As a website designer and developer, there are many tools I use to assist in the design and management of a WordPress website. Here are the ones I use most often and that I consider part of my toolkit. Some links found in this post will have affiliate links embedded, which means if you decide to click on and purchase services from those links I receive a small commission.
Hosting
A good hosting provider can make or break your website. It can affect speed, downtime, and compatibility issues so having a quality hosting provider is key. I use Siteground and have done for some time, their service for me has always been stellar and the tools that come with a hosting plan are well thought out and easy to use. All the sites I create and or manage are on Siteground it gives me peace of mind to know that the back end of the site is taken care of. Siteground also creates back-ups on the server, (I recommend you have an external backup site from your server as well) has free SSL certificates, and setting up a staging site is a breeze. Whenever I have had to troubleshoot anything, their customer service has been amazing. Check out Siteground here and all they have to offer.
WordPress Themes
My go-to WordPress theme is Divi by Elegant Themes. I love Divi because you can create ANY type of website with the Divi Theme, create different layouts and create your own themes purely for Divi and WordPress. I have used Elegant Themes for most of the time I have been using WordPress and their themes have always been quality products. There are SO many available themes to WP users that some aren’t always kept up to date or are compatible with other plugins or tested to the full capacity, with Divi, I know I am getting a premium product, with quality code and updates and features that are needed in today’s web design world. Check out Elegant Themes here and enjoy taking a look around.
Social Media Manager and Scheduler
I have used several social media managers and schedulers over the years, but my go-to is Later.com. Although other apps and managers do pretty much the same thing, I prefer the user interface of Later to the rest, in my opinion, it’s more intuitive and easier to use and I love the hashtag recommendations it gives and the ability to schedule Instagram reels and stories. This year, I am posting all my content a month in advance and adding spontaneous posts along the way. Here is the link to Later.com to take a look.
Email Marketing
As you know, it’s important to start an email list, and creating a lead magnet is a great way to capture those email addresses. I have some workshops throughout the year on “What’s a Lead Magnet and Why You Need One” check them out! I use ConverKit as my email marketing provider, for me, it’s the user interface that solidifies the use, if it’s easy to use and intuitive then I add it to my toolkit. Again, most email marketing providers have pretty much the same bells and whistles some have more and some have less, it’s down to personal preference and what is important to you! Check out ConvertKit here, they have a free account also to help you get started.
Chrome Extensions and Website Tools
I use Google Chrome as my go-to website browser, I LOVE the developer tools and the extensions that you can add to the browser for a great workflow. I sometimes have to find out information on the fly such as hosting provider info and domain registrar info and play detective, especially if I have to re-create a website (which I have had to do) or find the domain registrar for the client as they don’t know or don’t have that information from a previous website designer or developer.
Here are the Chrome extensions I use frequently:
- Color Picker: To sample a color on a webpage and generate a HEX code for it
- CSS Peeper: A CSS viewer
- Go Full Page Screen Capture: To capture screens in full-page view
- Grammarly: Corrects grammar and gives hints to help with writing text
- Loom: For tutorials and video introductions. You need a Loom account for the extension to work
- What Font?: Helps find out what font is on a website page by hovering over the text
Here are the website tools I use frequently:
- Website Grader: From Hubspot, gives insights on the speed and performance of a website
- BuiltWith: Enter a website and it shows you what the site was built with
- GTMetrix: Another website performance insight website
- WhoIs: To find domain registrar information
Let me know the tools and websites that you use in your business. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions that I can help answer. Post a comment below or, shoot me an email at: sam@nolencreative.com, and let’s talk tech!
