But, are you aware that Google is much more than just a search engine?

In fact, Google has a ton of free tools in addition to its search engine that can be very valuable to you as a content marketer.

Here’s the thing, whether you love or hate Google, you must admit one thing, you’ve used one of the free tools it offers at one point in time – and the good thing is that you have the convenience of being able to access all these tools with one login.

Content marketers, in particular, should take advantage of these Google’s free tools to maximize and get more out of their content marketing campaigns.

With all these out of the way, below are the five free tools from Google that you should start using right now as a content marketer.

1. Google Trends

Most time, content marketers find it hard to come up good blog post idea for their website, especially when they desire to always sound relevant and current – I’m sure you can relate to that feeling, I mean…you certainly would not deny it.

Keyword research tools like the popular “Google Keyword Planner” helps you to figure out the profitability of keywords in your industry, but it is necessary to have another tool that will help you know the popularity of those keywords, and if the topic is actually trending on the web…

…That is where Google Trends comes in. It will help you to get newer ideas to write content on.

Google Trends can be used to check the trending topics together with the “trending stories” to ascertain if there is something relevant to your industry. For example, any topics that relate to politics and in some cases, celebrity lifestyles are sure to be trending.

You can always figure out good ways to connect these things to your content marketing concepts if you’re in such niches, and want to create a viral post. For instance, whenever you write something about politics, you already know there is a lot of information available.

In this case, “Google Trends” will help you to delve into the creative side of your story. Using the above example, you could choose to write a content titled:

“How Donald Trump is Leveraging Content Marketing To Better Serve Americans.”

If you haven’t tried Google trends before, now is the time to do so.

2. Google Analytics

Let me start by asking you few questions:

• How many of your website visitors are coming for the first time?
• How many are returning visitors?
• Where are they coming from?
• How long are visitors spending on your site?
• How’s your bounce rate (High or normal)?

If you give me a solid answer to these questions, then you don’t know what you’re doing, and your content marketing campaign will suffer tremendously. If you need a great tool to be checking and monitoring your website traffic, Google Analytics is dope.

Good enough, Google Analytics provides valuable answers to all of these critical analytical questions. This tool can give you great insight into your site’s overall performance and help you to fully understand how people are discovering and navigating your website.

With Google Analytics, you can quickly learn about your site:

• Traffic sources
• Social engagement
• Technology used in accessing your site
• Your visitor’s demographics
• Mobile information
• Top and underperforming content
• Conversions triggers
• And so much more

These are just a piece of the iceberg to what you can do with this tool; it is arguably the most powerful tool offered by Google to content marketers. And the most interesting thing like I stated earlier is that…It’s completely free.

However, I want you to understand something here – website analytics is certainly not a replacement for marketing analytics (the difference can be found here).

3. Google Webmaster Tools (Search Console)

Want a great insight into your site’s overall health, and how Google sees it? Just create a Google Webmaster account.

Google Webmaster Tools is an excellent free product from Google; it gives you an enormous amount of valuable data about your website and content marketing campaigns – It’s surely a must-use tool for webmasters.

Interestingly, if you’ve already created a Google Analytics account for your site, you can quickly and effortlessly add it to Google Webmaster Tools to start monitoring the following.

• Site Health: In this section, you’ll see your site’s stats, crawl errors, malware alerts, and blocked URLs.
• Site Configuration: This section monitors your website’s settings on the internet, including preferred domain canonicalization, change of address, site links, users who have access, and URL parameters.
• Site Traffic: This section includes internal links, search queries, and +1 reports.
• Site Optimization: This section contains your content keywords, sitemaps, HTML improvement suggestions, and other resources.

Another interesting thing about the Google Webmaster Tool is that it will notify you to any red flags that could hinder your website from getting found in Google search results, and also help you to accurately analyze your existing search traffic so you can better understand how visitors are currently discovering you.

Apart from that, Google Webmaster Tools also gives you an option to view reports to find broken links and to de-index the pages that were accidentally indexed in Google.

4. Google Keyword Planner

Although there are a lot of great keyword research tools available in the market which can give you excellent results, Google Keyword Planner remains one of the best. As far as keyword research is concerned, the popular Google Keyword Planner is one of the most suited tools for the job, no doubt about it.

There are lots of wonderful stuff to be liked about this tool including its user-friendliness. As a serious content marketer, it’s your job to always search for those kinds of keywords needed to significantly boost the performance of your content in Google SERPs.

However, the only requirement needed to use this tool would be to experiment with it thoroughly. You need to run some number of searches to understand better how it functions. You can also run multiple searches so as to get a different perspective on how it works.

For example, “content marketing” could be one of your target keyword, but you certainly know how difficult it is to rank on the first spot with such “short tale” keyword. But with the Google Keyword Planner, you can come up with some interesting, long-tail, and easy to rank keyword variations that are closely related to that target keyword of yours (content marketing).

However, you must understand that “Google Keyword Planner” is just a basic tool, but it is one of the most powerful “Free Content Marketing Tools” for serious content marketers who would like to research their keyword strategy to increase their search results.

Finally, this tool is incredibly easy to use, but bear in mind that you have to create an AdWords account to use the Google Keyword Planner as it’s meant for Google’s AdWord advertisers, but that doesn’t mean you definitely have to create an ad. Just a simple Google account will do.

5. Google Docs

As you know, content creation is a big part of content marketing. If your business/job involves a lot of writing, ensure you’re 100% comfortable with the tool that you’re using.

Google Docs is an easy file sharing platform used for sharing spreadsheets, drawings, documents, tables, and presentations with others to download or edit, view online, or just to grant access to a “read-only version” of a document.

Furthermore, you can also create forms and send them directly in an email or via a link to collect crowdsourced post information, survey answers, and other valuable data.

Below are some of the things you can do with Google Docs as you’re creating a blog post:

• Allows you to insert screenshots easily
• Checks for spelling errors
• Enables you to easily collaborate with multiple users thereby sharing the document with them
• Gives you an accurate word count

I know there are many other options out there like the modern Microsoft Word, but right now, Google Docs seems to be a perfect choice.

Conclusion

These are some of the free Google tools for content marketers that you really need to start using right now. Although there many other excellent free tools offered by Google, the five I mentioned here will be most useful to you.

Now, for the fact that less than 50% of B2B marketers are claiming to be effective at content marketing this year, it means that there’s still room for improvement, you just have to start using these tools immediately to know your competitors off the ladder.

Personally, I love all the tools developed by Google, and will also use as many of them as I found valuable and needed. I’ll also urge you to do the same because you will never go wrong with these tools.

Perhaps, you started blogging because you’ve read so many places on the internet about how blogging is changing people’s lives, you’ve been told by your friends of how a lot of people like Jon Haver was able to quit their cooperate live because of blogging.

Now, after reading and hearing all these, you rushed and started your own money printing blog because just like most people, you’re also tired of your 9-5 job to the extent that seeing your boss these days gives you heartache.

So now tell me, have you been able to do that? Was your blog able to replace your day job? Or, are you still making plans on how to sack your boss and tell him to “go pound sand”?

Well, maybe you’re still waiting for the right time which might eventually never come.

Ok, let me give you a shocker, majority of the blogs on the internet makes little to no money monthly and I know yours might also fall under that category.

According to Zak Johnson, of the 300+ million blogs that are currently on the internet as at 2015, less than 1% of them actually make any real money (at least $1,000 per year).

How true is that? I bet you’ll agree, using your own blog as a case study.

The bad news is that, no matter how you try, you might never make money from your blog actually just like most of your counterparts out there, this is not a mare prediction, and I’m telling you the fact. You can call me a prophet or even a soothsayer if you like even though I know that I’m not one.

However, the good news is that it’s never too late to turn things around. There are still things that if done properly, you might still be able to achieve your initial goal of your blogging business finally replacing your day job and, that is what we will be talking about on the rest of this post.

I’ll tell you the 5 major things that are preventing you from making money from your blog and after stating each point; I will also tell you what to do about it. So if you’re ready, I am too.

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1. Blogging is a Hoax, Forget About It

Don’t pinch yourself; what you just read came from the depth of my heart. I mean it and I will prove it to you.

Some time ago, I wrote a controversial post on my blog where I argued that blogging is done for, in order words, its dead and even buried. Now, while many people agreed with my argument, a lot of people still believed I was actually hallucinating. I will like you to go check out that post if you haven’t.

Years back, you can actually set up a simple one page blog, slash it with Google Adsense and within a couple of days, the money will start rolling in like rain and do you know why, there was no competition back then.

Today? The competition is fierce and before you can make such money via Adsense, you must develop a good strategy through which you will be driving lots of targeted traffic to your blog.

What baffles me today is that people still believes in the illusion that blogging can replace their day job, what an Irony! Can you please tell me someone you know who used blogging alone to replace his day job? I haven’t heard of that before.

Yes I remembered using Jon Haver earlier as example of some whose online business replaced their day job but then, do you know the difference between yourself and Jon? I will tell you.

Jon Haver owns an SEO agency (Lightning Rank)

He has a portfolio of websites in different niches making him money via different wonderful monetization models.

He offers coaching on his blog where he teaches people how to source for Expired Domains and create a PBN, and use it for link building. That’s not all; He’s also in the Amazon FBA business. Essentially, Jon has a great team of people working for him and all these points to one thing…… Jon is a business man, simple.

Now, what about you? Can you compare yourself to him? Tell me the similarities.

Do you still want me to give you another example? I will.

Have you heard of a popular blogger called Spencer Haws? In case you don’t know him, Spencer is the man behind the famous blog, nichepursuits.com.

Think he makes all his money via Niche Pursuits? Think again.

Even though he make some money by promoting other peoples products and services via his blog, that’s not where majority of his money comes from. Now, have you heard of the kick-ass keyword research software, Long Tail Pro? Jon is the brain behind it.

Can you imagine how many people are using that tool all over the internet today? All the money enters Spencer’s pocket. That’s not the only business he has too but, I will stop there. You can check out his Project Page to see more.

I’m sure what I’m saying is already sinking into your head? Good.

According to Penelope Trunk, everyone should forget about making money directly from blogging.

The screenshot below speaks volume:

Penelope also argued that “most big bloggers today have a strong background writing for print even before they started blogging, herself included and that was what gave them the initial fame” when they launched their blog.

Check out the screenshot below to see more.

While blogging can also pave some good ways for you if done well, doing it all in the name of making money is just a nightmare.

How To Fix It

If you truly desire to make money from your blog then, you must be able to fit in a good business model to it.

Use the examples I gave you above about Jon Haver and Spencer as a case study, you must be able to solve a certain problem before you can make money online.

In the book Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets, the author (Stephane Grenier) asked about forty different bloggers what they understand as blogging success. He consulted people like Neil Patel, Remit Sethi, Penelope Trunk and Seth Godin, etc. All these guys make a living online and also own big blogs but do you know the funny thing? None of them mentioned money as their definition of blogging success. Isn’t that terrific?

All these bloggers defined success as the things that mattered in their life. This could be connections, friendships, influence, and the ability to help people solve their problems. The interesting thing is that some of them also talked about their blog leading to other business opportunities.

Therefore, you must see blogging as just a great career tool for creating big opportunities for yourself and not the business itself.

Until you figure out a good problem you can solve for people, you will never make money blogging.

Like Sonia Simone once said,

If you don’t offer customers something they dearly want, whether it’s to gain some great pleasure or escape some great pain, you’re not going to make any money.

2. You Don’t Have a Good Business Model

This one is also related to the first point above.

Most people often make the mistake of starting a blog in a niche they knows little to nothing about. They usually jump into a niche because they’re heard it’s profitable and people are making money from it. Have you bordered to find out how they’re making the money? It might not be directly from their blog.

Have you heard about Fake Steve Jobs? In case you don’t know him, his real name is Daniel Lyons and he was known for two years as “Fake Steve Jobs”.

According to Copy Blogger, Fake Steve Jobs’ best month came with a traffic spike. His actual identity was revealed in the New York Times, sending more than a half-million people to his site in a single day.

Do you know how much he made from those half-million visitors? A measly $1039.81 which came from Adsense. Not what he expected from that much traffic after becoming a celebrity blogger.

After the ugly experience, he came out and made the comment below:

Now, after Fake Steve Jobs made that comment, Paul Verna who is an analyst with eMarketer came in and explained that the problem he had was a lack of clear business model that can generate good income.

Again like I stated above, if you must make money blogging then, you must be able to solve real human problem if not, you will not go far. You will soon disappear like others.

I did it before. At a time, I decided to abandon my blog and go somewhere in the desert to cool off my head. However, the different between me and most other people that did the same thing is that “I finally came back and started again” But from a different angle this time.

3. You’re Focusing Much On Content Creation

Content is good, content is the king, but is it the main thing? NO.

If you think all you have to do to succeed with your blog is to consistently publish useful contents then, you’re wrong. You need a rethink.

It’s not all about content my friend, there is more to it.

Years back when the web was still an infant, writing contents alone is enough to give you all you want but today, there are so many contents on the internet that is even more than people’s consumption.

What to do instead? Focus more on content promotion.

It’s of no need creating contents that people will not see. It does not matter how epic and useful your blog posts are, if people can’t see it, you’ve wasted your time writing it.

You need to devote more time promoting your contents. As Neil Patel once said, you should always use the same amount of time you used in creating your contents to promote it.

You don’t want to create contents that will not serve its purpose.

As I mentioned above, content is still the king but like Zac Johnson also said, without content promotion, your king will be alone by himself in the kingdom!

There are so many ways to promote your content today on the internet and all you need to do is figure out what works best for you and start applying it.

4. You’re Spending So Much Time on Social Media

Bloggers often think that hanging out on the social media when starting will give them all the popularity they want, how wrong they are. Who even told you that?

Believe me, social media can be a big waste of time for you especially when you’re just starting. Don’t even go there instead; channel your efforts into other things that will give you higher returns on your time.

Yes, I understand that social media marketing can actually give you lots of traffic, money, and exposure but in many cases, it might not last.

I’m not saying that promoting your articles on the social media once awhile is bad; don’t just make it the main thing. Don’t give it all your time.

You might wake up one day and discover that all those traffic is gone and you will start all over again.

What you want to do initially is put all your efforts into building an email list. Yes, you can’t do without it. Your email list is one of the most important tools that will make you money on the internet. Once you have active subscribers who like what you’re doing, you’re made. It’s that simple.

Therefore, you need to start building your email list right away and you can also do that with social media. Just create a good lead capture page and send the traffic there. If you can funnel them into your email list then, perhaps, they will end up being your customers too.

5. You’re Just Very Lazy

You know what? One of the major reasons why you’re blog will never make you a dime is because you’re just lazy. You can’t do what it takes to make money from the internet. I mean, you can actually do it but you’re not willing to.

Ordinarily, there is no food for a lazy man, heard that before?

One thing I want you to take away from the post is that ‘blogging is not easy and it’s not for the lazy people’. If you can’t put in the work required to build a successful blog then, you’re simply not eligible to be a blogger.

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out from the kitchen”

Most people will rather spend all their time on the social media, reading other peoples income report, watching the latest Hollywood movie rather than spending that time on the things that will make their blog successful. You need to understand that sometimes, you can actually be very busy without being productive.

You will only be squandering time of which at the end of the day, you will be wondering what you’ve achieved for the day.

I know that you will not even take the time to apply the things I suggested on this post to your own blog and later, you will be complaining like Fake Steve Jobs that it’s not possible to make money blogging.

Which Way Forward

Well, you can’t really make money blogging alone but, you can create a business around your blog.

Therefore, if you’re really serious about making the money you’ve been craving for then, you must stop everything you’re doing right now and start working on your blog.

Define your blogging goals

Take time and list all the things you can do. Remember as the bible said:

A man’s talent maketh ways for him (Proverbs 18:16).

Once you know the problems you can solve, the next thing is to start marketing it via your blog and soon, you will also be counted among successful bloggers.