We round up the six best free tools for small businesses to improve productivity, create content and target audiences.
1. Grammarly
Goodbye typos! Grammarly is a free browser extension and desktop app that scans everything you type, picking up not only typos but grammatical errors, too.
2. Hootsuite
Social media is really important for start-ups, but you can spend all day logging in and out of accounts. Hootsuite combines everything in one easy-to-use platform. If you pay a small fee per month, you can have as many social media accounts connected as you like. The best bit? You can schedule posts from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin and Instagram.
3. GIMP
GIMP is free, open-source photo editing software. It functions almost as well as Adobe’s Photoshop (and let’s be honest, unless you’re a professional photo editor, you probably don’t need Photoshop), and literally costs nothing. Great for creating content for social media and even logos and branding.
4. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free analysis service which measures website activity and performance. Want to know how many visitors your website has? Analytics will tell you, along with SO much more important information. This can help you focus your business on the most popular areas according to your audience’s activity.
5. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
After discovering this, you’ll wonder why on earth you still use Microsoft Office. Google has its own version of Word (Docs), Excel (Sheets) and Powerpoint (Slides), which are stored online so you can always access them. Better yet, you can share these documents with colleagues or clients and they can edit the documents at the same time as you.
6. Scoop.it
Creating content for social media, email newsletters and your website can be time-consuming. Not with Scoop.It – sign up for free, input a topic (e.g. “technology”), enter a few keywords and BAM. You’ll be faced with a multitude of popular content related to your keywords, ready for you to easily share onto your channels.