Tools
There are a lot of genuinely useful tools out there, and plenty of them are free. These are the tools I actually use, all in one place so you can find what you need without the hunting.
Research, audits, content structure and the repetitive half of a workflow.
Finding out what people search for, and whether your site can be found at all.
Only as good as the tracking behind them, which is where most accounts leak.
Events that map to real business outcomes rather than pageviews.
Storefronts and the research tools that stop you guessing at products.
The parts of a workflow that should not need a person.
The build I recommend for most small businesses, plus the design layer on top.
Every link goes to the tool’s official site. No affiliate links, and no padded list of 200 things I have never opened. Pricing labels reflect the tier that exists at the time of writing, so check the vendor before you budget.
Resources & free learning
Strategy, channels, campaign structure and measurement, with training from the platforms themselves.
Free · Beginner to intermediate
Strategy, channels, campaign structure and measurement, taught by the platforms that run them.
Free · Beginner to advanced
How search works, followed by keyword research, on-page structure and technical SEO from established SEO platforms.
Free · Seller focused
Store setup, listing quality, marketplace search and the operations side of selling online.
Free · Practical
GA4, Tag Manager and reporting: the layer that turns marketing activity into decisions you can defend.
Guide on this site
The six-part process behind a project that tripled monthly calls, written out step by step.
Guide on this site
Crawlability, indexation, internal linking and Core Web Vitals, in the order that matters, with the fix for each finding.
I use custom thumbnails for these cards rather than screenshots. Links go directly to the official course or resource page.
These tools work. They also take time you might not have, and most of the value is in knowing which one to reach for.
