my fav tools
Resources
to help you improve your website and run your small biz
my fav tools
Resources
to help you improve your website and run your small biz
Here are some of the tools, software and other resources I use, trust and/or recommend. I use these tools and resources to help build all my custom websites, my own site, and to help run my small business!
WORDPRESS PLUGIN
Rank Math
Search Engine Optimization
Rank Math is a Search Engine Optimization plugin for WordPress that makes it easy for anyone to optimize their content with built-in suggestions based on widely-accepted best practices. Easily customize important SEO settings, control which pages are indexable, and how you want your website to appear in search with Structured data.
WORDPRESS PLUGINGravity Forms
Custom application forms & Waivers
The most powerful solution for building custom forms and flows to connect with your users and expand your reach. Create custom web forms to capture leads, collect payments, automate your workflows, and build your business online.
If you use application forms, contact forms and/or waivers for your business, automate that process with Gravity Forms and gain back endless hours in your work day!
BUSINESS TOOLGoogle Workspace
Professional Branded Email
While your hosting account may say that it will offer you “unlimited free email accounts” for your businesses, it is quite dangerous to have your email and website stored in the same place.
If you lose access to your hosting account, you can also lose access to your email. Another major issue that can arise is if your website is hacked, this will also greatly affect your email account if it’s provided by your hosting company. Your website AND your email account will be blacklisted and it will take time and money to get it fixed.
For this reason, I personally have my own business email hosted with Google Workspace and I highly recommend it to all my clients. Google Workspace allows you to sign up for a fully branded email address using your domain (ie. hello@goodcheerdesign.com) and you get access to all the amazing apps that Google has to offer such as Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Meet, Docs, Sheets, etc.
BUSINESS TOOLSiteground
Website Hosting
My website maintenance clients get hosting for free, but if you’re looking to set up your own website hosting account, the best one out there is Siteground. You’ll want to invest in a reputable hosting account that boasts fast site speeds and great security. Sites that are hosted by fast and reliable hosting services will do better in Google Search rankings and your visitors will have a better user experience.
For these reasons, I recommend Siteground Web Hosting to all my clients. I’ve personally been with Siteground for 8 years now and they have amazing customer service
BUSINESS TOOLNamecheap
Domain Registrar
Namecheap is my go-to provider for all my domain name registrations. They offer the cheapest annual rates and make it super easy to access the features you or your web designer will need to connect to your website.
PRO TIP : You should always register and pay for your own domains. Don’t let anyone else do it for you!
BUSINESS TOOLCanva
Graphic Design Software
Make your social media posts beautiful with this must have tool for small business owners. Design anything with thousands of free templates, photos, fonts, and more. Bring your ideas to life with Canva’s drag-and-drop editor. Share designs easily, with a simple click.
BUSINESS TOOLCalendly
Appointment Booking
Calendly allows potential clients or customers to book a meeting or appointment with you based on your availability. This software is a huge time saver! No more back and forth emailing and no need to call and figure out dates and times!
Security & Maintenance
All-In-One Migration
Website Backup Plugin
This plugin will allow you to take full on-demand or scheduled backups of your website. Use this plugin to create a backup before making any changes to your site, so you can easily revert back if anything goes wrong!
Siteground Security
Hide Your Login URL
This plugin will allow you to set a custom URL to login to your website to something easy to remember but difficult for hackers to guess!
Wordfence
Free Security Plugin
Use this plugin to monitor the activity on your website, inform you when updates are needed, prevent unauthorized access and perform malware scans.
Broken Link Checker
Monitor Your Website's Links
Monitor your website for broken links and prevent lost website traffic and a decrease in your SEO ranking.
Image Resizer & Compressor
Optimize your website's photos
Ensure the photos and graphics you’re uploading to your website are the optimal dimensions and smallest file size possible to keep your website running fast (good for SEO!)
Zero Spam
Stop those annoying spam comments
Install this free WordPress plugin to filter out those pesky spam comments on your pages or blog posts and stop those annoying emails you get for every one!
let's work together!
Are you ready to invest in a beautiful website that you'll love showing off? Let me know a bit about you and we'll get this party started!