There are so many tools, platforms and services out there to help you build your website that it is hard to know which ones will actually save you time, money and stress. I am going to take out all of the guesswork and give you a peek behind the curtain. I use these following 9 business tools to make the website creation process easier and more effective. Steal one or all and get ready to make your site rock.
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1. Website creation platform: Wix.
This is definitely not the only website creation platform out there. Many people use Squarespace or WordPress and are happy with their choice, but Wix is the platform I found success on. Wix offers five plans, and the middle one, the Unlimited Plan, is the one I use. It costs $12.50 per month with an annual plan.
By creating my company’s website on Wix, I reduced costs associated to web design by 80%. It is beginner friendly due to its drag-and-drop editor, affordability and ease of use. Wix has a number of templates that you can select based on your industry and personalize to suit your needs. The best part is that everything is customizable so you can update your website anytime, anywhere. Wix even handles hosting for you. No matter how much experience you have with creating websites, the result will look as good as if a professional had done it.
2. Purchase a domain: GoDaddy.
I am the kind of person who likes to keep her eggs in different baskets. Even though Wix offers a free domain for the first year with an annual plan, it is easy to purchase a domain somewhere else and add it to Wix. For me, that ‘somewhere else’ is GoDaddy, though you can use Namecheap or Bluehost instead. I chose GoDaddy since its platform is easy to navigate and its customer support is great.
One thing I enjoy is that it offers its domains for a low price that does not include other add-on features, such as an e-mail provider and privacy options. This way, pricing is transparent and you only pay for what you need. I have already purchased three domains with GoDaddy, and will continue using their services in the years to come.
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3. Schedule e-mails in advance: MailChimp or ConvertKit.
To be completely honest, I use MailChimp in one of my businesses and ConvertKit in another. Why not the same? MailChimp is great for those who are just starting out since the first 2000 subscribers are free. The newsletters are customizable with a drag-and-drop editor, and so I use this e-mail marketing provider to send a weekly broadcast with promotions or blog posts.
ConvertKit, on the other hand, charges you $29 / month for the first 1000 subscribers, but it is great for sending out automated e-mail sequences, as well as for other automation capabilities, and for tagging subscribers. I use ConvertKit for my online business Yes To Tech, and even launched the free five-day e-mail course ‘Create Your Own Website’ with it.
Which one is best for you? It depends on your budget and needs. If you have the money, I’d go with ConvertKit since it is scalable down the road. If you start off with MailChimp, I doubt you will still be using it in five years to come.
4. Design graphics: Canva.
Canva is great for all different kinds of graphics you need to create, from workbooks to social media posts. Use it to make graphics that look professional, without using or having to learn complicated software like Photoshop and Illustrator. Canva as a whole is free, and if you decide to go with a premium template or image, you only pay $1 for each.
The pre-set design you choose is perfectly sized to fit your needs (for instance, a Pinterest graphic is exactly 735px x 1102px), and you can choose from a number of pre-made templates made by professional designers. The fonts, layout and colors all match, but you can easily customize the chosen template with your preferred text, icons, backgrounds, as well as with myriad other features.
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5. Edit images: Pixlr Editor.
This is a free Photoshop alternative, and includes most of the functionalities that the paid version offers, from paint tools to image design, right from your browser. Out of all the tools in this list, Pixlr is the least beginner-friendly, but there are a number of YouTube tutorials that explain how to use it. I use it for simple purposes, such as to resize images or to save them in .png format to make the background transparent.
You can create an account with Pixlr, but it is not necessary; you can literally just jump in and start creating. I recommend opening an account if you want to save the images you create in .psd format, to be able to edit them again in the future.
6. Coding for beginners: Dash - General Assembly.
With Wix, you do not need to know how to code, but it is important to know the basics so you can edit HTML or CSS if the need arises. For instance, knowing HTML will help you embed a MailChimp e-mail opt-in form on your website, and be able to customize it so it blends in with the look and feel of your website as a whole.
Dash is a free online course that teaches you step-by-step how to code by completing fun and entertaining projects in your own browser. All the tech jargon that scares beginners off is removed. In the end, you will be able to create a blog or website from scratch with pure code, but going through the first steps is enough to gain the knowledge you need.
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7. Creating quizzes, polls and giveaways: Interact Quiz Builder.
Build your e-mail list FAST with this builder. This software is hands down the easiest way to build a quiz, poll or giveaway online, even if you have never done so before. It integrates with numerous platforms, such as Mailchimp and ConvertKit, and allows you to set up your very first quiz, poll or giveaway, in a matter of minutes.
With their user-friendly platform, you can (and should) go behind the scenes and give your best shot at being a successful BuzzFeed writer for your business. Your quiz can be created from the ground up, or you can choose and personalize one of their tried-and-tested quizzes. The best part is that, if you select one of Interact Quiz Builder’s premium plans, you can hide the result of the quiz behind a lead capture form, which compels the quiz-taker to opt-in to your e-mail list to get their result.
Although I could use Wix to create sales and webinar pages, I like using LeadPages instead. LeadPages is a page builder that has easily-customizable, pre-designed templates especially designed to convert. Just like Wix, they are all drag-and-drop and mobile-responsive, and include different features depending on the industry you are in.
One of my favorite features of LeadPages is the countdown timers. Once the timer reaches zero, you can either hide or show particular sections on your page, or redirect it to a different page entirely. This is useful when you are working with myriad sales pages at different price points, or want to send your visitors to a different URL once a webinar is over.
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9. Schedule social media posts on an evergreen cycle: Viraltag
If you’re worried that Viraltag is just like any other social media scheduling tool out there, let me debunk that myth right now with some proven facts: on average, Viraltag users see 4 times the amount of engagement on everything they share. They also see a tremendous growth in their number of followers: 25% each month that they’re actively using the platform to be exact. Still not convinced? Click here to read my Viraltag review.
I partnered with Viraltag, and the best part is that they're not only offering you a 14-day FREE trial, so you can test out the tool and all of its features before you make an investment (which, in my opinion, is well worth it), but also $15 OFF Viraltag if you sign up using my unique link. Get ready to increase your traffic by 200% with a tool that's 30% cheaper than others out there in the market (how's that for more proven stats?)!
You now have all the resources you need to create a professional-looking, all-star online biz without stress or overwhelm! If you want to have all of these tools on hand for future reference, click here or fill out the form below to download the FREE cheat sheet.
Get the FREE CHEAT SHEET with the 9 absolute best tools to run your online business instantly:
Your turn now. Have you been using any of these tools already, or do you use a different tool that I did not mention above? I’d love to hear what you have to say - just leave a comment below! Before you leave, remember to download the FREE cheat sheet with the 9 brilliant tools to run your online biz!
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on one of the links, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me maintain this website and consistently bring you great, free content like this.
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