Resources & Tools
50 Digital Marketing Tools Every Small Team Should Know (Curated, Lean, Purpose‑First)
By Dominik Kowalski · Updated 21 Aug 2025 · 14–18 min read
Purpose: Reduce tool sprawl. Pick one tool per job, measure outcomes, and keep your stack fast and affordable for Australian SMBs.
How to use this list: Each tool has a purpose statement so you can map it to a workflow. Start with a starter stack then add only when a process demands it. If your site targets Australia, measure with AU field data and ensure your analytics/time zones are configured accordingly.
Core categories
Choose one tool per category to avoid bloat. Expand later as needs mature.
- SEO Research & Competitive Intel
- Content Planning, Editing & Assets
- On‑Page & Technical SEO
- Analytics, Tagging & Reporting
- Email, CRM & Nurture
- Social Scheduling & Community
- Automation, QA & Ops
- Collaboration & Project Management
Related reads: SEO checklist for website launches and Speed & conversions.
SEO research & competitive intel
Google Search Console
Purpose: First‑party query and page performance; prioritise content by impressions and CTR.
Google Trends
Purpose: Seasonality and topic momentum; validate content timing.
Ahrefs
Purpose: Backlink audits, keyword explorer, competitive gaps for growth planning.
Moz
Purpose: Domain metrics, SERP features, and on‑page suggestions for small teams.
Semrush
Purpose: All‑in‑one suite—keywords, ads intel, topic research.
AnswerThePublic
Purpose: Long‑tail questions to feed FAQs and supporting posts.
Content planning, editing & assets
Notion
Purpose: Content calendar, briefs, and single source of truth for copy.
Trello
Purpose: Lightweight Kanban for content workflow with stakeholders.
Google Docs
Purpose: Collaborative drafting with version history and comments.
Canva
Purpose: Fast social graphics and blog banners; brand kits for consistency.
Figma
Purpose: Higher‑fidelity visuals, web mockups, and component reuse.
Hemingway / Grammarly
Purpose: Clarity and correctness; keep tone human and concise.
Tip: For performance, export images as AVIF/WebP. See our hosting mistakes guide.
On‑page & technical SEO
PageSpeed Insights
Purpose: Lab + field data (CrUX) to target LCP/INP/CLS improvements.
WebPageTest (Sydney)
Purpose: AU‑specific TTFB, waterfall, and cache validation.
Screaming Frog
Purpose: Crawls for titles, canonicals, status codes, and internal link issues.
Sitebulb
Purpose: Visual crawls and prioritised technical recommendations.
Schema.org Markup (JSON‑LD)
Purpose: Rich results via Article, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, HowTo, TechArticle.
Cloudflare
Purpose: CDN/WAF, HTTP/3, TLS 1.3, page rules, AU POPs.
See: Hosting location & AU performance, Shared vs VPS vs Cloud.
Analytics, tagging & reporting
Google Analytics
Purpose: Traffic and conversion tracking; segment AU mobile for realism.
Google Tag Manager
Purpose: Deployment of tags without dev releases; enforce naming and consent.
Looker Studio
Purpose: Stakeholder dashboards; annotate releases and campaigns.
Matomo (self‑hosted)
Purpose: Privacy‑focused analytics, optional AU data residency.
Hotjar / Microsoft Clarity
Purpose: Heatmaps and session replays to diagnose UX friction.
CrUX Dashboard
Purpose: Core Web Vitals trends with AU filters.
Email, CRM & nurture
Mailchimp
Purpose: Simple newsletters and basic automation.
MailerLite
Purpose: Lean alternative for SMBs; landing pages and automations.
HubSpot (Starter)
Purpose: CRM + email + forms; good for sales alignment.
ConvertKit
Purpose: Creator‑centric emails with visual automations.
Postmark / SendGrid
Purpose: Transactional email with high deliverability.
Formspree / Tally
Purpose: Lightweight lead forms without heavy plugins.
Configure SPF, DKIM, DMARC; monitor deliverability. See launch checklist.
Social scheduling & community
Buffer
Purpose: Schedule across channels with a minimal learning curve.
Hootsuite
Purpose: Larger team workflows and approvals.
Later
Purpose: Visual planning for Instagram and TikTok.
Sprout Social
Purpose: Customer care and social listening at scale.
Automation, QA & ops
Zapier
Purpose: Move data between apps without code; alert on new leads.
Make (Integromat)
Purpose: Complex automations and branching logic.
Lighthouse CI
Purpose: Performance budgets in CI/CD to prevent regressions.
UptimeRobot / Better Stack
Purpose: Availability monitoring with AU probe locations.
Snyk / Dependabot
Purpose: Security and dependency updates for web apps.
Little Warden
Purpose: Monitors domains, certificates, and robots.txt for SEO issues.
Collaboration & project management
Slack / Microsoft Teams
Purpose: Shared channels for fast approvals and incident comms.
Asana / Monday.com
Purpose: Project templates for campaigns and content sprints.
Google Drive
Purpose: Asset repository; enforce naming and folder standards.
Calendly
Purpose: Cut scheduling friction for demos and interviews.
Starter stacks (pick one per row)
Lean SEO + Content
Ahrefs or Semrush · Google Docs · Notion · Screaming Frog · PageSpeed Insights · GA + GTM · MailerLite · Buffer
Local Services
Google Search Console · Google Trends · Moz · Canva · Looker Studio · HubSpot Starter · Later
Ecommerce
Semrush · Sitebulb · Cloudflare · WebPageTest (Sydney) · GA + GTM · Klaviyo · Hotjar
Maintain a living playbook with tool ownership, data access, and renewal dates. See our governance model.
How to choose (purpose over features)
- Identify the bottleneck (ideation, production, distribution, measurement).
- Map 2–3 candidate tools; test with a real task.
- Decide on cost vs. time saved; set a 90‑day review to confirm ROI.
- Document the SOP and role responsible; remove overlapping tools.
Need a pragmatic stack? For a right‑sized toolset and SOPs tailored to your goals, Dominik Digital Marketing provides advisory and implementation. Start with a stack assessment or visit directly: https://domdigitalmarketing.com.au/.