Complete Transcript – Tools and Resources: Essential Software for Affiliate Marketers

Hello – and welcome to the Smart Affiliate Marketing Podcast.

My name is Paul and in this episode, we’re going to dive into essential software and tools for affiliate marketing success.

Today, we’re going to look at a number of categories of tools. These include research and keyword planning, content creation, SEO optimization, affiliate management, social media management, analytics and tracking.

I’m going to give you a number of sites, but don’t worry, I’m going to list all of these in the podcast notes, so you can refer to them after the podcast if you are unable to take notes.

First, let’s look at research and keyword planning.

Probably the best free tool is the Google Keyword Planner.

To access this effectively, you will need a Google account, but it is essentially free and very useful in terms of keyword research.

You can also use it in conjunction with Google Gemini to further enhance your results.

Another free tool for research is a site called AnswerThePublic.com .

Basically, you can put in any question here relevant to your niche for example, and the information provided is invaluable to you.

Now, Google keyword tool does have its limitations, and personally, I prefer the Keywords Everywhere tool, again, there will be a link in the podcast notes.

If you want to go for a higher end paid tool, there are tools called SEMrush, that’s S,E,M,R,U,S,H and Ahrefs, spelt basically A, H, R, E, F, S, those are premium keyword tools, and if you’re doing enough research, then likely they’ll pay for themselves in terms of content creation.

There’s AI such as Chat GPT, Google Gemini and so on.

Then there are websites such as Grammarly, Hemingway editor which is free, you can use Canva or lumen five for video creation.

In terms of SEO optimization, if you are using a WordPress site where you can use plugins, the Yoast SEO plugin (and Yoast is basically spelled Y, O, A, S, T, like toast, but with a Y) and there’s also one called Rank Math, M, A, T, H, which is, again a free tool.

In terms of affiliate management, you can use a plugin called pretty links, which basically cloaks your links, gives you a nicer looking URL to send people to for your affiliate offers, because quite often when you have an affiliate network, the link they provide you is very long, very ugly, doesn’t look very nice, but you could create a much nicer looking link using pretty links.

Then there’s a link management tool called thirsty affiliates, and an affiliate program management tool called Tapffiliate.

In terms of analytics and tracking, you can use Google Analytics on your website that’s basically free. If you want to know how to do that, simply go to YouTube and search how to do it.

There is another tool called clicky, C, l, I, C, K, Y, and Crazy Egg, which does heat mapping of your website so you can see where people are going and where people are avoiding on your site.

Very useful if you want to tweak and optimize your content.

Also in terms of social media management, there are many tools out there. Three of the most popular are Buffer, Hootsuite and later.

In addition to all of the tools I’ve given you, there are literally 1000s more out there, and it can make it hard to decide, because of the multitude of choice.

I would suggest do some research. You can even ask AI, which are the most user friendly, which are the most popular, and try them out.

Often, they will have a free trial version that you can use before you invest in any of these tools.

So take the time to find the tools that you feel most comfortable with, in terms of features, prices, the learning curve and any integration required with other platforms.

If you’re wanting to stay free or freemium, then let me give you now a list of the best free tools that I use: free version of Chat GPT, Google Gemini, although I use the paid version of Canva, there is a free version that you can get started with, the Google Keyword Planner, Google Analytics And Yoast SEO.

I also use the pretty links plugin, which is another free tool and a WordPress plugin, most of which are actually free.

I would recommend anybody starting out to go to the free or freemium options. And then as your requirements grow, you can move into the advanced tools.

Other resources that you may find very useful are affiliate marketing forums, online courses, industry blogs, groups related to your niche, on Facebook, relevant YouTube channels.

There is a whole host of information and research out there that you can do totally free of charge to enhance your affiliate marketing efforts.

As affiliate marketers, it does depend on your traffic strategies, but if you’re going to use any of the free strategies, you’ll be needing to create content. Now, we did go over content creation in the previous episode about using AI, but there are three main areas of content.

There is the written word for website and blog posts. There is images, which you will definitely need for a website. And there’s potentially video as well, if you’re going to have a YouTube channel or use Instagram or Tiktok, for example.

Refer back to Podcast Episode 9 of the Smart Affiliate Marketing Podcast for more information on these areas. So I’d encourage you to create a short list of the type of tools that you think you’re going to need, and then look for a few within that category. Explore the free trials and find the one most suitable for you.

There are links to many of my favorite tools in the podcast notes below this podcast, but I would like to emphasize that the best tools don’t guarantee success. They are tools at the end of the day, but by using them strategically, you can significantly improve your results.

If you have any specific questions, you can email me at Service@SmartAffiliatePodcast.com

Please follow or subscribe to this podcast using the button on your device, and if I’ve helped you at all, please leave a positive review.

In the next smart affiliate marketing podcast episode, we’ll dive into the area of building trust and authority, because these are the cornerstones of affiliate marketing success.

See you there on the next Smart Affiliate Marketing Podcast. Goodbye.