No matter where you are in your business, there are great tools that can automate key marketing activities and save you dozens of hours of frustration and a lot of money. The trick is knowing the right ones to use at the right stage so that you don’t end up with a stack of expensive, unused software that collects digital dust.
To do this, I’ve carefully chosen very specific services, software and tools you’ll need.
I’ve extensively tested them on real-life projects.
Here are my whole-hearted, battle-tested recommendations.
Many of these are affiliate links, which means you get a discount and I get a commission, it’s a win-win.
01
DOMAIN
It all starts with the name. Once you decide on how you want to name your website, you are ready to register a domain. To diversify risks, I make sure to use different companies for domain management and hosting. I’ve been working with NameCheap, Inc. for many years. It’s an ICANN-accredited registrar that offers affordable prices and free domain privacy protection for life. If you already have a domain but your company charges you for privacy protection, I’d recommend transferring your domain over to NameCheap.
This site is registered with NameCheap
02
CMS
The most popular CMS (Content Management System) in the world is called WordPress, it powers over a third of all the websites on the planet. It’s a free open source software you can use to create beautiful websites.
This site is powered by WordPress
03
HOSTING
I’ve got good news for ya: you don’t need to download WordPress on their official site and then upload it to your hosting, it’s already included with SiteGround. If you’ve noticed while browsing through their site, WordPress has 3 official hosting recommendations. I’ve tried them all, SiteGround is by far the fastest. It’s a feature-rich hosting with premium support at an affordable price. Engineered for speed, built for security. Perfect for anyone dipping toes into the world on online business. This is the best value-for-money budget hosting crafted specifically for WordPress.
For several years, while growing, this site was hosted on SiteGround
04
THEME
Astra is one of the most popular themes available in the official WordPress directory. Developed by Brainstorm Force – a company that’s been operating for over 10 years – it is fast and light-weight, and one of the first featured items you’ll see when you start your theme search. I use the pro version but if you are just starting out and have a limited budget, the free version would do. It works like charm with Elementor (see recommendation №5 below) and comes with a library of built-for-you websites that you can deploy with 1 click. It’s likely that you are going to want to upgrade to the premium when you start selling stuff on your site with WooCommerce or if you want to have access to an extended library of pre-built websites.
This site is built with Astra Pro
05
PAGE BUILDER
The times when you needed to know how to code in order to build a beautiful website are long gone. Today you can do it with a drag-n-drop tool called page builder. Elementor is the world’s leading page builder with over 4 million active installs. It’s incredibly pretty, endlessly customizable and highly intuitive. If you have a limited budget and can only invest in one thing, Elementor Pro would be it. There’s no better page builder for WordPress.
This site is build with Elementor Pro
06
SSL
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. It’s needed to ensure that the sensitive data of your website’s visitors is transferred over a secure network. It also boosts your Google rankings and increases the trust and credibility factor by ensuring your site is displayed with a security padlock in the address bar of the browser. If you don’t use SSL, Google Chrome (by far, the most popular browser in the world) shows the “Not Secure” message which stops visitors and buyers dead in their tracks. So, if you want your site to generate money, having an SSL is a must. Really Simple SSL plugin makes the configuration very easy, with no setup required. You only need an SSL certificate, and this plugin will do the rest.
This site utilizes Really Simple SSL
07
This WordPress plugin works as a one-stop solution and is essential for tracking analytics and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It lets you easily connect your site to essential Google products like Search Console, Analytics, Tag Manager, PageSpeed Insights etc. You no longer need to log into these services separately, all of the info will be available right at your fingertips in the backend dashboard of your website.
This site utilizes Site Kit by Google
08
DESIGN
Canva is a web-based platform that lets you create beautiful presentations and social media graphics. It features a design tool with simple drag-and-drop functionality and professional layouts. It’s got a vast library of templates and design elements such as fonts, illustrations, stock photography, video, and the power to include content from the web such as Giphy and Google Maps. You can create truly eye-catching images without any graphic design experience. It’s a great design tool for beginners.
This site utilizes Canva for its design needs
01
EMAL MARKETING
ActiveCampaign is not just your standard email service provider. It’s a powerful cloud-based automation platform that helps businesses meaningfully engage with their customers through email marketing, automation, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). It allows you to build newsletters, send triggered campaigns, and create targeted personalized messages. The campaign builder and a full template library let you design beautiful emails with just a few clicks, getting the right emails to the right people. ActiveCampaign is one of the best investments you can make into your business. It really hits on all the capabilities you’d want as an online entrepreneur, and it does so at an affordable price point.
This site uses ActiveCampaign for marketing automation and CRM
02
HOSTING
If you’ve mastered the basics of the online presence (including domain management, hosting, email configurations, security, backups, and restores) then I’d highly recommend moving your sites from a shared SiteGround hosting to a managed cloud hosting platform like Cloudways. It provides unmatched speed which is key for user experience and Google rankings. Make sure you’re comfortable figuring many things out on your own because you won’t get immediate access to a phone rep who’ll take care of every issue for you. I personally contacted support via chat twice over the past year and both times had a pleasant experience. If you want to create a thriving online business having a fast website is a must.
This site is hosted on Cloudways
01
EMAL MARKETING
ActiveCampaign is not just your standard email service provider. It’s a powerful cloud-based automation platform that helps businesses meaningfully engage with their customers through email marketing, automation, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). It allows you to build newsletters, send triggered campaigns, and create targeted personalized messages. The campaign builder and a full template library let you design beautiful emails with just a few clicks, getting the right emails to the right people. ActiveCampaign is one of the best investments you can make into your business. It really hits on all the capabilities you’d want as an online entrepreneur, and it does so at an affordable price point.
This site uses ActiveCampaign for marketing automation and CRM
02
HOSTING
If you’ve mastered the basics of the online presence (including domain management, hosting, email configurations, security, backups, and restores) then I’d highly recommend moving your sites from a shared SiteGround hosting to a managed cloud hosting platform like Cloudways. It provides unmatched speed which is key for user experience and Google rankings. Make sure you’re comfortable figuring many things out on your own because you won’t get immediate access to a phone rep who’ll take care of every issue for you. I personally contacted support via chat twice over the past year and both times had a pleasant experience. If you want to create a thriving online business having a fast website is a must.
This site is hosted on Cloudways