Historically, small businesses have struggled to compete with larger corporations and larger budgets. But today’s overwhelming number of online marketing tools for small businesses are leveling the playing field.
If you think marketing your business is too expensive, think again. There are tons of free and inexpensive apps and services to help you market your business like the big guys without spending a fortune.
Let’s explore some of the most effective online marketing tools every small business owner should take advantage of.
1. Google My Business
There is no excuse for businesses not to have a Google My Business listing.
This free listing allows you to post your business contact information, photos, and other information. When customers search for services like yours, this listing can help guide them to your website.
2. Yoast
Yoast provides a cheat sheet for businesses investing in SEO. This tool can tell you whether your content is optimized for search engines and provide suggestions on how to improve it.
3. MailChimp
Email marketing continues to be a major revenue driver for small businesses. It’s one of the most influential touchpoints for B2B marketing with a 3,800% ROI.
MailChimp is a “forever free” platform that helps you create email campaigns in minutes.
They’ve also rolled out additional features, including landing pages, A/B testing, pop-up forms, and social media ads.
You can upgrade to paid features, but truth be told their freemium model is surprisingly potent.
4. SEMRush Backlink Checker
Backlinks are major SEO juice, and it can pay to keep an eye on your backlinks profile. Tools like SEMRush let you check your backlinks for free to see where your referring sources are coming from.
Check out this guide on how to build backlinks to earn more referrals.
5. Canva
Canva is a free photo editing tool that turns your images into stunning visuals. You can find free and inexpensive images through Canva to use in your marketing. Or upload your own photos and retouch them to fit your marketing projects.
Their drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to add text, frames, shapes, and other elements to your photos. Anyone that can use a mouse can use this tool, design skills or not.
One of its most attractive features is the pre-set canvas sizes. Whether you need to make a business card, Pinterest image, or flyer, there’s no guesswork involved when sizing your project.
6. Hootsuite
If you’re active on social media, you’ll want to add Hootsuite to your arsenal. You can schedule posts ahead of time so you don’t have to remember to update your channels.
The platform also tracks engagement and other analytics so you can see how your content is performing.
You can take them for a free spin for 30 days to see how it works. After that, plans start at just $29 per month.
Need More Online Marketing Tools for Small Businesses?
This list of online marketing tools for small businesses barely scrapes the service. There are variations on the above platforms, as well as tons of other free or cheap tools to help you grow your business.
Explore your options and see where your efforts take you.
Need help getting started? Check out our tutorials section to brush up on your web marketing skills.