Free Must-Use Online Tools for Businesses
There are countless free online tools out there – everything from white papers to eBooks, to tool kits and guides. While they run the gamut on what they offer, there are a handful of useful tools to help manage, market and maybe even grow your business. Google offers a fare share of resources, as well as Bing, Yahoo and several other sites dedicated to the small business.
These tools will focus on creating awareness and driving people to your brand online:
- Google’s Local Business Center – as local search grows this will become a valuable stream for businesses. It enables you to list information about your business – address, hours of operation, photos, videos, real-time updates and special offers. You can also track views, actions and where the searcher came from. (For more see the below interview with Chuck Reynolds)
- SEOMOZ.org – search tons of free resources and information on search engine optimization.
- Websitegrader – enables you to essentially test the effectiveness of your Web site by giving you an actual grade on the site. It will also tell you where you need to make improvements and offer a few suggestions.
- Google Webmaster Tools – search articles, tips and information on improving your site and where it shows up in search results. It is also a great tracking, management and guideline tool.
- Google Analytics – allows you to track your site’s activity. Find what key terms brought searchers to your site, what part of the world they came from, how they navigated your site, how much time they spent there, and even set up specific tracking events. Extremely thorough and intuitive.
A few others to check out:
One last note, Google is now doing sentiment analysis, which essentially means it is geo-tagging blog references. Now, when a search is conducted for your business on Google maps it will not only pull up the location of your business, but also any other online references, including blog posts. Yet another reason to get listed on Google Local.
What free tools are you using to help your business get discovered online? Please share.
For more tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.
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