As an independent digital strategy consultant, my saas toolkit is an integral part in my ability to serve my clients and provide value and actionable insights at scale. Over the last ~ten years in digital marketing, I’ve used hundreds of online tools — but only a few dozen or so that I come back to over and over again.
I’ve decided to share with you my favorite saas tools, which I use constantly to serve my clients and achieve my own goals online. I use the tools for every step of the digital marketing process, from managing my time, to creating content, to optimizing ads, and delivering valuable insights to my clients — these are the tools that keep me efficient and effective. I hope they serve you well, too!
Saas tools I use every day as a digital strategy consultant:
Tools for Web Hosting & Domains:
NameCheap
for Domains
Namecheap is my go-to website for registering domains. It is one of the leading domain registrars in the market and offers great value for money. It has a wide selection of TLDs (Top Level Domains) like .com, .org, .net and many more. It is also the only registrar to offer free WhoisGuard privacy protection for all domain registrations, which is a great feature.
The user interface of the Namecheap website is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. The dashboard is well organized, making it easy to access all the features. It also allows users to manage multiple domains in one account and easily transfer domains from other registrars. Namecheap also provides excellent customer service and support.
Overall, Namecheap is my go-to website for registering domains. It has a great selection of TLDs, excellent customer service and support, and a secure and reliable platform. It also offers great discounts and promotional offers, making it an ideal choice for those looking to register domains.
Tools for Website Analytics:
Google Analytics 4
For Website Analytics
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is an essential tool for any business looking to optimise their website’s performance. GA4 is the successor to the much-loved Google Analytics, and offers an improved tracking experience. Its powerful features allow businesses to understand the behaviour of their users and plan their next steps accordingly.
GA4’s data collection capabilities are much more advanced than its predecessor, allowing businesses to capture more information about their users. This data can be used to inform decisions about marketing campaigns, website layout, and product offerings. Additionally, GA4’s automated insights feature can track the user journey and identify potential opportunities for improvement.
The GA4 platform also claims to be much more user-friendly than its predecessor. It has an intuitive user interface and provides clear visualisations of collected data. This makes it easier for businesses to identify trends and opportunities without having to spend hours analysing the data. Additionally, GA4 has an app tracking feature, so businesses can see how their users are interacting with their app.
Here’s My Evolving Guide to GA4 — More information coming soon!
Google Analytics 4 is an invaluable tool for businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition. It provides comprehensive data and insights that can inform marketing and product decisions. Additionally, its user-friendly interface makes it easier for businesses to interpret their data and find opportunities for improvement. GA4 is an essential tool for any business looking to optimise their website’s performance.
HotJar
For Heatmap Tracking & Website Visitor Recordings
HotJar is my favorite tool for heatmap tracking and website user recordings. It helps me to understand website user behavior and to optimize websites for conversion rate optimization. HotJar is a powerful digital strategy tool that enables me to track website visitors’ behavior and preferences, identify the most effective website elements, and analyze user journey data.
The Heatmap feature of HotJar allows me to visualize how users interact with my website, so I can identify areas of improvement and potential customer pain points. With it, I can easily track user clicks, mouse movement, and scroll activity as well as identify which elements of my website are most engaging and which are least used by my website visitors. This helps me to optimize my website design, content, and user experience to improve user engagement and conversion rate.
The User Recording feature of HotJar also helps me to gain valuable insights into the user journey. With it, I can observe and record website visitors’ interactions with my website in real-time. This allows me to understand how users interact with my website and identify areas where I can improve my website design and user experience to increase conversions.
Overall, HotJar provides me with a comprehensive digital strategy tool that helps me to understand website user behavior, optimize my website design and content, and improve my website user experience. With HotJar, I can easily track user activity, identify areas of improvement, and make data-driven decisions to increase website conversions.
Tools for Website Optimization & SEO
Google Search Console
For Organic Search Rankings & Opportunities
Google Search Console is an essential tool for any website owners and SEO professionals, and it is available as a free tool. It helps website owners to monitor their website’s performance in the Google search engine, as well as identify and fix any issues that may be affecting its search visibility.
Google Search Console provides a wealth of information about a website, including the number of impressions, clicks and average position of a website in the search results. This information can be used to identify opportunities to optimize a website for better performance. It also provides insights into how Googlebot is crawling a website, and can be used to identify potential issues or errors that may be preventing a website from being indexed.
Google Search Console also provides an opportunity to submit a website’s sitemaps, allowing Googlebot to crawl a website more efficiently and quickly. This can help to ensure that all of a website’s content is being indexed, and that any changes made to the website are reflected in the search results in a timely manner.
Another great feature of Google Search Console is that it allows website owners to easily check their website’s mobile friendliness. This is important since Google now uses mobile-first indexing, meaning that it looks at the mobile version of a website first. If there are any issues with the mobile version of a website, Google Search Console can provide information on how to fix them.
Here’s my ever-evolving guide to Google Search Console, and a favorite Google Search Console dashboard I built.
Overall, Google Search Console is an essential tool for any website owner or SEO professional. It provides a wealth of information that can be used to improve a website’s visibility in the search engine results, as well as identify potential issues that may be preventing it from being indexed. Furthermore, it is a free tool, making it an invaluable resource for those looking to make their website more successful.
SEMrush
For Web Analytics & Marketing Data
SEMrush is my favorite tool for SEO and SEM, I use it everyday to track hundreds of websites. As a SaaS product, it has been extremely useful for me in my SEO and SEM endeavors, as I am able to track a variety of metrics to help inform my decisions. I use SEMrush to track keyword rankings, organic search traffic, organic competitor analysis, and more. This has allowed me to identify opportunities to optimize my SEO and SEM campaigns, as well as opportunities to outrank my competitors.
In addition to tracking and analyzing data, SEMrush also provides valuable insight into my competitors’ SEO and SEM strategies. With features such as backlink analysis, competitor keyword research, and competitive analysis, I am able to gain an edge over my competitors by understanding their strategies. By using this data, I can develop my own strategies that are tailored to my specific needs.
SEMrush has been an indispensable tool for me in my SEO and SEM efforts. By providing valuable insight into my own website performance and my competitors’ strategies, I am able to make informed decisions and optimize my campaigns for maximum success. I use SEMrush every day to track hundreds of websites and analyze the data to inform my decisions, and I’m always impressed by the quality of the data and the insights it provides.
Tools for Local SEO
Bright Local
For Local SEO & Directory Citations
Bright Local is a comprehensive tool for local SEO that provides a wide range of solutions for businesses and marketers alike. It helps businesses to track and improve their local SEO performance, by providing an easy-to-use platform to manage citations, reviews, and other local SEO activities. It also helps businesses to monitor their local rankings and performance compared to their competitors.
Bright Local is an essential tool for businesses looking to gain more visibility for their local SEO efforts. It enables businesses to audit their local SEO data, such as citations, reviews, and info on data aggregators, to ensure accuracy and consistency across the web. This helps businesses to ensure they are cited on the most authoritative local directories, and that their data is up to date across the internet.
Bright Local also offers powerful reporting and analytics, enabling businesses to understand the impact of their local SEO efforts. This helps businesses to identify areas of improvement, and adjust their strategy accordingly. It also allows businesses to track their local rankings and performance over time, ensuring they are on top of their local SEO.
Bright Local also makes it easy to manage reviews, giving businesses control over their online reputation. It enables businesses to respond to reviews quickly and easily, as well as monitor reviews from multiple sources. This helps businesses to maintain a positive online presence and build trust with their target audiences.
Overall, Bright Local is an essential tool for local SEO, providing businesses with the data and insights they need to stay on top of their local SEO. Its comprehensive solutions enable businesses to track, manage, and improve their local SEO performance, ensuring they are visible to their target audience.
Tools for Content Creation
WriteSonic
For Short AI Assisted Marketing Copy
WriteSonic is an essential tool for quality AI copywriting. It is a revolutionary solution to help brands create high-quality content in less time. It is an AI-based platform that enables users to easily create well-structured, SEO-friendly content that is optimized for search engines. WriteSonic’s AI-powered writing engine helps users create content in multiple languages and in a variety of formats. It is an ideal tool for content creators who want to produce high quality content in a short amount of time.
WriteSonic’s AI-powered writing engine also helps users create content that is SEO-friendly. It helps users create content that is optimized for higher search engine ranking. It also helps users create content that is search engine optimized and keyword rich. This helps users create content that is easily found by search engines and that is more likely to rank higher in the search engine results pages.
For Long-Form SEO Content at Scale
Content at Scale AI is the best tool for long-form SEO content because it enables the creation of high-quality content pieces quickly and efficiently. Content at Scale AI is an AI-powered content creation platform that helps content creators generate unique, long-form SEO content in an automated fashion. With its advanced natural language processing capabilities, it can accurately generate content that is both high in quality and optimized for search engines. It is also capable of providing feedback on the quality of the content, so that it can be improved if necessary.
Content at Scale AI is especially helpful for long-form SEO content, as it enables content creators to quickly create high-quality pieces that are optimized for search engines. Its AI-driven technology ensures that the content is accurately tailored to the target audience and has the highest possible level of relevance to the topic. It also ensures that the content is written in an engaging style, with a focus on delivering value to the reader. Furthermore, Content at Scale AI makes it easy to optimize content for different keywords and search terms, making it easier for the content to be found by the right people.
Content at Scale AI also provides a range of features that make it easier to produce high-quality content at scale. It can automatically generate meta data and image tags, ensuring that the content is accurately tagged for SEO purposes. It can also generate automated summaries, making it easier for readers to quickly digest the content. Additionally, Content at Scale AI can be used to generate backlinks and other links, helping to improve the content’s visibility and rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
In conclusion, Content at Scale AI is the best tool for long-form SEO content due to its ability to generate high-quality content quickly and efficiently. It is capable of providing feedback on the quality of the content and can be used to optimize content for different keywords and search terms. Furthermore, it provides a range of features that make it easier to produce high-quality content at scale. Content at Scale AI is an invaluable resource for content creators looking to create long-form SEO content quickly and efficiently.
Tools for Social Media
Tools for Email & SMS
Optin Monster
For Newsletter Signup Forms
OptinMonster is an excellent option for creating newsletter signup forms and growing your email list. It is a powerful lead generation and conversion optimization software that helps marketers grow their email list. With OptinMonster, you can easily create high-converting opt-in forms in minutes, without any coding knowledge. It has a user-friendly drag-and-drop builder that makes it easy to customize the look and feel of the forms, as well as add different types of opt-in forms, like lightbox popups, floating bars, slide-ins, and more.
OptinMonster also provides a wide range of powerful features, such as A/B testing, page-level targeting, and exit-intent technology. With these features, you can easily optimize your forms for maximum conversions. You can also use OptinMonster to segment your email list according to user behavior and interests, which helps you create more personalized email campaigns and send more relevant offers to your subscribers.
In addition, OptinMonster provides advanced analytics and reporting, so you can track the performance of your forms and campaigns and make adjustments to improve your results. It also integrates with popular email marketing services, like Mailchimp and AWeber, so you can easily sync your OptinMonster forms with your email list.
Try OptinMonster yourself.
Overall, OptinMonster is an excellent choice for creating newsletter signup forms and growing your email list. It is easy to use, has powerful features, and integrates with other email services. With OptinMonster, you can quickly create high-converting forms and start building your email list.
Tools for Digital Advertising
Google Ads
For Managing Google Search Ads, Shopping Ads, Display Ads
Google Ads is an essential digital marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. It offers a variety of advertising solutions, from search and display ads, to video and shopping ads. With Google Ads, businesses can effectively reach their target audiences, optimize their campaigns, and measure their results.
Google Ads is one of the most popular digital advertising platforms available, and for good reason. It’s easy to use, highly customizable, and incredibly effective. With Google Ads, businesses can create highly targeted campaigns, tailored to their specific target demographics. They can also optimize their campaigns, so that they are reaching the right people at the right time. Additionally, they can measure their results in real-time, allowing them to make adjustments as needed to maximize results.
Google Ads is an effective tool for reaching potential customers. Through search campaigns, businesses can target people searching for specific keywords related to their products or services. With display campaigns, businesses can target people browsing specific websites, or people with specific interests or demographics. Google Ads also allows businesses to create retargeting campaigns, ensuring that potential customers who have interacted with their business are more likely to convert.
Want to try Google Ads? Talk to me about starting with a $500 ad credit.
Google Ads is an invaluable tool for businesses looking to expand their reach and increase their sales. With its powerful targeting capabilities and detailed analytics, Google Ads is the perfect tool for businesses looking to create effective digital advertising campaigns. Through Google Ads, businesses can benefit from increased visibility, increased sales and increased ROI.
Meta Ads Manager
For Managing Ads on Facebook & Instagram
Digital Ads are revolutionizing the marketing field and social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, provide powerful tools for companies to reach their target audiences. In recent years, Facebook and Instagram Ads have become some of the most effective marketing tools for businesses.
Facebook and Instagram Ads allow for tailored targeting and segmentation of audiences, allowing businesses to reach the right people. Through detailed targeting, businesses can decide who to show their Ads to, based on factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. This allows businesses to make sure their Ads are seen by the people who are most likely to be interested in their products or services.
Facebook and Instagram Ads also have the potential to reach large audiences relatively quickly. With the right strategy, businesses can reach millions of people in a short period of time. Ads on Facebook and Instagram are particularly effective for businesses that are trying to reach younger audiences, as these platforms are popular among younger generations.
Another benefit of Facebook and Instagram Ads is the ability to track performance. Businesses can track the performance of their Ads in real-time and make adjustments to their campaigns to ensure the best possible results. This allows businesses to refine their Ads and optimize them for maximum impact.
In conclusion, Facebook and Instagram Ads are powerful marketing tools that can help businesses reach large audiences quickly and effectively. With the ability to target specific audiences and track performance, these Ads can be highly effective for businesses of all sizes.
Need help with your Facebook and Instagram ads? Schedule a call with SMQ Consulting.
In conclusion, Facebook and Instagram Ads are powerful marketing tools that can help businesses reach large audiences quickly and effectively. With the ability to target specific audiences and track performance, these Ads can be highly effective for businesses of all sizes.
Opteo
For Google Ads Management & Optimization
Opteo is the best Google Ads assistant available, providing a comprehensive suite of automated tools to help maximize the performance of your Ad campaigns. Opteo helps to improve the effectiveness of your Ad campaigns by providing insight into the performance of your Ads, identifying areas for improvement and offering recommendations to improve the results of your campaigns. Opteo’s Ad optimization tools are designed to ensure that your Ads are reaching their target audience, that the Ads are correctly positioned and that the Ads are performing better than their competitors.
The Opteo platform provides an easy to use interface that allows you to easily review and analyze the performance of your Ads. The platform also provides detailed reporting to help you understand the performance of your Ads and identify areas for improvement. Opteo’s Ad optimization tools are based on a sophisticated algorithm that takes into account the performance of your Ads, the competition and the market conditions to ensure that your Ads are optimized for maximum results.
Opteo also provides automated tools to help you manage and optimize your Ad campaigns. These tools include tools to help you track the performance of your Ads and to identify areas for improvement. The tools also include tools to help you monitor the performance of your competitors and to find opportunities to improve your Ads. Opteo also provides automated tools to help you manage your budget and to ensure that your Ads are reaching their target audience.
Check out our full review of Opteo here. (coming soon)
Opteo is the best Google Ads assistant, providing comprehensive tools and resources to help you maximize the performance of your Ad campaigns. From Ad optimization to budget management, Opteo provides a comprehensive suite of tools to help improve the effectiveness of your Ads and to ensure that your Ads are reaching their target audience. With Opteo, you can be sure that your Ads are optimized for maximum results.
Tools for Business Management
Freshbooks
For Invoice Management & Basic Accounting
Freshbooks is an invaluable tool for me and my small business. It has been a great help in streamlining the invoicing process and helping me stay organized. The pricing is very reasonable, with plans starting at just $15 per month and scaling up depending on the size of the business. The features are very comprehensive, allowing me to customize my invoices and track the payments I receive from clients. The style of the interface is also easy to use and navigate, with a modern look and feel that I really appreciate.
As a creative entrepreneur, I find Freshbooks to be a great solution for my needs. I can customize my invoices with my company’s branding, and I can easily keep track of all my clients and their payments. The detailed reports are especially useful in helping me stay on top of my finances. I also appreciate the ability to connect my Freshbooks account with other accounting software, such as QuickBooks or Xero.
In short, Freshbooks is an invaluable tool for me and my small business. With a great range of features, an unbeatable price point, and an easy-to-use interface, I highly recommend Freshbooks for creative entrepreneurs. It has helped me stay organized and efficient with my invoicing and I am sure it will do the same for many other small businesses.