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Home » The Famous Blog » Is Hootsuite Free enough for Me or Should I Go HootSuite Pro

Is Hootsuite Free enough for Me or Should I Go HootSuite Pro

November 26, 2010 - Last Modified: January 11, 2011 by James Johnston 2,033

Hootsuite Free Pro

Its been over a week since Hootsuite has sent out emails messages upon login about going pro and why we should have to pay to have more features. As most of us probably did, we closed that email and started searching for an alternative to Hootsuite that is still free.  For me, I loaded up TweetDeck, for the first time in months. I updated and started the program on my laptop. Within minutes it crashed and I had to reboot. To me that’s a sign. I never liked desktop Twitter apps in the first place. They are resource hogs, combined with Adobe PhotoShop and Dreamweaver open and two or three web browsers open. Adding TweetDeck to the mixed crashed my computer.

At that point, I realized I needed a better web app for Twitter. I spent several hours researching and testing the different ones out. None of them came close to Hootsuite. Most of them, could not schedule or did not have RSS feed to Twitter options. So then I came to conclusion that I either needed to upgrade to Hootsuite Pro or use multiple services to use Twitter the way I did before being forced to upgrade.

How I use Hootsuite without Using the Pro Services

hootsuite teams agencies consultants

As a designer and blogger on a budget, every penny counts. We all have expenses but having to pay for a little thing adds up and adding another small cost didn’t add up. Of course there are ways around that extra fee we can always take on new clients or amp up our article postings and let our affiliate sales pay for it. But why should we do that, when we may not be ready, or we simply do not have the time in our already busy schedule to do that. If we went against our better judgment, our clients and our companies would suffer.

With that being said, I decided to stick with Hootsuite Free and use other resources that are still free that Hootsuite took away. But when I have a reason to upgrade I will. Today I wanted to share with everyone how I use Hootsuite without using the pro services.

Running Hootsuite

To start with, I setup Hootsuite with lists and columns. My main stream is first far left column, followed by my @ mention stream. The rest are set by importance. Currently my most import are on the left to center of the screen. This way I know where to look and keep track of what’s going in Twitter Land. On days when I can’t be on Twitter, I only check DMs and at mentions, and respond to them as needed. With Hootsuites columns, this makes it easy for me to track everything. Whenever I need to look at a less important column, I just scroll the screen to the right and check those columns.  Of course, you can do this with TweetDeck and most other clients, but to me, Hootsuite just does a better job graphically and its easy on the eyes.

hootsuite schedule

One of the major features that brought me to Hootsuite was the option to feed my Facebook and other social media streams into Hootsuite. For me, I did this because a lot of the public computers and networks, I visit block these sites and with Hootsuite, they get through. Plus, I can send status messages to all the networks that they are linked with and not have to visit each site to leave an update But Hootsuite put an end to these features or limited them so have to do a monthly subscription to get all your features back.

Social Media Feeds

To get around this, I use RockMelt to stream some of my social media feeds into it. RockMelt is a social media browser built off of Google Chrome and is still in closed beta but you can get an invite or request one from the RockMelt’s site / FaceBook Page. The new browser works great. All my friends are running down the left side of the browser and I know when they are online. On the right, all my feeds are there. I have facebook, twitter (when I do not have Hootsuite open), and several of my favorite website’s RSS feeds setup. Whenever a new article is published on any of those feeds, the right hand icon feed bar will tell me what site has updated.

As for using Hootsuite for other social networks to send status messages, I would only use Ping.FM (service sending status udates to multiple social networks) as one my social media sites to send status messages from Hootsuite. As RockMelt gets more poplular and more advanced, you will be able to add more sites you can send status messages to.

RSS Feeds

Another Feature I used a lot was the RSS to tweet. I used this to tweet out my most trusted blogger articles and several design magazine articles. In all, I had eleven RSS feeds that tweet to Twitter and Ping daily for me. But with Hootsuite Free we are limited to only two feeds. Also, if you want to Tweet a feed to both Twitter and Ping, its considered two feeds! For me that wasn’t going to work and going pro wasn’t option. I had two options, I could always go back to manually tweeted or find another service to do this.

After researching, I found there was not another Twitter client that did this well and did not have all the features Hootsuite had. But I did find TwitterFeed and Twaitter both offered RSS to Twitter. TwitterFeed even offered to send Tweets to Ping. But recently, Ping put a stop to this and longer offering this service from outside services., they will only allow you have one feed on their site.

TwitterFeed is a great service, very easy to configure and they even track your link clicks. The downside to this site is, many spammers and bots use this service. Because of this, I limited the use of this service and feed some of the lesser magazine and bookmarking sites that I like share on that serive. I set these sites to Tweet only one update from the feed in a 12 hour period. If I catch one of these sites start to have content that isn’t worth sharing I turn it off and only post when I find good articles.

Twaitter is actually a newer client that offers features such as, sending status updates to different social media networks, scheduled messages, follow management, and RSS feeds. I am not all that impressed with the other features, but I do like the RSS feed. Since, it is a client and it is not used as much as TwitterFeed, I feed the rest of my feeds through them. Its easy to setup, but sometimes, I find it can’t find some feeds even though, TwitterFeed and Hootsuite will. So I have to use TwitterFeed for those sites. For the sites that only post once or twice I day and have a random posting schedule, I will set Twaitter to check them once an hour and only post one article every 50 minutes. So far, after a week of use, I haven’t found any issues with the feed service. So it looks like I will be sticking with them.

Hootsuite Stats

Who needs them, we shouldn’t be checking our twitter stats everyday. If you want to check them, check them once a week or every few weeks. They really do not change that much overnight. If you were using Hootsuite to check your Google Analytics, don’t pay for the service. You can still check it for free on Google’s site, plus its more detailed. As for Twitter stats, I now use Bit.ly and Su.Pr. Both track your links and they are accurate. To me, they seem to be more accurate then Hootsuite link shortener. If you want to know your Twitter stats, instead of using Hootsuite Insights, you can use TwitterCounter to Twitter Grader to learn more about your Twitterstats. Both have a lot of features and are accurate.

hootsuite stats

Follow Management

Hootsuite doesn’t really have a follow management system. But if it did, they would charge for that as well. For me, I spend a lot time looking for followers that are in my areas of interest and in my niche. So I tend to find Twitter users that I might be interested in following, I will add them and follow them for a few days. But as time goes by, I like to check my followed to following ratio. I will remove anyone who isn’t following me back, spammers, bots, rude / offensive users, and anyone with an inactive account for over two weeks. This takes times, to do this quickly and safely, so I use Tweepi to remove those I choose not to follow. You can filter users by what they have on their bio and when they last tweeted. They have features, such as flush, safe lists, and reciprocate.

Need Help Getting ReTweets and Traffic from Twitter?

Recently I got my hands on John Paul’s Aguiar ebook Twitter Dummy and spoke with him about the book and how he built his followers to over 70,000.  If you have any questions, send him a message. He can help you build a large following. Then use his book to turn that following into free targeted traffic to your blog. I have been following his advice and book for at least two weeks now and I have seen an increase in followers, followers ReTweeting my tweets, and more traffic from Twitter back to my site. Also, you may want to check out his site, his articles are all about marketing, blogging, social media and SEO affiliate marketing.

What tools are using on Twitter?

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Filed Under: News, Social Media, Twitter

About James Johnston

Follow @element321

spends most of his free time using social media and loves to teach others about design, web development, CSS, SEO, and social media. He is addicted to Wordpress, and social media. You can reach him website, Evolutionary Designs Blog.

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{ 31 Responses }

  1. Terry Shelton says:
    Thanks for the article James. The saying is FREE is best but as a software developer and learning marketer, I know the real productivity is usually in the paid version. If I have a choice to use one tool by paying and get increased productivity, that is what I want versus using 2 or 3 tools to accomplish a task. It is always something you have to evaluate as a business owner. Sure you can start with the free version but it is in your best interest to determine if the paid version is right for you. Again thanks James for the article. I enjoyed the content and look forward to reading more of your articles.
  2. Wendy Kier says:
    I also use a combination of tools to manage a number of Twitter accounts rather than paying for Hootsuite Pro. I've not been impressed by the Tweet Tracking so I use bit.ly it’s much more reliable. Wendy
  3. TJ McDowell says:
    I don't really have the time to do it right now, but it sounds like this may be a great opportunity for someone to write a free app. The market is obviously looking for something to fill the void. Did HootSuite pay the bills with Adsense? It just seems like putting in a little time to create a high quality program could be a great business opportunity.
  4. Joe says:
    You might also give http://cotweet.com a try. I haven't used it yet, but I am keeping that in mind for the group twitter accounts I have.
    • James Johnston says:
      Hi Joe, I have tried cotweet. I was not impressed by their client. I found Hootsuite free to work better for my purposes and I still would have to use other services along with cotweet.
  5. Extreme John says:
    I too am a HootSuite guy, I never really liked the desktop apps not to mention with HootSuite being a web app I can set it up in Fluid on my Mac and it treats it like an application without the drain. I decided that I didn't need the pro version, I had to remove a few things I typically like to have access to but really never used all that often. Not to mention integration with Ping.fm makes it pretty simple to get the job done from the HootSuite free version. Excellent post, maybe I'll be going to HootSuite pro soon, but not for now.
    • James Johnston says:
      Hi John. Thanks for the comment. For the basic / beginner Hootsuite is a great tool. As yo mentioned you will be moving to pro soon. My best guess, I will have to move up to the pro version soon.
  6. Mike says:
    I like HootSuite a lot, although there're several times I can't tweet my messages using Hootsuite, so I have to use desktop apps like Tweetdeck. However, I never think about going pro. I have taken a look at what are offered in the pro version but like you said, we can substitute those features with many other free services. Tweetdeck has been upgraded recently that I think it covers most of basic functions of HootSuite. The only thing left is tracking and follow management function. Tracking is totally not necessary because it doesn't give you any idea how you should improve your message. And I love Tweepi for following management. It's an awesome software :)
    • James Johnston says:
      Hi Mike, Hootsuite free is a great toool :). TweetDeck is still my second choice but its to much of a resource hog for me to like it more than just a backup. The features look good and I will start testing them when I have more time to mess with TweetDeck.
  7. kytro360 says:
    I would just use Tweet Deck.
    • James Johnston says:
      TweetDeck works great if you do not need many tools for social media. but TweetDeck still crashes for a lot user system and it uses Adobe Air, which in general is a esource hog. Even if it worked great and wasn't drain on resources, it still doesn't do a lot of things TweetDeck. Even the free version has features that a lot of Social Media marketers like that TweetDeck doesn't have. For what I need and what a lot of others need, you would still have to use external tools send out status updates to all our networks and it doesn't do RSS feeds. So using Hootsuite Free or Hootsuite Pro is still a better model.
  8. Hunter says:
    Which do you think is better MarketMeSuite or HootSuite? Thanks.
    • James Johnston says:
      Hunter, I have tried MarketMeSuite before. But I did check it out and its still not free. I would have to test both paid version to decide which is better. But to does look useful.
  9. Rahul says:
    i actually don't know hootsuite at all ! so i dont have opinion in that except that what you said will make me take a look at the features you talked about and learn more :) Thank you for the topic :)
  10. Steve says:
    I have been going back and forth on the topic of whether or not to go to Hootsuite pro myself. I have been using Hootsuite for a while and the idea of jumping from program to program is not something that I look forward to doing. It certainly seems to me that enough value is offered to make going to pro a worthwhile expense.
    • James Johnston says:
      Steve, I would go Pro if you need those extra features and its in your budget. The tips I came up with, only takes about an hour to setup if you are familiar with the tools. Once they are setup, you only have to check your streams and modify your settings, when something needs to be changed. But having access to all your tools in place is worth it for those that can afford to pay the subscription fees.
  11. Pete"BloggingGenius"Carr says:
    Hi James, Hootsuite does look limiting as the free model. I did look into it, but decided that $6 could be spent elsewhere. I currently use Socialoomph, and Twitter Feed. Socialoomph lets you schedule tweets, which is great, so I schedule my Blog tweets through them. They also have a follow and DM service, all Free. I then use Twitter Feed for RSS feeds to give some valuable content. (Only from sources I know and trust). I have tried Tweet Deck before but had the same problems, so now Hootsuite in it's free form works well for keeping track of my Twittering. Pete
    • James Johnston says:
      Hi Pete, It looks like you got yourself a good setup to avoid the subscriptions at Hootsuite. I use Socialoomph some. Now I schedule everything through Hootsuite or Su.Pr to post later in the day. I only use Socialoomph to auto reply DMs to new users.
  12. Tej Kohli says:
    I think Hootsuite Free version is not enough , even I had also having a Free Account a year back , but due of downtime problem , I switched to paid one user
  13. DiTesco says:
    Free is not a sustainable model? poor Google :) Just kidding. Anyway, these are great tips and an excellent workaround. Although I agree that there are many features that were taken away from us, other alternatives such as TweetDeck can be complicated for me as for some reason my laptop hates "adobe air" powered clients. Totally for got about giving RockMelt a test drive. Another browser to install, sigh :)
    • James Johnston says:
      Ditesco, I am really liking the new RockMelt. I almost never open Chrome anymore. When I am not using FireFox, I am using Rockmelt...Have you had a chance to test it out yet?
      • DiTesco says:
        Hi James. Call me "lazy" but I have to admit that I have not yet tried RockMelt. Good thing you reminded me, I will test drive it now, while I have a little time in my agenda :) have a great day
  14. Patricia says:
    Hi James Firstly thanks for explaining in a language I as a non-techie can understand. Phew that was a relief. So many posts don't explain things to me in a way I can decide if I should even be doing anything! This certainly did. I do most of my tasks manually. So I'm not really affected by this. But good to know if I do expand. Being relatively new to blogging I appreciate what you are saying about "free". Have to stick to my very small budget and the free service does me fine for the moment. Thanks James for such an informative and well written post. Much appreciated. Patricia Perth Australia
  15. Don Power - Managing Editor Sprout Social Insights Blog says:
    Thanks for your reply James. I'll be looking out for your future posts. Cheers! - Don
  16. Jeffrey Baril - Source Blogger says:
    I am a big fan of HootSuite! Unfortunately, with nearly 10 blogs and many cross-feeding each other, HooteSuite changing it's service/pricing model was a good reason to revisit TwitterFeed. It's not that the $5.95 was a bad value for the service, just on that could be avoided. Jeffrey Baril - Source Blogger
  17. Keith says:
    Hey James, I also use Hootsuite, and while I was upset that I had been using all those premium features for free for several months and then they decided to make them premium only, I decided to go premium anyway. For $6 per month, it is worth it to me. I manage several twitter and facebook pages, so the convenience is the biggest feature that makes it worth it to me. I understand being on a budget, but sometimes we have to look at actually investing in our efforts to build a brand and influence. I think Hootsuite is a good one.
  18. John Garrett says:
    Hey James, luckily I was only using the free service to a limited extent anyway, so I didn't really lose anything with the recent change. There's a still a bunch of good info in this post for me though, so thanks for that. I also dislike TweetDeck because of the Adobe Air interface. It seemed like every time I started it up there was another Air update to be applied. I'll probably check out that Twitter Dummy ebook so thanks for the post!
  19. Don Power - Managing Editor Sprout Social Insights Blog says:
    Hi James; Free is not a sustainable business model. Neither for yourself nor suppliers of your mission critical services. I appreciate your comment about watching where you spend your money but one must also beware of where/how you spend your time. All these workarounds you do are fine for an advanced social media user but the majority of businesses are just getting to the on ramp of social media, and most of them can are interested in driving an automatic - not a modified stick shift. So, may I suggest you give Sprout Social a try ( http://www.sproutsocial.com ). It's not free but it does perform to the standards you require while still being automatic enough to meet the needs of the novice user. Your posts are well written and I look forward to reading more. Cheers! - Don Power (aka @donpower )
    • James Johnston says:
      I agree, free is not a sustainable business model. I wrote this article as an alternative to having to pay for services when a small buisness or individual who needs a little more than what Hootsuite Free offers but isn’t in their budget at this point. I should have pointed out that this work around should not be permanent solution, but should only be done until you can afford the premium tools. You do have a good point about these tools being for advanced users. I do think these tools are easy to use, and they are easy to learn. New users just need to learn to use them and understand them... But like you said most starting buisness want to be on automatic. But if they can’t afford an automatic, they have to go manual. In a lot of cases, going manual can be cheaper. As long, as they watch there time vs cost ratio, it should not be an issue. But buisness owners, should put one of their goals to streamline as much as they can if they can do that by using a tool like sprout social or tools of their choice they should.

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