Tools and Resources For Web Developers

Resources

Do you have the tools and resources you need to run an awesome web design and development business?

Top developers, including myself, use and love the resources below to sharpen our skills, build our sites, grow our audiences, and get more clients.

Bookmark this resource page, so that you can quickly access all of the tools you need to accelerate your career and business. 

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.

Essential Resources for Top Designers & Developers

Learn Web Design and Web Development

Courses

  1. Skillshare - Get your 2-month FREE trial of Skillshare Premium and become a confident web developer with unlimited access to every course!
  2. LinkedIn Learning - Learn web development using your 30-day FREE trial with LinkedIn Learning. You also get access to their entire catalog!
  3. Treehouse - Treehouse offers a 7-day free trial to their course library! Choose from 1,000s of hours of content, from JavaScript to Python to iOS.
  4. Pluralsight - Get unlimited online access to web development courses authored by industry experts for beginner and advanced students.
  5. One Month - With One Month's affordable & fun online bootcamps, you can learn Python, Javascript, or Ruby in just 30 days.
  6. Udemy - Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace with beginner to advanced web development courses and more!
  7. FreeCodeCamp - Join a free community that helps you learn to code and get experience by contributing to open source projects and nonprofits.
  8. SitePoint - Learn web design and web development with SitePoint tutorials, courses and books!

Books

  1. O'Reilly - O’Reilly’s online platform offers live online training, video, and books from 200+ of the world’s best publishers.
  2. Amazon - Amazon has hundreds of books on everything web development in all formats: Kindle, paperback, hardcover, and audio books.
  3. SitePoint - Learn Web Design & Development with SitePoint books.

Web Hosting

If you are serious about becoming a web developer, I highly recommend self-hosting your websites and using the WordPress (WP) platform.

  1. Bluehost - Bluehost is the #1 hosting service for developers and bloggers, especially when you're on a budget.
  2. SiteGround -  SiteGround has highly affordable plans, super customer service, and fantastic reliability.
  3. WP Engine - WP Engine provides premium WordPress hosting with elite customer service. 
  4. WPX Hosting - WPX is the world's fastest WordPress host with first-class support.

Web Design

  1. Thrive Themes - Blazingly fast and powerful WordPress templates and plugins, built to get you more traffic, subscribers, clients and customers.
  2. Elementor - The World's Leading WordPress Page Builder. With Elementor, you can create any website you can imagine!
  3. Elegant Themes - WordPress Themes with Visual Drag & Drop Technology that empower a community of 437,821 customers!
  4. Beaver Builder - Offers unlimited site licenses and amazing support. Access dozens of gorgeous page templates to get started.
  5. ClickFunnels - ClickFunnels gives you EVERYTHING you need to market, sell, and deliver your products and services online!
  6. Theme Forest - 38,185 WordPress themes & website templates starting at $2 and brought to you by the largest global community of creatives.

Stock Images & Icons

  1. Adobe Stock Photos - Get 10 free Adobe Stock images and access millions of royalty-free images, templates, HD videos, and 3D assets. 
  2. Depositphotos - Over 60 million high-quality, royalty-free stock images & high-definition footage at the best prices to fill all your creative needs.
  3. Shutterstock - Search millions of royalty-free stock photos, illustrations, & vectors. Get inspired by new, high-resolution images added daily.
  4. Creative Market - Buy and sell design content like vector patterns, icons, photoshop brushes, fonts and more! 
  5. Pixabay - Discover over 1.1 million free images and videos shared by their generous community.

Graphic Design

  1. PicMonkey - Create beautiful photos, logos, social media graphics, and Facebook covers using an easy yet powerful online editor.
  2. Canva - Try Canva Pro FREE for 30 days. Design anything in minutes with thousands of beautiful templates and images. Non-Pro version is free.
  3. Shutterstock Editor - Design and create your own marketing materials without the need for expensive software or design training.
  4. Snappa - Create online graphics in a snap! Whip up graphics for social media, ads, blogs, and more - even if you're not a graphic designer.
  5. Pixlr - The FREE photo editor for everyone! Experience the next generation online photo editor. A great alternative to Photoshop!
  6. Photoshop - The creative world runs on Photoshop. Designed for anyone to design anything. Use Photoshop to make the impossible possible.
  7. Illustrator - The industry-standard vector graphics software lets you create logos, icons, drawings, typography, and illustrations for the web.

Email Marketing

  1. MailChimp - MailChimp is the world’s largest email marketing automation platform that makes it easy to send highly effective emails.
  2. ConvertKit - ConvertKit is like MailChimp on steroids and it is simpler to use!
  3. MailerLite - MailerLite is a great low-cost ConvertKit alternative that delivers similar features and usability at an unbeatable price.
  4. Pretty Links - Turn your long, ugly links into readable, speakable, & memorable short links using your WP-based website and domain name.

Social Media Management

  1. Buffer - Batching your social media posts is one of the easiest ways to make your business more efficient. I use their free plan and it's great!
  2. Tailwind - This tool is the smartest and most efficient way to schedule your social media posts on Pinterest & Instagram.
  3. Boardbooster - This pin scheduler is like Tailwind & it's looping feature makes it 100% worth it. Torn between the two? Start with Boardbooster.
  4. Click To Tweet - Click To Tweet is the best, easiest and simplest way to promote and advertise your blog, website, and business on Twitter.

Accounting

  1. FreshBooks - FreshBooks is accounting software that makes running your small business easy, fast and secure. Try it for FREE today!
  2. QuickBooks - The #1 rated small business accounting software. Sign up for a FREE trial today!
  3. Wave Apps - Wave is a free accounting software you can use to track your expenses, invoice clients and much more.

Entrepreneurship

  1. Ask Method - Discover exactly what your customers want to buy by asking the right questions to accelerate your online business success.
  2. Get 10K Subscribers - Grow your email list like me, even if you're starting from scratch, to build an audience and online business.
  3. Launch An Online Business - Join this four-week class hosted by ConvertKit that walks you through starting an online business from scratch.
  4. Teachable - Create and sell beautiful online courses with the platform used by the best online entrepreneurs.
  5. Thinkific - Create online courses and feel confident that you've got the easiest technology and the best support in the industry.
  6. Course Builder's Laboratory - Implement the step-by-step formula I use to launch my most successful courses.
  7. Self-Publishing School - Use the exact 3-Step System I use to write, publish, and launch a bestselling book in as little as 90 days.
  8. AppSumo - Get the best deals and tools for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to create, grow, and scale your online business.

Affiliate Marketing

  1. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing - If you're not using affiliate marketing for your blog or business, you're leaving a lot of money on the table!
  2. No Product, No Problem - Learn how to make your first $1000 (and more) from affiliate marketing.
  3. Pin To Profits - Learn how to combine affiliate marketing with the power of Pinterest to increase your income.
  4. ShareASale - An affiliate marketing network that connects affiliates with merchants.