3 Free Tools That Every Content Pro Should Know

If writing content is part of your job or even something you do for fun, you're likely always looking for ways to improve. Especially if it's just you or you work on a small team, how can you make sure the content you're writing will be read and produce its desired outcome (increase sales, drive traffic to your website, boost awareness, etc.)?

Though there are no guarantees in content writing, these three tools have helped me optimize my content to reach engagement goals.

A Second Set of Eyes, Backed by Artificial Intelligence

Grammarly is a new tool for me and I'm loving it! It's an online proofreader that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to coach writers on punctuation, grammar, clarity, delivery, and more. I like Grammarly because it serves as a second set of eyes, helping to tighten your document, enhance readability, and scan for accuracy. There are free and premium versions but I find the free version works great for my needs.

Discover What Your Audience Wants to Know

If you write content for online consumption, you need to know about Answer the Public. A keyword search tool, Answer the Public uses search data to visualize search questions and suggested autocomplete searches in an image called a search cloud. To start, users type in a term and the platform spits back questions that users are asking about that term. For example: when you enter the word "chocolate" you'll get many questions that include "where chocolate comes from" and "is chocolate gluten-free." This tool has helped provide a clearer picture of what people want to know about a topic — guiding both the topic selection process and word choice.

Test Your Headline Writing Chops

Writing headlines that result in a click or scroll is not an easy task. That's why I'm thankful that years ago an SEO-expert colleague recommended the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer tool. The tool scans for the headline's apparent sentiment, word count, skimmability, and more. They even have a really useful headline words tear sheet that includes hundreds of less-thought-of words to help your headline stand above the rest.

While these tools can provide the gut-check needed by a solopreneur, blogger, or small business owner, there's no substitute for a writer's intuition. If a tool is suggesting an edit that doesn't sound right, listen to your gut. So give your writing a boost and try one out! By combining your innate writing talent with the latest in AI, search, and data, your readers will reap the benefits.