45 Free Content material Writing Instruments to Love [for Writing, Editing & Content Creation]

Creating content material is not all the time a stroll within the park. (In truth, it could generally really feel extra like making an attempt to swim in opposition to the present.)

Whereas different elements of enterprise and advertising and marketing have gotten more and more automated, content material creation remains to be a really handbook job.

That being stated, there are many instruments on the market to make creating content material a lot simpler.

Under, you will discover a listing of 45 improbable instruments and sources that can assist you analysis, write, edit, and design content material extra simply. (You will discover there are loads of design instruments in right here — that is as a result of visible content material is commonly the a part of the content material creation course of the place folks get probably the most nervous and annoyed. So don’t fret, we have got a ton in there for you.)

Let’s get began.

45 Free Instruments & Assets to Make Content material Creation Simpler

Free Instruments for Content material Analysis

1. Ahrefs free instruments
2. HubSpot Weblog Matter Generator
3. AnswerThePublic
4. Google Tendencies
5. Google Scholar
6. Google Docs Discover Instrument
7. Google Search Console
8. Website:Search (Superior Search Operators)
9. Proportion Change Calculator

1) Ahrefs’ Key phrase Generator

Plug in a subject and in seconds Ahrefs’ generator will spit out a whole bunch of associated key phrases. And the listing is sorted by search quantity– what number of occasions a key phrase is looked for monthly– so you may shortly gauge how helpful they’re to you.

Or if you happen to’re making movies as an alternative of written content material, try Ahrefs’ YouTube Key phrase Instrument, too.

2) HubSpot’s Weblog Matter Generator

Now you’ve received your key phrases however aren’t certain of an angle or title to get your creativity shifting. HubSpot’s Weblog Matter Generator can assist you. Merely enter just a few key phrases that your weblog focuses on, and the Weblog Matter Generator will produce per week’s price of titles and subject concepts for you. It won’t produce the ultimate title of your weblog put up, however it helps get you interested by artistic new angles for subjects you have written about earlier than.

Listed here are the weblog put up titles I obtained once I entered “content material,” “inbound advertising and marketing,” and “running a blog”:

3) Reply the Public

After you’ve discovered your key phrases and angle, the subsequent problem is determining what precisely to speak about. Reply the Public could be a enormous assist with that.

This instrument is designed to boost extra questions than it solutions. In truth, it reveals you the entire questions that individuals are asking about your subject. That is extraordinarily helpful for fleshing out the physique of your writing, and should even spark some concepts for model new content material.

4) Google Tendencies

Try not too long ago trending searches, or see the curiosity in your key phrase over time. Google Tendencies offers previous and present curiosity information on the subjects you’re writing about.

However the very best half is the “associated queries” function, which supplies you rising and “breakout” key phrases which can be getting extra fashionable. This allows you to get forward of the curve (and your rivals.)

5) Google Scholar

If you happen to want skilled sourcing to again up your writing, Google Scholar is a must have. Its a search engine that provides you entry to educational papers, medical journals, scientific studies, theses, dissertations, and extra.

Plus, it can save you sources to your library, and get alerts about new publications inside your subject.

6) Google Docs Discover Instrument

Previously referred to as the Google Drive Analysis Instrument, the Discover instrument permits you to do internet and picture searches with out ever leaving your doc. It’s also possible to search from your individual Drive account. All you must do is click on the diamond emblem within the backside proper of your window, then kind in a search and hit enter.

7) Website:search (Superior Search Operators)

It is a useful Google hack I take advantage of daily. Mainly, it permits you to do a Google search that is restricted to a selected web site.

For instance, if I needed to go looking HubSpot’s weblog for advertising and marketing sources so I can cite one in all our outdated weblog posts, I might do a web site:seek for weblog.hubspot.com with the search time period advertising and marketing sources. The components for web site search is web site:samplewebsite.com [search query]. So my instance can be web site:weblog.hubspot.com advertising and marketing sources.

8) Google Search Console

Doing website positioning and key phrase analysis? Your advertising and marketing software program ought to be capable of assist. But when it could’t (otherwise you’d like to reinforce your information), Google Search Console could be a nice assist. You possibly can examine issues just like the variety of listed pages in your web site, submit your web site to Google so that you’re getting crawled and listed, and even disavow unhealthy inbound hyperlinks. It additionally may give you info on search queries which have a big quantity of impressions however a low clickthrough charge.

Inside Google Search Console, go to “Efficiency” and select the “Queries” tab. You will see a desk displaying a search question, impressions, clicks, and clickthrough charge (CTR). Evaluating this information to your different analytics information can assist uncover some new content material alternatives.

9) Proportion Change Calculator

I can not even start to let you know how helpful this little calculator is when on the lookout for and analyzing information. Ever need to know the proportion change of two values with out having to recollect the components? Merely enter the 2 values into this calculator, and it will spit out the proportion change. Belief me, you will need to bookmark this one.

Listed here are just a few different useful calculators:

• 3-Approach Proportion Calculator – Calculates solutions to those questions: What’s X% of Y? X is what % of Y? X is Y% of what?
• Conversion Price Calculator – Spits out a conversion charge whenever you enter the whole customer rely throughout a particular timeframe and the variety of occasions throughout that timeframe these guests took a particular motion.
• A/B Check Calculator – Works for a fundamental situation with two teams of individuals (A & B) who get to see one model of your web site and for whom you observe the variety of conversions or targets (purchases, downloads, clickthroughs, and so on.).
• ROI Calculator – Analyzes your web site’s month-to-month gross sales and lead era efforts to find out methods wherein advertising and marketing efforts will be optimized.

Free Content material Writing Instruments

1. Evernote
2. Weblog Put up Templates
3. CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer
4. TitleCase
5. OneLook thesaurus
6. LoseTheVery
7. WordCounter
8. HubSpot Free CMS
9. The Newbie’s Information to HTML and CSS for Entrepreneurs
10. Word2CleanHTML

10) Evernote

I take advantage of the free model of Evernote each single day. From to-do lists and analysis notes to writing total chunks of articles, it is confirmed useful at each step of the writing and enhancing course of.

One nice function? Its cellular, desktop, and internet apps sync mechanically so long as you have got an web connection. (And if you happen to work offline, it will sync the subsequent time you have got web.) Plus — and that is tremendous vital for content material creators like us — it is always saving and syncing your work mechanically, making it a secure place to put in writing and retailer concepts.

Use it to maintain a working listing of concepts, take notes, retailer inspiring articles or ebooks, or plan your editorial and social media publishing calendars.

11) Weblog Put up Templates

All weblog posts aren’t created equal, however we have discovered that there are steps you may take to make your posts complete and shareable. With these weblog put up templates, we’ll stroll you thru a top level view to put in writing profitable how-to, listicle, newsjack, and curation weblog posts. As an alternative of ranging from scratch, you will save time and, hopefully, nail your weblog targets.

12) CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer

Here is a scary stat for you: Solely 60% of people that click on into an article find yourself studying previous the headline. That makes your headline each the primary and probably the one likelihood so that you can compel readers to maintain studying — so it’s very price it to spend the additional jiffy arising with a very good one.

What does a very good headline seem like? The free instrument Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule can let you know. It scores your headline high quality and charges its potential to drive social shares, visitors, and website positioning worth. In my expertise, its power helps you strengthen particular elements of your title. For instance, it studies on perceived sentiment and commonality of phrase varieties. It will even present you the way it will seem in search outcomes.

So though it is best to take these scores and grades with a grain of salt, you need to use this to offer your headlines a “once-over.” (And skim this weblog put up to study extra about writing superior headlines.)

13) TitleCase

After you have your excellent title, it’s time to excellent your capitalization. This straightforward instrument mechanically capitalizes your titles in keeping with the model you select– together with AP, APA, Chicago, and extra.

You possibly can even set exceptions if your individual styleguide differs from extra conventional guidelines.

14) OneLook Thesaurus

If you happen to’ve ever struggled to discover a phrase that was proper on the tip of your tongue, you’ll perceive why I geek out over OneLook thesaurus. OneLook describes itself as a “reverse dictionary.”

If you happen to can’t consider the phrase you want, OneLook permits you to describe it with a phrase or listing of phrases. Then it presents a whole bunch of associated phrases, synonyms, and even rhyming phrases.

15) Lose the Very

“[A]void utilizing the phrase ‘very’ as a result of it’s lazy. A person is just not very drained, he’s exhausted. Don’t use very unhappy, use morose.”

That is the recommendation Robin Williams gave in Useless Poet’s Society, and Lose the Very will provide help to just do that. This instrument isn’t simply very helpful, it’s instrumental.

16) WordCounter

Whereas information can counsel a really perfect, there isn’t any one “proper reply” for the way lengthy a weblog put up needs to be. The vital half is that it serves its function — whether or not that is thought management, driving leads, explaining a brand new idea, or one thing else.

However though we do not advocate writing weblog posts with a phrase rely in thoughts, generally phrase rely can turn out to be useful. WordCounter works precisely the best way you suppose it does: Paste in your content material and it will spit out precisely what number of phrases you have got. It additionally presents studying degree, studying time, and talking time.

17) HubSpot’s Free CMS

Hear me out earlier than you scroll on by. A CMS is not only a spot to put in writing your content material. (In truth, I choose not to put in writing it within the CMS.) HubSpot’s free CMS additionally makes actionable website positioning suggestions that may provide help to optimize your writing.

Plus, the drag-and-drop editor implies that your writers can add their very own content material with out having to additionally moonlight as programmers.

Right here at HubSpot, our bloggers add their completed content material on to the CMS. This makes it straightforward to collaborate on enhancing, publishing, and promotion.

Get began with the free CMS

18) The Newbie’s Information to HTML and CSS for Entrepreneurs

Whereas this is not strictly a writing useful resource, fundamental coding information is shortly changing into a must have talent for the trendy marketer — bloggers and written content material creators included. However studying from scratch will be daunting. The place on earth do you begin?

If you happen to’re a complete newbie, begin with The Newbie’s Information to HTML and CSS for Entrepreneurs, which my colleagues at HubSpot. It will train you fast however helpful hacks anybody — no matter coding information — can use of their advertising and marketing.

For instance, you will learn to make small adjustments to HTML like altering headers and spacing, creating textual content in block-quote type, and inserting social share hyperlinks. My private favourite is the hack to alter font colours.

As soon as you have mastered these fundamental HTML expertise, transfer on to Codeacademy’s free interactive programs. They discovered a method to make studying HTML and CSS truly enjoyable — and you’ll undergo every lesson at your individual tempo.

19) Word2CleanHTML

If you happen to like drafting weblog posts in packages like Microsoft Phrase, Evernote, or Google Drive as an alternative of your content material administration system (CMS), then this easy instrument will be your finest buddy. Why? As a result of whenever you copy a doc from Microsoft Workplace and paste it into your CMS, a lot of little, bizarre formatting points can crop up in your HTML.

Word2CleanHTML applies filters to repair all these issues added into the HTML, leading to well-formatted HTML you may paste instantly into an internet web page CMS. Merely paste in your draft, click on one button, after which copy the ensuing HTML straight from the instrument. If you paste that into your CMS (most may have buttons studying “HTML” or “</>” of their instrument bar above your draft), it is going to seem good and clear. No hair-pulling or swimming by code required.

Free Instruments for Content material Modifying

1. Grammarly
2. Hemminway App
3. Editorial Calendar Templates
4. HubSpot Advertising and marketing Hub
5. WebFX Readability Instrument
6. StackEdit

20) Grammarly

Whereas human editors will be capable of catch most grammatical errors, enhancing instruments like Grammarly are nice for triple-checking earlier than you press “publish” or “ship.”

The free model of Grammarly checks for grammatical errors, readability, and supply. The premium model presents superior recommendation on phrase alternative, readability, and punctuation– and even checks for plagiarism.

21) Hemingway App

Ernest Hemingway, admired for his succinct writing model, is the namesake for this useful enhancing app. Need to make your written content material simpler to learn? Paste your content material into this free internet app, and it will assess your writing and establish alternatives to make it less complicated.

My favourite options embody figuring out passive voice and hard-to-read sentences. Try the right-hand facet of the screenshot beneath, the place the instrument has summed up how readable my writing is with a grade. (Some room for enchancment right here.) Their suggestion to enhance readability general? Shoot for decrease than a tenth grade studying degree.

22) Editorial Calendar Template

Making a balanced editorial calendar will be robust, particularly if you do not have one centralized calendar that you just and your workforce can check with. To avoid wasting you time and headache, we have created editorial calendar templates for Google Calendar, Google Sheets, and Excel which you can fill in and share together with your workforce to begin the subsequent month or 12 months off on the appropriate foot.

23) HubSpot Advertising and marketing Hub

An editor’s job is to publish prime notch content material, however as you possible know, most editors put on an entire host of different hats. HubSpot’s advertising and marketing instruments are designed that can assist you execute on all of your duties — from planning content material to managing website positioning.

What are our favourite options of HubSpot? If you’re making an attempt to develop your readership, including an embedded or popup type will be a good way to seize the contact info from beforehand nameless guests. This helps develop your mailing lists and consequently construct readership to your weblog properties.

We additionally actually love the flexibility to trace and report on advertising and marketing KPIs for particular person pages. This lets you make data-driven editorial selections to ensure your content material is working.

24) WebFX Readability Check

Until you’re writing furnishings meeting directions, it’s vital that your content material is straightforward to learn and simple to digest.

The WebFX readability take a look at grades your content material in keeping with 5 completely different educational scales, then averages them collectively into one rating. You’ll additionally get statistics about phrase complexity and the density of your sentences.

There are a lot of related exams obtainable, however I like that WebFX permits you to paste in your textual content, or just enter a URL.

25) StackEdit

StackEdit is a markdown editor. In plain English, which means it turns your textual content into HTML. Or your HTML into textual content. This one also can render math equations, stream charts, diagrams, and ASCII characters.

Why would an editor want this? As a result of it may give you a stay preview of what your content material will seem like as you edit it. That is extraordinarily useful if you happen to occur to put in writing about technical subjects or coding.

Free Design Instruments

1. Nimbus Screenshot & Display screen Video Recorder
2. Canva
3. Skitch
4. Infogram
5. Infographic Templates
6. Google Fonts
7. Picture Shade Picker
8. PowerPoint Templates
9. SlideShare Templates
10. Haiku Deck
11. HubSpot’s Free Inventory Images
12. PlaceIt
13. LICEcap
14. The Noun Challenge
15. ICONS8

26) Nimbus Screenshot & Display screen Video Recorder

That is one other instrument I take advantage of daily. Positive, you may seize a screenshot of your total display screen or a part of your display screen utilizing the outdated keyboard shortcut methodology. However what if you would like your screenshot to incorporate stuff that is not seen in your display screen?

Nimbus Screenshot permits you to seize the seen a part of an internet web page, a specific space, a specific scroll (my private favourite), the complete web page, or the complete browser window — together with every part beneath the fold.

The Chrome extension additionally permits you to file video out of your display screen or webcam, then convert it to gif or mp4 format.

As soon as you have taken the screenshot or screencast, you may crop, edit, annotate (like including notes and callouts), and select to print or save to your desktop or Google Drive.

27) Canva

If you happen to like creating stunning visible content material in a very brief period of time, you will love Canva. The time and sources it takes to study design, pay for design property, and/or get impressed to create magnificence from scratch will be actually troublesome whenever you’re observing an extended listing of to-dos — however Canva presents an enormous library of pre-made templates and property which you can manipulate whereas additionally including your individual imagery.

Better of all, they’ve so many property and graphics obtainable at no cost that you just will not must pay a cent if you happen to do not need to. If you wish to use extra “premium” property and graphics discovered by their picture search, they’re going to cost you $1 for every. However there’s loads of worth at no cost.

Here is an instance of one thing you can make:

28) Skitch

Skitch is a free app by Evernote that helps you talk extra visually. It permits you to mark up photographs, digital property, PDFs, and different information with arrows, callout bins, textual content, and extra multi functional place.

Within the instance beneath, I opened this system on my desktop and used the “Display screen Snap” button to take a screenshot of an internet web page — which then opened proper in Skitch for enhancing and exporting.

Though it is free, it does require you to open an Evernote account — however that is additionally free (see above).

29) Infogram

Whereas much like Canva, Infogram is a visible content material instrument that focuses on serving to you create infographics, charts, and information visualization. If you happen to prefer to create charts utilizing Microsoft Excel, you are in luck — it additionally presents compatibility with Excel by Infogram Charts. Additionally, their infographics are responsive with cellular units.

30) Infographic Templates

As a content material marketer, you may really feel extra snug creating written content material than visible content material, however that is no excuse to exclude infographics out of your technique. Visible content material is rising in demand out of your viewers, and infographics are notably shareable.

We have created the backbones of 15 completely different templates which you can simply mess around with to customise in your content material and viewers — here is a sneak peek of 1 template, and you’ll seize the remaining right here.

Supply: 15 Free Infographic Templates in PowerPoint

31) Google Fonts

Need to spruce up your web site pages, shows, ebooks, and different content material with cool and completely different new fonts? Little-known reality: Google has a listing of 600 free fonts prepared so that you can obtain and use.

Merely discover and choose the fonts you want from their listing, then click on “Use” to get the HTML code you may copy and paste onto your web site. Alternatively, you may obtain the fonts to your desktop and use them when making new advertising and marketing content material by clicking “Add to Assortment.” (Click on right here for step-by-step directions for doing this within the HubSpot software program.)

32) Picture Shade Picker

Keep in mind that time you needed to match your call-to-action design to that colour you had been utilizing on all of your occasion swag … however the one one that would know what that colour was did not work at your organization anymore?

Subsequent time that occurs, snag an image of that swag and add it to ImageColorPicker.com, or use any picture URL to do the identical factor. Choose any level of the image, and instantly see its corresponding HEX, RGB, and HSV values.

33) PowerPoint Templates

Is there something extra boring than a PowerPoint presentation that includes black textual content on a white background?

With the assistance of those templates, you can put collectively compelling, visually interesting shows. Whether or not you are driving lead era or reporting in your weblog’s development to your workforce, maintain your viewers’s consideration with these eye-catching shows.

34) SlideShare Templates

SlideShare would not must be daunting. You possibly can simply create shareable, embeddable SlideShare shows in PowerPoint with the assistance of those templates — no want to begin from scratch or rent a freelancer. As soon as you have created your first presentation, try our information to advertising and marketing SlideShares efficiently.

35) Haiku Deck

If you happen to’ve ever needed to create a PowerPoint or SlideShare presentation in a pinch, you will want you knew about Haiku Deck. This instrument helps you shortly discover easy layouts, stunning photographs, and nice fonts. It is obtainable for the online and for iPad.

Need to see what one seems to be like? Under’s an instance I pulled from their listing of featured decks. Notice the simplicity of the design — if you wish to create tremendous detailed slides, this will not be the appropriate instrument for you.

Snowed In? – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software program that conjures up

 

36) HubSpot’s Free Inventory Images

Trying to find and shopping for inventory imagery could be a ache within the you-know-what — particularly in relation to deciphering legalese for various use instances. I’ve a liberal arts diploma, and Nietzsche was simpler to learn than no matter legalese inventory imagery firms tended to offer me. All I needed to know is whether or not to quote or not cite a inventory picture of a laptop computer. Why was it so arduous?

That is why our workforce determined to create a library of 550+ free and royalty-free inventory images. Whether or not it is a distinctive picture wanted for an book or that excellent picture you need to add to a weblog put up, that assortment ought to have you ever lined. Here is one in all our “across the kitchen” inventory images — yum.

Supply: The Free Inventory Images You have Been Looking out For

37) PlaceIt

PlaceIt serves a really particular function: It permits you to add photographs of your web site or product into real-world environments of individuals holding telephones, tablets, and laptops. PlaceIt will mechanically alter the picture to make it seem pure with the angle of the telephone’s display screen — which can prevent time studying and/or enhancing in additional superior software program to get the angle proper.

You will must pay per picture to get actually massive or high-resolution variations, although I’ve discovered free photographs work simply positive for weblog posts and product web page content material. The paid downloads additionally take away that PlaceIt watermark from the underside proper.

38) LICEcap

Searching for the right GIF to incorporate in your weblog put up? If it would not exist already on Giphy, you may make one your self utilizing LICEcap. Movie a screenshot and switch it right into a GIF utilizing this useful, free instrument — we use LICEcap for our weblog posts, too.

39) & 40) The Noun Challenge & ICONS8

Like with inventory images, one other problem content material creators face is discovering elegant icons that resize with out getting all fuzzy. There are just a few sources on the market for excellent, resizable icons.

The Noun Challenge is an intensive library of hundreds of icons uploaded by contributors. With a free account, you need to use icons so long as you both give credit score to the creator or buy them royalty-free for $1.99 apiece.

Along with free icons, ICONS8 additionally presents inventory images, illustrations, and AI-generated faces. Many of those can be found fully free, offered you embody attribution and a hyperlink.

To that, we are saying …

Icon by ICONS8

Free Productiveness Instruments

1. Coffivity
2. TomatoTimer
3. Trello
4. OneTab
5. Giphy Search

41) Cofftivity

In response to a examine out of the College of Chicago, “[a] average degree of ambient noise is conducive to artistic cognition.” In different phrases, being the tiniest bit distracted truly helps you be extra artistic. That is why, for many individuals– myself included– white noise helps promote focus.

There are loads of white noise mills on the market, however my favourite is Cofftivity. This explicit one presents continuous café background sounds at various intensities, from “Morning Murmur” and “College Undertones” to “Lunchtime Lounge” and “Brazil Bistro.” It is obtainable on the internet and as an app on iOS and Android.

42) TomatoTimers

If you happen to’ve by no means heard of the Pomodoro approach, your life is likely to be about to alter without end. Pomodoro is a productiveness hack that consists of working in 25 minute intervals separated by taking brief, common breaks. This cycle helps you to withstand distractions, and makes greater initiatives seem to be less-daunting, bite-sized duties.

However remembering the place you’re at in a cycle, and always re-setting your timer could be a little bit of a problem.

Enter the TomatoTimer. This free instrument is a straightforward, looping timer that retains observe of your Pomodoro cycle for you. So you may spend much less time messing with timers, and extra time being productive.

43) Trello

Trello is a kanban-style undertaking administration instrument, and it’s far more highly effective than you’d anticipate free software program to be. Their distinctive format of playing cards and lists is well-suited for organizing content material calendars, writing sprints, collaborative initiatives, and extra.

Plus, it integrates with a whole bunch of different instruments– together with Slack, Google Drive, Mailchimp, and sure, even HubSpot.

44) OneTab

If you happen to’re like me, you’ve all the time received 100 tabs open, each actually and metaphorically. OneTab is designed to assist out with the literal ones.

This browser extension immediately turns your open tabs into an inventory of URLs which you can save, export, or share. It even retains the listing in case your browser crashes otherwise you restart your pc. Then, whenever you’re prepared to make use of that tab once more, you may click on it to go proper again to the place you had been.

45) Giphy Search

You already know that coworker who all the time appears to seek out the right animated GIFs in your social posts or inner chat consumer? With the free Giphy Chrome extension, you can discover nice GIFs simply as shortly.

To make use of the instrument, all you must do is open the extension in Chrome, search, select a GIF, and drag and drop. To this point, the instrument works in Gmail, Twitter, Fb, and extra — they usually’re always increasing help.

It is Not the Wand, It is the Wizard

The instruments and sources listed above can assist you create, however it’s in the end as much as you to regulate the standard of your content material. You continue to have to know your buyer extremely properly, perceive what challenges they face that your services or products solves, and create content material that helps them handle these challenges.

The brains and coronary heart behind the content material creator trump the code behind any instruments and know-how — and that is a very good factor for succeeding in advertising and marketing at the moment.

Editor’s Notice: This put up was initially revealed in December 2013 and has been up to date for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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