iPad Tools & Resources for Internet Marketers Resource Center 

iPad power user Matt Hopkins recommends tracking your Google Analytics data with this app instead of using Google's native interface in a tablet-based browser because of the number of reports it generates and because the app is easier and faster to use.

You can also move between different Google Analytics accounts more easily, and set the reports you check most frequently as "favorites" so that they appear at the top of your reports list for faster access every time.

At time of writing, this app costs $6.99 in the iTunes Store.

It's not exactly an app, but a Bluetooth-enabled wireless keyboard is an essential tool if you want to do more with your iPad than flip through digital magazines or watch TV.

Almost all of the work for this newsletter was done via the Bluetooth keyboard, from creating and typing in usernames, passwords and registration information to searching, sending email, posting social media comments or sharing and writing the reviews.

The iPad's onscreen touch keyboard is handy, but the Bluetooth external keyboard ($69 for Apple/Mac version) turns the iPad into a workhorse.

Spreadsheets are an essential tool for Internet Marketers, but this complimentary app will give you the freedom to do your work on your iPad as well as your business PC.

CloudOn allows you to review, update and synch an Excel spreadsheet across different devices, such as your iPad and your PC or Mac-based business computer.

Yes, you can buy several versions of Microsoft Office for the iPad, but as pro user Sharon Machlis explains in this Computerworld blog post, you probably don't have to if you don't plan on replacing your business PC.

CloudOn, which licenses its software from Microsoft, allows you to sort columns, one of the features that other tablet-based Excel programs don't offer.

To get the most device-sharing benefit from CloudOn, you'll need to install Dropbox, a popular document-sharing program, on your iPad.

Show your marketing boss this infographic if you need to make the case for investing in tablet-focused initiatives, such as redesigning your website or email messages for viewing on smaller screens.

This infographic, produced by Monetate, a marketing optimization and conversion firm, illustrates statistics on all aspects of tablet ownership: who's buying which devices, where they're using them, how much the market has grown since the iPad debuted in 2010 and where the market is expected to go in the next few years.

Most importantly, the infographic offers 4 quick tips for capitalizing on tablet use so you can put your new knowledge into practical use:

• Test alternative payment methods that don't require tablet users to reach for their credit cards.
• Larger navigation and add-to-cart buttons
• Finger-friendly swiping
• Responsive web design that adjusts automatically to the user's screen size.

Flipboard takes the drudgery out of reading your social-media feeds by displaying each one in an attractive magazine-style format, showing the pictures and videos your contacts have uploaded and alternating types and styles to make each post stand out. Use the swipe gesture to "turn" each page of your feed, just as you would page through a magazine.

Each account you connect to Flipboard - whether Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and any other RSS feeds you follow - gets a separate cover page, complete with artwork, on Flipboard's interface. The content is scannable, easy to read and easy to interact with because you can tweet, retweet, comment on and share it.

Flipboard was named Apple's iPad App of the Year in 2010.

One caveat: If you're a social-media power user, you'll still want community-specific apps such as Friendly Facebook for iPad or Twitterrific. Flipboard doesn't replicate all their social-curation functions, such as dividing followers into lists or differentiating between work and social contacts or casual versus close friends.

This all-purpose blog, written by Patrick Jordan of Austin, Tx., is a handy source of information for the iPad, whether you want to keep up with rumors about new versions of the device, candid reviews of hot new apps, plus tips and advice on using the iPad for home and business use.

Recent posts include reviews of new and updated apps, including the updated LogMeIn Ignition app for remote desktop access, the popular free note-taking and document-sharing app Evernote and iWriter.

The iPad's own iBooks app is a respectable contender, but our nod for the best book reader goes to the Kindle app because it offers the user a richer experience and exploits more of the iPad's native features.

You can download the complimentary app and browse books without an Amazon account, but having one and synching it with your iPad gives you a nearly seamless "Like it? Buy it" experience. The Kindle app also gives you lots of options to customize your viewing screen (background color, type sizes and place markers).

This catalog application shows you how the iPad represents the convergence of all promotional channels. It has the display space of a printed catalog page, the interactivity of a website and the portability of a smartphone.

While this catalog app doesn't have whiz-bang animation like other digital publications, it does organize its copy into logical layouts that both mimic paging through a catalog and also allow you to deep dive into the items on each product page.

To be most valuable as an app, the catalog must allow the customer to view products, get info and purchase without leaving the app or having to complete the purchase at the website.

This Lands' End app does indeed allow shoppers to seamlessly toggle between the catalog and the order page. This makes it easy for the shopper to put a product in her cart and then keep shopping - a worthy goal for any online retailer.

The business-card fishbowl is a standard fixture at trade show booths, but those hot leads can grow cold the longer they sit in it. Instead, give your booth attendants iPads with this lead collection app, and send them out into the crowd to collect the data right from prospects.

Using forms you design and upload, this app cuts the lag time between data collection and data entry and improves accuracy. Your booth people spend more time chatting up prospects and less time waiting in line for the booth computer.

Synch with your customer-management system or download your data to a spreadsheet for further review. After paying to download the app, small businesses can create free accounts, while accounts for larger users begin at $19US monthly (at time of writing).

With your iPad, you can take your presentations anywhere, even an on-the-fly hallway consult with a prospect who can give you only 5 minutes. Why waste the opportunity with another boring deck of PowerPoint slides?

That's the point behind Prezi, a presentation-creation tool with dual iPad and desktop apps. After you create an account, download the Prezi creation tool to your computer desktop.

Use the tool to create your presentations which live in your account at the Prezi website. Then, when it's time to wow your prospect or client, launch the iPad app, which accesses your list of presentations, and tap the one you want to display.

Prezi also works on your regular desktop or laptop computer, helping you create unusual, animated presentations that encourage you to think beyond the usual bullet-point list. Your apps come with a free limited-use public license, but you can upgrade to premium versions ($59 and $159 annually at time of writing) for more functionality.