“Graham, what do you recommend I use for… ?” I get asked this question pretty regularly.
To answer it once and for all, I have compiled this list of tools and resources I personally use and recommend.
As you can guess, some of these tools are paid, but many are free. If you have a question about any of them, feel free to drop me a line.
Now, onto the list…
The best tools for:
- Brand and website setup
- Analytics
- Conversion
- Commerce
- Presentation
Brand and website setup
Brand
Tailor Brands
Creating a brand is the first critical step in establishing a presence online.
The way your brand is interpreted by prospects will influence the way they trust and recognize your business when considering whether or not to purchase your products and services.
To create a memorable brand, at a low cost, and as quickly as possible, I recommend using Tailor Brands. Tailor Brands is the world’s first AI-powered logo design and branding platform. With their platform, you can create a logo, establish a brand identity, and start sharing branded content on social media in just a few hours. It accelerates the process of launching a memorable business and living out your dreams.
Domain name
The domain name GrahamDavidHolroyd.com is registered with GoDaddy, but I actually do not recommend you register your domain name with them.
It’s not that they are bad. In fact, I’m perfectly happy with them: they are priced right, are easy to use and I have never had an issue with them.
However, when you take my advice and go with the webhost I use and recommend, you will get your domain name for free.
So, why spend more money, if you don’t have to?
Web hosting
Bluehost
I proudly host my website with Bluehost and I couldn’t be happier.
They have been in the web hosting business since, like, forever. So, I know they will not simply disappear and pull the rug from under my feet. Also, they are among the most established web hosts out there, with a robust infrastructure. As a result, my site is lightning fast and I actually don’t remember if it has ever gone down. Plus, whenever I have a question or need help, their support staff are available via email, chat or phone, 24/7.
In short, they are fast, reliable and helpful. What else could I wish for in a web host? Oh, did I mention they also give you a free domain name with your hosting plan?
But, the best thing about Bluehost is… you don’t have to start looking for a new host when your website becomes successful! Their starter plans are super-cheap, but they also offer more advanced hosting plans, which you can switch to seamlessly, without any interruption to your service.
So, you save yourself a ton of frustration associated with finding and moving to a new untested host. And, you can keep focusing on growing your business knowing that your web host can handle all the traffic you throw at it.
By the way, I have a special relationship with Bluehost. So, when you buy via my affiliate link below, you become eligible for a special discount I negotiated for you. It is available only to my visitors.
Get Bluehost with my discount.
Publishing platform
Builderall
As a publishing platform, I use Builderall and I honestly don’t know why you would consider anything else.
It is an open source software and it’s cheap. You can use it to create any kind of website, blog or an app. It has loads of pre-built funnels and website that can be edited to suit any niche. It has a huge community of developers who can answer any question you have. And, it is used by more than 50,000 people and over 1 million websites built.
Here are some of the tools you can use with Builderall:
=======> Get all the Builderall tools today for $1.00
Oh, and Bluehost is already prepped for Builderall with a simple, one-click install.
Analytics
Right after you get your website sorted, you will want to make sure you can measure everything that needs to be measured.
Google Analytics
The must-have tool here is Google Analytics. Not only is it free, but it’s also extremely powerful. I rarely find myself needing more data than Google Analytics can give me.
I use Google Tag Manager to insert the Google Analytics code on my website and recommend you use it, too. This guide is not the right place to go into details on all the advantages of Google Tag Manager, but, trust me, it’s worth using it.
Fortunately, installing Google Tag Manager takes just a couple of hours or less and there are plenty of Google Tag Manager experts on Fiverr willing to help for very little money.
Promotion
AgoraPulse
Promoting my new posts used to be a tedious and time-consuming chore. That is until I found Agorapulse.
With Agorapulse, I can post to all my social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+.
I can also pre-load posts and schedule them to go at the exact time I need. This is especially useful since I’m in the United Kingdom, plus I travel around the world a lot, but most of my readers are in the United States. So, I can schedule my social media posts to go live when most of my target audience is most likely to see them.
I also use their re-schedule feature, which allows me to continually promote my most important content. I use this feature, particularly on Twitter.
The other thing I like about Agorapulse is that it allows me to view all my conversations across all my social media accounts in one place. This way I don’t have to log into individual social networks and look for new notifications or posts.
Finally, Agorapulse also gives me detailed reports on all of my social media activity.
I estimate that this tool easily saves me 10 hours a week. That’s 10 hours I can spend on other, more important things.
Kicksta
Growing an engaged following on Instagram is harder and more time-consuming than ever. Especially given the endless list of spammy tools out there that promise the world and deliver nothing more than a list of fake followers and a banned Instagram account.
Enter Kicksta…
Kicksta is an Instagram growth service that uses genuine interactions with targeted followers to grow a REAL audience. You won’t be faking it with this tool.
Kicksta’s growth methods are simple and organic. All you need to do is describe your ideal follower and Kicksta will find and engage with users who match your specifications.
These interactions increase your brand awareness and organic growth without having to spend hours on Instagram yourself.
Hashtagsforlikes
Another proven method for growing your Instagram following is to use trending hashtags. Hashtagsforlikes detects the most trending hashtags based on a search of your choice and instantly provides analytics, data, and hashtag recommendations that you can use to increase your exposure.
Hashtag searches are free, so you can get started straight away. But by going premium you unlock a suite of powerful hashtag tools to help support your success on Instagram, I highly recommend it.
InVideo
As a publishing business, content creation is at the core of everything we do at Blog.GrahamDavidHolroyd.com.
For years, I relied on static images and written content to proliferate our brand and key messages. But the way people interact with content has changed.
Video is now more important than ever.
Video creation and editing has always been a unique challenge for those that aren’t professional videographers (like me). That was until I discovered InVideo.
InVideo is a video creation tool that provides pre-determined templates, a library of stock video, unique music, and an easy-to-use interface. Anyone can create a professional looking video with this tool in under 5 minutes.
Conversion
Converting all that website traffic into subscribers and buyers is what it’s all about. Therefore, conversion rate optimization is very high on my list of priorities.
There is one main tool I use constantly. In fact, it is integrated into my website.
Mailing Boss
Mailing Boss, which is a an All-In-One Email Capture and Auto-responder! The best thing with Mailing Boss is that it is FREE with Builderall and you can capture and send an UNLIMITED amount of emails and email addresses.
Commerce
Currently, I don’t have my own eCommerce store. Any products I sell, I do via partners’ websites, such as Udemy.
However, I did my own research into eCommerce shopping carts, so I have a pretty good idea of what’s out there.
Builderall ecommerce
Yes, i know… i’ve mentioned Builderall already but that’s the great thing about it…. It pretty much has EVERYTHING you need need to build a business online including an ecommerce website/store
Presentation
I need presentation design pretty much every month. Either, I have a new ebook coming out, or I’m getting ready to speak at an event or record a video. And almost every time, I turn to these folks…
24Slides
Designing a presentation to be engaging and persuasive can be tough. I want my slides to come across as professionally as I can, and that’s why I use 24Slides’ presentation services.
With 24Slides, I simply send the content of my slides via their online platform, and within 24-hours I get back a completely redesigned presentation.
I will provide design guidance like sending them my website, which then allows their designers to get inspiration on the styling. So far, it’s always been great.
For people who have teams producing many slides each month, they have a dedicated team solution, where they’ll train a team of designers in your branding and preferences to be on-call to support you with overnight presentation design, regardless of how many slides you may have.
