'Net Features : inboundwriter

The Web Professional's Productivity Toolbox

Administrator — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:21:00 GMT

More often than not, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks on your to-do list. Attempting to allot the appropriate amount of time to accomplishing something, and for the countless distractions that you’ll likely face while you work on it, can sometimes feel daunting and futile. That’s why so many of us turn to productivity tools to help us ease the burden and utilize our time more constructively.

And now, just as the Internet giveth, it also taketh away, as yesterday, Google announced that it was going to be doing away with its Google Reader Web feed aggregator. The company cites a declining user base as the reason for the discontinuation, but many Web workers (and media professionals – go figure) that keep up with their Reader feeds all day, every day were incensed. Naturally, they took their outrage to Twitter, but so far, it hasn’t done much to alter Google’s decision.

The death of Google Reader, and the subsequent outcry, shows just how much Web professionals depend upon their productivity tools to accomplish their various daily tasks. Reader addicts will (and probably already have) find a new RSS aggregator, such as Fever or NewsBlur, but there are plenty of other useful tools that they can utilize to increase productivity. Let’s dig into The Web Professional’s Productivity Toolbox to see if we can find what you may need.

Feedly

Feedly is easily the most popular, and best, alternative to Google Reader. This free RSS feed aggregator runs on both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers and as a mobile application for both iOS and Android devices. Users can save posts, create categories to organize their various feeds and even choose from six different layout options to pick the look that best suits them.

Pomodroido

Even the most successful professionals can get distracted when working on tasks throughout the day, however, Pomodroido aims to change that. This free Android app helps users manage their time better by breaking down work periods into 25-minute intervals, which can be adjusted by the user if desired. Workers take a break after each work period, so that they can start the next interval refreshed and without distractions. Moreover, the app includes a ranking system, which rewards users based on the work that they complete.

Chrome Developer Tools

Web developers that prefer Google’s Chrome browser (and let’s be honest, that’s probably most of them) can use Chrome Developer Tools to gain access to the browser’s internals and their Web applications. The suite is largely based on WebKit Web Inspector from the WebKit open source project, and includes an Elements panel and tools for resources, networks, scripts, timelines, profiles and audits, as well as a fully featured, user-friendly console.

IFTTT

This handy automation tool, which stands for “if this, then that,” allows users to create their own tasks (recipes) by connecting two channels together. Once each channel has been activated, users create recipes by selecting one channel to signal a trigger that results in an action in a different channel. In other words, If This happens in one channel, Then That happens in the connected channel. For example, you can create a recipe to update your Twitter profile picture when your Facebook picture is changed. This recipe helps Web workers maintain consistent branding across platforms with little effort. Users can connect with 59 different channels through the platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, HootSuite, Gmail and weather.

LiquidPlanner

This online project management software helps businesses streamline their workflows by providing scheduling, collaboration, time tracking, analytics and reporting features. Since it has a particular focus on adding a social element to project management, the platform also includes comment streams for every task and project and the ability to attach notes, documents or images to a task, as well as email integrations that allow users to receive notifications about project updates in their inboxes. Plus, a partnership with Box adds cloud functionality to the solution to make sharing and collaborating on documents easier; the Box integration even provides some advanced document management features, such as desktop syncing, document versioning and access controls for project collateral.

InboundWriter

Anyone who produces content for the ’Net will want to leverage this platform; because it helps writers optimize their articles for better audience engagement. InboundWriter does this by identifying popular topics for your audience, offering keyword data that helps writers create articles that will be easier to find in the search results and suggesting article structure ideas for better readability. In fact, the platform is sort of like an online writing coach that uses real-time search and social data to help writers produce better content.

Dropbox

Don’t let Dropbox’s popularity among Web professionals and everyone else fool you, this is a serious tool that has earned all of the acclaim it receives. While many of its alternatives require a Web browser interface, Dropbox can run natively on almost any PC (even those using Linux), as well as mobile devices that run on either Android or iOS. It will also automatically sync your files with all of your local devices, so you can access them from pretty much anywhere, even if you don’t have an Internet connection.

Sprout Social

Most businesses have a presence on multiple social sites, which can make posting numerous pieces of content daily on each network very time consuming. This is where social media management platforms like Sprout Social come in handy. Not only can this platform be leveraged to schedule publishing times of status updates throughout the day on a variety of social networks, but it also provides analytics and monitoring tools that provide insights to help users better optimize their posting strategies. Furthermore, Sprout Social offers a mobile app, which allows businesses to manage and monitor their social accounts while on the go.

Coolendar

This planning software helps users combine the important dates on their calendar with everyday tasks that need to be completed, which makes it easier to keep up with commitments. Coolendar is available on the Web and on mobile devices so that no matter where you are, you can keep track of your day. The platform provides a simple list of planning entries, offers alerts that find people regardless of where they are (email, messenger, Web, desktop, mobile, Twitter), allows users to leverage tags to stay organized and makes it simple to create group plans.

Yammer

As one of the most popular internal communication tools on the Web, Yammer is an enterprise social network that allows users with valid company email addresses to participate in private company conversations. The Yammer platform allows users to segment employees by creating specific groups (such as sales, marketing or IT), as well as makes it easy for employees to collaborate, whether they are in or out of the office, via the Yammer mobile application for Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone devices. Allison Howen is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, writing primarily about e-commerce and social media.

About the Authors

Michael Garrity is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, focusing primarily on search, design and development and affiliate marketing.

Allison Hown is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, focusing primarily on Ecommerce and Social Media.

Rank Enterprise Content with Inboundwriter

Allison Howen — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:15:00 GMT

Producing quality content is easier said than done. This is why content optimization platform Inboundwriter has launched a new enterprise software tier that is designed specifically for assisting medium and large-sized organizations.

“When we first launched InboundWriter in 2011, the core functionality was aimed at individual writers; however, we soon discovered that enterprise users large and small were seeking us out and using InboundWriter with more advanced workflows,” said Alexander Balva, VP of engineering. “We recognized that we have a large opportunity to broaden our product footprint and significantly enhance our value proposition.”

The Inboundwriter platform provides writers with search and social Web insights so that they can better understand what topics their readers find most interesting. Additionally, the platform provides writers with keyword and topic information, so they can maximize their content’s value. In fact, every article written within Inboundwriter receives a score, based on aspects such as topic focus, title, images and most frequently mentioned terms. According to Inboundwriter CEO Skip Besthoff, this helps enterprises discover which departments or writers are doing well with content creation, as well as assists them in identifying the departments and writers that can improve upon their content.

The company's new enterprise offering includes API integration, live end-user support, a more precise recommendation engine and RankAbove analytics. The company also partnered with blogging tool Zemanta, in order to help writers find complementary images, which don't infringe on copyright laws, for their articles. Furthermore, although InboundWriter was initially a single-user tool geared toward bloggers and individual writers, the enterprise launch introduces multiuser functionality, which enables administrators, such as a Web editor or content manager, to review all of the writers' articles and scores.

By optimizing content, businesses can dramatically increase traffic and engagement rates. For example, a recent Inboundwriter study revealed that writers who leveraged the content optimization platform found a 17 percent increase in conversions, a 153 percent increase in time-on-page metrics and a 29-33 percent increase in search traffic.

“InboundWriter has displayed remarkable innovation, having pioneered a scalable, automated platform that empowers writers to optimize content as part of their natural workflow,” said Besthoff. “I’m thrilled with the advancements in our product and the results we drive for customers.”

Wield the Power of Great Web Content

Allison Howen — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

One thing is always true when it comes to the Web – Content is King.

Content is king because it is the reason why visitors come to a site. And without good, valuable or interesting content, website owners can almost certainly expect to receive low traffic and conversion metrics on their site.

Fortunately, there are some new tools that make it easier for content producers to maintain a steady stream of valuable content on their Web properties.

Check out these new solutions from InboundWriter and Scribit below:

Topic Buzz from InboundWriter

This new Twitter analysis tool from cloud-based content optimization application InboundWriter makes it easier for content producers to discover social media activity related to topics that they typically write about.

The Topic Buzz module is powered by InboundWriter’s information mining and data processing engine; it searches Twitter for the most relevant articles for users based on an automatic analysis of the drafts that are maintained in the user’s InboundWriter account. Then the findings are presented to the user in the new Buzz section of InboundWriter. The Buzz section also displays the suggested articles’ sharing popularity, associated hashtags and the Twitter handle of content influencers.

“We’ve integrated Twitter as a social media barometer to help content producers research and monitor their writing topics,” says Jay McCarthy, VP of marketing at InboundWriter. “Twitter and other social feeds largely focus on what your connections are sharing with you. By showing other content related to what you write about – not necessarily found in your Twitter circle – InboundWriter creates a very unique view of social sharing activity around content.”

InboundWriter is designed for content marketers, online media publishers, interactive agencies and PR professionals. It combines traditional writing process stages like research, writing and online optimization into a single, cloud–based solution that delivers insights from a variety of Web sources. Topic Buzz builds on these features and is currently free and available for all InboundWriter users. Inbound Writer’s pricing models range from free to $19.95 per month.

Sharing Content with Scribit

Web-based content marketing platform Scribit makes it easier for content producers to maintain a steady stream of interesting content on their site, even when they are running short on time.

This platform enables businesses to find, publish and share content from top brands in order to increase engagement, drive traffic and increase conversions on their sites. This is especially valuable because although great content is what keeps an audience engaged, creating great content can be difficult and time-consuming.

Scribit offers its users access to millions of articles and videos from big publishers including Discovery and TvGuide.com. The content that Scribit offers comes from a variety of industries including entertainment, technology, business and finance.

Scribit users can then publish the content directly onto their websites, so the content can be shared socially without linking to other websites, and therefore without sending traffic away. This makes it easy for marketers to create deeper audience engagement, increasing leads and sales.

Scribit plans start at $50 a month, but currently users can sign up for a 30-day free trial.