Free Online Resources Every Small Business Owner Should Take Advantage Of
Having a small business often means having a small staff of people that juggle a multitude of responsibilities. Because we know that we are not all SEO specialists, graphic designers, and professional photographers, these resources are extremely easy to use and are great for cutting costs while maintaining professionalism.
Website & Search Engine Optimization
Wordpress is a great tool for creating a free website that still has professional quality. It’s extremely easy to use, search engine friendly, and you can start out free and upgrade whenever you want.
Everyone running a small business should have a mentor, and that’s what Score does for you. Score is a platform that offers free small business advice, how-to resources, tools, and connects you to seasoned professionals in your industry.
If you don’t have SEO, you don’t have a business. (Or you won’t for long.) Hiring a Search Engine Optimization professional can be extremely expensive, especially if you’re just starting out. Moz is a place that you can go to learn about the best marketing and have access to tons of free tools that will help you grow your business’s digital presence.
Once you’ve done the best you can creating your website with Wordpress and implying all of those new SEO strategies that you’ve learned from Moz, there’s a way that you can see how great your website actually is! This website grader breaks your website down into five sections: Blogging, Social Media, SEO, Lead Generation, and Mobile, and then gives you valuable feedback on each one!
Google Analytics is a great way to get access to tangible information on how your digital presence is being received. With features like advertising reports, mobile ads measurement, and remarketing, small business owners can get helpful insight into how people are using their content.
Graphics & Presentation
Powerpoint is out and these two awesome tools are in. Both of these websites are online presentation creators that create quality, professional, and engaging presentations for whatever your needs might be.
When it comes to creating advertisements, print and otherwise, it can be difficult to find quality images. This website has a large portfolio of beautiful photos that can be used for professional purposes and it’s 100% free. There’s even a search engine to help you find exactly what you need.
If you don’t have an in-house graphic designer, creating promotional materials that require advanced graphics can be difficult. Canva is an extremely user-friendly resource that allows you to create mind-blowingly professional Facebook Ads, infographics, and so much more.
Time Management
As a small business owner, you can find yourself making to-do lists on the back of receipts and business cards only to lose them twenty minutes later. Scribbless is a painless way to create lists online.
Sending emails to your customers (and potential clients) can be daunting. You don’t know when to send them, how to send them, you forget to add people to the mailing list and it can all just be overwhelming. MailChimp simplifies that process by doing it all for you.
Trello makes it easy to project manage a team that may not be together everyday. It makes it easy to organize anything. It’s pretty awesome.
Blog & Content Creation
Portent’s Content Idea Generator
If you can’t come up with ideas for your blog, this is the tool for you. Portent’s Content Idea Generator is super easy to use. Type in your subject matter and it’ll create possibilities for you to write about and even give you a really catchy title.
If you need to create a survey to ask your customers something, SuveryMonkey is the best way to do it. With features that allow you to reach your target market, SurveyMonkey is a great tool to take your marketing initiatives to the next level.
Not everyone is great at spelling and grammar and spell check really just isn’t cutting it these days. Grammarly is a tool that you can download onto your Internet toolbar and it automatically begins to help you make the correct grammar decisions.
Industry Specific Help
Stay up to date about the latest news in your industry by creating a Google Alert. Whenever there is an important article that is published online that pertains to your industry, Google will send it to you in an email. You can choose how frequently you get them and cancel them whenever you want.
The beginning of any small business can be a lonely time. With freelance meet-ups, you can find freelancers in your area that are in your industry so that you can work together, talk together, and collaborate together.
With all of these amazing resources, you can cut costs while still being able to grow your business at the rate that you want. Basis365 provides outstanding and affordable outsourced accounting services for tech startups.
