15 Free Digital Marketing Tools For Your Small Business (Tried & Tested)
You can keep your credit card in your pocket because today I’ll be revealing the top 15 free digital marketing tools you need to grow your business. These are tools that I’ve used myself and I’ve narrowed all the free options, right down to the most useful ones. To be included in our list, the tools had to meet the following criteria:
- Actually free
- Actually solves a real business problem
- Actually recommended by the best in digital marketing
But I didn’t stop there. I also organized these 15 free digital marketing tools into categories, so you can easily find the tools you need.
- O-dan.net
- Canva
- Photopea
- Answer The Public
- Grammarly
- SEMrush
- Yoast SEO & Plug In SEO
- Google Search Console
- Google Keyword Planner
- Zapier
- Mailchimp
- Hootsuite
- HotJar
- Google Analytics
- Asana
Ready to get started?
Let’s dive in!
15 Free Digital Marketing Tools For Your Small Business
Free Digital Marketing Tools Category #1: Images & Design
We all need stunning images… for our website, social media content, email marketing – you name it. So we thought it fits to start here.
O-dan.net
O-dan.net makes finding stock images easy by aggregating all of the best stock image sites into one site. This saves you time so you don’t have to jump from site to site typing in the same search term over and over again to find the perfect image.
Using O-dan is super easy. You just type in the search term and select the site you want to view images from.
A game changer for those needing images for sure.
Canva
If you’re someone who lands in situations where you need to create graphics but are not a graphic designer, Canva is a lifesaver.
Out the box, Canva comes packed with easily editable design templates for any graphic design you may need.
- Social media post? Canva has templates.
- Logos? Canva has templates.
- Business Cards? Canva has templates.
- You name it, Canva has templates.
You simply click on the type of content you want to create and everything is sized and designed for you. You can also easily upload and use any content you have or make any needed changes to colors, text, images, and more to the pre-made templates to fit your brand or inspiration.
Canva also automatically saves your designs as you work on them so you can come back to them at any time and pick up where you left off.
Photopea
Photo-peah or Photo-pee. But no matter how you pronounce it, Photopea is an amazing tool that allows you to edit photoshop files without Photoshop.
That’s right. You simply upload your .psd file into the tool and you have most of the same basic features you have in Photoshop within an online tool… for free.
This tool reminds me of a wrench. You might not use it very often but when you need it, you sure are glad it’s in your toolkit.
Free Digital Marketing Tool Category #2: Content Marketing
Writing great content is a proven strategy to build both brand awareness and brand loyalty.
These tools will help you improve your content marketing.
Answer The Public
Coming up with new blog topics can be a challenge. I’ve written quite a lot over the years and you’d think I’d run out of topics by now but I don’t.
If you find yourself needing a bit of inspiration on what to write about for your blog, Answer The Public is worth a try.
Answer The Public listens into autocomplete data from search engines like Google then quickly cranks out every useful phrase and questions that people ask related to your keyword.
This leaves you with an ocean of useful content ideas.
Grammarly
Anybody else cringe when they see a typo? We know we do and it’s one of the reasons I love Grammarly.
Grammarly is the most used online grammar checker in the world – over 30 million people use it globally.
With an online editor, browser extension, and mobile app for iOS and Android, Grammarly works in the background while you write in your favorite application no matter where it is.
A red underline appears when there is a typo and you simply hover over it to select the correct spelling.
Easy, right?
Free Digital Marketing Tool Category #3: SEO
These tools will help improve your Search Engine Optimization efforts.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a powerhouse SEO tool that packs a ton of incredible features like keyword research, keyword tracking, backlink tracking, site audits, and more.
Though my personal favorite way to use SEMrush is to spy on the SEO strategies of my client’s competitors. That’s right – James Bond Style.
All you have to do is type in a URL and SEMrush provides you with every keyword they rank for, every page on their site that ranks, all the backlinks they have received, and even shows you any google ads they are running.
If you have not used SEMrush to get a sneak peek into your competitor’s SEO strategy, today is a good day.
Yoast SEO (WordPress) and Plug In SEO (Shopify)
If you want to get traffic to your site from search engines like Google, it is important for your site to have good SEO.
Yoast SEO and Plug In SEO are tools for WordPress and Shopify sites that make optimizing your site for SEO easier by walking you through SEO best practices without needing to know code or become an SEO expert.
I use Yoast SEO to easily add titles and meta descriptions to site pages and posts and rely on it to make sure the on-page SEO is up-to par.
Google Search Console
Google’s Search Console is a tool by Google tools that help you monitor the search performance of your website.
The console provides you with in-depth SEO insight related to the:
- tracking of keywords and click through rates
- alerts for mobility and indexing issues
- backlinks to your site
The Console also allows you to submit sitemaps and request crawling of pages – all things that help Google to rank your site.
Google Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner is one of the best keyword planners there is to build strong keyword lists and conduct keyword research for your SEO.
Simply search a single keyword or a set of keywords and Google’s Keyword Planner will provide you with an overload of related keyword ideas and related search volumes.
Free Digital Marketing Tool Category #4: Automation
Fun Fact about us. We love automation. We try to automate EVERY business task we can. And for good reason: automation saves time and minimizes human error.
The problem with automation though is that it requires an understanding of software API’s which we know nothing about. Well, that’s not a problem anymore.
Zapier
Zapier is an automation tool that connects the business software you use into workflows. It works with over 1,300 business software tools like Gmail, Google Drive, and Facebook, and “Zaps” the two or more applications together so they integrate with one another.
Here is an example of a Zap you could perform: When you get a new email in Gmail, copy the attachment from Gmail to Dropbox, and alert yourself in Slack about the new Dropbox file.
Performing that action by hand would take a ton of time, especially if you perform that action on a consistent basis.
Some of my clients use Zapier to zap their leads from their website or Facebook lead forms into a Google Sheet or CRM so they can easily keep track of them. The possibilities are endless so start thinking about the ways you can save time in your business through automation with Zapier.
Free Digital Marketing Tools Category #5: Email Marketing
Email marketing remains a revenue generating marketing activity. In fact, 59% of people say marketing emails influence their purchasing decisions, and marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue.
So which free email marketing software is the best to use for your business?
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most widely used email marketing tools today. Mostly because it is a non-complicated tool that packs great templates, features, and analytics.
Mailchimp allows you to build segmented email lists, send out newsletters, and build email automation campaigns.
The free plan allows up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 sends per month, with a daily send limit of 2,000.
Definitely ideal for a business just getting started who wants to grow.
Free Digital Marketing Tools Category #6: Social Media Scheduling
When it comes to creating content for your social media channels, one of the best time-saving activities you can do is schedule out your content in advance.
Let’s take a look at the #1 free platform for social media scheduling.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media platform that allows you to schedule multiple posts in advance across multiple channels.
Hootsuite also allows you to monitor and respond to comments as well.
At a price of free, you can connect 3 social profiles, schedule 30 messages, and have 1 user.
Free Digital Marketing Tools Category #7: Website Optimization
Website optimization is one of those things that, if done correctly, will automatically result in an increase in revenue for your business. A mere 1% increase in your website conversion rate can do wonders for your revenue.
Here are the top free website optimization tools you can use today:
HotJar
Ever wondered exactly how your website visitors use your site? HotJar is a feedback tool that provides heat maps of your website so you can better understand how visitors interact with your website.
HotJar helps you to:
1. Access visitor recordings so you can see in real-time how they are moving through your site.
2. Uncover the sections and pages on your site that cause visitors to leave.
3. Break down the areas of your site that cause clicks, movements, and scrolls.
All for the low, low price of $0.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool by Google that reveals in-depth data on your site pages and website visitors.
Google Analytics allows you to:
1. Understand what pages on your website are performing the best and worst
2. Discover what products, sources, and pages convert the best on your website
3. Gain insight into what devices are being used on your website
4. Understand your website visitors better with reports on demographics, interests, and behavior
Free Digital Marketing Tools Category #8: Project Management
Ever tried to juggle multiple projects, teams or tasks without a clear system for accountability and deadlines? If you have, you know how difficult it is and how important great project management tools are.
Here is our top free tool for project management.
Asana
Asana is a well-known and easy to use project management software that can help you and your team organize, manage, and deliver tasks.
Asana is packed with a ton of features such as:
- unlimited tasks
- unlimited projects
- unlimited file storage
- free integrations with tools like Gmail and Zapier, IOS and Android apps
…and much more.
The free plan allows for collaboration with up to 15 users.
Other notable free project management tools you can check out include Teamwork and Trello.
Quick Recap
Well there you have it! 15 free digital marketing tools you can use to manage and expedite the growth of your business.
As a recap, I went over tools for 8 categories: Imagery & Design, Content, SEO, Automation, Email Marketing, Social Media Scheduling, Website Optimization and Project Management.
