Content creation software has become a vital part of a business’s content marketing strategy, but creating high-quality content can be difficult and time-consuming.
Finding the best content creation software for your content marketing needs can be a challenge. It’s easy to spend many hours and much money searching for the best solution only to find yourself still confused and overwhelmed with information.
In this article, we will look at some of the best content creation software for small businesses that want to create great content quickly and easily. We’ll also consider the benefits of using these tools for content marketing, and why so many people love them.
Let’s get started!
What is content marketing?
Before we get into the software tools, let’s first take a quick look at what content marketing is. Simply put, content marketing is the creation and distribution of valuable content to attract and retain customers. This can include blog posts, videos, infographics, ebooks, and more.
The goal of content marketing is to provide your audience with useful information that they can use to make better decisions. This helps them build trust in your brand and ultimately leads them towards purchasing from you.
In the content marketing world, there’s not a definitive line between what content is or isn’t. Content creation can be many things, but for this article, we’ll cover six popular types of marketing content:
- Blogs
- Infographics
- Videos
- Images
- Podcasts
- eBooks
What is content creation software?
Content creation software products are tools used to create high-quality marketing content for websites and other marketing efforts. By using application software specifically designed for the type of content you want to create, you can save time and produce better, highly effective results.
What is the best content creation software?
The best software programs for content marketing depend on the type of content strategy you are working on. For example, if you are trying to create a blog post or e-book, then content generation software like Jasper ai and Grammarly would be good choices. If you want to make an infographic, software such as Adobe Illustrator or Piktochart would be best.
In this article, I am providing a list of only the best software for your digital content creation, not a long all-inclusive list, for easier decision-making.
There are so many software tools out there—all with various features, prices, and ease of use attributes—but to save you from slogging through them all I’ve chosen only the top contenders in each category.
Some of the content creation tools shown below are also powered by Artificial Intelligence. AI-powered design software tools are helping graphic designers, marketers, and other creators to develop content faster and easier than ever.
BLOGS
Best software for creating a blog
In this section we’ll cover three basic components for creating a blog:
- Writing software for your blog
- Platforms to host your blog on
- SEO tools to rank your blog high in search engines
You can add plenty more to the blog creation mix, but these three are must-haves.
I use all the listed software below in my business. Where applicable, I’ve included a competing product I think would be an excellent alternative.
Let’s break them down.
BLOG WRITING SOFTWARE
Blog writing software
Jasper.ai
Jasper takes writing to the next level in both speed and creativity. As the .ai suffix indicates, Jasper is an artificial intelligence tool. And wow, what a difference ai makes! Learn to blog using AI-writing software and you’ll write a blog post at least 50% faster, but even better, you will never have writer’s block again.
Jasper makes the content creation process so much easier. As a content creator myself, I use it to create content for blogs but have used it for many other projects as well—headline ideas, product sales pages, book writing, improving my content, and social media posts are a few examples.
Jasper provides a library of content templates and topic ideas to get you started, or you can simply start writing and prompt Jasper to finish the sentence for you.
Not only can Jasper write long prose for you, but with the click of a button, Jasper can rewrite an awkward sentence, or simplify a complex sentence into a more reader-friendly format.
The cool thing about AI is that it continues to learn. As you add your user-generated content, then prompt Jasper for more, Jasper learns more about what you are wanting to write, along with your tone and writing style.
Optionally, you can tell Jasper exactly what tone you want to write in right from the start. Do you want to sound formal, funny, friendly? Jasper can emulate those and myriad other tones. You can even put in someone’s name if you want to sound like a particular celebrity or another well-known person.
AI is changing the face of the content marketing world. I predict in a few years virtually everyone in the field of content marketing will be using an AI writing assistant.
You can find training videos and even a certification program on the Jasper.ai website.
Notable points about Jasper:
- Quickly generate blog posts, landing pages, social media posts, and much more
- Jasper creates 100% original content.
- The dashboard has over 50 templates and frameworks for your content strategy including AIDA.
- Boss Mode long-form assistant writes much of the copy for you.
- Cloud-based so it works on any computer regardless of system software.
Price – There are three monthly price points: $29, $59, and $99. I’d recommend the $59/mo plan for bloggers as it has the powerful Boss Mode feature. The $99/mo plan has all the same features, but double the word count which you won’t likely need unless you are writing many long blog posts every month.
Grammarly
Grammarly is another valuable tool for blogging and other written-format content marketing. It helps you write better, with more clarity and accuracy.
Grammarly has basic features you’ll need like a spell-checker, word count, and grammar tips, as well as advanced features like sentence rewording and plagiarism checker.
Grammarly is built-in to Jasper and can also be added to other programs like Google Docs. Its basic level plan is free, and it works with most system software including Mac and Windows, so download and give it a try!
Notable points about Grammarly:
- Grammarly Premium offers the same basic features as the free version plus additional upgrades such as plagiarism checker, tone adjustments, word choice suggestions, formality level, and more.
- Cloud-based so it works on any computer regardless of system software.
Price – Free, or $12/mo.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a great free alternative to Microsoft Word. It’s similar in many ways and has all the basic features you need for blog writing. As a benefit, the Chrome extension Mammoth Docs enables you to import your Google Docs document directly into WordPress without losing formatting.
Notable points about Google Docs:
- Has a table of contents tool for organizing documents.
- You can add Grammarly to Google Docs using a Chrome extension
- You can use the Google Docs Explore tool for in-depth research
Price – Free
Evernote
Evernote helps you organize your writing and other projects. It’s great for when you’re on the go and want to jot down ideas or take quick notes. It’s not a content creation tool, per se, but it can be helpful to have installed on your phone for when inspiration hits you. The app is cloud-based, so it keeps everything in sync between your computer, smartphone, or tablet.
Price – Evernote has three packages— free, $7.99/mo, and $9.99/mo. I’ve used the free version as well as the $7.99/mo.
Blog hosting platforms
Best blog hosting platforms
If you already have a website for your business it makes sense to create your blog on your already established website. Most website platforms allow for blogs, but some may be limited in functionality and SEO (search engine optimization) benefit.
If you don’t have a website yet, I recommend you create your blog on WordPress, or if your website is already on WordPress just add a blog page to your site.
This article won’t go into the specifics of how to build a blog on WordPress. Some excellent videos on YouTube will walk you through how to do that.
One thing that will be very important will be which hosting company you go with to host your blog. There are two I recommend—Bluehost and WPX.
Bluehost
Bluehost is a web hosting company recognized for its WordPress expertise, a wide range of services, and low-cost pricing.
Plans include unlimited disk storage, domain hosting, and email addresses. You also get a one-year free domain name with your purchase. Bluehost is ideal for both novice and advanced WordPress users.
Notable points about Bluehost:
- Bluehost has an easy-to-use, customized cPanel and dozens of site tool add-ons that can be activated.
- It has a free website site builder.
- Free SSL certificate.
Price – $4.95/mo for shared hosting or $19.99/mo for a Virtual Private Server (VPS)
WPX
Two of the biggest benefits of WPX hosting are the incredible site speed and the excellent and fast customer service. You can also host up to five websites with WPX’s basic plan.
Notable points about WPX:
- Browser file manager server access.
- No list of disallowed plugins.
- WordPress Multisite support.
- Built-in content delivery network (CDN) called WPX Cloud.
- Free SSL certificates.
- DDoS protection.
- phpMyAdmin database access.
Price – $24.95/mo for up to five sites
SEO for blogs
Best SEO tools for blogs
A good content marketing strategy must include Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And likewise, a blog needs good SEO to be successful. Without it, your blog will likely get lost in the sea of content on the internet. Good SEO can help your blog rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which means more people will see your content.
Optimizing your blog for search engines is essential for getting traffic and increasing leads or sales from your website. There are many factors that go into good SEO, but luckily there are plenty of tools and resources available to help you out.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a software suite with tools for link-building, analyzing your competitors, doing keyword research, tracking your SEO ranking, and doing site audits. Most of the features inside of Ahrefs are designed for marketing professionals, but if you can master this software it’s an SEO and blog monetization game-changer.
Notable points about Ahrefs:
- Ahrefs is used to analyze a website’s keyword rankings, link profile, and SEO health.
- It can be used as a keyword research tool for Google trends, YouTube, and Amazon.
- You can also use it to find content that’s performed well on a given topic.
- Cloud-based so it works on any computer regardless of system software.
Price – $99/mo for the basic plan (which is likely all you’ll need, at least to start.)
Surfer
Surfer is a data-based search engine optimization tool. Its on-page interface allows you to analyze and compare your blog pages against the pages that currently rank in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). In other words, if your goal is to get on the first page of Google’s search results, Surfer will help you do that.
Notable points about Surfer:
- Surfer can analyze the leading sites in your industry making it easier to plan a campaign using proven actions that have brought your competitors high positions.
- Cloud-based so it works on any computer regardless of system software.
- Superior customer service
Price – $59/mo for the basic plan
INFOGRAPHICS
What are infographics?
Infographics are visual representations of data. They are used to show statistics, trends, and other information in a visually appealing way.
Best software for creating professional infographics
Before choosing your infographics software you need to consider a few points. What operating system are you using? Piktochart is an exceptional program, specifically for infographics, but it’s only available on Mac OS. You also need to consider what other type of content you’re creating. If you are doing more than just infographics and charts you may want to consider a more all-inclusive program such as Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator
Perfect for Infographics as well as various other content marketing, Adobe Illustrator is professional-level graphic design software. You can create illustrations, logos, icons, charts, infographics—any type of content marketing elements you want to create.
Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based software which means that the graphics you create with it are resolution-independent and can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
Notable points about Adobe Illustrator:
- Adobe Illustrator is the industry-standard for professional-level designs
- Windows or Mac system software requirement
- A versatile program for other content marketing projects such as book cover design, illustrations, web apps, video, animations, and more.
Price – $20.99/mo*
*Illustrator can also be purchased as part of the Adobe Creative Suite. The Adobe Creative Suite is a collection of 20 software programs including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Rush, Acrobat Pro, InDesign, and more, all for only $52.99/mo.
Piktochart
Piktochart is ideal for creating infographics, presentations, and reports for your content strategy. Since it focuses exclusively on these three categories its templates and themes are typically better than other all-in-one graphic platforms like Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud Express.
Piktochart is an online infographic creation tool that allows people with little graphic design expertise to construct high-quality infographics in minutes. The program also allows you to add interactive maps, charts, videos, and hyperlinks.
If you’re looking for a truly unique design for your infographic, then Piktochart may not be your first choice because what you can create is limited by the variety of templates Piktochart offers.
The platform is easy to use, and you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create professional-looking designs.
Notable points about Piktochart:
- Easy-to-use interface.
- There are a few issues with editing the size of items on the infographics with the free version.
- Windows or Mac system software requirement
Price – Free to $14/mo
VIDEO
Best software for video editing
There are a variety of software programs that allow users to create and edit videos. The best program depends on the sort of video you’re making and what you’ll use it for. If you are creating a short video intended for social media, you won’t need the same type of program you’d need for making long, professional-level videos with multiple shots, effects, and layers.
This post describes the exact programs I’ve used for years for client projects. I’m also including a couple of other programs which are just as good.
Whether you want to create a short video, a long documentary film, or something in between the four programs below are your best options.
Best short-form video editing software
Short-form video is usually described as under two minutes. Short videos are good for customer service videos, quick tip videos, social media posts, or for embedding onto a website—typically those that are simple to edit and not too long.