Here is a collection of some of the tools and techniques I have come across for monitoring and managing your online presence, from technical statistics to sentiment analysis.
A disproportionate amount of these tools are from Google, so let’s hope they’re not evil.
I will probably add to this post as I find other interesting links and software.
If you have any suggestions of useful sites to add, please comment and I’ll add them to the list.
All of these tools and sources are free to some degree, unless otherwise stated.
Marketing Research
iReach Insights – marketing research company
amas – internet strategy and market research agency
Adwords Keyword Tool – free keyword research tool from Google Adwords
Planning
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) – guidelines and standards for creating online advertising campaigns
Adplanner – ad planning tool from Google
Social Media Overview
Tools which give you a broad overview or ‘dashboard’ of several social media channels at a glance:
Hootsuite – manage multiple profiles and keep track of when your brand is mentioned
Tweetdeck – just for twitter
Social insights from Google analytics – view social interaction in the context of your website
thinkUp – an open source tool for analysing your social media presence
Schedule posts and content
Write posts and updates in advance and schedule them for release at required intervals:
BufferApp – write posts in advance and schedule them to be published at chosen times
Facebook Scheduling – schedule Facebook updates
WordPress schedule posts – learn how to schedule a post for later publication
Sentiment Analysis
Analyse the overall sentiment or emotions behind posts made about your brand:
Sentiment140 – Twitter sentiment tool
Website performance and statistics
Track your website’s ranking and how it is performing technically:
Alexa – website ranking tool
Google Analytics – powerful, free tool for website traffic and usage statistics
Stat My Web – website ranking, monetary value and other details
Trackalyse – subscription service which allows you to analyse Facebook Page engagement and benchmark your performance against competitors.
Monitor brand mentions
View when your brand is mentioned online:
Social Mention – real time social media activity and brand mentions
Google Alerts – email alerts set for keywords or phrases
Google Blog Search – find out if people mention you in blogs
Offline tools
One of the most useful tools in measuring and planning your online presence is spreadsheet software. Use Libre Office, free and open source office productivity suite, to create the following spreadsheets:
- List the URLs, usernames, social media platform and what that platform is used for so that you can keep your message focused and appropriate for each online channel you use.
- Use a template like this one to plan your posts and content across social media and your website.
Places to find more information:
Mashable: http://mashable.com/social-media/
Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
20 free social media monitoring tools: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/09/20-free-social-media-monitoring-tools.html
Hi Claire, That’s a great list to have. Another tool that is good is trackalyse.com. It’s an Irish company that has developed a Social Media insight tool allowing companies to benchmark their performance against competitors. It’s based mainly on Facebook at the moment but I think they are branching out to cover other social media formats also.
Thanks Elaine, it’s great to include some home-grown tools. I’ll add it to the list.