This page will list some killer resources, tutorials and trusted 3rd party products – that will benefit anyone looking to get online. I’ve personally used or agree with everything linked below – only the best of the best is listed.
General Information / Get Educated
Effective Web Design: User Experience Bootcamp: Website owners should read this and take it to heart. Understanding these concepts will put you miles ahead of most website owners.
Getting Online Services
In order to get your website online, you will need a place to store your website and a place to register your domain name. I’ve used all of the services listed below and recommend them highly.
Domain Names
NameCheap: Recommended over GoDaddy as the place to register your domain name, cleaner service – less noise.
Entry Level Hosting Providers
PairLite: Great for beginners and low traffic sites.
FusedNetwork: Canadian hosting provider with a solid entry service.
Professional Level Hosting
StormOnDemand: Cloud hosted VPS’s, this is where you go when you want to get serious with your website – fully managed hosting available.
Linode: Another awesome VPS provider, however, these servers are manually managed by you – not for the faint of heart.
Useful Freelance Services
FreshBooks – online invoicing and collection made easy – awesome service.
Pancakeapp – like FreshBooks but self hosted and no monthly fee.
EchoSign – send legal contracts and other documents online for digital signatures – dump the fax!
WordPress
Gravity Forms – the best form builder plugin for WordPress period. Create contact forms or any other type of form you need with drag and drop simplicity.
Scribe – anyone can create a site using solid SEO principals with this plugin.
WordPress SEO – Cover all the basics with this top-notch free SEO plugin for WordPress.
W3TC Cache – create a screaming fast WordPress site by installing this cache plugin to dramatically speed up your site.. for free!
Genesis Theme – this is a great theme for those new to WordPress due to it’s great community, support and stable of child themes.
Thesis Theme – Another great theme for WordPress – huge community and a solid way to become more hands on with your site. A bit more technical then Genesis but a great way to learn some beginner programming and design.