Recommended Resources
Written by mbpage on July 7, 2008
I have put together this section because I still see too many people trying to fathom out what tools to use to build BANS stores and which provide the best value. Some are no brainers but you can spend a lot of money and time. As I find tools/services that combine service, value and functionality I list them here for you to check out. Nothing unique in that you might say but I will add that I do use any tool listed below personally. And better still, some of my recommended resources are even Free!
Domains
I buy all my domains from GoDaddy. I’m not sure why I chose them originally (probably a recommendation) to be honest but they are a lot cheaper than purchasing via the UK. Would I recommend them then? Well yes, because they have given me great service. Domains go live within a few minutes of purchase and it is a simple process to point the DNS to the HostGator nameservers. A hassle free operation.
Oh, and a couple of words of advice always do a search for GoDaddy discount codes before making a purchase OYH3 works great for .com domain.
Web Hosting
My favorite web hosting service is without doubt HostGator. There plans start from as little as $4.95 per month but my recommendation is that you go with a $24.95 Reseller Account or if that’s too rich the $7.95 BabyCroc.
Why Reseller? Well without getting too technical a Reseller Account offers greater flexibility and protection. The protection comes by way of each of your domains being a separate account versus one account with the BabyCroc. This means if an account gets suspended for whatever reason you only lose one domain versus all of them. Imagine how much money you could lose if you account was suspended for a week!
I like - Cpanel interface, automation of Wordpress installs, great support team, unlimited domains, SQL databases and email addresses. The best value I’ve ever seen from a hosting company.
I don’t like - not much really. My main gripe is that the monthly costs are calculated assuming you pay annually so in reality the BabyCroc is closer to $10 per month. But don’t let that put you off as HostGator offer a superb service.
Remember if you go for the HostGator service to buy .com or .net domains for targetting the US and regional domains if you are targeting a sepecific country e.g. co.uk or Google won’t index your site properly.
Site Management Tools
Without a doubt my most favorite application in the whole wide world is Roboform. Once you have used it I defy you to give it up. In essence it is a password manager but it is actually so much more than that. Roboform ensures you never forget a password again and is very secure. What’s more you can buy a portable version which sits on a USB key which you can plug into any machine allowing you to access your secure sites from anywhere in the world quickly and simply.
The application installs a toolbar in IE or Firefox from which all passwords are managed. The user manual is great and there are also some excellent videos on Youtube to help you get even more from an outstanding application.
You can try it for free but don’t muck about this is a top top piece of software. Get Roboform, Roboform2go and Goodsync. The three will set you back $70.00. You honestly won’t regret it. I reckon it saves me at least an hour a day and it is without doubt the best $70 I have ever spent.
Coming Soon
Niche Research
Keyword Research
Article Submission
Directory Submission
Link Building
SEO Tools
Web 2.0 Tools
Tags: automation, password manager, recommended resources, roboform
