The 5 Free Tools Every Small Business Website Needs
These five tools are free, take under an hour to set up, and give you insights that most businesses are flying blind without.
3 min read · 2026-04-15 · No affiliate links
Most small businesses have a website. Very few know if that website is actually working.
Here are five free tools that give you real visibility into what's happening — and what needs fixing.
1. Google Analytics 4
What it does: Shows you how many people visit your site, where they come from, which pages they read, and whether they take action.
Why you need it: Without analytics, you're guessing. With it, you can see that 80% of your traffic leaves the homepage immediately (a problem) or that a specific blog post drives most of your leads (double down on that).
Setup time: 20 minutes
Get it: analytics.google.com (free, always)
2. Google Search Console
What it does: Shows you which Google search terms are bringing people to your site, which pages appear in search results, and any technical errors Google found.
Why you need it: You might be ranking on page 2 for valuable keywords and not even know it. Search Console shows you exactly what Google sees when it crawls your site.
Setup time: 15 minutes (verify ownership with a meta tag or DNS record)
Get it: search.google.com/search-console (free)
3. Google PageSpeed Insights
What it does: Analyzes your website's loading speed and gives you a score (0–100) plus specific things to fix.
Why you need it: A site that takes 5+ seconds to load loses about 40% of visitors before they even see it. PageSpeed shows you exactly why it's slow and how to fix it.
Most common issues:
- Images not compressed (fix: use TinyPNG before uploading)
- No browser caching
- Render-blocking JavaScript (often from analytics or chat widgets)
Setup time: Immediate — just paste your URL and run the test
Get it: pagespeed.web.dev (free)
4. Hotjar (free plan)
What it does: Records screen sessions of real visitors, shows heatmaps of where people click and scroll, and lets you run short surveys.
Why you need it: Analytics tells you what people do on your site. Hotjar shows you how. You might discover that 80% of visitors never scroll past your pricing section, or that they keep clicking something that isn't a link.
Free plan: 35 sessions recorded per day — enough for most small businesses
Setup time: 15 minutes (add a script to your site)
Get it: hotjar.com (free plan available)
5. Ubersuggest (free features)
What it does: Keyword research tool that shows you what people search for, how much competition exists, and what your site ranks for.
Why you need it: Writing blog content or updating your pages without keyword research is guessing. Ubersuggest helps you find the exact phrases your potential customers search before buying.
Free plan: 3 searches per day — enough for occasional research
Setup time: Immediate
Get it: neilpatel.com/ubersuggest
The 1-hour setup challenge
These five tools together take about an hour to configure. Once installed, they run in the background collecting data. Within 30 days, you'll have enough information to make real decisions about your website.
Start with Google Analytics and Search Console — those two alone are more valuable than any paid tool.
Want to go deeper? See our guide on how to know if your website is working and what Google Search Console is.
Looking for tools?
Browse our guides to find the best tools and platforms for your business.
Browse guides →