Every successful e-commerce website has utilised multiple tools to help their business grow. If you are a new e-commerce business owner, consider doing the same even if you are unable to invest in extensive tools. In this article, you will discover the top free website tools that e-commerce business owners can use: 1) Google Analytics; 2) Google Trends; 3) Google Search Console; 4) Google My Business 5) Canva; 6) Unsplash; 7) Compressor.io; 8) WooCommerce Shipping; 9) MailChimp, and 10) WP Super Cache.
The number of online consumers grows yearly, but many small businesses are also transitioning to the e-commerce industry—not just in Singapore but worldwide. WP Forms even estimated that there are around 24 million e-commerce websites across the globe, and new websites are launched daily.
Even though breaking into e-commerce can cause a hefty price, many still want to invest in it, knowing that more consumers prefer to shop online. Rather than spending too much cost on expensive tools, most business owners want to invest in quality products and digital marketing services after funding e-commerce website development.
The good news is that there are a variety of free website tools that e-commerce business owners can tap on. They can take advantage of the tools to make their e-commerce operations run more smoothly and help with strategising the campaigns. The tools also help with better targeting and reaching out to potential customers with higher probability of converting. The tools can also help businesses to develop a seamless purchase journey.
Read on to discover the top 10 free website tools for e-commerce business owners can use.
Top 10 Free Website Tools for Small Business Owners
1. Google Analytics
Even though having an e-commerce website allows you to connect to hundreds to thousands of potential customers, it would be hard to understand your visitors without knowing who they are or the source of the conversion.
In that case, e-commerce businesses can use Google Analytics to analyse the metrics from the traffic to conversion actions on your website. You should know that millions of e-commerce business owners have used this free tool so they can better understand their customers and eventually increase their sales.
ALSO READ: A Beginner’s Guide on How to Use Google Analytics for SEO
2. Google Trends
Another free helpful tool that e-commerce business owners can use for their website is Google Trends. With this, they can keep an eye on consumer interest trends and ascertain what the newest products are.
E-commerce business owners can also use Google Trends to validate their product ideas and predict what will excite their target audience next. After all, they only need to type particular keywords and check the graph of how many people are searching for them.
It is also a great source to research on content ideas for your website’s blog articles topic which will help with the website’s search engine rankings.
3. Google Search Console
Do you want to help boost your website’s search engine rankings without spending anything? You can do it by using Google Search Console. This free tool allows you to crawl and index the web pages of your e-commerce website and quickly measure everything, from their positions, number of impressions and click-through rates (CTR).
This Image Came From Google Search Central
On Google Search Console, you will also find a list of terms that your e-commerce website ranks on search engine results pages (SERPs). Just click on the “OPEN REPORT”, and you will see it, including the total number of clicks.
DISCOVER: The Benefits Of Google Search Console For SEO
4. Google Business Profile
Do you know that Google processes 3.5 billion searches per day? If you want your target audience to come across your business online, make sure that you have a shop listed on SERPs by listing your shop on Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business).
Google Business Profile is also important for local SEO. If you use this tool, you can increase your local presence. With 12% of netizens searching for local businesses every day, with a shop listing on Google, you will be able to target your local audience and they can also check out your e-commerce website from the local pack listing on the SERPs.
5. Canva
One of the most crucial factors of a successful e-commerce website is its trendy aesthetic for both UI and UX. Besides the entire layout and site structure, the creatives you published on your e-commerce website should be aesthetically pleasing, which is why it is good to update the site regularly.
Thus, consider using Canva so your digital content creation can keep up and create a great impression on your web visitors. Canva features are simple and easy for users with little or no design experience
ALSO READ: SEO 101: How To Optimise Your Images For Search Engines?
Whatever your college degree or level of design expertise, this free image editing tool can help you quickly create beautiful digital content creation for your ecommerce website. After all, you can use the free templates or graphics based on pre-made designs and tweak some changes that complement your brand image.
6. Unsplash
For small businesses that do not want to invest in hiring a professional photographer to shoot your product or services, you can explore on Unsplash.
Unsplash is a platform with over millions of high quality stock images that e-commerce businesses and anyone can use for free. Just type the words or phrases of your concern and Unsplash will show several suggestions.
Here is a good example.
7. Compressor.io
Another thing that you can use for your e-commerce website is Compressor.io. It is a free tool that allows you to compress images with a big file size that could slow down your website. Having an optimised website with the correct image sizes enables fast loading speed as soon as your potential customers land on your page.
All you need to do is upload the image with the file size that is too big and download the compressed version. The results are seamless to the point no one will notice any loss in the quality of your images.
8. WooCommerce Shipping
Managing orders and shipping procedures can be tedious, especially for novice e-commerce business owners. Luckily, there is now WooCommerce Shipping that they can use to ease the entire process.
WooCommerce Shipping is a free tool that simplifies the shipping process for e-commerce businesses. You can print domestic and international shipping details stored in WooCommerce Shipping on the printable labels you have prepared as long as you use WooCommerce Shipping as the extension of your e-commerce website.
9. MailChimp
Do you want to send newsletter mail to your customers? MailChimp makes this easy! E-commerce businesses use this free email marketing tool so they can easily send the latest updates and discount promotions about their niche.
Here is how the mailing process journey begins.
After a customer signs up by creating an account on an e-commerce website, they will receive a ‘Welcome’ email. You can also set a timeline in Mailchimp to send promotional emails to your customers. Some of the automated emails include product recommendations, exclusive offers, birthday promotions, and even acknowledgement ‘Thank You’ email for purchasing a product.
If you want to use MailChimp on your e-commerce website, all you need to do is sign up and integrate it. Write the content you want on either one of the three options on its dashboard: Form builder, Embedded form, and subscriber pop-up.
10. WP Super Cache
Do you want to speed up the loading process of your e-commerce website once your potential customers land on your web pages? The more you need to integrate WP Super Cache on your e-commerce website.
Once you enable WP Super Cache, everything on your e-commerce website will load instantly, without keeping your customer waiting for long.
Wrapping Up!
A successful e-commerce business goes through ups and downs. If you are a new e-commerce business owner and unable to invest in extensive tools, you can tap on these free tools to grow your niche. As your e-commerce business grows, you can then consider opting for a paid plan for extended tools and its features.
For more e-commerce tips, check out our blog post. You can also give OOm a call at +65 6690 4049 or leave a message on our website, and one of our SEO team will reach out to you shortly.