Best 8 low-budget Software Solutions for SMEs

Are you a small business looking for the best low-budget software to help your business become more efficient, grow and increase brand awareness? If so, you've come to the right place. We'll be discussing what businesses need, and the top 8 low-budget software solutions for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in the UK. We'll cover everything from building websites to PR and marketing to emails and project management software, so you can get the most bang for your buck. Keep reading to learn more about the best low-budget software for small businesses.

Small companies are often in need of reliable and cost-effective software to help them manage their businesses. With the right PR and software tools, SMEs can improve their operations and increase their profitability. Good software is designed to help businesses save time, money, and resources. These are 8 of the best software tools out there for SMEs.

1- Content Management System (CMS): Content management systems simplify creating and managing digital content such as websites and social media channels. Generally, webpages are written in code such as CSS or JavaScript, if you don’t know how to code, then you need to use a CMS platform. CMS platforms solve this issue by giving you the tools to make a website, without having to learn programming.  Popular examples of CMS include:

• WordPress: The most popular choice globally for CMS is WordPress. Analysis by BuiltWith W3Techs found that more than 40% of the world's websites are built on WordPress. It is good for clean, simple websites, and can be customised with the use of plug-ins.
• Wix: Wix is a beginner-friendly CMS platform. It has a drag-and-drop interface which makes it easy to create web pages. And it comes with pre-made templates.
• PrestaShop: PrestaShop is an easy-to-use CMS for small to medium-sized eCommerce businesses. It has a lot of features and it allows you to add products easily.

2- Social Media Management Tools: Managing social media accounts can be time-consuming. But with the right social media management tools, you can automate many of the tasks associated with managing your accounts, saving you valuable time. These are some options for tools to manage your social media.

• Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management platform that helps you manage multiple social media accounts from one place. It also allows you to schedule posts in advance and track analytics so you can measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
• Brandwatch: Brandwatch allows you to create and manage ad campaigns, track your performance and engage with influencers. Their social media calendar allows you to create large campaigns as well as daily posts.
• Planable: Planable is a tool that enables you to create and share social media posts. You can use it when working as part of a team, and you can track the progress and viability of your social media posts across multiple channels.

3- SEO Software: SEO (search engine optimisation) software will optimise your website for search engines. You can use it to identify areas that could be improved upon, it can track the performance of your website and create content that can improve your search engine ranking.

• Semrush: This SEO tool is one of the best known, Semrush allows you to audit your website, and then get a report on how to better optimise it. It will check the crawlability of the website by search engines, as well as check the loading speed of your website. It can also check for trending topics and keywords in your industry.
• SEO Powersuite: This software allows you to audit your website to ensure it is SEO-friendly, check your ranking on Google and other search engines and SEO Powersuite can help with link building.
• Yoast: Yoast is an SEO plug-in for WordPress and Shopify websites. It will scan your site to ensure that any content is search engine friendly, and can be used as you write content directly on your website.

4- CRM Software: CRM software helps you manage customer relationships, from initial contact to post-sale support. It can help you keep track of customers and prospects, automate communication, and increase customer satisfaction.

• Hubspot: This platform allows you to connect your customers, team and data in one place. Hubspot offers free courses as well as free tools, as well as a paid option.
• com: This CRM platform enables you to streamline and automate sales processes, and keep your customer contacts in one place as well as manage leads.
• Zoho: Zoho allows you to manage workflows and campaigns and use analytics to improve the customer's journey, leading to more sales.

5- Graphic Design Software: Graphic design software lets you use images to come up with engaging visual content that can be used to convey a message or sell products or services. The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and people remember around 65% of what they see, as opposed to 10% of what they hear, making visual content a powerful tool to use in marketing.

• Canva: This design software comes with hundreds of templates for everything from flyers to business cards and social media posts. This makes it easy to create compelling visual designs for your company. Canva is easy to use and has a free and paid version.
• GIMP: If you are technically minded, this software is a good, free alternative to design software such as Photoshop. It can be used to design images, and retouch photos and it offers plenty of tutorials if you want to learn about design.
• Visme: This platform has everything you need to create videos, presentations and branded content. Visme has free and paid options.

6- Analytics Software: Analytics software helps you track website performance, audience engagement, and campaign effectiveness. It can also help you identify trends and opportunities for improvement.

• Google Analytics: Google Analytics is the most well-known free analytics software. You cannot do SEO without it. It can be used by SMEs to check and improve the performance of your website and make browsing your website a better experience for customers.
• Hotjar: Hotjar analyses the behaviour of visitors to your site. It uses easy-to-understand heatmaps to give you an overview of how visitors interact with a web page and lets you see what they engage with and what they ignore. It offers free and paid options.
• Simple Analytics: This EU-hosted, privacy-first platform is an alternative to Google Analytics. Simple Analytics lets you analyse page views and traffic but it does not sell data on like most other analytics tools, so is used by Gov.uk for example.

7- Email Marketing Software: Email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with customers and prospects. Email marketing software automates many of the tasks associated with creating and managing campaigns, so you can stay on top of your email marketing efforts.

Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a great email marketing platform that lets you create and send newsletters, emails, and automated campaigns. The platform is easy to use and perfect for small businesses that need to create professional-looking emails.

• Klaviyo: This software has templates for emails and SMS that you can customise so you target the right audience for your product or services. Klaviyo offers free and paid subscriptions.
• Sendinblue: This marketing platform enables you to devise and manage email campaigns, live chat and can create time-sensitive special offers for customers. Sendinblue has free and paid options.

8- PR Software: Press releases are an important tool that SMEs can use to raise brand awareness and build relationships with the media and prospective customers.  PR software allows you to easily create, manage, and distribute professional press releases. It gives you access to thousands of media contacts, making it easy to get your message out.

• JournoLink: JournoLink is a revolutionary press release software for small businesses. This software allows you to quickly and easily write, edit and distribute press releases, helping you to increase brand awareness and get your message heard. It’s easy to use and offers a variety of features including a media database to help you connect with journalists and broadcasters writing about your industry. With its affordable plans, JournoLink makes it possible to get your news out to the world without breaking the bank.
• Meltwater: Meltwater is a comprehensive PR software suite that helps you track media coverage, monitor your online reputation, and analyse the impact of your campaigns. Prices are available on request.
• Roxhill Media: This press release software allows businesses to share press releases with the media and track their performance. Roxhill Media offers a free trial of their software.

These are some of the best 8 low-budget software tools for SMEs. By investing in these tools, businesses can ensure that they stay competitive and reach their goals effectively and efficiently.

If you want to know more, contact JournoLink today