Essential Online Business Tools
If you’re just starting out in the world of online business, the sheer volume of information to absorb and tools to test can feel overwhelming—especially before your website even launches.
To simplify your journey, I’ve put together a carefully curated list of tools and services that I’ve personally used and can confidently recommend.
Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you.
Blogging Tools
Hosting Provider
Hostinger
Hostinger is a popular hosting provider known for its affordability and user-friendly features, making it a great choice for beginners. With plans starting as low as $1.99/month, it’s one of the most budget-friendly options available.
Hostinger also offers 24/7 customer support, ensuring help is always available when you need it. Additionally, it includes a free AI website builder, making it easy to create a professional-looking site without any technical skills.
Like Bluehost, Hostinger provides a free domain for the first year and a free SSL certificate, ensuring your website is secure and ready to go. It’s a solid alternative for those starting their online journey!
And you can get an extra 20% discount by clicking this Sign Up Button.
Hosting Provider
Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the top hosting providers for bloggers, particularly if you’re planning to use WordPress. It offers some of the most budget-friendly plans for beginners, with WordPress hosting starting as low as $2.95 per month!
What makes Bluehost stand out is its 24/7 customer support, which is incredibly valuable for anyone new to blogging.
On top of that, even with their most affordable plan, you’ll get a free domain name for the first year and a free SSL certificate (which gives your blog a secure https address). It’s a fantastic option for those just starting out!
Hosting Provider
Bigscoots
When site speed and reliable, professional support become your top priorities, and you’re looking to pay less than what basic plans typically cost, it’s worth exploring Managed WordPress hosting from Bigscoots.
I’ve moved all my websites to their hosting because their support is unmatched, and I can rest easy knowing my sites are in capable hands.
WordPress Premium Themes
Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes is a leading provider of premium WordPress themes and plugins, renowned for its innovative designs and user-friendly tools. With a focus on versatility and creativity, Elegant Themes offers a wide range of beautifully crafted themes, including the popular Divi theme, designed to help you build stunning websites tailored to your specific needs. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, Elegant Themes provides the resources to create visually appealing and highly functional websites with ease.
WordPress site speed improvement
Speedy Site Service
Experience a faster website and achieve green Core Web Vitals – guaranteed! Boost your site’s SEO and conversions with our expert WordPress Speed Optimization Service. Click Improve Site Speed to get $50 OFF today!
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Activecampaign
ActiveCampaign is a powerful email marketing and automation platform that’s perfect for bloggers and businesses alike. One of the features I truly appreciate is its advanced automation capabilities, which allow you to create highly personalized customer journeys based on user behavior.
What makes ActiveCampaign stand out is its versatility—it combines email marketing, CRM, and sales automation into one seamless platform. Their drag-and-drop email builder makes it easy to design stunning emails, and the pre-built templates are both professional and visually appealing. Plus, integrating ActiveCampaign with your WordPress site or other tools is a breeze.
ActiveCampaign offers a free trial to help you explore its features. While it doesn’t have a free plan like ConvertKit, its robust functionality and scalability make it a worthwhile investment for growing your audience and boosting engagement.
Email Marketing
GetResponse
GetResponse is a versatile email marketing platform perfect for bloggers and businesses. I love its automation tools, which let you create personalized email sequences based on subscriber behavior.
What makes GetResponse stand out is its all-in-one features, including landing pages, webinars, and CRM. Their drag-and-drop email editor and professional templates make designing emails a breeze. Plus, it integrates easily with WordPress and other tools.
While it doesn’t have a free plan, GetResponse offers a free trial and affordable pricing, making it a great choice for growing your audience and improving your marketing efforts
Email Marketing
Moosend
Moosend is my go-to email marketing tool right now. If you try their free 30-day trial, you’ll be amazed at how user-friendly and intuitive the platform is.
What sets Moosend apart is its live chat support, unlike many other email providers that only respond via email within 1-2 business days.
The platform offers fantastic email templates, and its reporting and tracking features are straightforward and easy to use. You can also create various types of forms directly within the tool, including pop-ups, inline forms, and landing pages.
Social Media Management
Social Media Scheduling
Tailwind
Tailwind is the officially approved Pinterest scheduler, making it incredibly convenient for scheduling pins in bulk, including those from other users. I also rely on Tailwind to analyze Pinterest analytics. The tool even extends its functionality to Instagram and Facebook scheduling. Plus, it comes with AI credits to help generate pin titles and descriptions effortlessly.
Social Media Scheduling
PinGenerator
Another authorized Pinterest scheduler (using Pinterest’s API), this tool lets you create custom pin templates in any size and generate pin images in bulk. You can schedule pins to multiple boards at once and even use AI-powered features to generate pin titles and descriptions.
It’s more affordable than Tailwind, especially if you manage multiple Pinterest accounts, as it offers unlimited accounts on any plan. However, the tool can be a bit glitchy at times, and customer support tends to be slower compared to other platforms.
Social Media
SortPin (Free Chrome Extension)
Install this free Chrome extension to uncover hidden stats for your competitor’s pins, such as repins, engagements, and more. Use these insights for competitor research and to identify which pins to repin to your boards, especially when setting them up for the first time.
WordPress Plugins
Spam Comments Blocker
Antispam Bee
Antispam Bee effectively blocks spam comments and trackbacks without the need for captchas. It’s completely free, ad-free, and fully compliant with European data privacy standards.
SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Yoast SEO
This plugin helps you maintain SEO (Search Engine Optimization) standards for every post and your blog as a whole. SEO is crucial for your blog’s long-term success, as it ensures your posts rank higher in Google search results for relevant keywords, making it easier for users to find your content.
Social Media Buttons
Grow by Mediavine
I use this plugin to add social media buttons to every post. It’s highly customizable, allowing me to choose where the buttons appear—whether above or below the content, or even manually placed. It’s also the best tool for managing Pinterest save buttons, selecting which images can be pinned, and customizing pin descriptions.
Courses
Search Engine Optimization
Stupid Simple SEO
A comprehensive yet straightforward Google SEO course (hence the name—simple, right?). The creator, Mike, is always available to answer questions in his Facebook group, which is an invaluable resource!
Chatbots
BotBuilders Program (Chatbots)
Chatbots are one of the hottest and most trending tools in online marketing today. This program is created by the very team behind the chatbot builder for ManyChat!
When you join, you’ll feel fully supported—BotBuilders welcomes you as part of their chatbot family! When done right (unlike most chatbots out there), chatbots can significantly boost conversions from your existing traffic and even improve your email open rates. Want to know how? Dive into this Free Chatbot Training to learn the secrets!
Course Promotion
EasyWebinar
The best webinar platform for hosting authentic webinars—whether live, automated, or hybrid. It seamlessly integrates with almost every major email provider, making it a top choice for seamless marketing and engagement.