5 Free Digital Marketing Tools and Techniques for Small Businesses: Creating content online is an uphill battle. And often, it’s not just one hill you must weather. Creating compelling content is just half the battle. The other half? It’s on a whole new wheelhouse.
I’m talking about marketing. You need to get your stuff out there, if you want people to act on your content, be that buying your product or following you in social media. And as digital marketing and social media marketing become serious endeavors, playing the marketing game grows more expensive.
Though the space has essentially become a pay-to-play arena, there are still plenty of creative ways for you to thrive as a creator and/or a marketer. On this post, I’m sharing five free digital marketing tools and techniques for small businesses.
Digital Marketing Tools and Techniques for Small Businesses
Similar Web
Similar Web is my go-to reference when I need to know details about a website. Aside from the average monthly views, Similar Web also shows a website’s traffic sources, referrals, search engine terms, and even audience interests.
Similar Web is useful when gathering insights from your competitors or other websites similar to yours. For example, if you’re a technology blog, you may want to use Similar Web to find out which keywords other top tech blogs are ranking in. You can then use that data in constructing your own posts and SEO.
VidIQ
Another useful free digital marketing tool and technique that I discovered is using VidIQ to rank better for your Youtube videos. Youtube is the second largest search engine next to Google, so it would be a huge help for your businesses if it also present on this platform. Having Youtube videos may even work as a “backdoor” to ranking on Google search, because Google now also shows Youtube videos on the search results.
|| Related: How to Pause Youtube Upload
VidIQ pretty much like Similar Web but for Youtube. Having the plugin installed on your browser will let you see a whole bunch of other data that you don’t normally see when watching a Youtube video. It can show you a Youtube video’s “Views per Hour”, social media engagement, and even SEO score. Use this data to gain insights on what popular channels are doing, and try to replicate or even improve them on your own.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a decent alternative to Keywords Everywhere if you don’t wish to install plugins into your browser. Ubersuggest also shows you the Search Volume, CPC, and Competition for a certain keyword as well as other similar keyword suggestions.
But unlike Keywords Everywhere, Ubersuggest let’s you filter the keyword suggestions through its “Filtering Tool” and “Negative Filter Tool”. This way, you can be sure that only the relevant keywords are shown in the results.
Canva
Canva may not be an SEO or Market Research platform, but it still is a valuable free digital marketing tool and technique that you can use to level up your digital marketing strategy. Canva let’s you make use of their creative templates for free so that you can come up with eye-catching images and materials for your websites or even videos.
Canva is especially helpful when you wish to make attention-grabbing thumbnails, such as in Youtube. Many users on Youtube actually see (and click) a thumbnail first before they read the actual video title. Canva can help you create these creative thumbnails so that you get to have a bigger chunk of views from your competitors.
Keywords Everywhere
UPDATE: KEYWORDS EVERYWHERE IS NOW A PAID TOOL. Other than Google Analytics, I find Keywords Everywhere next in line as the most reliable keyword reference tool that marketers can use for free. Keywords Everywhere is a web browser plugin that allows you to see the Search Volume, average Cost-Per-Click, and Competition for a certain keyword or phrase, as you search them on Google.
“Volume” refers to the average monthly searches on Google for a certain keyword. “CPC” is the average amount that advertisers are paying for every click of that keyword on Google AdWords. Lastly, “Competition” is the estimate of the number of advertisers that are running ads on Google AdWords for this specific keyword.
Keywords Everywhere would be particularly helpful when you’re looking for the best keywords to use when you’re writing about a certain topic. The higher the Volume, and the lower the Competition, the better.
These are the 5 free digital marketing tools and techniques that I am currently using for my sites. Do you find these helpful? Share with us in the comments what you think.