Small Business Website Resources - Part 1

I recently gave a workshop series on Small Business Websites and promised a list of resources that would supplement the presentation. Well, better late than never!

This list will come in three parts, one for each workshop. I’ll release the next two by the end of the week.

Websites 101

Mission Statement and Unique Value Proposition

• Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle - TED talk
• Neil Patel - Your Website and the Importance of a Value Proposition

Web Hosting and Domain Registration

• namecheap
• GoDaddy
• BlueHost

Managed Hosting - WordPress

• Media Temple
• WP Engine
• Kinsta

Content

Protecting your content

• TinEye Reverse Image Search
• How to File a DMCA Takedown Notice

Content planning

• Hubspot - You Need a Privacy Policy in 2019: Here’s How to Start
• FTC guide to Privacy and Security
• Sample Terms and Conditions Template
• Google - Learn About Sitemaps
• Hubspot - How to Develop a Content Strategy: A Start-to-Finish Guide
• Moz - A Content Strategy Template You Can Build On

CDNs (Content Distribution Networks)

• StackPath
• KeyCDN
• Cloudflare
• AWS CloudFront
• Google Cloud CDN

Website Themes and Templates

• ThemeForest
• Mojo Marketplace
• WordPress Themes

Copywriting (creating copy for your site)

• Copywriting 101
• Neil Patel’s Copywriting Resources

Outsourcing content

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• 99designs

Fonts and Typography

• Google Fonts
• Font Squirrel
• Web Typography 101
• Typography in Mobile Web Design
• Free Web Typography Course

Images

• JPEG and PNG optimizer
• Universal image optimizer
• Photoshop Elements - Image editing software
• Adobe Creative Cloud - Checkout Lightroom Classic for simple editing needs.
• GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program - Open source software - free to use, but has a steep learning curve.
• Hubspot - 20 Best Free Stock Photo Sites
• techradar’s - The best free stock photo sites 2019
• Landscape - A tool to resize images specifically for Social Media.
• Placeholder - Generate placeholder images
• placekitten - Placeholder image generation tool - but with KITTENS!
• Canva - Free image and design creation tool - not just for web stuff.

Logos, Icons and Graphics

• Favicon generation tool
• Fontawesome - icon toolkit
• Inkscape - Open source vector graphics editing software

Video hosting, editing and transcoding

• YouTube - Free video hosting, but not always the best choice for businesses
• Vimeo - Secure video hosting for businesses
• Wistia - Another secure video hosting service
• SproutVideo - Yet another secure video hosting service
• kdenlive - Open source video editing software
• Creative Cloud Premiere Rush - Paid video editing software, but not as expensive as Premiere Pro
• HandBrake - Open source video transcoding tool
• Scribie - Video transcription service
• Rev - Another video transcription service

Web forms and workflow automation

• Wufoo - Online web form service
• Google forms - Another online form service - integrates with G Suite
• Zapier - Workflow automation - can be used to collect form data in other applications
• IFTTT - Another workflow automation service

Compliance

• WAVE accessibility tool - scan your site for accessibility issues
• PCI compliance FAQ - Frequently asked questions regarding PCI DSS compliance
• PCI DSS Quick Reference Guide
• Google’s official mobile-friendly test tool
• W3C’s validation tool - 100% validation is rare, but the tool can help pinpoint serious issues.
• SSL verification - Check the certificate installation and configuration of your site.

October 23rd , 2019 by Rance Edwards