Included in this page is a list of items I use on the regular. Some of these items are for building websites, some for SEO purposes, some for SEM, some more AAM and some for random other things that help my agency run smoothly.
Full transparency, some of these items are affiliate links. In other words, if you click a link and sign-up, make a purchase, or take some kind of subscripted action, I may (MAY) get a thank-you email with a couple bucks attached.
HOWEVER, the purpose of my putting this list together is NOT to make money off of your choices; rather, I use these tools and resources. Therefore, I find value in them.
If I value them, my thoughts are, perhaps, so too would you… if only you knew about them. #amiright ?
So, IF you want to THANK ME for pointing you to a tool that YOU TOO find worth using, then the ONLY ACTION you need take is to subscribe, purchase, what-have-you after clicking MY LINK. It’s like saying, “Hey, Bisett. Thanks for the tip. Now, let me do YOU a solid!”
So, without further delay, here is an ever-growing list of tools and resources I find incredibly useful.
What is the best WordPress theme available?
Without a doubt, the best publically available WordPress theme out there that is both hyper-performant and FAST is Generate Press.
The Generate Press Premium – theme for WordPress – is worth every penny!
What’s the best plugin for working with WordPress blocks?
The absolute best block-builder plugin is NOT a WYSIWYG. But it is a companion plugin for the Generate Press theme that can also be used independently.
Generate Blocks Pro offers a very light interface that adds incredible versatility to your editor without bloating it with tons of one-dimensional blocks.
What is the best WordPress plugin for SEO?
By far and away, RankMath SEO is the best plugin for this purpose. The free version is highly functional and for smaller sites, may be all you need. It is way better than the other plugin whose name sounds like toast!
RankMath SEO Pro is the winningest of them all! It is So stinking powerful and, relatively speaking, cheap for what it can do for you and your sites.
What plugin helps most with speed and performance?
If you want a magical little plugin and don’t have the backend chops to mess with it, Nitropack is the WordPress plugin for you!
Many in the industry have literally referred to it as the magic plugin! Just saying.
Who provides the best web hosting service for the money?
IMHO, it’s a tight race between SiteGround and WPEngine. What sold it for me, ultimately, was the price point.
SiteGround is the group I use and I’m incredibly happy with them. That is not to say that I haven’t had some teething problems, but in every instance (bar one) their customer service team has come up trumps!
If you need a FAST, reliable, secure, and powerful web hosting service provider for your website, or if you’re like me and you run many clients under one agency account, then SiteGround is the best for the money!
Where do you find the best tools for Digital Marketing?
AppSumo is where I find the bulk of my tools. As they say on their website, AppSumo was created with one idea in mind: the tools you need to grow your business shouldn’t put you out of business.
I’d say this is typically a fair statement.
Some of their apps are, IMHO, extortionate, but they often offer great heavy discounts (particularly around Black Friday, so if you can wait until then, you’d be doing your pocketbook an even bigger favor!)
What is your preferred Automated Marketing System (AMS) and Customer Relationship Management Tool (CRM)?
Without a doubt, SharpSpring is the best CRM and Automated Marketing System available for the money!
The price point is a fraction of its direct competitors but it is JUST as powerful!
I love this tool. If you have any need for a professional fully customizable CRM and or Automated Marketing System, then this is where you should turn!
Honestly, click this link and sign up with SharpSpring, today!
You genuinely will be back to thank me!
Which web hosting service has the highest performance rankings?
While SiteGround does yield excellent results in this arena, arguably, the ‘best’ service is provided by WPEngine!
When building WordPress themes from scratch, where do you start?
I use a ‘rig’ that essentially builds out the bare-bones WP theme and then uses several other programs and extensions (node.js, gulp, PostCSS, composer, …) that facilitate in the compiling and run and crunching all of that code to make it totally-tubular.
It’s free and the team that built it are GENIUSES.
Want to learn more about WPRig, visit their github repository. They also have free online educational materials to help you figure out how to make it fly… sorta!
What code editor do you prefer to build websites with?
I use Visual Studio Code. It’s a free code editor built by Microsoft and it is EXCELLENT.
What’s the best plugin for creating a slider/carousel in the hero section of a WordPress website?
By far and away, the Kadence Slider Pro plugin is the best in the field to date. Not only is it super lightweight, it works incredibly well with almost any theme your building with. They even have their own Kadence Theme which is also outstanding and my #2 choice.
Check it out here!
