too much like an AI. These detectors aren’t always accurate, unfortunately, and often force you to write much more colloquially than you’d like, but it can be good to get an idea of where your writing ranks by using popular AI detectors.
