Best Internet Marketing Tools and Products (2026)

I have always maintained a list of the tools and products I personally use and recommend. My original version of this page from 2008 featured ServInt hosting, Aweber for email, phpBay for eBay affiliate sites, Article Post Robot for directory submissions, and Micro Niche Finder for keyword research. Every single one of those recommendations is now obsolete.

The tools have changed. The principle has not: I only recommend products I use myself. In most cases, the links below are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. I never recommend anything I would not use in my own business.

Website and Hosting

  • WordPress — The foundation of every content site I build. Over 40 percent of the web runs on WordPress. Free, open-source, and infinitely flexible. If you are building a content business, this is where you start.
  • Kinsta — Managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud. Fast, secure, and their support team actually knows WordPress. More expensive than shared hosting, but the performance difference is real.
  • SiteGround — Excellent mid-range hosting. Strong WordPress support, good speed, and fair pricing. Where I point people who do not need managed hosting yet.
  • Namecheap — Still my preferred domain registrar. Clean interface, fair prices, and they do not bombard you with upsells like some registrars do. I recommended Namecheap back in 2008 and it is the one recommendation that has survived.

Email Marketing

  • Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — My email platform of choice. Built for creators with excellent automation, tagging, and segmentation. The visual automation builder makes complex email sequences easy to set up. Free for up to 1,000 subscribers.
  • Beehiiv — Best option if you are building a newsletter as a standalone product. Built-in monetization, referral programs, and growth tools. Growing fast in the creator space.

SEO and Keyword Research

  • Semrush — The most complete SEO toolkit I have found. Keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, competitor analysis, and content optimization. Replaces four or five standalone tools. This is what I replaced Micro Niche Finder with.
  • Ahrefs — Best backlink analysis tool on the market. Their content explorer and keyword research tools are equally strong. The free Webmaster Tools version gives you basic site auditing at no cost.
  • KWFinder — Budget-friendly keyword research. Does one thing well: finding low-competition keywords for niche sites. If Semrush or Ahrefs is out of your budget, start here.

Affiliate Marketing Tools

  • Lasso — Affiliate link management and product display plugin for WordPress. Beautiful product boxes, comparison tables, and automatic broken link detection. Essential if affiliate marketing is part of your revenue model.
  • AAWP — Amazon Associates plugin that pulls real-time product data including prices, ratings, and availability. If Amazon is your primary affiliate program, this plugin pays for itself in the first month.

Content Creation and Design

  • Canva — Graphics, social media images, ebook covers, and presentations without needing design skills. The free tier covers most needs. Pro adds brand kits and premium assets.
  • Descript — Audio and video editing by editing text. Revolutionized my podcast workflow. Also excellent for creating clips, removing filler words, and generating transcripts.
  • Grammarly — Grammar checking, style suggestions, and tone analysis. I run every blog post through Grammarly before publishing. The premium version catches subtle issues the free version misses.

AI Tools

  • ChatGPT — Brainstorming, outlining, research assistance, and first drafts. A powerful accelerator for content creation when used alongside your own expertise. Not a replacement for thinking, but a tool that makes the thinking faster.
  • Claude — Particularly strong for long-form writing and nuanced content tasks. My preferred AI for detailed analysis and maintaining consistent tone across longer pieces.

Podcasting

  • Libsyn — Podcast hosting. I have used Libsyn since launching the Late Night Internet Marketing podcast. Rock-solid reliability, distributes to all major directories, and their stats are trustworthy.
  • Riverside — Remote podcast recording. Captures high-quality audio locally on each participant's device, so internet hiccups do not ruin your interview audio. Far better than recording over Zoom.

Learning

Have questions about any of these tools? Email me at [email protected] and I will give you my honest opinion based on your specific situation.