Don’t know where to start when it comes to growing your online business?
You’re not alone.
This article doesn’t list every free online marketing tool under the sun, but will take a closer look at some of the best free and widely available online resources.
Grow your brand with confidence, without worrying about cost impacting the bottom line.
Semrush
Semrush serves as a comprehensive tool for creating optimized content.
Relevant to both bloggers and online business owners, Semrush can help you rank higher on search engines, like Google.
Semrush offers a completely free service, which limits some features.
Learning about SEO can be a long and tedious process, but tools like Semrush and Surfer SEO make it easy to educate yourself and attract more website traffic.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an industry-leading tool for websites and online businesses.
Typically a subscription-based service, Ahrefs has a number of comprehensive free tools if you’re not ready to invest right away.
These include keyword tools to find and research keywords from their database of ~8 million keywords. These can help you rank better in search results and increase traffic.
Google Trends
Google Trends allows you to see what people search for on Google in relation to your online business, and how those searches change by location or time period.
Want to identify potential business opportunities, or better understand your niche market?
The answer is this completely free tool from Google, which uses real-time data.
MailChimp
MailChimp remains one of the most popular email marketing platforms.
Monthly pricing is tiered depending on how many emails your business sends per month.
If you’re just starting out and your business sends less than 1,000 emails per month to under 500 subscribers, you can use MailChimp’s services free of charge.
Their free plan includes everything you need to begin email marketing campaigns, with the ability to connect to 250+ apps and web services.
Wix Website Builder
Wix offers an intuitive website building platform.
If your online business needs a website and those needs are basic, a free website builder such as Wix, Yola, or Squarespace can help you get set-up independently.
If you’re looking to migrate away from sites like Etsy or Shopify, Wix can help you create a full-feature and mobile-friendly website experience.
Once you’re more established, you can upgrade to a subscription based web hosting service.
More Free Tools for Online Businesses
Here are the additional tools we recommend checking out if you’re looking to grow your business:
- CyberGhost offers a free VPN service, despite being subscription based.
- Avast provides online protection for your business, with free and premium versions available.
- GTMetrix helps you analyze your website load speed, and identifies specific things making web pages too slow.
- Google Keyword Planner is the keyword research tool most people are familiar with. It is completely free, and most other paid keyword tools derive their data from it.
- Wistia is a video hosting platform for online marketing. You can view analytic details of people watching your content, and create product videos. They offer free and premium subscriptions.
Final Thoughts
Applications and online tools are an essential component of any successful website. They can help your business grow by driving traffic, or give you detailed insight into consumer trends in your niche.
Unfortunately, most of these operate on a subscription-based platform, which means added cost.
Thankfully, there are a number of useful free online business tools out there that can help increase traffic and revenue. Build your brand without breaking the bank!
