Top Website Tools & Resources

In order to build an outstanding website for your business, you need access to the best tools and resources.

But with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones to use.

We’re here to help!

Below is a list we’ve put together of our favorite website tools and resources. We’ll update this list regularly, so bookmark this page and be sure to check back often!

Web Hosting & Domain Name Services

Every web site needs a hosting provider. These are some of our tried-and-true favorites.

• SiteGround* – Provides free domain names, 24/7 technical support, 99.9% uptime and overall, faster and safer websites.

• Bluehost* – Provides cloud sites, shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS and WordPress hosting services.

• Network Solutions* – Purchase domain names, WordPress and other web hosting services.

WordPress Themes

There are numerous WordPress themes available, and we can customize any of them to suit your needs. Check out some of these great resources.

• MOJO Marketplace* – Great source for WordPress themes, plugins and graphics.

• TemplateMonster* – Known for being the largest online template provider.

• Elegant Themes* – Beautiful WordPress themes and plugins available.

• ThemeForest – Thousands of website themes and plugins to choose from.

WordPress Plugins

Plugins improve your WordPress site’s usability by expanding the functionality of your site. These are on our must-have list.

• Updraft Plus – Backup your website with this essential tool and save the files to a remote location such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

• Google Analytics by Yoast – Adds your web statistics directly to your WP dashboard.

• Ninja Forms  – The “Easy and Powerful Forms Builder” which allows you to create beautiful and functional forms for your site. Add-ons are available for even more features and functionality.

• Facebook Like Box – Display your Facebook Like Box for Facebook Page on your website.

• Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator – Create and install a favicon for all platforms.

• Page Builder by SiteOrigin – This handy plugin allows you to drag and drop widgets on your pages for responsive layouts.

• SEO Redirection – Redirect links to pages on your site that have been renamed or no longer exist to avoid the dreaded “404 Page Not Found”.

• Yoast SEO – Optimize your page content, meta descriptions, image titles and more.

• IP Geo Block  – Block hack attempts to admin area of your site. Eliminate brute force attacks by blocking IPs or even whole countries.

• iThemes Security  – Secure and protect your site from hackers and brute force attacks.

• Sassy Social Share – Some themes come with social media widgets installed but you may not like how they look. This plugin is a great alternative.

• WP Google Fonts – Easily add Google fonts to your WordPress site.

Social Media & SEO Tools

If you’re not marketing your website on social media, it’s time to get started!

• Guide to Social Media Image Sizes  – You’ll want to bookmark Sprout Social’s “Always Up-To-Date” guide to keep up to speed with the latest image sizes for social headers, posts and profiles.

• Hootsuite  – Save time by managing up to three social media profiles from one spot – for FREE! Upgrade to Pro version to manage even more.

• Feedly – Get a feed of recent articles from the sources and topics of your choosing.

• Bitly  – Shorten links for social media posts and get stats on click-throughs.

• Sniply  – Attach a call to action on every link you share on social media. There’s even a dashboard that helps you manage your snips and see how they perform.

• Hemingway Editor – Get your writing analyzed in real-time to eliminate grammatical errors.

• Tagboard – Search on a hashtag and get a collection of recent posts on social media.

• Social Mention – Enter a topic to get an analysis of how that search term is performing across social media – in real-time. And it’s free!

• Headline Analyzer – This free tool will analyze your blog or article headline and give you suggestions on improving it for the search engines.

• Google Alerts – Get a notification any time Google finds results on a topic that you are interested in.

• Google Keyword Planner – Get keyword ideas to help plan your site’s SEO.

• Google Trends – Find out about the latest trending topics on the web.

• Share Link Generator – Create social media share links for Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Email.

Photos, Illustrations & Videos

These are great options that won’t bend your budget – some are even free!

• Shutterstock* – Get access to millions of high-quality images.

• PhotoDune* – Royalty-free stock images starting at $1.

• GraphicRiver – Royalty-free illustrations, icons, etc. starting at $1.

• VideoHive – Royalty-free video files from $4.

• PikWizard – Featuring over 100,000 completely free stock photo images.

• picjumbo – “Totally free photos for your commercial & personal works”

• Pixabay – Get access to over 520,000 free images and videos that you can use anywhere.

• Death to the Stock Photo – Free and beautiful stock photos for commercial use on your site, social media or other projects. Sign up and get a new zipped file of images every month!

• Unsplash – Free high-resolution photos to use wherever you want. 10 new photos posted every 10 days.

• Gratisography – Free high-resolution photos for use on commercial and personal projects. New photos added every week.

• StockSnap.io – Beautiful and free high resolution photos – all free from copyright restrictions.

Design & Print Tools

Get your website and print pieces looking great with these tools and templates.

• Adobe Color Wheel – This interactive tool helps you pick complimentary colors for your website.

• Canva – Create your own infographics for free, just by signing up.

• FireShot – This free Chrome browser extension allows you to get a screen capture of all or part of any webpage at the click of a button.

• GraphicRiver – Royalty-free print and website templates.

• Google Fonts –  Test drive Google fonts, which you can implement on your site.

• MOO for Business* – Print next-day business cards or get templates for brochures, business cards, etc.

• StockLayouts* – Download graphic design templates for brochures, business cards, newsletters, flyers and more.

Tech Tools

• Bing Webmaster Tools – Drive more visitors to your site via the Bing search engine.

• Check IP – Find your IP address and easily look up another person’s IP address and geographical location.

• Dropbox – Secure online storage tool which makes sharing large files with your customers a breeze.

• Internet Archive: Wayback Machine –  Look up archived versions of a website. This amazing and free tool will come in handy for before and after screen grabs of your site!

• Google Search Console –  Submit your sitemap file here to get your site listed quicker in Google.

• Google Analytics – Get comprehensive and free web stats for your website.

• Google Mobile-Friendly Test – Want to see if a website is responsive/mobile-friendly? Check it here.

• Google Webmaster Tools – Get the data, tools and diagnostics you need to make your site rank well with the search engines.

• Favicon Generator – Create a favicon for your site here or check to see how your favicon appears in different browsers and platforms.

• XML-Sitemaps – Quickly create a sitemap of your site which will list all your published pages. The XML file can be imported into Excel and used to document your site.

Written by: Laura Swords

Laura Swords is the founder of SwordsNet Designs, which provides web and graphic design solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. With over 20 years of corporate experience in both the IT and marketing arenas, she possesses the unique combination of technical and creative skills.