I agree. The number of social Web resources available is overwhelming. It’s hard to know which is best. Below are my picks.
Yes, some of the links are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase from the site I link you to. Even still, I stand behind these recommendations 100% and personally use (or have used) every one of them.
Feel free to get in touch with me questions about these and other social Web resources.
Blogging Platform
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is a top-ranked blogging platform that lets you create a highly customizable website / blog. Set-up is easy. You can download and manually install WordPress. But hold on a sec, it’s included as a free add-on with some web hosting providers (see below) making installation a snap. There are a ton of plug-ins, widgets and tools available to bring personality and functionality to your site. If managing WordPress.org on your own sounds daunting, you can hire a professional to help develop a credible, professional web presence.
WordPress Theme
Genesis
The Genesis theme framework by StudioPress allows you to develop a stylish, SEO-friendly site. Some of our favorite features include: turnkey design templates, security protection, and instant upgrades. Set up is intuitive, but hiring a professional to customize the theme can take your site to the next level. An alternative to Genesis and equally as amazing is the Thesis theme.
Search Engine Optimization
Scribe
Search engine optimization, or SEO, can be perplexing but Scribe lifts the fog by offering you a simple process for creating content that increases targeted traffic, and more important, engages your readers. Scribe takes the guesswork out of SEO in a user-friendly interface that let’s even the least tech-savvy person have confidence in applying SEO best practices to their blog or website.
Webhosting
Bluehost
Affordable. Reliable. Two attributes you should be looking for in any web host provider and Bluehost offers both. I love that I can host multiple domains on a single account. That makes administration of my websites efficient and easy. Bluehost is compatible with the WordPress.org blogging platform, which installs in just a few clicks. If you ever run into any technical issues, Bluehost offers 24/7 US-based support with an average wait time of under 30-seconds — wow!
Email Marketing
MailChimp
I adore MailChimp for its simplicity. But more, I like that the folks at MailChimp make email marketing fun… and effective. It’s an easy-to-use email marketing tool that lets you create and track your custom email campaigns. I appreciate the depth of MailChimp’s reporting and analysis tools too, letting me track reader demographics and habits on social media. All this helps me develop email campaigns that get read and resonate with my audience — thumbs up!
