1. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is an excellent resource that business owners can use to come up with content ideas for their blog. Simply type in a few keywords and you’ll get thousands of possible ideas. You may have to sift through and find the ones that fit your specific niche, but we’ve found a ton of our company blog topics with this tool.
2. Answer Socrates
Answer Socrates is like Answer the Public but completely free. It will help with organic keywords, SEO, and Adwords. Type in your topic, and it will generate a list of questions people are asking about that topic on the internet. This is helpful for content creation and finding keywords to target.
People are increasingly turning to the internet for answers to their questions. And who can blame them? With a few clicks of a mouse, you can find out pretty much anything you want to know. But as anyone who’s ever Googled “how to fix a clogged sink” can tell you, not all online sources are created equal.
3. Canva
Canva is a great asset when you’re starting a business if you don’t have the budget for creative resources. Whether it’s making a better looking email, a brochure, a presentation deck or making your social channels look better, they have so many templates available on their free plan that you’re sure to find one for you. It’s also designed for those without design experience so it’s super easy to use.
4. Buffer
Buffer is a tool for business owners who want to expand their reach and engage with followers on social media. You can use Buffer to schedule social media posts weeks in advance. The best part about this nifty little tool is the fact that you can schedule a whole month’s worth of posts in one day, which makes your social media marketing strategy both fast and affordable.
5. Videoleap
Now that everyone has started posting a lot of video content on social media, it’s become all the more important for solopreneurs to stand out from the other videos in people’s feeds. One tool I’ve been enjoying is Videoleap, a free video editor for iOS that makes it easy to add artistic effects, overlays and stickers to my clips.
6. Google Analytics
It has to be Google Analytics. If you own a website, you need to know how you are receiving traffic and how it’s flowing through your site. Google Analytics is an extremely powerful tool and it’s completely free. Almost anyone can implement its tracking code and they have vast amounts of learning materials available for free. This is essential stuff.
7. keyword.io
Keyword.io allows you to find out what is being searched on all major search engines, from Amazon to YouTube. It provides all of the autocomplete phrases from any seed keyword so you can see exactly what customers are searching for and how to use their words to help them find and buy what they want.
8. UbersuggestOpens
This is one of my go-to tools for keyword research and not just because it’s free. I really like that the information is laid out in an and not overwhelming way as compared to other tools.
9. SoovleOpens
This is a search engine tool with a pretty useful distinction: it actually pulls in all search suggestions from major sites like Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. While it is not a keyword tool, it’s filled with endless content suggestions whether that’s for your blog content creation, answering FAQs, or zeroing on content gaps and opportunities.
10. Mailchimp
A free Mailchimp account is a great way to start building your email list. Their forms, landing pages and website builders are easy to use and effective. Building a list early on is invaluable; It’s your ability to directly contact current customers and engage with new ones by skipping the social noise and showing up in their inboxes. This free tool has everything you need to start your list.
11. Pixabay
Pixabay is an excellent place to find stock photos for your blog posts. I used it when I first started my business because they have a variety of interesting photos for my industry and there are always new pictures getting added. The best part is you can create a free account and download as many images as you need.
12. Social Media
Social media is a great tool for any startup. It seems like an obvious idea, but LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc. are all great places to potentially connect (for free) with potential business prospects or customers. It should be at the top of your consideration list for any go-to-market strategy.
13. WordPress
One of the most life-changing things I’ve ever done was start a blog. That opened me up to amazing experiences, and I’ve been able to grow multiple successful businesses off it. That being said, my best free tool suggestion is WordPress. You can start for free with a free template and just start writing. It’s the best way you can create something right now.
14. Google Drive
Google Drive is probably the best free tool you could possibly use when starting your business. Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, etc., are all tools that can help you build a business.
15. Yelp
Leverage the power of Yelp. You can create a free business profile for your business and begin to grow customer ratings, feedback and a powerful source for reaching customers in your area. Using sites like this helps improve your searchability and your clout and lets you gain feedback on your products and services without paying a dime.
