Getting things done faster and efficiently is the ultimate win for any business. The more tasks you can simplify or even automate, the more time you have to focus on your business and growth. Because we love to see business owners succeed, we compiled a list of 12 online business tools that we love, in order to make the day-to-day of growing your business a whole lot easier. These are awesome online office tools and website plugins that we love and we think you will too! The best part about them is that they are all FREE to use!
(Note: *Some of these tools do offer paid upgrades for additional features, however, their basic features are free to use)
Live Chat
Click Desk is a live support tool that allows you to chat with your website visitors in real time! People visiting your website will love how easily they can connect with you – this is a great service for increasing customer satisfaction and sales.
Website Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool from Google that provides detailed and very useful information about your website traffic and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Analytics allows you to view and analyze important data like:
- Who visits your website?
- What do people do when they are on your website?
- When do people visit your website?
- How do people find your website?
- How do people interact with your content?
By seeing and tracking the visitor activity, you can focus on the correct marketing strategies that work for your site and eliminate the strategies that don’t work. Analytics helps you eliminate the guesswork and focus on stats that matter, so you can make data driven-decisions. You can sign up for a free Google Analytics account (connecting it to your website) and then simply download the plugin for your website! If you need help with the installation you can check out our tutorial here, or simply give us a call.
Email Marketing
MailChimp is an email marketing platform. This service allows you to send customizable emails and newsletters to your customers. You can also create email opt-in forms for your website! This tool allows you to easily stay in front of your customers and promote additional services or products.
SEO
Yoast SEO is rated as the #1 WordPress plugin! This is a must-have plugin for those looking to step up their SEO game! Yoast SEO is the original WordPress SEO plugin since 2008. It is the favorite tool of millions of users, ranging from the bakery around the corner to some of the most popular sites on the planet. With Yoast SEO, you get a solid tool-set that helps you aim for that number one spot in the search results.
Website Speed
W3 Total Cache: W3 Total Cache improves the SEO and user experience of your site by increasing website performance, reducing download times via features like content delivery network (CDN) integration.
Calendar Scheduling
Calendly is probably the best scheduling tool you will ever use. This tool allows you to automate your calendar and scheduling. Your customers will love the elegant interface and the simplicity of scheduling an appointment with you. And best of all Calendly integrates beautifully with your Google, Office or iCloud calendars and adds new events to your calendar and makes sure you are never double-booked.
File Sharing
Dropbox is the perfect choice for storing and sharing documents, files, and pictures. This tool syncs beautifully with your computer, phone or tablet which allows for super-fast and easy file transfers with co-workers or customers – even if they don’t have a Dropbox account of their own. The best part is you can access your Dropbox account from any device at any time.
Website Security
Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan (Free + Paid Premium Features) This is the most popular WordPress firewall and security scanner. Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware scanner that was built from the ground up to protect WordPress. Their Threat Defense Feed arms Wordfence with the newest firewall rules, malware signatures, and malicious IP addresses it needs to keep your website safe. Rounded out by a suite of additional features, Wordfence is the most comprehensive WordPress security solution available.
Photo Editing
While we absolutely love using our Adobe products for all of our graphic design projects, we know that it is not a program that everyone can use easily. Therefore we have 2 awesome sites we like to recommend, for those who want to create their graphics without the hassle of learning graphic design.
Canva is an awesome tool that has both free use and paid use. The free version of Canva alone has tons and tons of beautiful, eye-catching pre-made templates ready for use (or you can make your own from scratch). You can make just about anything on Canva! Invitations, eBooks, pamphlets, social media images, flyers, banners, Pinterest images and more! The best part is that all sizing has been pre-set (per type of post) or you can make your own (if you have a special sized item you need to create) No more “wondering” if it is the “right size for Instagram or Facebook, etc. Canva can be used on your PC or you can download their iPhone or Android app! If you are looking for a super easy “drag and drop” creator – this is it!
iPiccy is another great tool which offers much more editing features than Canva. Don’t understand how to use Photoshop, but need to edit a picture? This is a GREAT (free) site for editing photos, making collages and more! iPiccy has many powerful and easy to use photo editing tools right in your browser. Auto adjusts photos in one click, crop, rotate and resize images in no time. Over 100+ photo effects and PRO-level photo enhancements, facial retouching, and frames. This is definitely the best place for your pictures! Add text, overlays, and stickers, apply vector masks and stunning text effects to create the most unique designs for any purpose.
Advertising
Google My Business is a great way to advertise your business and boost your website’s overall SEO ranking! Google is the world’s most used search engine and it offers businesses a free profile to help you connect with your customers. You can use Google My Business to post your website address, hours, location, pricing information, and share pictures. You can even share a virtual tour! All of these things you share will then show up for your audience in Google’s search results.
Yelp is the #1 review site for finding local businesses! Even if you’re not on Yelp, your customers are, and they may be talking about you there! You can claim your free business profile, post pictures, and business information, see what customers are saying about you, and respond to your critics. And, don’t forget that Yelp reviews are always a great way to promote your business! We love using Yelp so much that we have become a Yelp Agency Partner! If you are interested in reaching more customers with $1200 in free Yelp Ads (for new, eligible advertisers only) you can give us a call to learn more!
We are sure that this list will help you find some useful tools that will make your day in the office much easier! Do you have your own free favorite business tool or plugin that we do not have listed? Let us know in the comments below!