Developing a WordPress website is a daunting task. You need to take care of several aspects, starting with a domain name, a logo, themes, plugins, and the list is endless. If you are a first-time developer, it’s most likely that you’ll be caught in this whirlpool of tutorials with good information, but the chances are that you may not find everything (all that you are looking for) under one YouTube video. Sometimes, these tools are hidden as they come in passing in most of these videos.
For instance, to create my blog, I had to refer to 7-8 YouTube videos, and finally, I got what I was looking for. So, much further ado, here are a few resources that saved my day.
1. GT Metrix
What does GTmetrix do? For starters, it tells you how fast does your website or WordPress site loads.
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), speed is critical, and lower speeds can cost you vital SEO points; this is where GTmetrix comes in. This tool has a suite of features and options to make your web optimization woes go away. And, it’s pretty easy to use. The interface and UX are clean, and all you need to do is sign up, and you are done.
Apart from telling you what’s wrong and what can be improved, GTmetrix provides you with actionable recommendations. Once you run (or test) your website on GTmetrix, you get an intuitive summary card.
The summary card broadly shows two assessments:
1. Your grade (A, B, or C – it’s some GTmetrix evaluation)
2. Web Vitals (parameters that indicate whether your website is fast and delivers an uninterrupted and stable user experience).
The higher the grade, the better. To sum up, you score an A here; your WordPress site (or website) is a bang for the buck.
2. LeanDomainSearch
Lean Domain Search is a search engine for domain names. The site is completely free. All you need is a word that you are looking to register, and that’s all to it.
The site is around 95% accurate meaning, the domain names that Lean Domain displays only 5% may be registered by someone else. The best part about Lean Domain is its results page. You get to see a screenful of available domains in an instant.
For my WordPress blog, Lean Domain found 1048 available ‘.com’ domains containing “Review” in 1.357 seconds. Now that’s a time saver.
3. Namecheckr.com
Namecheckr goes one step further than Lean Domain. It not only gives you available domain names but also gives you possible social media username combinations as well – and that too for more than 50 odd social handles. If you need a one-stop domain and social media availability checker for your WordPress blog or website, look no further.
4. LogoMkr
You have a domain name, and you know what your website or WordPress blog will be.
But now it’s time for some branding to get those eyeballs. Of course, I would recommend Fiverr for a quick, no-frills job, but if you have a little design experience, then LogoMkr is the just site for you. And as the name suggests, you can create your logo in minutes.
You do not need to be an expert on Photoshop to use LogoMakr; its intuitive interface helps create a professional logo in minutes. They have hundreds of fonts and icons to choose from, making your design journey a breeze. There is a paid version, but the low-resolution image downloads are free.
5. Imagecompressr.com and tinyjpg.com
Imagecompressr is one of my favorite tools for image compression. Tinyjpg.com is also a good option for image compression, but the Imagecompressor works best for me.
The image compressor uses lossy compression techniques to shrink JPEG and PNG images to the minimum possible size.
‘Lossy Compression’ is a compression technique wherein the image can’t be restored to its original form, i.e., it can’t be decompressed. This concept is different from Lossless Compression, where no quality is lost, but the resultant file compression may not be that significant.
You can upload up to 20 images at a time. Once the compression is done, you could control the compression level by changing the slider.
6. TinyJPG.com
TinyJPG.com does the same thing as Imagecompressor.com. All uploaded images are analyzed, and the best compression algorithm is chosen to give the right compression without sacrificing quality.
The interface is clean and intuitive. Just upload and let TinyJPG do the rest. There is also a page analyzer hidden in the footer of TinyJPG, which is pretty nifty. The page analyzer gives you some quick insights into your site performance. For starters, it tells you how much you can save by compressing images. You can upload 20 images in a single shot, with image sizes being 5 MB each.
If you are an advanced user, TinyJPG offers a developer API that is once you hook up your web server, you could compress images on the fly. TinyJPG enjoys strong community support.
7. Iwriter
Imagine this. You set up your WordPress blog or website, and you need to scale. Well, there’s help on the way. Check-in to Iwriter to take care of your writing woes. This is a paid service. Custom content is their forte. Iwriter’s portfolio includes article writing, rewrites, blog posts, product descriptions, to name a few.
Their prices are as low as US$ 1.40 for 150 words. There are five plans to choose from – Standard, Premium, Elite, and Elite Plus.
8. Zen Habits
Zen Habits is an uncopyrighted blog by Leo Babauta. I believe he has a great story to tell. If you need some awesome content for your blog, Zen Habits is perhaps one of the best places to look for. Leo’s blog and all his ebooks are uncopyrighted since January of 2007. Meaning he put them in the public domain and released my copyright on all these works. You can learn more about Leo’s incredible journey here. Inspirational, to say the least!
9. Flippa
Flippa is a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. It’s a global online marketplace where individuals and business owners can buy or sell digital real estate. It can be a blog, eCommerce store, an affiliate site, etc.
There are several categories to choose from. I would only recommend this route if you are serious about running an online business and you want to scale up quickly.
In acquisitions like this, you’ll need to be sure about the due diligence and terms of service.
10. Google Search Kit
It’s an absolute gem of a plugin from Google to manage a slew of Google product installations.
This plugin is easy to set up, and it only takes a few clicks. Once your services are integrated, Site Kit enables easy access to metrics from inside your WordPress dashboard.
11.Wp-Optimize
WP-Optimize is a revolutionary, all-in-one WordPress performance plugin that cleans your WordPress database, compresses your images, and caches your site. The advantage of WP-Optimize is that it does most of the tasks related to performance in a single click with little or no prior setup. For instance, a single click removes all unnecessary data and compacts database tables in a click.
The other features like caching (i.e., a temporary data store that enables faster page loading times) and minification (i.e., minimizing code on a web page) make WP-Optimize a seamless must-have WordPress performance plugin.
So, there you have it, the list of word press plugins and resources to make your online journey comfortable.
Please read the terms and conditions of each of these sites or plugins before you subscribe or use their service.
Remember, the devil is always in the details!
Thank you for reading!
Also, read Setup An Awesome WordPress Blog in 8 hrs.!