Here’s my list of resources and recommended companies, websites, blogs, etc. that cover a variety of topics. These topics can include but not be limited to web development, digital marketing, startups, software and more. Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links if they’re available.
Development and Design Tools
- Adobe Dreamweaver – All-in-one software for web designers and developers
- Developer Checklist – Checklist for integrating your app or website into Google search.
- Favicon Generator – Lets you convert an image to .ico format for website favicons.
- FileZilla – Free open source and cross-platform FTP solution that is easy to use.
- Google CID Finder – Free tool that finds the Google CID Number for every business.
- Host Tracker – Website monitoring and uptime checker tool.
- HTML Encoder/Decoder – Converts HTML code to its corresponding HTML entities.
- Max CDN – Content delivery network provider that makes your website/app load faster.
- SEO Cheat Sheet – Checklist for developers on implementing SEO best practices.
- SPDYCheck – Verifies if a website properly supports SPDY protocol and other factors.
- Structured Data Testing Tool – Google’s free tool that validates your Schema.org code.
- W3C Markup Validator – Official HTML and markup validation tool created by the W3C.
- Web Capture – Free website tool that allows you to save screenshots of full website pages.
Development and Design Websites
- AMP Project – Open source code to create very fast mobile-friendly website pages.
- CSS-Tricks – Website and blog with tons of CSS tips, tricks and techniques.
- Google Webmaster Blog – Official news on crawling, indexing and updates from Google.
- Schema.org – Structured data vocabulary that allows websites to appear in rich snippets.
- Smashing Magazine – Industry blog for professional web designers and developers.
- Structured Data Types – Reference for all data types included in Google’s rich snippets.
- UX Myths – Covers and explains the most frequent UX misconceptions and myths.
- W3Schools – Online web development tutorials, tools and resources for developers.
- Webmaster World – Latest industry news and discussion for developers.
Digital Marketing Tools
- Ambassador – Affiliate marketing and referral software for businesses and brands.
- ConvertKit – Very powerful email marketing software with industry-leading features.
- Copyscape – Plagiarism and duplicate content detection tool.
- Instapage – My favorite landing page and conversion software.
- Link Explorer – Backlink research tool that lets you identify link metrics.
- Moz Local – A great low-cost alternative to Yext, distributes local business data.
- Moz Pro – Unique set of inbound marketing and SEO tracking and reporting tools.
- Raven Tools – Online marketing tools, research and reporting software.
- Screaming Frog – Crawling tool that allows you to identify key SEO elements of a website.
- SEMrush – Probably the most powerful and comprehensive SEO software out there.
- SpyFu – Lets you spy on your competitors’ PPC and SEO campaigns.
- Yext – Enables local businesses to manage and distribute their business data across the web.
Digital Marketing Websites
- Backlinko – Link building and SEO blog with great case-studies and industry tips.
- Blumenthals Blog – Covers the latest local search and Google My Business updates.
- Moz Blog – SEO and inbound marketing blog that covers the latest insights and research.
- Search Engine Land – Covers the latest search engine news and in-depth industry analysis.
- Search Engine Roundtable – Covers the latest search engine updates and news.
- The SEM Post – Search engine marketing news from industry experts.
- VideoFruit – Email marketing blog that covers the latest techniques to drive conversions.
Hiring/Contracting Resources
- 99designs – Premium graphic design contest-style service for a range of graphics.
- Craigslist – I know what you’re thinking but there’s always diamonds in the rough.
- Fiverr – Great place to find some low-cost/high-quality service providers.
- Upwork – Hire freelancers in a wide range of industries.
Hosting
- Amazon Web Services – Cloud and VPS hosting powered by Amazon.
- BigCommerce – Reliable and customizable ecommerce hosting platform.
- Bluehost – Inexpensive and popular shared hosting, endorsed by WordPress.
- Godaddy – Low cost and easy to setup hosting service.
- Godaddy WordPress – Fast and cost-effective hosting for WordPress sites.
- Lightsail – VPS hosting by Amazon, great for content management systems.
- Rainmaker Platform – Complete publishing and hosting platform by Copyblogger.
- Shopify – Low-cost ecommerce platform that’s great for starting an online store.
- Synthesis – Extremely fast and secure WordPress hosting with SEO tools.
- WPEngine – Managed WordPress hosting with superior speed and security.
WordPress Plugins
- Akismet – Free and paid plugin that blocks over 99% of all comment spam.
- Bloom – Email opt-in plugin that connects with most major ESP’s and allows custom code.
- EWWW Image Optimizer – Reduces the size of your images in order to increase pagespeed.
- Instagram Feed WD – Turns your Instagram feed into a nicely designed image gallery.
- Login reCAPTCHA – Adds a Google reCAPTCHA checkbox to your WordPress login.
- Monarch – Elegantly designed social media sharing plugin that’s highly customizable.
- Velvet Blues Update URLs – Lets you instantly change URLs across your site.
- WP-Optimize – Allows you to automatically clean and optimize your website’s databases.
- WP Smush – Fantastic free/paid image compressor, resizer and “smusher”.
- Yoast SEO – The best free and premium SEO plugin available on WordPress.
WordPress Themes
- Elegant Themes – Beautifully designed and low-cost WordPress theme library.
- Genesis Framework – Very powerful framework to build child themes for WordPress.
- StudioPress – Premium WordPress themes that are optimized for speed and SEO.
- ThemeForest – Large collection of themes created by third-party developers.