10 Must-Have Free Tools For Small Businesses

Running a small business with limited resources can be challenging, especially for new entrepreneurs. The desire and determination exhibited while starting the business can also dissipate when there is a paucity of resources needed to grow a business, such as manpower and funds. This is why entrepreneurs need to start automating some of their business activities by using free tools for small businesses. 

Fortunately, the advancement of technology has provided some of these free tools. These tools will not only make it for them to do business but will also aid their operations smoothly and effectively. Although many of these business tools demand payment before you can enjoy their services. 

However, for a small business that’s financially inadequate at the moment to pay for any business tools, this article will provide you with a list of free business tools you’ll need to integrate into your small business for swift, hassle-free operation.

10 Business Tools You Need for Your Small Business

Below are some of the available free tools for small businesses that will ensure high productivity and smooth and effective operation.

Management and Communication Tools

Organizing the activities of your small business manually and keeping an eye on how your workers are doing their job can be a hell of a job. Since you’re running a small-scale business, hiring an assistant to manage your business may not be a good idea.

The best thing to do is to use business management tools that automate these tasks for you. Below is one of the management tools you can use to run your business.

1. Connecteam

   Connecteam is the first free business tool you can integrate into your small business. This is a management and communication tool that enables you as a business owner to organize the activities of your business online and keep track of your employees’ commitment to work. With Connecteam, you can schedule and allocate jobs to your employees (especially if they work remotely).

   You can also use this tool to interact with your employees in groups. In case of urgency, you use the tool to share instant information with all your staff. The tool also provides you with the opportunity to keep track of the work hours of your staff (when working remotely) to know precisely when they checked in and out of work via integrated GPS.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools

SEO is important for the growth of any business. As a small business owner, one of your goals is to have your brand lead the competition. This can be accomplished via optimization of your business website and content, which may involve the hiring of experts. However, there are available free tools you can use to achieve the same result without spending on hiring anybody:

1. Ubersuggest

   To beat your competitors in your industry, you need an SEO tool like Ubersuggest. Ubersuggest is a free business marketing tool you can use to have your business website rank above your competitors on Google, drive more organic traffic, and make more conversions.

   Ubersuggest provides you with the opportunity to observe the domain of your competitor and find out what they’re doing differently to rank that you can integrate into your website. The tool can also be used to find keywords (long-tail phrases) you can input into your web content to rank high on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Aside from this, the tool will also provide you with content ideas related to your business.

2. Google Analytics

   Google Analytics is another free business tool you must have in your small business. As a business owner, you aim to reach your target audience with your product and services. To ensure this happens, you need to identify what solution people are searching for online.

   With Google Analytics you can have full information on what people search monthly on google and see how you can add that to your business services.

   Also, you can use Google Analytics to find out where your traffic is coming from; the country your website visitors belong to with the city they reside in. Such insight will assist you in situating your business close to your customers when the time comes for expansion.

Email Tools

Email marketing is growing rapidly in this present world. So many businesses now focus on sending direct mails to their targeted audience and making good conversions. You can try this type of marketing in your small business as well. Below are some free email tools you can use to increase the traffic and conversion rate of your business: 

1. Sumo

   If you’re interested in leveraging email to market your products/services then Sumo is the right tool for your small business. This tool allows you to place the subscription button on your website for the newsletter without coding. It will help make an email list that can drive traffic to your website.

2. Beefree.io

   For you to gain more traffic from email marketing, you need to know how to draft quality email messages. Luckily, there is a free email tool like Beefree.io that you can make use of. Beefree.io can help your small business with beautiful email message templates that you can use for your campaign. The tool has over 12,000 available email templates for use. 

Graphic Design Tools

Instead of hiring a professional graphic designer to help with your business campaign posters and flyers, or paying a photographer for pictures, there are available free tools you can use. 

1. Canva

   If you don’t have the money to hire a graphic designer to make campaign flyers for your small business, then Canva is the tool you can use to make free flyers for your small business campaign. With Canva you can create quality flyers for free by using the readily available templates of the tool.

2. Unsplash

   To market the products and services of your small business to its targeted audience, you’ll need to create visual content which could demand the use of images. Instead of purchasing images online or hiring a photographer, Unsplash can solve your problem.

   Unsplash is a tool that provides you with millions of images you can easily assess and use for your campaign for free. You can also use the pictures while making flyers for your business campaign.

Content Writing Tools

To create awareness for your small business, generate more organic traffic and increase your conversion rate, there is a need for content creation. You need to make posts and write articles that tell the services your business offers. To create impeccable content for your audience you’ll need content writing tools like:

1. Grammarly

   To create engaging content that’s free of errors for your small business, you’ll need Grammarly. Grammarly is an AI-powered content writing tool that provides you with the appropriate words you need to use in your content and detects grammatical errors in your content.

   You’ll need Grammarly to create email messages, blog posts, and even social media content. This tool will assist you to have clarity in your content and ensure you employ the right punctuation where necessary.

2. Article Title Generator

   To create catchy headlines for your business blog posts, Article Title Generator is the right tool for the job. You don’t need to hire an SEO expert before you get good headlines for your articles. You can use Small Business Trends’ headline generator for free to generate the best headlines that would drive more sales for your small business. 

Influencer Marketing Tool

1. YouTube BrandConnect (Famebit)

   Finding the right influencers to make campaigns for your brand can be hectic sometimes. You may find it awkward to approach influencers on social media because it may look like you’re desperate. Fortunately, influencer tools like YouTube BrandConnect, formerly known as Famebit, can be used for this purpose.

   By registering with YouTube BrandConnect you’ll be able to interact with Youtube influencers who can market your products on their YouTube channels.

Takeaway

Incorporating one or two of the listed tools in this article into your small business can increase the productivity of your small company and help you save a lot of money from going after expensive tools. Though some of the tools you must pay to use have their advantages, nevertheless, the use of free tools for your small business should always be your best, especially when you’re financially incapable.