The one place online you own and control is your website, making its importance obvious. It’s your home base, where people can go to learn more about you and your business.
Top 7 tools and resources for your website
But let’s be real: creating a website isn’t easy. All the options, platforms, plugin’s, and development that goes into a website can be overwhelming, to say the least.
These tools and resources are ones that have helped us effectively manage an ever-growing website without going crazy. Of course, we can’t do it all alone, so I’ve included some incredible recommended services for those of you looking for the more “done for you” approach!
WordPress for publishing your site
I talk about the reasons why we use and love WordPress in Season 3, Episode 4 as it relates to content creation, so you can check out that post and episode out for more details.
Simply put, WordPress is the strongest leader in the website publishing space when it comes to building your website on a platform you can do just about anything with. But this is definitely not to say it’s the only option, and there are probably better options out there for you depending on your specific needs.
Let’s take a look at some of those options…
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Squarespace: Set your website apart; drag and drop your way to a beautiful website! (past sponsors of EOFire)
Shopify: For all you eCommerce lovers out there – running an online store can be tough; with Shopify, you’ve got everything you need to showcase your products, plus a backend that can handle payments and reports. (affiliate link)
You can check out TheFreedomJournal.com, which is built on WordPress, with a shop supported by Shopify behind it.
Bluehost for hosting your site
Disclaimer: we will receive a commission if you use our Bluehost affiliate link
How I use Bluehost
EOFire started out as a website hosted on Bluehost, and I’ve also personally used Bluehost for my own website in the past. I’ve always had a great experience with the on-boarding process and ongoing support. We are a Bluehost affiliate, so if you use our link we will receive a commission.
Why I love Bluehost
I love Bluehost because it’s super affordable and it’s simple. You can start hosting your website for just $2.95 / month using EOFire’s affiliate link.
*Note: When choosing your host, it’s a great time to ask questions and figure out what options are available for you to add a backup tool and potentially a security tool to your website. These options typically can be built in with your hosting cost.
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WPEngine: WPEngine is what we currently use to host EOFire.com. If you use our affiliate link, we will earn a commission.
The reason we switched from BlueHost is because the support level and bandwidth we’re currently running on required more than what Bluehost could offer for the price point.
WPEngine offers a 60-day free trial, then plans start at $30 / month.
GoDaddy: I use GoDaddy to purchase the actual domain I want, and if I’m not going to be actively using the site, I will “park” it with them.
They also offer hosting packages that are very reasonable – starting at $3.99 / month – and in my experience, their support is always reachable and really great.
Thrive Leads for opt in pop up
How I use Thrive Leads
When you visit EOFire.com, you might get served a pop up opt in offer – something like “Enter your email below to learn the 11 Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs”.
When this post was originally published, that pop up was supported and run through Thrive Leads.
Feb 4, 2019: We are currently using SUMO for the pop ups on our site (the switch was made purely because our current developer prefers SUMO over Thrive Leads).
Why I love Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads is an easy-to-use WordPress plugin that helps you a/b test and customize the pop ups on your website. You have control over everything – including where your pop ups show up, and when they show up.
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Optin Monster: We used Optin Monster for over a year here at EOFire, and we loved it. We switched to Thrive Leads simply to check out a new platform. Both are great! Optin Monster starts at $49 / year.
SumoMe: The tools and apps available through SumoMe go way beyond just your website’s pop up box. Each individual tool is separate and is on a different pricing structure. Feb 4, 2019: this is currently what we’re using for our pop ups on EOFire.com! Learn more at sumome.com.
Disqus for comments
How I use Disqus
Disqus is the Wordpress plugin we use for engagement and comments on the blog – for free!
Why I love Disqus
Disqus helps keep spam off our blog and it gives us a direct connection to our audience.
Being able to request and receive feedback on specific blog posts is incredibly helpful when it comes to understanding what type of content helps our audience the most. Plus, it’s a great way for us to engage with our audience one-on-one!
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When it comes to commenting plugins it’s really about your personal preference and how you want it to look visually. If you’re trying to decide which one to use, check out each of the sites below and see how each one looks. They’re all great tools and provide similar functions.
Easy Social Share Buttons
How I use Easy Social Share Buttons
Easy Social Share Buttons give us the ability to have social sharing icons on our blog posts and podcast episodes so that our audience can share our content on social media.
Why I love Easy Social Share Buttons
You can download Easy Social Share for $19 and install it on your WordPress site, and it will allow you to customize how you want your social share buttons to show up.
Giving your audience the opportunity to share your content on social media will help you get the word out, and who doesn’t need a little help getting the word out?
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There are so many different options for social media share buttons that I could list dozens here; the one that comes up on WordPress with high ratings and that’s free is MashShare.
I don’t know too much about this plugin, but from the feedback and updates they’ve made recently, it looks like a great tool.
Redirection for quick links
How I use Redirection
Redirection is the tool we use to be able to create quick (or short) links on our website.
For example, when John says “visit FreePodcastCourse.com”, you will be redirected to our Free Podcast Course on EOFire.com. Likewise, when I say visit EOFire.com/episode45, you’ll notice when you visit that link, it directs you to a different URL.
Why I love Redirection
Creating quick links helps you create strong and easy-to-follow calls to action for any page or post on your website. It even helps you create easy-to-follow links for affiliates (like FreePodcastCourse.com) or for other web pages / resources outside of your own domain that you want to share. Plus, it’s free!
You can check out this function on your WordPress dashboard under Tools > Redirection.
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Pretty Link Pro: Pretty Link is what we initially used for our quick links here at EOFire, but we quickly realized (around episode 300) that it wasn’t designed to support hundreds and hundreds of quick links.
Pretty Link is a great tool, and it’s just $49 to download and install.
Yoast SEO for SEO
I talk about Yoast SEO in detail in Season 3, Episode 4 as it relates to content creation, and that’s really the gist of how we use this tool and why it’s so great.
Recommended resources
Sometimes I really wish I knew the in’s and out’s of WordPress, CSS coding, themes, plugins, updates, backups… and other times I’m SO grateful that I recognize what my true strengths are (insert: NOT all of these things).
Our true strengths are what have the potential to set us apart, because when we use our true strengths we not only feel amazing ourselves – because we’re kicking butt and taking names – but we also get to step into our zone and that’s when we serve our audience in the best way we know how.
If your strengths aren’t all things websites, then here are some recommended resources to help you along the way.
- Zach Swinehart, web designer and developer
- Anthony Tran, web designer
- Backlinko, free exclusive traffic and SEO tips
Up next in Season 3
We’ve covered A LOT here in Season 3 thus far, and in our next episode we’re going to dive into tools and resources for your social media.
I’m anxious to share the tools and resources we use here at EOFire because they’ve changed the way we were able to first build, and now sustain, a strong online presence.
