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Free Marketing & Small Business Tools Worth Using
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items I created this list to share practical tools and resources that can help small business owners, creators, and entrepreneurs with marketing, research, social media, websites, and business growth. I focus on genuinely useful resources that are free to ...
Sections
4
Market & Competitor Research
Social Media & Advertising Tools
Website & SEO Tools
Free Business Learning & Resources
Market & Competitor Research
Free and useful resources for researching markets, understanding customer interests, spotting trends, and learning from competitors before making marketing or business decisions.
I use Google Trends when I want to understand what people are searching for and how interest in a topic changes over time. It’s especially useful for comparing ideas, spotting seasonal trends, and getting a better sense of demand before planning cont...
Google Trends
I use Meta Ad Library to research how brands and competitors are advertising across Meta platforms. It’s especially useful for studying active ad creatives, messaging, offers, and content angles before developing my own marketing ideas.
Meta Ad Library tools | Transparency Center
I use Similarweb when I want a quick look at a competitor’s website performance and digital presence. It’s useful for exploring estimated traffic, traffic sources, search keywords, rankings, and other signals that can help me understand how competito...
Website Traffic Checker - Free Analytics For Any Website
I use Ahrefs’ Free Keyword Generator when I want to discover what people are searching for around a topic or business idea. It’s useful for finding keyword ideas, questions, and search-demand signals that can help shape SEO, content, and marketing de...
Free Keyword Generator Tool: Find 100+ Keyword Ideas in ...
I use BuiltWith when I want to understand the technology behind a competitor’s website. It’s useful for identifying platforms, analytics tools, advertising technologies, e-commerce systems, and other website tools that can reveal how a business has b...
BuiltWith Technology Lookup
Social Media & Advertising Tools
Practical tools for planning, publishing, managing, and improving social media and digital advertising. I focus on resources that help small businesses create a more organized and effective online presence.
I use Meta Business Suite to manage Facebook and Instagram more efficiently from one place. It’s especially useful for organizing content, managing business activity, and keeping track of my social media presence without constantly switching between ...
Meta Business Suite
I use Buffer when I want to plan and schedule social media content across different platforms from one place. Its free plan is especially useful for keeping a simple content schedule organized without needing a separate publishing workflow for every ...
Buffer
I use Metricool when I want to understand how social media content is performing instead of relying on likes alone. It’s useful for reviewing analytics, comparing performance, planning content, and getting a clearer picture of what is actually workin...
METRICOOL ▷ Social Media Management Tool
I use Google Keyword Planner when I want to research search demand before planning a Google Ads campaign. It’s useful for discovering keyword ideas, estimating search volume and understanding potential advertising costs before deciding what to target...
Research Keywords for Campaigns with Keyword Planner
I use TikTok Creative Center when I want fresh ideas for short-form content and advertising. It’s especially useful for exploring trending topics, studying high-performing ads, and understanding the creative approaches that are getting attention on T...
TikTok Creative Center for Advertisers (2026 Guide)
Website & SEO Tools
Useful tools for checking website performance, improving SEO, understanding search visibility, and finding technical issues that may affect user experience or organic traffic.
I use PageSpeed Insights when I want to check how well a website performs on mobile and desktop. It’s especially useful for identifying speed, usability, and technical issues that could affect user experience and search performance.
PageSpeed Insights
I use Google Search Console to understand how a website appears and performs in Google Search. It’s especially useful for tracking search queries, clicks and impressions, checking indexing, and identifying issues that may be limiting organic visibili...
Google Search Console
I use Screaming Frog SEO Spider when I want a deeper technical look at a website and need to find SEO issues that are easy to miss manually. The free version is especially useful for checking smaller websites for broken links, redirects, page titles,...
Screaming Frog SEO Spider Website Crawler
I use Ahrefs Backlink Checker when I want a quick look at the websites linking to a domain or page. It’s especially useful for understanding backlink profiles, checking website authority signals, and discovering link-building ideas by researching com...
Free Backlink Checker by Ahrefs
I use Google’s Rich Results Test when I want to check whether a webpage’s structured data is implemented correctly. It’s useful for finding markup errors and understanding whether a page may be eligible for supported rich results in Google Search.
Rich Results Test - Google Search Console
Free Business Learning & Resources
Free and practical learning resources for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers who want to improve their skills in business, marketing, digital growth, and entrepreneurship.
I use HubSpot Academy when I want structured, practical training in digital marketing, content, SEO, social media, and sales. I especially like that many of the courses and certifications are free and focused on skills that can be applied to real bus...
HubSpot Academy
I use SBA’s learning resources when I want practical guidance on starting, managing, and growing a small business. The free courses and business resources are especially useful for learning core business fundamentals and turning an idea into a more s...
SBA Learning Platform | U.S. Small Business Administration
I use Google Skillshop when I want to learn directly from Google about advertising, analytics, and digital marketing tools. The self-paced training is especially useful for building practical skills and working toward official Google certifications.
Google Skillshop
I use Semrush Academy when I want practical training in SEO, content marketing, competitive research, social media, and digital marketing. I especially like that the courses are free, practical, and regularly updated as search and marketing continue ...
100+ Semrush Academy Courses [2026]
I use Y Combinator Startup School when I want practical guidance on turning an idea into a real startup. The free lessons are especially useful for learning about validating ideas, building an MVP, finding customers, growing a business, and understan...
Startup School