WEB DESIGN PRODUCTS & SERVICES I USE AND RECOMMEND

I used to use GoDaddy as my domain registrar. They provided me with great service at a great price. But due to the extreme arrogance of their CEO (which I regard as a real danger sign for the company), I transferred all 100 of my domains to NameCheap instead. They aren't quite as hands-on in terms of 24/7 services, etc...but their prices are reasonable and the service is solid.

When I discovered web templates, it truly transformed my web building. I stopped wasting time on something for which I have no skill (visual design), and was able to focus more on the content of the site. My first real foray was with Boxed Art, which was terrific. I think it was less than $50 for a year when I joined. But, by the end of the first year, I had blown thru all the good templates they had (though I hear they've added quite a bit of good stuff since I left). So I was on the hunt for another great membership site, and found Design Load. They had a lot of good stuff, but more importantly, they are always added new templates. I mean...every time I go back, there's more. I do not, however, recommend their sister site, ProCartoonz.net. They never add new templates, and their customer service for the site was weak when called upon, as well. Another very cool resource is CMS Skins at Themestock , which has complete themes all ready to go for whatever content management system you're using, including Wordpress. Pay once, and grab whatever you need during your membership to any of those great sites!

For logo creation and programming , I'm most likely to head over to Elance, GetAFreelancer or Scriptlance and hire someone to do work for me.

One product that has paid for itself many times over is Xara Webstyle. It produces the cleanest web graphics I've ever seen. I love it and use it constantly...especially for buttons and site navigation.

I like to keep tabs on my AdSense income without having to log in to my account manually. AdSenseLog, frankly, is the best thing I've found. I've been using it for a few years now. Unlike a lot of the heavy-duty Adsense Trackers, it doesn't tie up a lot of resources trying to track individual ad units. It runs on your desktop and logs in periodically, downloads your AdSense stats and breaks them down into grids and graphs that can be very helpful in understanding what's working for you and what's not.

Also, I use Dreamweaver for web design. It's a great program with way more power than I need. But its template function (not the same as the above-referenced web templates) has saved me literally thousands of hours over the years. Yes, it's pricey...about $400, I think. But how much is an hour worth, anyway?

Are you looking for a GREAT font for some design you're working on? Then I'd recommend that you check out DaFont.com...it's got a SUPERB font preview feature that really raises its value for me.

In terms of strategy, promotion and SEO...Aaron Wall's SEO Book is also very good. If you're looking for a solid authority on "getting ranked", Aaron is one of the most respected guys around. I also like the work of Rand Fishkin and the folks at SEOmoz very much. It's a blog and SEO service primarily, but they do have some very cool self-help tools for SEO which can make you a rock star for just $50 a month...or something like that! I sometimes use my copy of IBP - Internet Business Promoter for keeping track of my progress in the search engines. And, once upon a time, I didn't understand the first thing about RSS feeds, but when I decided it was time to wade in, RSS Content Builder had me up and running almost immediately. And now I have RSS feeds on most all of my sites. Very convenient.

If you're lookig for good web site ides, niche directories (not general interest...but a collection of resources built around a particular concept or area of interest) can be valuable. I have a few niche directories, and I use the Eyndicat script from Intelliants. It's easy to administer, is skinnable (so you can control the look and feel) and the links are not redirected back thru the site itself (so they count toward the listee's search engine ranking). Nice stuff.

Lastly, I do use a number of products from CoffeeCup Software. Not every day, but every few months when I need to do something a bit out of the ordinary. I own all about two of their products, I think. They are never quite what I hope they'll be...they always lack something in the areas of power, customizability and intuitiveness (psst...I don't think the people who design the products actually use them! <grin>)...but for a lot of jobs, they are amazingly affordable and do a solid job.

It's hard to believe there are many webmasters who'd like to make money with their web sites who haven't signed up for Adsense yet. But if you happen to be one, click on this button to get started!

I get a lot of inquiries from those seeking web design services...and while I've stopped doing sites for others, here are links to some friends who are really good at what they do. I heartily recommend them if they're available when you need them!

I hope you find these recommendations helpful. Thanks for your interest!