FREE resources and software for creating or improving your website

by Jon McNamara

Below is a listing of free tools that can be used to either create and/or improve an existing website. These tools include content management systems, SEO keyword research tools, and much more.

Free content management system (CMS) tools

CMS are software or cloud based programs that are used to create a website.

1) Wordpress, which has ~55% market share of CMS industry, (8 to 9 times more than nearest competitor), is the market leader. Wordpress is often provided for free by website hosting companies. So if you host a domain with company X, they will often provide wordpress at no cost. This CMS is often considered to be more user friendly.

 Jon McNamara

Tutorials on how to use Wordpress

https://learn.wordpress.com/

https://yoast.com/wordpress-seo/

 

2) Drupal, Joomla are also free, but note that many publications say these CMS tools are not as user friendly.

Tutorials on how to use Drupal:

https://www.drupal.org/node/877140

 

Tutorials on how to use Joomla

https://docs.joomla.org/Tutorials:Beginners

https://www.siteground.com/tutorials/joomla/

 

Free stores or “transactional based” stores for ecommerce

Some retailers offer sellers access to small businesses plans. They will tend to not have fixed monthly fees but instead charge a cost per transaction. There are usually limits as to how many transactions can be done for free, before the fixed monthly fee begins.

Amazon: https://services.amazon.com/selling/benefits.htm/ref=asus_soa_hnav

Ebay: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html#if_auction

Etsy: No monthly fee but cost per transaction. https://www.etsy.com/sell

Facebook stores are free

 

Free shopping carts for setting up online store on business website

Wordpress and Paypal partner on the Woocommerce plugin. It is an application that can be used on a wordpress site.

Low cost options include Shopify. Note paypal has a partnership with this company in which additional discounts are given...but you need to sign up with paypal.

 

Google My Business

Free tools for improving your visibility in google search. The focus is on local businesses.

https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en

 

Free keyword research tools for SEO

Keywords and key-phrases may be beneficial in understanding what users are actually typing into a search engine such as google. There are many companies that offer free data (in a limited quantity) as to what actual users are searching for. Examples include SEMrush, Serps.com, kwfinder.com. Googling for “free keyword research tool” offers many other resources.

 

Free “stock images”/pictures for a website

There are graphics or pictures that can be used on a website, free of charge. Examples include freeimages.com, pixabay.com, photopin.com, and publicdomainpictures.net