Special Education and the Law: The Foundations Individuals Should Know
Every single student deserves to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Whenever I dream up a home improvement project for my place, I end up working smartest and fastest when I have the right tools at my disposal. It’s amazing the difference a good tool can make – and the extra time it takes to get work done without a helpful tool.
Fast-forward to online marketing. How can you work smarter and faster with SEO?
It starts with having the right tools.
I’ve collected a big sampling of the best free SEO tools on the market—tools with a wide variety of uses and covering a number of common needs. These tools are fast, free, and easy-to-use. I hope you find one or two (or twenty) you can put to good use, today.
1. Google PageSpeed Insights
Check the speed and usability of your site on multiple devices
Enter a URL, and this tool will test the loading time and performance for desktop and for mobile, plus identify opportunities to improve (and pat you on the back for what you’re doing well). The mobile results also come with a user experience score, grading areas like tap targets and font sizes.
Google PageSpeed Insights
Alternatives: Pingdom, WebPageTest, and GTmetrix
2. Moz Local Listing Score
See how your local business looks online
Moz crunches data from more than 10 different sources—including Google, Yelp, and Facebook—to score your brick-and-mortar business on how it looks online. Results come complete with actionable fixes for inconsistent or incomplete listings.
Moz Local Listing
3. Keywordtool.io
Hundreds of keyword ideas based on a single keyword
Enter a keyword, and the Keyword Tool provides a huge handful of long-tail keyword opportunities and common questions asked.
Keyword Tool
Alternative: Answer the Public, Ubersuggest
4. Google Analytics
Complete web stats and search insights
In addition to tracking pretty much every bit of traffic you could imagine on your website, Analytics also surfaces many keyword insights as to which terms people use to land on your pages.
You can get this data either under Acquisition > Search Console > Queries or Acquisition > Campaigns > Organic Keywords.
Google Analytics
Alternative: Matomo, Open Web Analytics, and Clicky
5. Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools
Constant website analysis, alerts, and error reports
These webmaster tools help give you a taste of what the two top search engines think of your site. It’s helpful to see any bugs, alerts, and indexing issues.
Pro tip: Each of these two tools requires a bit of installation on your site. If you’ve got a WordPress website, you can add the webmaster code automatically through a plugin like Jetpack or Yoast.
Google Search Console
6. Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker
Comprehensive link analysis
The free version of Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker shows the top 100 backlinks to any website or URL, along with the total number of backlinks and referring domains (links from unique sites), Domain Rating (DR), and URL Rating (UR) where applicable.
Pro tip: Paste in a competitors website to find instant link opportunities.
Ahrefs Backlink Checker
7. Moz Link Explorer
Complete overview of your website, pages, and links
The free version of Link Explorer gives you a quick look a full range of link analysis, including a look at the most impactful links coming your way and your most linked-to pages.
Moz's Link Explorer
8. Google Keyword Planner
Know what people search for
Enter a keyword or group of keywords into the tool, and Google will return all sorts of helpful stats to guide your keyword strategy: monthly search volume, competition, and even suggested terms you might not have considered.
Google Keyword Planner
9. Google.com in an Incognito Window
Discover auto-fill opportunities
Searching Google.com in an incognito window will bring up that all-familiar list of autofill options, many of which can help guide your keyword research. The incognito ensures that any customized search data Google stores when you’re signed in gets left out. Incognito may also be helpful to see where you truly rank on a results page for a certain term.
Google in an Incognito Window
10. Google Trends
See the relative search popularity of topics
Google Trends shows the popular search terms over time, which is useful for uncovering seasonal variations in search popularity amongst other things. Compare multiple terms to see the relative popularity.
Google Trends
11. Ahrefs SEO toolbar
Instant SEO metrics for web pages and Google searches
See how much traffic the current web page gets each month, how many keywords it ranks for, how many backlinks it has, and more. Also shows the search volume, CPC and difficulty of every keyword searched in Google
Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar
Alternative: MozBar
12. SEO Web Page Analyzer
Get a full on-page analysis of your website
SEO Web Page Analyzer performs a comprehensive on-page analysis to uncovers issues like as missing image alt tags, heading structure errors, and page bloat.
Web Page Analyzer
Alternatives: HubSpot Website Grader, SEO Analyzer
13. SERP Simulator
Preview how your web pages will look in Google’s search results
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See how your meta title and description will appear in the search results before you even publish your web page. Works for desktop and mobile. Check for truncation issues and fix them instantly.
SERP Simulator
14. Schema Creator
Customize how your web pages appear in the search results
Create custom code so that your reviews, events, organizations, and people are displayed the way you want in Google’s search results. Once you’ve created your schema code, copy and paste into your website.
Here’s an example of Schema in action:
Schema
15. SimilarWeb
View site stats for any domain
Use this tool to estimate how much traffic a website gets. See a breakdown of traffic sources, locations, and more. A helpful tool for competitor research.
SimilarWeb
16. SERP Robot
See your ranking position for up to five keywords
Enter any website or web page and up to five keywords to see where you rank for each of them. Check your competitors’ rankings too.
SERP Robot
17. XML Sitemaps
Build a sitemap
Simply enter your site’s URL and some optional parameters, and XML Sitemaps will create a sitemap that you can upload to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Free up to 500 pages.
XML Sitemaps
18. Browseo
See your website the way a search engine sees it
Enter your site, and this tool will strip out everything but the guts, revealing your website the way search spiders see it. This particular view can be helpful to see the hierarchy you’ve given particular elements (maybe without realizing it!).
Browseo
19. SEO Site Checkup
Audit your website for on-page and technical SEO issues
Site Checkup runs through a fast audit of your site, checking for proper tags and surfacing any errors that might come up.
SEO Site Checkup
20. Yoast SEO
Suggestions for search engine optimizing your blog posts
Enter the main keyword for your blog post and Yoast SEO will suggest how to tweak your blog post to optimize it for search engines.
Yoast SEO
21. LinkMiner
Instantly find broken links on any web page
LinkMiner is a simple Chrome extension that checks the HTTP status of all links on the current web page. All broken (404) links are highlighted red. A useful tool for discovering broken link building opportunities.
Link Miner
22. Google Business Review Link Generator
Create a link for customers to review your business on Google
Customer reviews are important for local SEO purposes. This tool allows you to create a shareable link for customers to review your business on Google.
Google Business Review Link Generator
23. Copyscape
Check for duplicate content
Enter a URL for a blog post or website, and Copyscape can tell you where else that content exists online. You might find results that you’ll need to follow-up with to help get your SEO in order.
Copyscape
24. Robots.txt Generator
Easily generate an all-important robots.txt for your site
Robots.txt files let the web robots know what to do with a website’s pages. When a page is disallowed in robots.txt, that’s instructions telling the robots to completely skip over those web pages. There are some exceptions in which case a robots.txt might be ignored, most notably malware robots that are looking for security issues.
Robots.txt Generator
25. Structured Data Testing Tool
Structured data helps to provide context to the information on your page. This tool from Google uses live data to validate the structured data for any web page, or you can copy/paste code to test it.
Structured Data Testing Tool
Further resources
Putting together a list of free SEO tools can be a daunting task. There are hundreds out there! I aimed to grab the ones that we’ve found valuable here at Buffer and the ones you can use via the web within minutes to get some amazing insights.
If you’re a brand today, there’s a non-zero chance you’re on social media in some way, shape or form.
But how many brands have an active, thriving social media presence?
And how much of them are just sort of there?
Reality check: you can’t expect much from social when you post random links, @mention a few folks and call it a day.
You need some structure. You need a social media strategy.
And although some of these brands might have blockbuster budgets, the principles they use to create an awesome social presence can be replicated by businesses of all sizes.
Struggling for followers? Stuck on what to do with your social accounts? We’ve all been there.
That’s why we’ve broken down the bite-sized tips any brand can follow to grow their social media presence right away.
Now, let’s dive in!
1. Set SMART Goals
Pop quiz: why are you on social media in the first place?
If your answer is a resounding “Uhh…” or “Because everyone else is on it,” you might have a problem.
The concept of SMART goals has been around for decades, but they are so important to your social media presence today.
In short, brands should set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
An example of a good SMART goal for social media marketing would be something like “We’ll increase our Twitter response rate by 25% by the end of the first quarter.”
Specific: “We’ve specifically identified the social channel (Twitter) and a metric (response rate).”
Measurable: “The response rate can be measured from the Sprout Social dashboard.”
Achievable: “We didn’t make an outlandish goal of say, a 100% increase in 10 days.”
Relevant: “Our goal will have an impact on our overall social media presence, making it very relevant.”
Time-bound: “The goal has to be met by the end of the first quarter.”
Assigning your social media efforts a concrete purpose helps you avoid the trap of posting aimlessly.
2. Identify Your Audience
After you’ve outlined your goals, you need to outline your target audience.
Pro-tip: “everyone” is not an audience.
Maybe it’s prospective customers. Perhaps it’s industry players and influencers. Either way, breaking down your audience will help you figure out the following:
Which social media sites you’re active on
Your posting schedule
The type of content you publish
Your brand’s voice
The information in your profiles
Many brands spin their wheels because they don’t post content that speaks to a defined audience. Spend some time looking at your audience personas, understanding what their challenges are and what brands they already love via social. This sort of competitive analysis can help you understand how your own social media presence can stand out from the crowd.
3. Be Human
This is a big one.
One of the worst mistakes to make on social media is coming off as the faceless corporation with zero personality. In the modern age of transparency, people want to get to know your company on a more personal level.
Many brands today crack jokes and aren’t afraid to talk to their followers like they would their friends. Whereas brands were once lambasted for coming off like robots, a human social media presence has become an expectation among many followers.
4. Seek Relationships, Not Just Followers
We can debate all day whether or not your follower count is a vanity metric.
That said, having 100 followers who regularly engage with you and your content are infinitely more valuable than 10,000 that ignore you.
It might be cliche to say, but don’t leave the “social” out of your social media presence. The beauty of social is that you can form relationships in an instant with followers from just about anywhere.
If you’re not exactly sure where to start when it comes to relationship-building, here are some quick ideas:
Always @mention people you reference in your social media posts
Answer questions people ask
Reply when people @mention you or share your content
Don’t just Retweet and Like other people’s content; reply with a comment to start a conversation
5. Create an Editorial Calendar
Spoiler alert: sticking to a content schedule isn’t just something “extra” that brands do.
If there’s a common thread between the biggest brands on social, it’s that they post on a consistent basis.
Chances are you’re juggling multiple social channels and are trying to make sure you tick a lot of boxes in terms of descriptions and when to post, right? Consider how a content calendar can make the process much easier by…
Allowing you to fine-tune each of your posts for each platform without having to jump between sites.
Timing your posts to maximize engagement, keeping you from having to constantly post in real-time.
Avoid repeating the same content over and over again, ensuring each of your articles or pictures gets the most love possible.
6. Automate the Right Way
Automation is all the rage in marketing right now, and for good reason.
However, you can’t expect to successfully put your social presence on autopilot and walk away.
For example, mass auto-replying has gone the way of the dinosaur as it typically comes across as insincere. This now-classic tweet from Bank of America is a good example of how to turn your social followers off via improper automation.
7. Focus on Helping Over Selling
Although social selling is indeed on the rise, rarely should your social media presence be about the “hard sell.”
Sure, if you’re in ecommerce it makes sense to push offers and deals to your followers. What’s more important, though, is answering the questions of followers whether through replies or content marketing.
8. Optimize Your Accounts for Engagement
First thing’s first: don’t let the word “optimization” freak you out.
Unlike SEO, social media optimization isn’t particularly technical. That said, profiles can be optimized through imagery, keywords and fully filling out your account information.
For example, brands can use their Instagram bio to link to promotions, advertise their hashtag and let their brand’s voice be heard.
Building a brand identity on social media is tough, but these 10 companies have mastered it
Social media is tough for brands. They have to show personality without giving offense, highlight their products and services without looking "sales-y," jump on the latest trends without seeming disingenuous and manage to build credibility without seeming boring. It's a tall order, but these 10 brands perfectly thread the needle and build a unique brand identity on social media.
1. Burger King
Burger King is the master of trolling other brands on social media. They launched a bid to partner with McDonald's to produce the "McWhopper," knowing McDonald's would turn them down and end up looking like a stodgy corporation.
When IHOP crafted a social media stunt to change its name to "International House of Burgers," Burger King quietly responded by changing their Twitter name to "Pancake King."
More recently, they promoted their line of "Unhappy Meals" with a YouTube ad stating, "No one is happy all the time. And that's OK."
2. Pop-Tarts
If Burger King excels at trolling its competition, Pop-Tarts excels at trolling its own followers. Its Twitter persona is world-weary and very much "over this shit." The account regularly posts photos of blocking followers who suggest bizarre new flavors (it's almost a Twitter badge of honor to get blocked by Pop-Tarts), and a running battle over whether or not Pop-Tarts are ravioli.
Pop-Tarts has taken the gutsy approach of engaging with its followers with a jokingly adversarial stance, and it's paid off with 179,000 followers compared to parent company Kellogg's 95,000.
3. Nike
Not every branded social media account has to be an outlet for comedy. Nike capitalizes well on its aspirational brand identity. Its #Breaking2 social media campaign hyped the product launch of its Zoom Superfly Elite shoes by building anticipation for runners to break the two-hour barrier for running a marathon (spoiler alert: none did, but Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge came tantalizingly close at 2:03:05).
The company also hasn't been afraid to take a strong stance on social issues and court controversy. Its YouTube videos featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick racked up nearly 30 million views and lent support to the athlete's stand for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The brand has also made the smart move of splitting its Facebook accounts into different product categories, allowing it to focus on specific audiences.
4. Wendy's
Wendy's has perfectly wed Burger King's strategy of trolling its competition with Pop-Tarts' strategy of trolling its own audience to effectively troll everyone. While its Twitter feed focuses on showcasing its products, it takes consistent aim at McDonald's for using frozen beef, and will occasionally go after its own customers.
Wendys marketing
But Wendy's customer engagement goes beyond snarky comments. In 2017 a Twitter user asked them how many retweets he'd have to get to be awarded free chicken nuggets for a year. Wendy's replied with 18 million, and the #NuggsForCarter was born, getting retweets from Apple, Microsoft and even Twitter itself. The campaign even got a mention from Ellen Degeneres. Most importantly, even though the campaign fell short of its 18 million retweets (it got nearly 3.5 million), Wendy's awarded the year's supply of nuggets. Free publicity, great customer service and masterful social media marketing.
5. NASA
NASA is proof that you don't need stunts or humor if you've got incredible content. The space agency's Twitter and Facebook feeds are virtually the same, but the content is so awe-inspiring that the duplication barely matters.
NASA's social media team knows it has a major strength, access to jaw-dropping imagery and video. They use it expertly across all their social accounts, and have managed to nab 31.6 million Twitter followers, 44.4 million Instagram followers and 21.6 million Facebook followers. Proof that content really is king.
6. Target
Target does retail social media brilliantly, making full use of different social media formats to showcase its products. It uses carousels on Facebook to allow users to scroll through products, and smartly includes a "Shop Now" button on its profile page.
Target also utilizes social media for ultra-responsive customer service. It regularly and promptly replies to comments from customers, and uses its social media to update them on customer service issues.
The one criticism we'd level at Target is it doesn't do Twitter humor particularly well. By playing it a bit too safe, its attempts at jokes fall flat. But it showcases products and engages with customers so well that we're willing to give it a pass.
7. KFC
KFC deserves a spot on this list if for nothing more than the 2017 revelation that the only accounts it follows are all five spice girls and six guys named Herb. In other words, 11 herbs and spices. KFC didn't point this out. It patiently waited for Twitter to notice. That's a well-earned slow clap.
But KFC is also brilliant at viral stunts. Most recently, it encouraged social media followers to create sexy male dancer videos for their mothers on Mother's Day (their example starred a beefy Colonel Sanders, and will haunt our nightmares forever). It also launched an Indiegogo campaign to build a remote control in the shape of the Colonel's iconic cane. The brand does some truly weird stuff, and we tip our hat in respect.
8. GoPro
GoPro is the gold standard for leveraging user-generated content. The brand uses its Facebook and Instagram page to promote user-submitted videos and photos shot on GoPro cameras. It engages its audience by offering them the chance to have their content showcased, and even runs an annual awards program to hand out cash prizes for the best imagery shot on their equipment.
The brand also understands the concept of using different platforms for different types of content. While its Facebook and Instagram showcase user-generated content, its Twitter updates consumers on the latest products and developments. Its YouTube channel, meanwhile, offers tutorials on how to use its products.
9 Merriam-Webster
Look up "snarky" in a Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and it's likely the definition will be "Merriam-Webster's Twitter account." The lexicographers are quick to jump on the misspellings and misstatements of public leaders with a wry offer of aid, as was the case when President Donald Trump tweeted about meeting with the "Prince of Whales."
But Wendy's customer engagement goes beyond snarky comments. In 2017 a Twitter user asked them how many retweets he'd have to get to be awarded free chicken nuggets for a year. Wendy's replied with 18 million, and the #NuggsForCarter was born, getting retweets from Apple, Microsoft and even Twitter itself. The campaign even got a mention from Ellen Degeneres. Most importantly, even though the campaign fell short of its 18 million retweets (it got nearly 3.5 million), Wendy's awarded the year's supply of nuggets. Free publicity, great customer service and masterful social media marketing.
5. NASA
NASA is proof that you don't need stunts or humor if you've got incredible content. The space agency's Twitter and Facebook feeds are virtually the same, but the content is so awe-inspiring that the duplication barely matters.
NASA's social media team knows it has a major strength, access to jaw-dropping imagery and video. They use it expertly across all their social accounts, and have managed to nab 31.6 million Twitter followers, 44.4 million Instagram followers and 21.6 million Facebook followers. Proof that content really is king.
6. Target
Target does retail social media brilliantly, making full use of different social media formats to showcase its products. It uses carousels on Facebook to allow users to scroll through products, and smartly includes a "Shop Now" button on its profile page.
Target also utilizes social media for ultra-responsive customer service. It regularly and promptly replies to comments from customers, and uses its social media to update them on customer service issues.
The one criticism we'd level at Target is it doesn't do Twitter humor particularly well. By playing it a bit too safe, its attempts at jokes fall flat. But it showcases products and engages with customers so well that we're willing to give it a pass.
7. KFC
KFC deserves a spot on this list if for nothing more than the 2017 revelation that the only accounts it follows are all five spice girls and six guys named Herb. In other words, 11 herbs and spices. KFC didn't point this out. It patiently waited for Twitter to notice. That's a well-earned slow clap
8. GoPro
GoPro is the gold standard for leveraging user-generated content. The brand uses its Facebook and Instagram page to promote user-submitted videos and photos shot on GoPro cameras. It engages its audience by offering them the chance to have their content showcased, and even runs an annual awards program to hand out cash prizes for the best imagery shot on their equipment.
The brand also understands the concept of using different platforms for different types of content. While its Facebook and Instagram showcase user-generated content, its Twitter updates consumers on the latest products and developments. Its YouTube channel, meanwhile, offers tutorials on how to use its products.
9 Merriam-Webster
Look up "snarky" in a Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and it's likely the definition will be "Merriam-Webster's Twitter account." The lexicographers are quick to jump on the misspellings and misstatements of public leaders with a wry offer of aid, as was the case when President Donald Trump tweeted about meeting with the "Prince of Whales."
10. Deloitte
Deloitte uses its gravitas to absolutely own LinkedIn. The global consulting firm pumps out high quality content that positions its brand as a thought leader in the realm of business disruption. Its content ranges from deep analytics on the current state of global commerce to forward-looking pieces on the future of business and work. The company uses a variety of mediums to present its content, including surveys, videos, whitepapers and blogs to reinforce its brand identity.
Digital marketing is one of the most exciting, challenging and fast-paced industries you can work in and I can promise you’ll never be bored.\
The digital economy is growing fast and there’s no better time to get into digital marketing. Be prepared for a career that will keep you on your toes with no two days the same! It’s a competitive industry, but there’s some simple steps you can take to get ahead.
Steps to Start a Successful Digital Marketing Career
1. Get to grips with social media
Digital marketing is more than just finding the perfect filter for your selfies. You need to understand how brands interact with people on social media and use these channels to build relationships and make sales. Get up to speed with the science of it and you’ll be on your way to success!
2. Build your LinkedIn profile
They say it’s not what you know but who you know. LinkedIn is a professional community where you can connect with and learn from experts, as well as stay up to date with the latest news. Having an up to date profile will also show employers you really know your stuff.
3. Join a networking group
There are numerous groups on LinkedIn but look first locally for in-person networking events you can attend. Usually they have guest speakers which is a great opportunity to learn from experts and you might even meet a future employer there too.
4. Find a mentor
Nothing is more valuable than a mentor who has been there before and can help you learn from their mistakes. Having someone close to reach out for some advice can really help you get ahead. You’ll find out quickly that most people are willing to give some time to others looking to get into the industry, so don’t be afraid to ask.
5. Stay up to date with the latest trends
Things move fast in the digital world and you need to be up to speed with the changes. Twitter is one of the best real-time sources of news and LinkedIn Pulse is a great way to stay on top of industry trends. You’ll probably be asked about recent updates in an interview, so make sure you brush up on what the changes mean and how you can use them to your advantage if you’re job hunting.
6. Start a blog
Blogging is a great way to show your expertise and help you learn by doing. Blogging shows your commitment and skills to potential employers too. Be warned, I’ve often been asked how many followers or website visitors I have in job interviews and that means a blog is a great way to build an audience and attract the right kind of attention.
7. Understand how analytics work
Make sure you understand the basics of social media metrics and Google Analytics. You’re going to need to evaluate performance and report on key facts and figures so make sure you know what this means and where to go to get the information. Google’s Partner program is free which will teach you the basics and it’ll be useful for helping you build your blog too.
8. Take some online courses
There are countless free or low cost learning platforms bursting with social media courses and digital marketing basics. If you’re trying to break into the industry, free courses are a great way of learning the basics of the main platforms, boosting your resume and showing your commitment to potential employers when you’re just starting out.
9. Learn to code
Learning the basics when it comes to HTML and WordPress will really help you stand out from the crowd. You don’t need to become a web development expert but if you know your way around the admin panel of a blog or website and can make minor updates, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and impress employers too.
10. Decide on agency vs industry
There’s two main career paths when it comes to digital marketing. You can be an in-house marketer for one company (working in a specific industry) or you can work for an agency and handle lots of different clients. That’s not to say you can’t switch later on but deciding where you’d like to focus can give you a good head start.
Digital marketing is one of the most exciting, challenging and fast-paced industries you can work in and I can promise you’ll never be bored! I regularly blog about hints, tips and industry news over on my website: www.my-seo-collection.blogspot.com and I’d love to hear if you’ve got any advice for new digital marketers too.
