Digital Marketing

In this section you will find a selection of free or low-cost tools to support all your marketing efforts. Build your website, design surveys or manage your social media accounts with these easy-to-use tools.

If you have a tool you would like to be considered for inclusion on our site, please see our criteria for e-tools.

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Website

  • Squarespace – An industry leader among website builders, Squarespace business plans start at $18USD a month. Extremely design-oriented, the platform allows you to take an active role in crafting the look and feel of your website.
  • Wix – A great alternative website builder, Wix provides hundreds of templates, unlimited pages and top grade hosting free. Premium plans aimed at entrepreneurs and businesses begin at $17.50 per month.   
  • Sumo – Sumo offers a suite of tools for "email capture," or collecting the information of visitors to your website. Begin with a free account before upgrading to a premium one starting at $39USD per month.    
  • Marvel User Testing – Get video, voice and analytical feedback on designs and prototypes with this tool that records what your users do and say when testing your website. Start with a free trial before a paid monthly plan kicks in. 

Blogging

  • WordPress – The most popular choice to create a website or blog for free. While the most mature and reliable platform, WordPress can be complex to configure beyond the basic setup.  
  • Blogger – From Google, this free blogging platform differentiates itself by being easy to set up (create a new blog with your Gmail account) and user friendly.

Search Engine Optimization

  • Google Keyword Planner: Part of Google Ads, this service assists with researching keywords and selecting the right terms.
  • ahrefs: A specialist in determining "keyword difficulty,' or how hard it will be to get into Top 10 search results for any keyword or particular search query. A trial starts at $7USD before premium plans jump to $99 monthly and higher.
  • Google Trends: Type in a search term and explore whether the popularity of that term is rising or falling, and at what rate. 
  • Exploding Topics: As its name implies, this trend-spotting tool surfaces rapidly growing topics before they take off.
  • Mangools: Helps "find long tail keywords with low SEO difficulty." A $49USD per month tool, you can check it out first with a 10-day free trial.
  • Ubersuggest: Offers free and paid versions. A good budget option, however not as powerful as some of its competitors.
  • Yoast SEO: A plug-in for Wordpress that analyzes the keywords on each webpage. Offers free and paid versions.

Email Marketing

  • MailChimp – Ideal tool for small businesses. Free for up to 2,000 subscribers. Premium plans beginning at $11USD per month add email and landing page templates, custom branding, 24/7 support and more. 
  • GetResponse – Market your business online with features that help you reach out to potential clients and build relationships. Sign up for free with 500 contacts with a basic paid plan then starting at $12USD per month.
  • Constant Contact – Integrates email marketing with customer list growth and social media posting. Paid plans start at $26USD per month. 

Surveys

  • Survey Monkey – Plans for the world's leading online survey software start at $27 per user per month.
  • Google Forms – Another free tool from Google, create online forms as well as analyze responses presented in automated chart and graph forms.
  • Typeform – Logical, visually appealing surveys are this brand's calling card. The basic paid plan starts at $25 USD per month.

Social Media Management

  • Hootsuite – Craft and schedule.posts across all your social networks. Free 30-day trial leads into paid plans starting at $49USD per month.
  • Buffer – Alternative social media management platform. Free account lets you manage up to three social channels while a paid plan is $5 per channel per month. 
  • Paper.li – Free service to automatically find, publish, and share content on your website, newsletter and social media. 

Video and Audio Editing

  • iMovie – Free video editor for Mac.
  • OpenShot – Free, open-source, non-linear video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
  • Blender – Free, open-source, cross-platform 3D content creator with many advanced features.
  • ShotCut – Free, open-source, cross-platform video editor with a sleek interface.
  • Audacity – Free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds.
  • Garageband – Free for Mac users, it provides a comprehensive and simple way to record and edit audio.

Analytics

  • Google Analytics – Free tools to help you measure how users interact with your website.
  • Amazon Pinpoint – Helps you to understand website user behaviour. Free up to 100 million "events" per month, then $1USD per million events above the free tier.