Resources

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Recommended Resources

These are the tools that I use in my business and for building client websites.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links.

Web Hosting

• Hostgator: This is where most of my sites are hosted. They have 1-click easy WordPress installation that means you can be up and running in a very short time. I’m also a big fan of their classic c-panel admin area – it will save you time and your developer’s time, too. I have wasted too much time trying to figure out how to make my way around custom proprietary systems, so when I see c-panel I am relieved. Hostgator has great customer service, too, and great pricing – you can have a website built with WordPress starting at $4.95 a month
• Bluehost: Bluehost has a friendly back-end that also features 1-click automatic WordPress installation. Popular, with excellent customer service. A great choice for beginners

Building Websites and Blogs

I use WordPress for building most sites now. With WordPress you get an excellent website with a blog.

• WordPress: Probably one of the most popular open source software. Makes incredible websites – like this one.
• Woo Themes: Beautiful premium WordPress themes with an easy-to-use admin area.
• Studiopress and Genesis Framework: Excellently coded, superior customer service, up-to-date themes for WordPress

Keyword Research

• Market Samurai: An excellent tool for keyword research. It can also help you see the top competitors in your niche. Not cheap, but worth the price.
• Google Adwords Tool: This is Google’s free tool that helps you find the popularity of certain keywords and the price for buying Adwords.

Email Marketing and Creating an Email List

• Aweber: This is one of the most popular email marketing list building tools. It makes managing your subscriptions super easy, and also allows you to send out auto-responders.
• Feedburner: This Google tool is free, and if you can get passed the unhelpful tagline “burn your feed,” you will find that FeedBurner is a very a cool service that allows you to deliver your posts  to subscribers via email. Once very handy is that you can also export the email addresses that have subscribed. It’s a nice double opt-in service.

Contracts

• Freenetlaw: Provides these free templates under a creative commons agreement: Privacy statement, Website terms and conditions, Website disclaimer, Copyright notice, Cookies policy, Anti-spam policy, Linking policy, Medical disclaimer, Legal disclaimer. Do check with your own province or state though – every jurisdiction has its own particular rules.