Resources: Tools for Building Your Online Empire

We’re asked every week about the best tools and resources to use for blogging, email marketing, search optimization and more, so I decided to put this list together.

If you have a special situation or still aren’t sure about what tool to use, feel free to write us at support@thinktraffic.net and we’re happy to help out.

Note: I have used all the resources listed below and have had a great experience with each, but your experience may vary. Some links below are affiliate links, which means we’ll earn a commission if you purchase that particular tool or service. If you do, I thank you for supporting us and this site. Cheers.

Our Flagship 13-Week Blogging Course

How to Start A Blog That Matters: Hundreds of millions of blogs are online today. Thousands more are started every day. Anyone can create a blog in 5 minutes, but very few people will create blogs that matter.

What’s the difference between most blogs and the select few that attract huge followings?

That’s a question I started asking myself long before I started my first blog. Since then, I’ve started three popular blogs, and I’ve helped friends and clients attract huge audiences with blogs.

I’ve also seen plenty of bloggers work incredibly hard on something that never takes off.

By studying these differences and through the work I’ve been doing for the past three years, I’ve developed a repeatable formula for building successful blogs. I have also used the formula to help clients launch or grow blogs that attract from 10,000 to 100,000+ visitors per month (including Live Your Legend, Man Vs. Debt, Primer Magazine and The Possibility of Today).

I created this course because I believe in the ability of blogs to change the lives of the people who start them and the readers who follow them. I have seen blogs change the lives of many of my closest friends.

I would love to also help you start a blog that matters.

If you think you have the creativity and dedication it takes to create a blog that matters, you should consider joining us in this course.

Here’s everything you get in the course for just $97:

• 13 weekly lessons
• 13 weekly step-by-step action plans
• Over 8 hours of video
• Direct access to ask me questions anytime
• Discounted web hosting and recommended tools
• A 60-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee (we want you to be 110% satisfied)
• 4 very special bonus lessons

Blogging

WordPress: there are lots of blogging platforms out there, but only one valid choice in my opinion. That’s WordPress, and all my sites run on it. WordPress has the greatest variety of themes, plugins and services of any blogging platform. Best of all, WordPress is open source and free.

I’m talking about the self-hosted version of WordPress, not the hosted wordpress.com version. That means the software runs on your servers (like at HostGator, see below) and you’re in complete control over how you use it, and what to install. Most importantly, you’re in control of your data instead of some other bigger entity who can change the rules at any time.

Website / Blog Hosting

HostGator: I’ve used half a dozen or more web hosts over the years and have plenty of stories about server nightmares. Bottom line: after crazy problems last year (with other hosting services costing as much as $200/month), I finally migrated Think Traffic and all my other sites to a $19/month HostGator account and have had zero problems since. My sites even load twice as fast as they did before, and HostGator’s customers service has been impeccable.

HostGator has packages starting as low as $4. Enter the coupon code “thinktraffic” to save 25% off any HostGator plan.

Web Analytics

Google Analytics: you’ll want to track the visitors coming to your site, so you can measure your growth and figure out where people are coming from. Google Analytics is a solid free choice that I use and recommend.

Clicky: if you want more tracking options and real-time data, Clicky is my go-to solution. Clicky has a fantastic interface and the ability to make your data public (we use this in the Million Dollar Blog Project). On some of my sites, I actually use Clicky and Google Analytics so I can compare the data. Clicky has a free version that works for most people.

WordPress Themes and Plugins

WooThemes: all around, Woo is my favorite WordPress themes solution. They have tons of options, a solid and easy-to-use interface, and a design style that just works. I always advise beginners and those without programming skills to choose WooThemes. Several of my sites, including CorbettBarr.com and Expert Enough run on WooThemes. Some themes are free, and some cost a reasonable price considering what you get.

Thesis: for more adventurous beginners or people with some development experience, I recommend going with Thesis. Thesis has superior search engine optimization options and it’s optimized to load fast. I use Thesis at Think Traffic because it’s the perfect platform when you want to develop your own unique design instead of going with something pre-packaged.

Backup Buddy: trust me, you don’t want to learn the hard way about how important it is to backup your site. Way too many people skip this step, and it usually ends with disastrous consequences. I’ve tried at least five other solutions, but find BackupBuddy to be the easiest and most reliable complete backup solution. I opted for the developer’s license and now use it on all my sites.

W3 Total Cache: when your site gets more popular a caching plugin can help make sure it loads quickly for all those visitors. W3 Total Cache is the best plugin caching option for WordPress, and it’s free.

Pretty Link: I use this plugin to track affiliate links and make them look good (like thinktraffic.net/link instead of http://blahsite.com/blah/blahdieblah.php?12345).

(Note: I use several other plugins for various purposes on different sites. If you have questions about which plugin to use for a certain situation, feel free to write us with your question.)

Social Media

TweetDeck: when you have multiple Twitter accounts and want to keep track of everything in one place, TweetDeck is a great option. I use the TweetDeck app for Google Chrome and keep it open in a pinned tab. (this application is now owned by Twitter)

HootSuite: this is another option for managing multiple accounts, including Facebook. I like to use HootSuite on my iPhone.

Buffer: one of the best ways to grow a Twitter following is to tweet often. The problem is you either have to be on Twitter all day, or your tweets all go out in clusters when you’re there. Buffer solves this problem by helping you schedule tweets throughout the day. We use this every day to keep our Twitter account for Expert Enough topped up and it’s growing quickly already.

Email Marketing

AWeber: 90% of my email lists are now powered by AWeber. I switched from MailChimp to AWeber earlier this year because of several features on AWeber I leveraged that helped me triple my email subscription rate. Sign up for a $1 first month trial of AWeber.

MailChimp: MailChimp is another good choice for email service provider. I used it myself for a couple of years with no problems. MailChimp’s interface is especially easy to use, and they have a free starter plan, which makes it a great choice for beginners. Just be careful because MailChimp prohibits any affiliate marketing as part of their terms of service.

SEO / Keyword Research

Keyword Strategy: my friend Fraser Cain created this tool with a team of talented developers modeled on the exact strategy he uses to attract 80,000 visitors per day from the search engines.

Market Samurai: the most popular keyword research tool holds that title for a reason: it’s easy to use and effective. I recently switched to using this from another popular tool that has suffered in quality recently. Market Samurai runs on the Mac (yay!) and you can get a 35% discount by signing up for the free trial here.

Google Keyword Tool: the original basic keyword research tool. Google’s tool works well for basic queries. If you’re on a tight budget, you can get a lot done with this tool, but it lacks the speed and efficiency of Keyword Strategy or Market Samurai (above).

Shopping Carts / Merchant Accounts

e-Junkie: as a shopping cart for basic ebook sales and even simple membership sites, e-junkie is a fantastic choice. It’s inexpensive and simple, and we use it for several products we sell.

1ShoppingCart: for more complicated sales and affiliate tracking, we use 1ShoppingCart (like for Traffic School).

PayPal: believe it or not, I know one blogger who runs a multi-million dollar business with no shopping cart, no merchant account or anything else, besides PayPal. You can collect credit cards, create “buy now” buttons, create recurring payments and more just with PayPal. It’s probably the simplest and quickest way to start accepting credit cards and getting paid online.

Google Checkout: another option I use sometimes instead of or in addition to PayPal to accept credit cards.

(Note: I wish I could recommend a full merchant account solution besides PayPal and Google Checkout, but I’m honestly searching for one now myself. My last experience with a merchant account wasn’t great, so choose carefully.)

Other Productivity / Misc. Tools

Call Recorder for Skype: I use this to record all the Skype interviews I do here and elsewhere. It’s easy to set up, solid and inexpensive.

ScreenFlow: I use this for recording my screen while delivering webinars and presentations. It’s how I developed Traffic School, The Hustle Project and other classes and presentations we’ve done. ScreenFlow is one of the most important tools I use on a regular basis.

Coda: an indispensable and all-in-one tool on the Mac for accessing your servers over FTP and SSH. If you don’t know what those things are, don’t worry, it’s geeky stuff you may not need

Website Optimization

Google Website Optimizer: a free tool for optimizing conversions on your website. You can set up simple a/b tests or multivariate tests by inserting a little script on your website.

Optimizely: if you’re willing to pay for optimization, this tool is far more comprehensive and much easier to use than Google Website Optimizer.

(Note: for email and sign-up form optimization, AWeber has built-in split testing)

Guides and Courses

Learning from experienced entrepreneurs can save you a lot of time and help you make breakthroughs in your business. I’ve purchased dozens of ebooks and courses over the years to help me learn the skills I need to build a successful online business. Here are a few key guides and courses we recommend.

Zero to Facebook: we’re implementing the advice in this guide about leveraging Facebook to grow your audience for our new site Expert Enough. A friend used this guide word for word to build a Facebook fan page that now has over 30,000 fans in just a few months.

LinkedInfluence: Lewis Howes built a list of 40,000 qualified buyers using LinkedIn groups and combines that with live webinars to drive impressively high conversion rates. Find out exactly how he does it in this guide to LinkedIn.

(Note: we also have a full set of classes available from Think Traffic to help you build a thriving and profitable online audience. They’re 100% results guaranteed.)