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. (The truth is, it could actually generally really feel extra like making an attempt to swim in opposition to the present.)

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

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

Beneath, you may discover a record of 36 incredible instruments and assets that will help you analysis, write, edit, and design content material extra simply. (You may 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 individuals get probably the most nervous and pissed off. So don’t be concerned, we have got a ton in there for you.)

Let’s get began.

36 Free Instruments & Sources to Make Content material Creation Simpler

For Researchers

1) Google Drive Analysis Device

Google not too long ago added a software to Drive that means that you can conduct Google searches with out ever leaving your Drive window. All you must do is click on “Instruments” from the menu bar and select “Analysis” from the dropdown menu.

2) Website:search

This can be a useful Google hack I take advantage of on daily basis. Principally, it means that you can do a Google search that is restricted to a selected web site.

For instance, if I needed to look HubSpot’s weblog for advertising assets so I can cite considered one of our previous weblog posts, I might do a web site:seek for weblog.hubspot.com with the search time period advertising assets. The system for web site search is web site:samplewebsite.com [search query]. So my instance could be web site:weblog.hubspot.com advertising assets.

3) Google Webmaster Instruments

Doing search engine optimisation and key phrase analysis? Your advertising software program ought to be capable of assist. But when it could actually’t (otherwise you’d like to reinforce your information), Google’s Webmaster Instruments generally is a nice assist. You may verify 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 dangerous inbound hyperlinks. It additionally may give you data on search queries which have a big quantity of impressions however low clickthrough charge.

Inside Google Webmaster Instruments, go to “Your web site on the net” and select “Search queries.” You may see a desk displaying a search question, impressions, clicks, and clickthrough charge (CTR). Evaluating this information to your different analytics information might help uncover some alternatives.

4) Share Change Calculator

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

Listed here are a couple of different useful calculators:

• 3-Manner Share Calculator – Calculates solutions to those questions: What’s X% of Y? X is what % of Y? X is Y% of what?
• Conversion Charge Calculator – Spits out a conversion charge once you enter the full customer depend throughout a selected time-frame and the variety of instances throughout that time-frame these guests took a selected 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 forth.).
• ROI Calculator – Analyzes your web site’s month-to-month gross sales and lead technology efforts to find out methods through which advertising efforts could be optimized.

5) Atlas

Atlas is Quartz‘s information middle, and it is chock-full of graphs, charts, and information visualizations. You may seek for nearly any subject or key phrase, and Atlas can have a graphic primarily based on latest analysis information for you. This can be a useful gizmo to get background data on a subject you are researching, or to seek out recent information to make use of in a challenge you are engaged on. This is a chart primarily based on information from early 2016:

Supply: Atlas

6) Search in a Giphy

that coworker who all the time appears to seek out the right animated GIFs to your social posts or inside chat consumer? With the free Giphy Chrome extension, you’ll discover nice GIFs simply as shortly.

To make use of the software, all you must do is open the extension in Chrome, search, select a GIF, and drag and drop. To date, the software works in Gmail, Twitter, Fb, and extra — and so they’re consistently increasing assist.

For Writers

7) 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 modifying course of.

One nice characteristic? Its cell, desktop, and internet apps sync robotically so long as you might have an web connection. (And should you work offline, it will sync the following time you might have web.) Plus — and that is tremendous vital for content material creators like us — it is consistently saving and syncing your work robotically, making it a secure place to jot down and retailer concepts.

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

8) Word2CleanHTML

If you happen to like drafting weblog posts in packages like Microsoft Phrase, Evernote, or Google Drive as a substitute of your content material administration system (CMS), then this easy software could be your greatest pal. Why? As a result of once 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’ll be able to paste straight into an internet web page CMS. Merely paste in your draft, click on one button, after which copy the ensuing HTML straight from the software. Whenever you paste that into your CMS (most can have buttons studying “HTML” or “</>” of their software bar above your draft), it’ll seem good and clear. No hair-pulling or swimming by means of code required.

9) WordCounter

There isn’t a “proper reply” for how lengthy a weblog put up needs to be. So long as it serves its function — whether or not that is thought management, driving leads, explaining a brand new idea, or one thing else — size does not matter. However though we do not advocate writing weblog posts with a phrase depend in thoughts, generally phrase depend 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 might have.

10) Cofftivity

In line with a examine out of the College of Chicago, “A reasonable stage of ambient noise is conducive to inventive cognition.” In different phrases, being the tiniest bit distracted really helps you be extra inventive. That is why for many individuals, myself included, white noise helps promote focus.

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

11) & 12) Zerys & eLance

Want to start out creating content material however haven’t got the bandwidth? We hear about this roadblock lots. One solution to get round it’s by hiring freelancers from respected marketplaces like Zerys or eLance. These assets provide you with entry to expert freelance writers who can write weblog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, and different items of written content material for you.

13) HTML Hacks for Entrepreneurs

Whereas this is not strictly a writing useful resource, fundamental coding information is shortly turning into vital ability for the fashionable marketer — bloggers and written content material creators included. However studying from scratch could be daunting. The place on earth do you begin?

If you happen to’re a complete newbie, begin with HTML Hacks for Entrepreneurs, which my colleagues at HubSpot created with Codeacademy. It’s going to educate you fast however helpful hacks anybody — no matter coding information — can use of their advertising. For instance, you may discover ways 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 solution to make studying HTML and CSS really enjoyable — and you’ll undergo every lesson at your individual tempo.

14) Weblog Matter Generator

If it’s essential get to writing weblog posts however aren’t certain of an angle or title to get your creativity transferring, HubSpot’s Weblog Matter Generator can do the give you the results you want. Merely enter a couple of key phrases that your weblog focuses on, and the Weblog Matter Generator will produce every week’s value of titles and subject concepts for you. It won’t produce the ultimate title of your weblog put up, nevertheless it helps get you fascinated by inventive new angles for subjects you have written about earlier than.

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

15) Weblog Submit Templates

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

For Content material Editors

16) Editorial Calendar Template

Making a balanced editorial calendar could be powerful, particularly if you do not have one centralized calendar that you simply and your crew can consult with. To save lots of you time and headache, we have created editorial calendar templates for Google Calendar, Google Sheets, and Excel you can fill in and share together with your crew to start out the following month or 12 months off on the fitting foot.

17) & 18) Grammarly & Correctica

Whereas human editors will be capable of catch most grammatical errors, modifying instruments like Grammarly and Correctica are nice instruments for triple-checking earlier than you press “publish” or “ship.” Each free instruments verify for grammatical errors — and Grammarly even checks for plagiarism.

19) Hemingway App

Ernest Hemingway, admired for his succinct writing model, is the namesake for this useful modifying app. Wish 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 embrace figuring out passive voice and hard-to-read sentences. Try the right-hand aspect of the screenshot beneath, the place the software 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 stage.

20) Headline Analyzer

This 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 probability so that you can compel readers to maintain studying — so it’s very value it to spend the additional couple of minutes arising with a very good one.

What does a very good headline appear like? The free software Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule can inform you. It scores your headline high quality and charges its means to drive social shares, site visitors, and search engine optimisation worth. In my expertise, its energy helps you strengthen particular parts of your title. For instance, it experiences on perceived sentiment and commonality of phrase sorts. It’s going to 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 provide your headlines a “once-over.” (And learn this weblog put up to be taught extra about writing superior headlines.)

For Designers

21) Nimbus Screenshot

That is one other software I take advantage of on daily basis. Positive, you’ll be able to seize a screenshot of your total display or a part of your display utilizing the previous keyboard shortcut methodology. However what in order for you your screenshot to incorporate stuff that is not seen in your display?

Nimbus Screenshot enables 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 all the things beneath the fold.

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

22) Canva

If you happen to like creating lovely visible content material in a very quick period of time, you may love Canva. The time and assets it takes to be taught design, pay for design belongings, and/or get impressed to create magnificence from scratch could be actually tough once you’re watching an extended record of to-dos — however Canva gives an enormous library of pre-made templates and belongings you can manipulate whereas additionally including your individual imagery.

Better of all, they’ve so many belongings and graphics obtainable without cost that you simply will not need to pay a cent should you do not need to. If you wish to use extra “premium” belongings and graphics discovered by means of their picture search, they’re going to cost you $1 for every. However there’s loads of worth without cost.

This is an instance of one thing you could possibly make:

23) ThingLink

Ever needed to make a picture (or infographic) clickable? ThingLink enables you to add a picture and add little icons to it that seem when an individual hovers their cursor over the picture. These icons permit customers to go to hyperlinks, watch movies, or learn messages you have written. Plus, it is easy to share: Customers can simply embed ThingLink pictures. (Click on right here for step-by-step directions.)

Beneath is a part of a a clickable infographic from Thinglink my colleague Ginny Mineo created for one other put up:

 

24) Skitch

Skitch is a free app by Evernote that helps you talk extra visually. It enables you to mark up pictures, digital belongings, PDFs, and different information with arrows, callout containers, 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 modifying and exporting.

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

25) Infogram

Whereas much like Canva, Infogram is a visible content material software 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 gives compatibility with Excel by means of Infogram Charts. Additionally, their infographics are responsive with cell gadgets.

26) Infographic Templates

As a content material marketer, you would possibly 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 you can simply mess around with to customise to your content material and viewers — here is a sneak peek of 1 template, and you’ll seize the remainder right here. 

Supply: 15 Free Infographic Templates in PowerPoint

27) Google Fonts

Wish to spruce up your web site pages, shows, ebooks, and different content material with cool and completely different new fonts? Little-known truth: 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’ll be able to copy and paste onto your web site. Alternatively, you’ll be able to obtain the fonts to your desktop and use them when making new advertising content material by clicking “Add to Assortment.” (Click on right here for step-by-step directions for doing this within the HubSpot software program.)

28) Picture Shade Picker

Do not forget that time you needed to match your call-to-action design to that coloration you have been utilizing on all of your occasion swag … however the one one who would know what that coloration 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.

29) 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’ll put collectively compelling, visually interesting shows. Whether or not you are driving lead technology or reporting in your weblog’s development to your crew, hold your viewers’s consideration with these eye-catching shows.

30) SlideShare Templates

SlideShare does not should be daunting. You may simply create shareable, embeddable SlideShare shows in PowerPoint with the assistance of those templates — no want to start out from scratch or rent a freelancer. As soon as you have created your first presentation, take a look at our information to advertising SlideShares efficiently.

31) Haiku Deck

If you happen to’ve ever needed to create a PowerPoint or SlideShare presentation in a pinch, you may want you knew about Haiku Deck. This software helps you shortly discover easy layouts, lovely pictures, and nice fonts. It is obtainable for the net and for iPad.

Wish to see what one seems like? Beneath’s an instance I pulled from their record of featured decks. Word the simplicity of the design — if you wish to create tremendous detailed slides, this is probably not the fitting software for you.

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

32) HubSpot’s Free Inventory Photographs

Looking for and shopping for inventory imagery generally is a ache within the you-know-what — particularly in terms of 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 provide 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 crew determined to create a library of 550+ free and royalty-free inventory pictures. 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. This is considered one of our “across the kitchen” inventory pictures — yum.

Supply: The Free Inventory Photographs You’ve got Been Looking For

33) PlaceIt

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

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

34) LICEcap

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

35) & 36) The Noun Mission & HubSpot’s Resizable Icons Assortment

Like with inventory pictures, one other problem content material creators face is discovering elegant icons that resize with out getting all fuzzy. There are a couple of assets on the market for excellent, resizable icons.

The Noun Mission is an intensive library of 1000’s 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.

HubSpot has a library of resizeable icons, too, which you’ll obtain without cost and with none licensing or attribution. The package comes with a free information for tips on how to change the colour of the icons utilizing PowerPoint, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

To that, we are saying …

(From HubSpot’s Free Icon Assortment.)