We know the Internet is endless. As online marketers, we sometimes feel overwhelmed by the ever-growing networks of cyberspace. Staying ahead of the infinite droves of new competitors in a limitless market can seem like a perpetual game of whack-a-mole.

Among the scores of websites accessible to online consumers, how do you know your content sharing strategies are working? Are you reaching your maximum potential audience?

One of the most effective ways to put your mind at ease and increase traffic to your website is to use content distribution sites. To make things simple, we’ve compiled a list of eight content sharing sites to help your posts, articles, and podcasts reach those most likely to enjoy them.

1. Business2Community

What started as a personal blog in 2010 has become a major business community, sharing high-quality, business-related content to 3 million regular visitors via an open forum. Business2Community has received high rankings from reputable tech and business panels, including AdAge magazine and Technorati.

Pros: Huge audience, professional reputation, opportunity to network with marketers and advertisers who might further extend the reach of your product or content

Cons: Highly sought-after membership—only the best of the best may become contributors

2. Scoop.it

Scoop.it is a content curator, meaning it’s a platform to share existing content on a specific topic of interest and match consumers with the information that matters most to them. This tool allows you to find interesting links related to your business and share them easily, which is a great way to diversify your content feed and show that you have authority on a particular topic.

Pros: User-friendly and automated but fully customizable; free and paid membership options; huge time saver

Cons: No direct sharing of your own content (though you will generate interest from the sites to which you link)

3. BizSugar

The Reddit of the business world, BizSugar allows users to submit content for peer review in the small business community. Posts are added to a virtual bulletin board, where members vote on the content they find most interesting, engaging, or useful. The most popular posts make it to the website’s home page, Twitter feed, and weekly newsletter for maximum visibility.

Pros: Potential to have your content seen by 1 million members of the business community (and thus drive real, usable traffic back to your site)

Cons: Audience limited to those already active in the small business community; success requires some effort (frequent, consistent posting)

4. Medium

Medium hit the blogging world not just as a beautiful platform but also as a place for writers, journalists, and bloggers to get noticed. The site began as an exclusive band of pre-selected writers and, as a result, has earned a reputation as a place to read really, really good articles. Basically, if your content shows up on Medium, readers are pre-conditioned to think it’s a cut above.

Pros: Reputation of excellence, design not marred by paid advertising (an aesthetic plus guaranteed to keep more readers on the page)

Cons: Unclear boundaries and limitations (no identified market or audience); paid or pre-selected contributors are promoted over everyday bloggers

5. Storify

Similar to Scoop.it, Storify offers an aesthetically pleasing, easy way to curate social media posts to reach a greater audience. The website is based on the idea that social media makes everyone a potential news reporter—it’s just a matter of having those stories noticed. Storify users have the ability to drag and drop social media posts to create shareable “stories.” Then readers can search the host site for stories related to specific topics, breaking news, or areas of interest. Posts on Storify have even been picked up by news agencies and international media organizations.

Pros: Ability to embed your own content to be shared by other users; a way to diversify content feed while still personalizing each post

Cons: Somewhat limited audience—most users are women aged 25–34

6. Followedapp

Followedapp is a content sharing tool that combines the power of social media with an advanced algorithm to connect readers with the posts they want to see. For you, this means the optimized content you upload will be assessed and recommended to the consumers most likely to enjoy it, rather than to a general (and possibly indifferent) audience. Instead of sharing your content on a separate website, Followedapp allows you to use your established social networks to share relevant content—both your own and other people’s—with your audience.

Pros: Easy to set up and personalize, also great for finding other people’s content to share with your social networks

Cons: Unlike some of the other sites on this list, no free option available

7. Taboola

This is a paid content distribution site that works by displaying a web widget that suggests content users might find interesting. Taboola was originally built to handle videos, so vloggers or online marketers who produce a lot of audio-visual content might find this distribution network particularly effective.

Pros: Best for sharing videos; different pricing options, including a premium option that distributes to the most popular sites on the network

Cons: Difficult to target specific audiences

8. Outbrain

The behemoth of the content distribution world, this paid site is the best known among its competitors, and for good reason. For sponsorship that runs between 25–35 cents, Outbrain displays your content prominently as recommended reading to users browsing popular websites. The distributor upholds strict quality policies, such as not allowing spammy posts that trick readers into clicking on links they aren’t actually interested in, thus protecting the site’s reputation.

Pros: Well-known, solid reputation, affordable pricing, huge network and audience potential

Cons: Limited ability to target specific audiences

Have you used any of the above sites? Did they boost traffic to your site?

Marketing tools to boost your online influence

There’s no substitute for a good marketing campaign. After all, it’s what makes your business stand out from the crowd.

A recent survey showed that most companies spend 20 hours on marketing per week. How do you know if you’re using this time wisely? Having the right data is the best way to evaluate your marketing strategies.

Here are five tools that will boost your productivity and effectively measure your online impact.

1) Moz

Moz offers a complete set of tools to synchronize all your marketing campaigns. From traffic stats to social media shares, Moz tracks the data you need to get the right customers.

Moz not only provides top-notch analytics tools but also offers actionable advice on how you can improve your marketing. One of its best-known features is Open Site Explorer, which tracks inbound links to your website. This is essential information for any marketer because it can help you build connections with key influencers.

Ever wondered who’s talking about your business? Moz’s Mentions tool scours RSS feeds and URLs to find out where your brand appears on the web. Moz also features an on-page ranker that helps optimize your content, allowing you to rank higher for a specific keyword.

2) Passpack

Chances are, you use multiple passwords to run your business. Since 2006, Passpack has been making it easy to remember passwords by storing them all in one application.

Once you’ve installed Passpack in your browser, you can securely log in to any website with just a click of a button. The type of data you can save is diverse, from email passwords to log-in credentials for online banking. With Passpack, you can safely share your passwords with anyone in your network, including employees and family members.

Passpack offers different subscription plans to suit your business needs. While its free account allows you to save up to 100 passwords, purchasing a subscription gives you more passwords, shared users, and disposable log-ins.

3) Klout

Klout provides an ideal way to measure your marketing reach and grow your influence. The company has a stellar track record and has run campaigns for some of the most influential brands in the world.

Once you sign up for Klout, you can link your social media profiles, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram. Klout will then give you a “score” based on your social media activity.

Klout digs deep, looking beyond superficial statistics such as your Twitter follower count. It tracks how often users actually pay attention to what you post. For example, your Klout score will increase when you receive comments, retweets, and likes on your content. The built-in reporting tool makes it easy to track your activity on a daily basis, so you can easily tweak your marketing efforts.

4) Raven

Like Moz, Raven combines multiple pieces of software in one easy-to-use package. With dozens of available tools, Raven streamlines the work so you don’t need to spend hours doing marketing research on your own.

Raven focuses on five different categories: social media, content marketing, reporting, PPC, and SEO. One of its most useful tools is the Site Auditor, which crawls your website to figure out which SEO issues need improvement. Raven can also check search engine rankings for keywords, improve backlinks, and monitor your brand on social media.

Raven’s content marketing tools help push your content out quickly across multiple platforms. Using its metrics, you can discover which content is most profitable and keep tabs on the topics that industry leaders are talking about.

5) MailChimp

Smart businesses know the power of email marketing. With MailChimp, you can build your subscriber list and send more great content to the clients who matter most.

If you don’t already have a subscriber list, MailChimp helps you create a sign-up form. Once your list is ready to go, you can begin a new email marketing campaign using the service’s customizable templates. Your emails can be plain text, graphics rich, or pulled from an RSS feed. MailChimp lets you target specific subscribers with your emails so that clients receive only the most relevant information.

After your marketing campaign has launched, you can track it using MailChimp’s analytics tools. Here you’ll learn helpful information, such as how many subscribers actually open your emails. MailChimp can also recommend the best time to send marketing emails based on the activity level of your subscribers.

If you have fewer than 2,000 subscribers, you can use MailChimp for free. However, there are more advanced features, such as automated emails, that are restricted to the paid versions.

Marketing tools put your business on the map

It’s a common refrain in the marketing world that content is king. However, not all content has a built-in audience.

To get the exposure you want, you’ll need to share your message on multiple platforms and connect with the top experts in your industry. Having the right tools is the key to building your online brand and growing your business.