The top 10 websites that successful marketers and entrepreneurs read

Marketing is a constantly evolving industry. We’ve seen dramatic changes to marketing theory and practice since the days when Dan Draper and his clan ruled over Madison Avenue and door-to-door marketing became as fashionable (and quickly became just as uncool) as neon sweaters and leg warmers. And thanks to the Internet and mobile phones, the marketing landscape continues to evolve at a faster rate than ever before.

In order to succeed in today’s unpredictable marketing environment, it’s important to stay up-to-date by committing yourself to continual learning — even if you don’t have the word “marketer” in your job title. And to help you stay current with the latest marketing trends, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 websites that successful marketers and SMB owners read on a daily basis. The resources we’ve selected cover everything from digital and content marketing right down to SEO and analytics.

1. Neil Patel

Every marketer is familiar with Neil Patel, the inimitable SEO guru. Patel’s blog is designed to help marketers and business owners how to succeed through online marketing, with a strong focus on SEO. He also touches on content marketing, social media, and e-commerce strategies. The website is a powerhouse, generating about 2.5 million visitors per month. Additionally, Patel’s Marketing School podcast garners 650,000 listens each month, his YouTube channel about marketing has almost 16 million views, he has 960,000 more Facebook fans than any of us in the Autopilot office, and his tweets have attracted over 331,000 followers.

2. Mashable

Mashable keeps us young, informed, and engaged. They cover the latest social media trends and other interesting content that gains popularity on the Internet. If you’re a newly minted marketer or have just started your own business, it’s important that you stay up-to-date with relevant trends and join conversations. Mashable is an excellent starting point.

3. MarketingProfs

MarketingProfs is a marketer must-read. With a goal to change lives and shape careers by improving the way we do marketing, MarketingProfs offers real-world education for modern marketers with access to free resources including quality articles, podcasts, in-depth how-to guides, and video tutorials. If you sign up for one of their paid training subscriptions, you’ll gain further access to practical and hands-on instruction for topics like search engine marketing and marketing measurement.

4. Copyblogger

Want superior results? Start creating superior content. For over 13 years, Copyblogger has taught budding copywriters, freelancers, and small business owners how to create killer online content. We’re not talking about boring and waffly filler text that’s designed to fill up a company website and nothing else — we’re talking about useful information that’s actually valuable and practical. If you’re serious about improving your content marketing skills, Copyblogger is an excellent resource. Best of all, it’s free.

5. Content Marketing Institute

The Content Marketing Institute is another comprehensive resource for all things content-marketing related. Whether you’re a business owner who wants to know what content marketing is all about or a seasoned marketer who’s learning how to justify a content budget within your organization, this resource is excellent. This website comprises an extensive library featuring online training guides, e-books, original research, white papers, how-to tutorials, and blog posts on how you can derive results from your content marketing efforts.

6. Autopilot blog

The Autopilot Blog is our very own home-grown marketing automation resource. We talk about how marketing automation can help you work smarter and deliver better results, regardless of whether you’re a marketing manager at an established company, a growing business that’s scaling up quickly, or flying solo. We also explore wider industry trends related to big data, automation, growth hacking, content marketing, lead management. Seek inspiration for your next marketing strategy, find out how our amazing customers have successfully used our software to deliver remarkable results, learn from our useful videos, and take advantage of our free customer journey templates. The Autopilot blog covers the best of the best — check it out now.

7. Smartbrief: Marketing

SmartBrief serves up a snapshot of each day’s top industry news and allows readers to dig deeper into trending topics in the marketing world. This website supplements daily headlines with a balanced mix of analysis, interviews, and best practices to give marketers the practical insights they need to succeed in their jobs and excel in their careers. Time-poor? You can also subscribe to their daily email updates, which comprises summaries of the day’s most important headlines from hundreds of media and publications.

8. GrowthHackers

The GrowthHackers blog is a smart community for marketers and business owners looking to grow their operations. Updated several times a day, this blog is community-based, meaning that all content is created and posted by users themselves, free of charge. Apart from growth hacking, popular topics include SEO trends, email marketing, mobile marketing, and analytics. The best part about GrowthHackers is that users can vote on content, which means you get to read the best and most interesting content curated by your peers.

9. MarketingSherpa

MarketingSherpa has one of the most robust collections of marketing data available to the public. MarketingSherpa is not an agency or consultancy; instead, they’re an independent research institute that specializes in tracking on what works in all aspects of marketing so all their research is published for the benefit of the marketing community. By offering intelligent marketing insight to inspire and improve your marketing performance, MarketingSherpa is a must-read website for data-driven marketers.

10. AdAge

We respect The Website Formerly Known as Advertising Age because they are a well-established company that evolved with the industry. AdAge covers marketing aspects as heavily as it does straight advertising, focusing on exclusive sections such as digital marketing, content for agencies, and data-driven marketing. If you work in an agency environment, we strongly recommend you bookmark this resource.

We contained ourselves to sharing just 10 of our favorite marketing websites. Now we want to hear from you! What resources do you turn to when looking for marketing advice?