What’s included in this module:

• Mp3 audios – interviews with guest experts.
  • Shannon on re-branding
  • Rubina on social media and website traffic
  • Chrissy Das on copywriting for your website
• Resources guide (so it’s all in one place)
• Website setup and design checklist
• anything else that comes up in the future (videos, audios, pdfs)

 

 

You can watch the videos on this page, or if you want to see them in a larger screen format, you can choose to watch them on YouTube instead.

 

I have set up a Website in a Week (WIAW) playlist, so you can click here to watch them on autoplay on YouTube.

 

 

 

 

Resources and Tools Guide

 

 

Domain registrars and web hosting:

 

Bluehost.com (affiliate link)**

http://www.bluehost.com/track/brightsparkmedia

 

http://Getflywheel.com (managed hosting)

 

http://WPengine.com (managed hosting)

 

http://LiquidWeb.com(managed hosting)

 

http://Godaddy.com (use for domains only, not hosting)

 

Check the Whois database for any domain

http://Whois.net
Tech terms and more info on hosting and domains

http://techterms.com/definition/webhost

 

http://webhosting.about.com/od/Web-Hosting-Basics/g/Glossary-Of-Web-Terms-Related-To-Hosting.htm

 

 

Website themes and programs:

 

 

Elegant themes Divi theme “live demos” – shows examples of different pre-made layouts and elements you can use in your website

http://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/

 

Elegant themes Divi tutorial videos – (you must be logged in to access this section) > Divi Theme > Readme then choose your topic… or just click the link

http://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/readme.html

 

 

WordPress.com – you’ll need to set up an account (don’t confuse the free blogging site WordPress.com with your own self-hosted website at WordPress.org) to connect Jetpack to add useful widgets and site stats to your website

http://WordPress.com

 

 

 

Password manager tools to remember all of your login information under one key password

 

Last Pass

https://lastpass.com/

 

One Password

https://agilebits.com/onepassword

 

Keychain (Apple’s password management system)

http://www.umkc.edu/is/support/services/macintosh/keychain.asp

 

 

 

Plugins and added functionality:

 

Updraft Plus – free WordPress plugin for backing up your website, as well as a one-click restore and ability to clone/migrate your entire website (files and web design) to another location. (You will need to set up Dropbox or use your Google Drive or Amazon S3 account to store website backups from Updraft Plus.)

https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/

 

Dropbox** – free online storage in the cloud. Recommended for your website backups, and useful for saving your work to access from anywhere, or for large photo files for downloading and sharing.

https://db.tt/oRTxsUAy

 

Wordfence – free WordPress plugin for website security and monitoring.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/

 

WordPress SEO by Yoast – free WordPress plugin that helps write blog posts or web page content with a better chance of ranking well in an online search such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. Includes web page/post analysis and suggestions for your focus keywords and shows a search preview snippet.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/

 

Magic Action Box – free and paid version. Easy to use plugin that lets you design custom opt-in boxes (lead capture forms) that you can put on your home page, sidebar widgets, or at the beginning or end of a blog post. (You’ll need a Mailchimp or another email marketing service to connect to Magic Action Box and direct subscribers to your email list).

https://wordpress.org/plugins/magic-action-box/

 

Mailchimp** – email marketing (newsletters), list-building and auto-response emails. Free version is good to start building your email list, but I recommend the upgrade ($10 or so per month) so you can set up an automatically generated email series that will save you a heap of time, as well as your regular newsletters. You’ll need Mailchimp or another email service for your Magic Action Box plugin.

http://tiny.cc/getmailchimp

 

 

Tutorial and setup videos for the plugins in this module:

 

• Updraft Plus (website backup with one-click restore) – setup is covered in the plugins video in this module
• WordFence (website security and monitoring) http://website-superhero.com/2014/01/21/free-plugin-secure-your-wordpress-site/
• Yoast SEO (write better content on your posts and pages to help you get found in a Google search) https://yoast.com/wordpress-seo-tutorial-videos/
• Magic Action Box (opt-in form to collect emails and grow your list) http://www.magicactionbox.com/quick-start-guide/
• WP Editorial Calendar (to organize your posts visually in a drag-and-drop calendar format, instead of as a list which is the default for WordPress) Tutorial video at top: https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/

 

 

 

Graphics and editing tools:

 

 

Canva – easily create custom graphics with the free image editor. Includes size templates for popular social networks and other uses (presentations, note cards), stock photos ($1 each), design layouts with fonts and colours.

http://Canva.com

 

My free PowerPoint templates to download

http://socialmediamarketingkelowna.com/free-fb-templates-bright

 

I created the PowerPoint templates to accompany the Facebook Graphics with PowerPoint webinar tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMd-5oG1IPM

 

PicMonkey (another image editing tool for adding text and creating collages)

http://pickmonkey.com

 

Pixlr Express (my favourite smartphone app for image editing and adding text)

http://apps.pixlr.com/express/

There is also a desktop version

https://pixlr.com/web

 

 

 

Optin box and popup optin options

 

Mailchimp** – easy to use email service with simple, user-friendly interface. There is a free version (good to just get started building your email list) but I recommend you invest in the $15/month option to add an auto-response email system that will save you a lot of time and build credibility and trust with your community. Even in the free version you can customize your signup form, add it to your website (easy with Divi theme) and send newsletters, either instantly or pre-scheduled.

tiny.cc/getmailchimp

 

 

Magic Action Box (free version is fine) Customizable opt-in boxes to add to various locations on your website.

 https://wordpress.org/plugins/magic-action-box/screenshots/

 

 

LeadPages – more than just easy templates for opt-in boxes and squeeze pages (inlcluding LeadBoxes), they also have thank you pages, webinar pages, lead magnet storage and delivery and more. Starts at $37/month.

http://tiny.cc/getleadpages

 

 

Mailmunch – popup to collect emails. You can set up a delay, and only have it shown to new visitors to your website.

http://www.mailmunch.co/

 

 

 

 

Copywriting help for your website pages

 

Your “About Me” page (free):

 

• Creative Rebel Guide to Attracting a Client-Attracting About Page, by Kimberly Houston
  • http://kimberlydhouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Creative-Rebel-Guide-to-Writing-a-Client-Attracting-About-Page.pdf
• The Great “I AM” Worksheet, by Alexandra Franzen
  • http://www.alexandrafranzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-great-I-AM-worksheet.pdf

 

Brandgasm Copy and Design online course ($197)

http://www.brandgasm101.com/

 

 

 

Branding and colour inspiration

 

Fun colour selection for branding with Design Seeds swatches

http://design-seeds.com/

 

Colour scheme picker

http://www.sessions.edu/color-calculator

 

 

 

Free stock photography (images to use on your website, blog and social media – check for attribution requirements for using free images)

 

http://freedigitalphotos.net/

 

http://www.sxc.hu/

 

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-photos

 

http://gratisography.com/

 

http://pixabay.com/

 

http://picjumbo.com/

 

http://photopin.com/

 

http://join.deathtothestockphoto.com/ (monthly free photos)

 

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

 

Keyword research and organic SEO – a whole series of blog posts by Yoast that will help you get better rankings in an online search such as Google, and help you use the Yoast SEO plugin.

 

These 4 are especially useful for “SEO newbies”

 

https://yoast.com/branding-keyword-strategy/

 

https://yoast.com/keyword-research-basis/

 

https://yoast.com/focus-on-long-tail-keywords/

 

https://yoast.com/focus-keyword/

 

SEO checklist for your blog post or page:

http://dan-nolan.com/15-point-quick-seo-audit/

 

If you want to know what “no index, no follow” means to Google search and SEO, explained in simple terms (you’ll need this to make a secret page for your opt-in freebies and for example, the course content for WIAW)

http://dan-nolan.com/what-is-noindex/

 

Using heading tags (H1, H2, etc) for SEO and for better blog post readability for humans.

http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/headers/

 

 

 

 

** Note: If you purchase through this link, I will get a referral commission. I only recommend products and tools I use myself, and you do not pay more for using this link.