Choosing the right marketing tools and WordPress plugins is a bit like doing puzzle.
A 10,000 piece puzzle… only consisting of trees or a cloudy sky 😂
Luckily, there’s some pretty clever people out there that make our lives a lot easier.
They develop awesome software, often with free trials, which gives us the opportunity to try it out before we invest in our hard earned cash.
There’s also a ton of tutorials and reviews of the different tools we can choose from that help us make better decisions.
Since I started building blogs, I’ve narrowed down a fairly comprehensive technology stack.
Here is a list of the business tools I use on a regular basis.
My Own Tool – 100% Free!
Niche Sites
The Niche Site Calculator
I created this niche site calulator for niche site builder, bloggers, and affiliate marketers to help them get an idea of how much traffic they need to hit their income goals.
You can also find out how much revenue your site will make based on your traffic, CTR, commission rate, or RPM for ad monetized sites.
Once you know how much traffic you need to reach your niche site goals, you can use the article calculator to get an idea of how many blog posts you’ll need to publish.
Website Tools
Web Hosting
Cloudways
I started using Cloudways a few years ago and never looked back. It’s easy to use, pack full of features, scalable, and fast. Oh and the support is excellent.
A2Hosting
I used A2Hosting for many years prior to switching to Cloudways. I don’t use them anymore, but still recommend them to newbies who want affordable and reliable web hosting.
Domain Registrar
Namecheap
Namecheap have been my registrar of choice since 2010. What can I say, they have everything I need, don’t use obnoxious marketing tactics, and the support is awesome.
SEO Plugins
LinkWhisper
The best plugin for internal linking your articles. A must have for any niche or authority site owner.
RankMath
The new (ish) SEO plugin on the block. It has more features than other premium plugins. Free is good.
Page Builder
Elementor
I use Elementor to design a fancy home and about page. And I also use it for landing pages because it’s easy to use, connects into other email marketing services, and it’s affordable.
Affiliate Tools
AWWP
Add attractive and high converting Amazon affiliate product info boxes, tables, images, buttons, and so on. It’s also highly customizable, if you know how 😉
TableLabs
Create an Amazon affiliate table in minutes! It also tracks clicks and CTR conversions. I use this in conjunction with AWWP.
AMZ Image
A plugin that pulls in Amazon product images and affiliate link using the API. Essential for niche site builders wanting to save time.
WordPress Themes
GeneratePress
I can’t praise this theme enough. It might be love? Do I need to say more?
Email Marketing
FluentCRM
An email marketing solution as a WordPress plugin. No more expensive services for collecting emails and running email marketing campaigns.
MailerLite
I use to use MailerLite when starting up a new niche site because it has a decent forever free account and the upgrades are reasonable.
Landing Page Tools
Upsell Plugin
I was so excited when I found this plugin. It’s a lightweight funnel building plugin for WordPress. From basic optins to advanced upsells, downsells and order bumps, all without the need for WooCommerce. And you can also use any page builder with it.
Read my full Upsell Plugin review.
FluentForms
Add a basic payment form to your WordPress site. It’s simple and works perfectly with FluentCRM.
Gutenberg
It seems Gutenberg is becoming more like a page builder everyday. It’s no longer impossible to create a decent landing page with the built-in WordPress editor.
Elementor
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Elementor is my go to page builder for building awesome looking landing pages
Learning Management Software
LearnDash
It’s a plugin for delivering online courses and it has everything you could need.
Video Players
Presto Player
A embedable video player that rivals the best video hosting players on the market. If you need a feature, it probably has it or it’s in development. It’s not a hosting platform though, but it integrates perfectly with BunnyNet.
Taking Payments
Upsell Plugin
An excellent choice for digital creators who want an all-in-one funnel builder for WordPress with almost limitless funnel capabilities.
FluentForms
It’s really just a form plugin, but has some features that will turn a form into a landing page. It’s neat and fun to use.
WooCommerce
If you want to sell physical products, use the most used eCommerce solution for WordPress. It’s free and it has an endless amount of extendable plugins on offer.
Contacts Forms and SMTP
FluentForms
I’ev mentioned it a few times and I’ll mention it again here. If you already use it for my other suggestions, you may as well use it for what it’s intended for, a contact form.
FluentSMTP
By the same people who created FluentForms and FluentCRM, is an SMTP plugin to connect to a reliable transaction email provider.
Elastic Email
Elastic Email is a service for sending emails, but Cloudways have a built-in addon that allows you to connect into their API. You can also install the supporting WordPress plugin to see stats of the emails sent.
Business Tools
Professional Email Providers
NameCheap PrivateMail
Need a business email address? Look no further than Private email by Namecheap. Also, if you already use Namecheap for your domain names, then it’s a no brainer.
Zoho Email
Another decent and affordable professional email provider. It’s not as easy to set up as Namecheap though.
Project Management
Google Tasks
I used to use so many different project management tools that it made managing projects a complete nightmare. Now I stick to this one. It ties into Google Calendar and Gmail flawlessly too.
Side note: I connect it up with a 3rd part app called Tasksboard so I can use on in a web browser.
Note Taking Apps
Obsidian
I’m currently in the process of moving my notes from Notion and Roam Research to Obsidian. I love it. It’s sleek and clean and I have it synced to all my devices using Google Drive.
Analytics Tools
Google Analytics
The God Daddy of analytics tools. Why use anything else?
Google Tag Manager
For better and more advanced tracking for your website traffic.
Video Hosting
BunnyNet
A video hosting platform that is cheaper than cheap. As mentioned above, I use it in conjuction with Presto Player to give an awesome video playback experience.
Content and Outsourcing
Royalty Free Images
Pexels
Content creators, bloggers, and niche site builders need stock photos and this is my go to for royalty free images.
Premium Images
PhotoDune
A long time favourite for premium photos.
FreePik
A new favourite with a low cost subscription for premium images.
Writers and Freelancers
Upwork
I used these more in the past for my web development projects.
ContentPit
A great service for reasonable quality articles at a low price. I’ve used them several times in the past and plan on using again in the future.
Logo Design
Fiverr
Want a cheap logo? Use Fiverr! There is bound to be someone there who will do you a great job.
99Designs
I haven’t gotten round to using these yet, but you can look at some of the work produced by the designer. It’s fantastic quality graphic design for moderate pricing.
Graphic Design
Adobe Creative Cloud – Photoshop, Illustrator
The King of graphic design software. If you’re a creative tech genius, then you’re probably already using Photoshop.
Canva
For people who like simplicity when designing graphics for the web. It’s easy and most often free to use.
WordSwag
Create Pinterest pins, Instagram posts or other graphics for social media and blog content, on your mobile device. Yeah, that’s right, this is a mobile app for IOS and Android.
PhotoPea
It’s pretty much a Photoshop clone, looks like photoshop, and has all the same features, except it’s complete free and runs in your web browser.
Screen Recording Software
Screencast-o-Matic
It’s what I use to create my YouTube videos here. It’s great and I don’t have to export the video and edit it a different program because I can do all of that inside the same software that records my screen.
Writing Tools
ProWritingAid
For perfecting your grammour and making your content more readable. It’s cheaper than most others on the market and yet I prefer the user interface and experience.
MarketMuse
I picked up a forever free licence at Sumo as soon as it became available. This impressive piece of AI software pulls in keywords and topics that should be included in your content for an increased chance of randing in the serps.
Conversion.ai
Another Saas product that’s relatively new. This one creates written content on the fly using Artifical Intellegence. It’s quite scary how closely the copy sounds human made. We’re all doomed!
Marketing Tools
Keyword Research
SerpStat
Find keywords and topic ideas and steel keywords from the competition. I have a lifetime licence which is good enough for me, for the time-being.
Keywords Everywhere
It’s a browser extention for finding untapped, long tail keywords. It’s also reasonably priced.
Content Research
BuzzSumo
A great tool for finding viral content so you can create the next ‘Buzz’ in your niche.
Other Helpful Resources
Mind Mapping
XMind
I love creating mind maps for planning out content strategies and seeing where everything would connect together.
Headline Generators
Impact
Sometimes we need a little inspiration for our blog titles and this one is fun to play around with.
Video Intro Creator
VideoBolt
Need a fancy intro for your YouTube channel? This is what I used to create the Coffee Shop Blogger intro a few years ago and I’m still using it today.