Improve Your Marketing With These Free Tools and Resources

by David | Mar 16, 2023 | Digital Marketing

Everyone loves free marketing tools and resources, and a lot of marketers I know want their hands on what’s hot, what’s free, what’s relevant, or all three! (See what I did there?)

Here’s a nod to all of those!

In this post, you’ll find a lot of great free marketing tools that are relevant to today’s business and marketing needs. Most, if not all of these tools, are completely fully free, freemium to start, or simply requires a free account to access.

There’s more to add, and just like a lot of you, I’m sure you’ll see some here that hasn’t been added (yet). But don’t fret, there’s more to come. Maybe a round two? 🙂

Enjoy!

Digital Marketing Resources

Blogs to Boost Your Marketing Knowledge

Here are some of my all-time go-to places for all things digital marketing. Whether you’re looking specifically for SEO or social media, or trying to get into content marketing, ABM, or anything else, these are my top blogs to read, listed in alphabetical order.

The blogs here have enough content for all levels of marketing professionals too.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is such a beast when it comes to resources. You’ll find a wide and deep repository of SEO and overall general marketing resources, complete with case studies, infographics and opinions to whet your appetite on digital marketing. Whether you’re looking for general marketing knowledge, or want to be in-depth on how-to guides and walkthroughs on SEO, this is the place to be.

Backlinko

Brian Dean’s super awesome blog about back links, digital marketing, content marketing, business growth and more. He’s recently been busy with SEMRush as their new Chief Content Officer since they merged, but you can still find some great insights from Backlinko. The blog hasn’t been touched since April of 2022, so I doubt that he’s going to continue doing blogs here. Still, there are good fundamentals to glean from his content.

Some people would say that Backlinko is more for beginners or those with somewhat limited experience in digital marketing or SEO. I sort of beg to differ, in that even as an experienced professional can see some value or gain insights in his madness.

Copyblogger

Copyblogger is one of those sites where you just can’t get enough of it. The content drives you back. As you can tell by the company, this is a content-oriented blog to check out. Just like MarketingProfs, Copyblogger is a site that focuses on creating text-based content that drives more than just reading for fun. They actually help you/teach you how to create stronger, more engaging content that encourages/persuades readers to engage in your brand.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Now, here’s a guy that makes sense to include. Great, sensible and focused opinions, making great points that will at least make you think, with lots of business and marketing knowledge in his vids (Bruh, his vids…).

Gary Vee‘s overall content strategy and business acumen is up there among the elite. I first learned about this strategy several years ago, and it’s by far one of my fave strategies to share and implement.

Hubspot

An all-in-one marketing blog that covers a whole lot of marketing topics, Hubspot creates content for all marketing professionals. From SEO, social, email, and content marketing, to strategy, attribution, ABM, analytics and design, you’ll find that Hubspot provides a holistic approach to their marketing content than other sites. The exception I feel here is that Hubspot can dive as deep as some sites out there — I’m sure due to its sizeable writing staff — but more importantly, it’s deep connection to marketing fundamentals and growth.

I’m not biased — or at least I don’t intend to be — but I think that Hubspot’s blog is probably the golden standard for every marketer. You just can’t get the kind of thought leadership around, or at least not as well, especially when Hubspot’s content caters to all types of marketers at all levels, with free templates, solid marketing advice and good case studies to use.

MarketingProfs

Two Words. Ann Handley. She’s the brains behind MarketingProfs, a company that is so popular with content marketing that expanded to a hub for marketing tutorials, courses and more.

MarketingProfs is by far one of may all-time fave resources to go to. Why? It’s got a lot of information to absorb and immerse in, along with an insane amount of resources (e.g. infographics, content, training, etc.) that you can use to gain more knowledge and improve your own skill set.

Marketo/Adobe

Marketo, who was bought by Adobe a few years ago, still has a great blog of its own, and I assume even more powerful now with the Adobe merge. The blog itself is mostly confined to marketing automation and marketing operations (MarOps), but even then, there’s a lot one can learn from MarOps in the professional workplace.

Data segmentation, market penetration through data, personalization, and data integration are things you can learn inside Marketo’s blog.

Moz Blog

I can’t NOT share worthwhile blogs to read without sharing Moz’s blog. Moz has been pretty much one of THE go-to places for all things SEO. Founded by Rand Fishkin, a lot of the posts you’ll see will show some, if not most, of his own SEO experimentations, as well as other experimentations and findings by SEO experts and the SEO community at large.

It’s been maybe two decades since Moz stared, and clearly it has grown to a very strong SEO and content marketing thought leader, backed by its infamous Whiteboard Fridays. For all of you new marketers who have not yet seen one, you should.

And for you beginners, you should also get into their community blogs as well, since they provide lots of ways the community can bring in their SEO/SEM expertise and experience into the Moz world. You may even learn from them!

Neil Patel

Neil has been a great asset for me when it comes to a more complete end-to-end digital marketing since the mid-2010s (Anybody remember CrazyEgg?) Regardless of whether you like him or not, he’s built a great following — not to mention good businesses — since his heydays with CrazyEgg, and his blog is a representation of his marketing knowledge.

If I can categorize Neil Patel’s content, it’s a jack-of-all-trades type of content, just right for everyone. Think Hubspot, but much more personable.

Search Engine Land

Similar to other sites in this post that starts with “Search Engine,” Search Engine Land (SEL) provides insights and articles that covers pretty much the gamut of the SEM world, including SEO, paid acquisition, and more. There’s a lot of helpful tools and resources for all levels of marketers. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or still starting out, you’ll be able to see beginning to advanced articles that contain practical tips and strategies for your marketing initiatives.

It also features contributed articles filled with practical tips, tactics and strategies for running successful campaigns.

SEMRush

Now that Brian Dean’s manning the SEMRush content front, it’s going to be even more awesome to see how he dives into SEO, content marketing, and other marketing initiatives.

Still, SEMRush’s blog and resources is top notch, and that was before Brian came on board. A jack of all trades type of blog, SEMRush focuses on a variety of marketing channels, ranging from SEO, content to email, social media and strategy. Here you’ll find how to get started in marketing fundamentals, how to improve your skill set, and how to do advanced marketing approaches. Plus, you’ll get how-to guides, best practice guidelines, and more.

Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal (SEJ) has been around for a very long time, and I mean a VERY long time. Like 15-20 years ago, I believe. They’re well-known in the industry and in particular the SEO community for their extensive SEO knowledge and blog posts, as well as insights on all things SEO and Google. It’s such a community-based approach too, which makes it so much more worthwhile to read.

Search Engine Roundtable

Search Engine Roundtable (SER) is heavily comprised of experts in the SEO/SEM realm, providing their feedback, experience, insights and expertise on all things search. This is a heavy staple in the SEO community, and if you’re not immersed in this blog yet, you should.

From SEO copywriting to linking, to analysis and SEO interviews, they pretty much have a pulse on the breadth and depth of SEO.

One thing I really appreciate about SER is that they typically have the latest news on Google, Bing and other search updates before most even get the 411. That may be a biased statement, but it’s how I have typically received my news for quite some time now. I just wished their site was more modern.

Seth Godin

The man, the myth, the legend. Great insights on marketing, growth, and business. I can’t say enough about him without being seen as too much of a fan boy. His vast knowledge on business and marketing is revered and even copied by lots of experts in major industries.

Siege Media

My latest blog site that I am truly digging. Lots of great content here by Ross Hudgens and his crew. Focused on SEO-based content marketing, this is a great site that I’m sure is getting to be widely known for their content pieces. Anyone who’s looking into writing content that is purely SEO-focused, this is it. And it’s not JUST about tactics either. You’ll find strategies and best practices here as well.

Social Media Examiner

When it comes to social media blogs, look no further than Social Media Examiner. This site has been around for a long time, almost as long as SEJ, if I can recall. While SEE is primarily focused on social media — covering social platforms, content preferences, and industry trends — it expands to more than just that.

SEE brings in other channels, like landing page conversions, Web3, and SEO, and email, as well as organic and paid social, to wrap up its breadth and depth of social media expertise and experience.

Unbounce

Unbounce has been around since I believe 2009, and have grown traction since then as the leader of landing page optimization (LPO) and conversion rate optimization (CRO). Unbounce is a platform that helps users build landing pages for conversions. Having used them since 2011/2012, I’ve created some great landing pages from their platform.

Their blog posts focuses on conversion funnels and optimizations, business growth through conversions, and other growth topics. But the one key thing that I really appreciate about Unbounce is that everything they do is focused on conversions. And if that’s your bag, then this blog is for you.

Wordstream

Wordstream has come very far, in my opinion, in the quality of their content. When they first started out, it was just your typical run-of-the-mill blog from an up-and-coming brand. Nowadays, I go to this blog on a weekly basis, just because there’s a lot of good stuff here to immerse yourself in.

More importantly, there’s a lot of content that spans all across different marketing and creative channels: SEO, email, graphic and web design, content marketing, SEM, backlinks and more. Their free guides and tuts are also one of the best out there. If you’re new to the marketing scene, or even a seasoned professional that wants more in-depth commentaries, Wordstream has that too.

Be Empowered By These LinkedIn Marketing Influencers

Here’s a few LinkedIn marketers to follow, outside of the blog authors I mentioned above. I suggest following these cats, as they have great insights on a variety of marketing channels and specialties, including SEO, marketing operations, digital marketing, account based marketing (ABM), audience analysis and acquisition, and more. Listed in alphabetical order.

Dan Albaum

Servant leader. Just wrote his first book. Focuses on leadership styles and leadership examples within the workplace. Basically, how to be a better leader in the workplace — and beyond.

Darrell Alfonso

Marketing Strategy and Operations dude. I like his take on MarOps, marketing automation, and using automation tools to improve processes, increase productivity and provide marketing-impact on revenue.

Leslie Carruthers

Owner of The Search Guru. B2B guru. Lots of insights on B2B and B2C marketing, including growth, market penetration, ABM, conversion improvements and enhancements as well as general marketing.

Rand Fishkin

He’s no stranger to marketing. He founded MOZ, then founded SparkToro. Genius marketer. His insights on audience acquisition — primarily through his findings under Sparktoro — is spot on.

Ann Handley

Content marketer superstar. Founder of MarketingProfs. Just released her second book. If you’re looking for a content marketing “guru” to look up to, she’s one of the first people I would introduce or watch for.

Sara McNamara

Marketing Operations (MarOps) and Sales Operations (SalesOps) ninja. Having almost decade of experience in MarOps, I have yet to grow into it as much as I should. Thanks to Sara, I’ve improved on that skill set SO MUCH MORE with her advice and insights. If you’re into marketing operations and automation, she is top notch.

Lily Ray

SEO Extraordinaire. I just discovered her last year and she is amazing. Great insights on SEO and where the industry is going. You should check her articles and posts out on Amsive Digital. She’s definitely helping me up my game on SEO. PLUS, she’s a DJ…

Ross Hudgens

CEO of Siege Media. SEO-focused content marketing. His company’s thought leadership is growing and really exciting to see.

One thing to note though, the content of their posts is not just about content marketing. It’s the content marketing that is infused in other aspects of marketing, like SEO, email, CRO and even ABM/outbound.

Take Advantage of These Free SEO Tools

A collection of SEO tools to help you hone and master your search engine optimization.

Chrome Extensions / Toolbars

BuiltWith

I use BuiltWith to check out a website’s software and tech stack (e.g. WordPress, Drift, Google Analytics), which helps in creating audits and educated assumptions on marketing funnels.

For example, if I am looking at a competitor’s website, I use BuiltWith’s Chrome extension and see what kind of stack they’re using. If they’re using WordPress but I don’t find any SEO plugins, then I can make an educated guess that they’re either a) doing SEO manually, b) using an agency to do it for them, or c) not doing too much of it at all.

From there, my next step would be to go into their code and see if any sort of on-page or technical SEO has been implemented. This will tell me if a), b) or c) is the right answer.

Google Page Analytics

This was super great when it first came out, and I literally used it when I would do any audit. Unfortunately, Google’s Page Analytics extension been deprecated since 2017 so no new updates are being added.

While this can still be used as is, I’m not so sure how this will function well with GA4.

Side note: I still use this extension, but more or less with a grain of salt nowadays.

Moz SEO Toolbar

Again, being one of the top OGs in Search Marketing, you can’t overlook Moz, not even on Chrome extensions. It’s keyword toolbar is actually pretty solid and built well. It has lots of features, including custom search queries, page rankings and authority scores. You can even see which keywords have follow/no-follow, as well as the ability to export your data.

WooRank SEO Analysis & Website Review

With this extension, you can actually go deeper into a site’s on-page SEO (some extensions don’t have this functionality, so it’s actually refreshing). It also has some capabilities to look into a site’s off-page as well. The WooRank extension covers accessibility, readability and shareability reviews as well as mobile-friendliness/responsiveness, and of course, traffic and sessions.

Full SEO Suite / Reports

Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is pretty powerful in its own right, rivaling other analytics out there. Formerly known as Google Webmaster, GSC is powerful enough to take on the likes of Adobe; however, just like with any other technologies and analytics tools, both can be biased.

Still, GSC is widely used by many SEO and digital marketers as a guide to how their website, and marketing initiatives, are performing.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest, by Neil Patel Digital, is a great source for free audits and full SEO reporting. Similar to Ahrefs and SEMRush, Ubersuggest creates decent audits on your website of choice, and provides you with a great deal of information to see the overall health of your account. It also integrates with Google Analytics.

In addition to the platform, you should check out the chrome extension. The extension gives some cool data on search data, relevance, intent, and more.

Keyword Research Tools

Answer the Public

Recently bought by Neil Patel, Answer the Public is AH-MAZING for all things keyword and key phrase research. It uses questions, related topics/keywords as well as general keyword research methods to help you in your marketing. This is great for an alternate to Google’s Keyword Research Tool, and is just as great as using an actual Google search query.

Keyword Finder

A good resource for finding keywords with low SEO difficulty. Mangools’ Keyword Finder is great for getting low hanging fruit to jumpstart your content marketing and/or SEO campaigns. You can start searching but in order to get the results, you’ll need to be a paid member. Starts with a 10-Day free trial.

Keyword Tool

A GREAT alternative to using Google’s keyword planner tool. For one, you don’t need an account to get and download results, unlike other tools listed here. Keyword Tool uses Google’s autocomplete functionality in its search query results. And, for every search term you research, you can get up to 750+ long-tail keyword suggestions.

KW Explorer by Moz

MOZ’s Keyword Explorer is refreshingly powerful, and something you would expect from the company that has been a thought leader on SEO for a long time. In order to access the tool, you’ll have to be a Moz member. It’s free to create an account.

Just like with a lot of keyword tools in this post, you enter your keywords and the results you’ll get will include rankings, densities, usage, etc.

People Also Ask

What is People Also Ask? If you’ve ever done a Google search query, oftentimes you will find a “People Also Ask” (PAA) section on the bottom of your query. Google inserts this to help guide customers on other queries that most people ask regarding your subject. Using PAA queries would be very helpful in performing relevant searches from people like you.

This tool performs searches against a massive 150M+ dataset of PAA questions collected from Google across 200M keywords. What I like about this tool is that you can filter/sort by popularity of search results, which makes prioritization easier to conduct. This is especially good when it comes to personalization and segmentation based on search queries.

Reddit KW Research Tool

If you’re looking to expand your content marketing into other areas like Quora and Reddit, Reddit Keyword Research Tool is your go-to guide. Not only can you use this research tool for Reddit and Sub-Reddits, you can also use it for your general keyword research methods for your content marketing campaigns.

ScreamingFrog

Hailing from the UK, ScreamingFrog is a great all-around SEO tool that is more than just keyword research. You can do technical SEO, backlink analysis, on-page and off-page work and other SEO tactics.

Still, their keyword research is just as great. I use this tool quite a lot, in addition to Ubersuggest and SEMRush.

Download for free, but if you want the advanced features like exports and unlimited query tables, you’ll have to fork out some dough.

Seed Keywords

This is a very interesting tool, to be honest. It’s more of user-generated search query or community-driven search query than a Google or search engine-based approach. It’s actually very similar to how Answer the Public and People Also Ask provides search results: it’s using people’s queries to answer yours.

How Seed Keywords works is you’re given a scenario to create (e.g. I want to find a digital marketing agency in Phoenix), then a URL is provided for you based on that scenario. You give that URL to your friends and ask them what keywords they would use to solve that scenario. The URL will show you what keywords your friends will use.

Wordtracker

Wordtracker helps you inspect your keywords or run a domain/competitive keyword research analysis. Comes with 11 free searches before being asked to activate.

SEO Plugins for WordPress

If you’re running WordPress sites, these are a few plugins that you can use to increase your website SEO and conversion efficiency.

All-In-One SEO

I used to use this plugin in all of my WordPress sites, but I found Yoast to be in line more of what I am looking for. Regardless, for beginners — and even advanced SEO professionals using WordPress as their CMS — All-In-One SEO is still a great choice. There are a lot of cool things you can do with this: in addition to the basic fundamental SEO (metas, keyword densities, custom fields, etc.), you can integrate this with SEMRush and WooCommerce.

RankMath

Another great tool. I’ve tried RankMath out for several websites and it does do a great job. The free version has some more options than Yoast, and if you’re looking to improve your SEO but looking for a Yoast alternative, this is the one.

Redirection

Another choice plugin for me. Redirection helps your website in fixing 404s, 301s and other URL errors that require redirects (hence the name). It’s been my go-to plugin for years when it comes to fixing redirects without having to go through your hosting, or adding it to your php files. And that’s especially helpful if you’re not a developer.

Yoast SEO

Yoast is my #1 plugin for all of my SEO work on WordPress. I’ve been using Yoast for quite a while now, and the free version is really good if you want to get your feet wet in on-page WordPress SEO. However, if you have the budget, the paid version has more features that can help you do better (although if you are an expert in SEO, you can do without).

Website Speed / Mobile Tests

Google Page Speed

A go-to standard for checking out speed tests for your website. Whether you’re assessing and analyzing your mobile performance or desktop speed, Google’s Page Speed tool will give you tons of information to work with.

Mobile SERP Tests

Another strong tool for speed test reviews. Moxie’s SERP tool focuses more on mobile devices, where you can check your mobile keyword rankings, speed tests, and local SEO with this tool. You can search three searches a day for free.

Design and Wireframing Tools

Canva

If you haven’t heard of Canva yet, you should. This is a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, especially if you’re on a budget or just need to create something without the steep learning curve. Has tons of templates for creating social media collateral, landing pages, business cards, even powerpoint templates and pitch decks, not to mention shirts!

Figma

Figma has a free starter plan, consisting of 3 Figma and 3 Figjam boards with unlimited collaborators and users. This is a great starter pack if you’re new to wireframing, design or collaborative design work. With Figma, not only can you use it as a wireframe platform, you can also use it as a blank canvas for any type of design work, like emails, social and more.

Justinmind

A free design and wireframing tool for those looking at revising their mobile or web app/website. Justinmind is a great alternative to Marketplan and Figma, if you just want to wireframe, design and workflow your work without anything else. Perfect for designers, and it’s perfectly free!

Marketplan.io

A great place to wireframe your whole entire lifecycle AND design your landing pages, ads, etc. The big difference between Marketplan and Figma, for example, is that Figma in and of itself is just a design prototyping/wireframing tool. Marketplan goes beyond that:

• Wireframe your website designs AND create the workflows AND actually design them in the platform
• Sequence your email campaigns, workflow your retention strategy AND code them in the platform
• Workflow your paid Google or social media ads, sequence them to your landing pages, AND do some design work as well
• Sync your FB, Google ads into Marketplan to see the campaign metrics and growth, AND also sync your analytics so you can start measuring campaigns and A/B test what’s working or not, all in one platform without going anywhere else.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Figma has all sorts of cool assets like Figjam. But for keeping every single marketing asset in one location — landing page design, workflow, metrics, wireframing, etc., Marketplan has that in spades.

Photopea

A free alternative to Adobe’s Photoshop, Photopea is a great tool if you’re just beginning in graphic design or even a seasoned expert in Photoshop use. It has most of what Photoshop has anyway, but without the computer bloat and price.

Analytics Tools

Browsee.io

A free tool that has website analytics, segment abilities, screen recordings, and error handling. Browsee uses very similar methods as the previously mentioned tools above, and even integrates with your WordPress site. A few noteworthy things to share:

1. Browsee can record a user perusing your site, even mouse clicks, just like ClickHeat or Hotjar.
2. Browsee can segment your customers based on their data when they peruse your site.
3. A lot of other tools, like monitoring Javascript errors, customer funnel management, and more.

Google Analytics

This should be a given 🙂 But just in case, Google Analytics is a good platform to start working on your website analytics and measurement, and understanding the data you need to improve your business. In another article, I’ll talk about why Google Analytics isn’t always the top analytics tools for companies.

Looker Data Studio

Formerly Google Data Studio, this free reporting tool is comparable to Power BI and Tableau, and works seamlessly with Google Analytics. I discovered Looker Data Studio about 4 years ago, and haven’t looked back on using it instead of Power BI or Tableau. A few reasons on why I use this as my primary data visualization:

1. It works cohesively with Google, which is my main analytics tool
2. Integration with other platforms, such as other Google products (Ads, Sheets), CRMs, automation tools, and other metrics are often seamless.
3. Easier to use (IMO) with less time ramping up than the other aforementioned tools.

Microsoft Clarity

This tool combines those of Looker Data Studio as well as recordings and heatmaps like Hotjar. I’m still new to using Microsoft Clarity, but it seems like a pretty solid addition, or alternative, to Data Studio. Plus it’s free!

In future posts, I’ll be walking through how to use this tool to spice up your analytics measurement.

What’s Next?

Look for more updates to this list, either as additions or as a new post.

Did I miss anything? What would you add to this list? Let me know!