The following resources are ones that I have personally used. Some are free/some paid, but all are chosen based upon a balance of best value for the price. For some paid solutions, I may earn a commission on referrals, which help keep this site up and running. However, I only promote software and services that I personally support and have had previous successes with. Providing value to you is my #1 priority.
Web hosting:
Blue Host: Super affordable unlimited hosting. Lets you host unlimited websites off one unlimited hosting account. This is what the New Media Marketing Mix blog is hosted on. Great support.
www.bluehost.com
Dot Easy: Another really affordable hosting option with unlimited hosting. Great support from these guys as well.
www.doteasy.com
Social media:
Hoot Suite: Social media management, post scheduling and analytics.
www.hootsuite.com
Search engine optimization (SEO):
Google Keyword Planner Tool: Get an idea of search volume and competition for keywords for free. There’s a lot of other paid software solutions out there that provide more information and make it much easier to find what you’re looking for in way less time and effort, but I personally don’t have much experience with any. I’m not an SEO expert by any means.
https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home
Web design & development:
Adobe Kuler: One of the cooler free tools out there for perfect color schemes every time. Mix a color or enter a hex code and the tool will calculate the colors that perfectly compliment it. I’ve used this tool for everything from choosing the perfect gradients for my call to action buttons to corporate branding. I can’t tell you how much better my button shading/highlights/etc. have become since I started using the “shades” option on this tool. It can help you take an “OK” color scheme to perfectly refined.
https://kuler.adobe.com/create/color-wheel
Genesis WordPress theme framework: Very affordable top WordPress framework. The great thing about Genesis is that once you buy it, you get unlimited updates and support for life and can use it on as many websites as you like! Lots of great templates and child themes. Great for SEO. The New Media Marketing Mix site is built on the Genesis framework.
www.studiopress.com
Thesis WordPress theme framework: Another one of the top WordPress frameworks. Tons of great child theme options. Great for SEO. A little more pricey.
http://diythemes.com
Foundation framework: A great easy starting point for any custom responsive website. My personal favorite front-end framework. And it’s free.
http://foundation.zurb.com/
Bootstrap framework: Another great starting point for custom responsive websites. Also free.
http://getbootstrap.com/
Imagery:
Shutterstock: Good variety of stock images and photography with decent pricing. I’ve used this one quite a bit.
www.shutterstock.com
iStockphoto: Another good stock imagery site. I’ve heard some designers claim that this one has higher quality imagery, but it’s debatable. A little more pricey.
www.istockphoto.com
Flickr Creative Commons: Some Flickr users allow you to use their images for free, but you have to pay attention to the licensing. Not the most efficient or professional solution, but it’s free.
www.flickr.com/creativecommons
Ico Converter: Free online service for converting images into the “.ico” format used for favicons, the small square images that display in your browser tabs/address bars.
http://www.icoconverter.com/
Conversion rate optimization / User experience (UX):
Visual Website Optimizer: One of the better A/B, split and multivariate testing softwares out there. Pretty easy to use. Also has heat mapping. Competitive pricing.
http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com
Clicktale: Decent heat mapping and analytics software.
www.clicktale.com
Google Analytics: Great, free website analytics. The industry standard.
www.google.com/analytics
Google Analytics Content Experiments: Google has their own free version of testing software, which is now part of Google analytics.
www.google.com/analytics
Userlytics: Usability testing.
www.userlytics.com
My personal consulting service: I do some conversion rate optimization consulting on the side. If you’re interested in having an assessment or audit and want to discuss rates, shoot me an email by completing the form over at persuasivedesigner.com.
www.persuasivedesigner.com