Resources
Below are the resources that I recommend in my online courses. I am an affiliate for some of the resources mentioned below, which means that I may receive a commission if you sign up through my links. This is at no extra cost to you and I only recommend products and services that I personally use or have used.
If you’re looking for a step-by-step tutorial, check out my guide on how to start your website.
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Website Setup and Design
Web Hosting
I've been using Bluehost for multiple websites for years. They are one of the lowest-cost and best providers to start with. Their customer service is also very helpful!
Domain Checker
Trying to decide on a name for your business? Sometimes the name we want is already in use. Use this domain checker tool by Bluehost to see if your domain name is available!
Free Theme: Astra
Astra is a great free theme to start out with. (Pro version not necessary). Use the free Elementor plugin to customize Astra further.
Free Theme: Flash
Flash is another great theme that has a lot of customizations. There is a pro version available but the free version has a lot of customization already.
Paid Theme: Divi
Divi is the most popular and customizable beginner theme on the market. You'll get access to 70+ other themes with purchase.
SEO Tools
Free SEO Plugin
Rank Math is a free plugin that helps you make sure you've got the basics for SEO covered in a nice, easy-to-read, checklist format. A paid version exists but isn't necessary.
Keyword Research
Ubersuggest is a great free tool to start with for basic keyword research. There is both a free (limited to 3 searches per day) and paid version, so time your searches wisely (or switch browsers).
Keywords + Analytics
SurferSEO is a paid tool, but it's worth its weight in gold. It scores your content based on currently ranking content and tells you exactly what to add to improve for SEO.
Images and Content Marketing
Stock Images: My personal favorite place to get stock images is Canva, because I can try out whatever images I need while I am already using Canva to create those images (templates, social media, and more). Most of the photos are only available with the Pro version, but it’s 100% worth the cost (in my opinion). If you don’t want to pay for Canva, the next best place to get stock photos is Pixabay (largest selection). You can then download them and upload them to the free version of Canva.
Multi-Use
Canva is a really awesome tool to create any kind of images and other creatives you can think of: logos, downloadable checklists, social media, thumbnails, etc.
Resizing
Befunky has a lot of different image-editing features, although they are limited with the free version. I mostly just use it to quickly resize my images.
Compression
Optimizilla is my favorite tool for compressing the file size of images before uploading to WordPress. It's also free and you can adjust the compression.
Grammar Check
Grammarly is the best free tool that I've found for checking grammar and punctuation. Make sure to download the browser extension!
Email Marketing
ConvertKit is what I use as my email marketing service and ALSO what I use to create my forms and landing pages (and the examples shown in my classes). They have a free plan that you can start with, although some features are limited. I also use Canva to create and design my lead magnets!
Email Marketing
ConvertKit is the email marketing service I've been using for years (after trying out multiple others). Their platform is simple and easy to use and allows you to focus on what you do best: creating.
Email Marketing
MailChimp is another free alternative to ConvertKit. All free plans will have some limitations but MailChimp is still a pretty good option to start out with if you don't choose ConvertKit.
Scroll Mats
Thrive Themes is your best option for scroll mats, but it's a paid software. I recommend starting with an EM service with forms and landing pages before investing in this software.
Monetization
Amazon Affiliate Program
The Amazon Associates program is one of the best places to start with affiliate marketing. Read program policies first.
Affiliate Marketplace
Sharesale is a great marketplace to look for relevant products and services to recommend to your audience.
Affiliate Marketplace
CJ Affiliate is another comparative marketplace to search for products and services to recommend to your audience.
Site Speed and Performance
You don’t need all of the following plugins as many of them accomplish the same things. I provided several because you may find that some are incompatible with other plugins on your site or that some get you better results than others.Â
I encourage you to try out different ones and check your page speed scores with each of them.
- Optimization and Performance: W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, WP Fastest Cache, or WP Optimize
- Images: WP Smush or Lazy Load