Skip to content
  • Meet KatyExpand
    • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Tools & Resources
Katy Boykin
  • Portfolio
  • DIY Dream Site
  • Web Design
Katy Boykin

Recommended Tools + Resources

Wondering which plugins, software, and other tools you need to grow your online business and elevate your online presence? I’ve got you.

Here, you’ll find all of my favorite tools and resources that will help you save dozens of hours per week, automate key marketing activities, and save lots of money!

Disclaimer:

I am an affiliate for many of the companies on this page, which means I may earn a commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase using my code or link. I only recommend companies or products because I believe in them, not because of the small commission I may receive. Please do not spend money on any product unless you believe it will help you achieve your goals. See my disclosure policy for more information.

More Helpful Resources

I love to create free downloads, tutorials, and easy-to-use templates to simplify your online business.

Get Katy’s Free website Launch Roadmap

Sign up now & I’ll set you my ultimate checklist so you don’t leave any important steps when building your own website.

YES, SIGN ME UP!

Tutorial: How To Set Up A WordPress Website

Starting a website from scratch? I’ll guide you through the entire setup process from choosing a name, picking a theme, and more.

SHOW ME HOW

Shop WordPress Themes + Block Templates

Launch your own beautiful website – all you have to do is choose your design, add your own content, and hit publish – it’s that easy!

CHOOSE YOUR DESIGN

Domains + Hosting

Cost per domain varies

Try Namecheap

DOMAIN

Name Cheap

NameCheap makes registering, hosting, and managing domains for yourself easy! Their domains are secure, affordable, easy to use, and paired with great support.

Plans start at $14.99/mo (billed annually)

Try Siteground

Hosting

SiteGround

A budget-friendly shared managed WordPress hosting provider with great up-time, built-in performance optimization + security, 24/7 customer support, one-click staging, and more.

Plans start at $34.95/mo (billed monthly)

Try Bigscoots

Hosting

BigScoots

BigScoots offers fast, managed WordPress hosting plans with NO shared hosting or overages, free website migrations, stable monthly pricing, and unparalleled customer support!

Tools To Design Your WordPress Website

Free theme + plugin available
Pro Bundles start at $149/yr

GET Kadence

Theme + Page Builder For Design

Kadence WP

The best lightweight, full-featured WordPress theme that allows you to create fast-loading websites!

Plus, you can download the Kadence Blocks plugin for added design capabilities to mimic a page-building experience right in the Gutenberg editor without the bloat.

I strongly recommend upgrading to a Kadence Bundle (which includes Kadence Blocks Pro, Kadence Theme Pro, and a suite of other premium plugins) to extend the functionality of your website.

Free plugin available → Pro starts at $49/yr

GET Elementor

Page Builder For Design

Elementor

Not into Gutenberg? Design your website with Elementor, which is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop page builder. I’ve used it to build dozens of client websites! Because it has so many robust features all rolled into one plugin, you can say goodbye to dozens of other plugins and create gorgeous custom page layout designs.

Additional WordPress Plugins

Get 100 images/mo FREE
Upgraded plans start at $3.99/mo

Try Shortpixel

Optimization Plugin

Short Pixel

Short Pixel improves website performance by using advanced compression technology that reduces image size without any before/after difference in quality… thus making your pages load faster!​

You can also use their free image compression tool on their website before uploading images to your website.

Plans start at $49/yr

Try WPRocket

Optimization Plugin

WP Rocket

WP Rocket is one of the most powerful and user-friendly caching plugins that can drastically improve your site speed. Even if you’re not a developer you can quickly implement & configure this plugin!

Free plugin available → Pro plans start at $129/yr

Try Rankmath

SEO Plugin + optimization plugin

RankMath SEO Plugin

Rank Math is an SEO plugin for WordPress that’s packed with features to ensure your website is optimized with search best practices in mind. Use this plugin to optimize your content, customize SEO settings, control page indexing & setup redirections, and more.​

I recommend this over the Yoast Plugin.

AccessAlly Pro starts at $108/mo.

Try Access Ally

Courses & Membership Plugin

AccessAlly

AccessAlly is an advanced learning management system that allows you to sell courses, memberships & digital products on WordPress. It integrates with your email CRM for a seamless user experience. This is a bit complex, so I wouldn’t recommend this to newbies.

I’ve created a few custom membership websites with AccessAlly.

Pricing starts at $199/yr

Try Geodirectory

Directory Plugin (other)

GeoDirectory

If you want to create a Directory website on WordPress, GeoDirectory is the best on the market. With it, you can scale to millions of listings and withstand the battering of traffic that comes along with that.

I’ve used this plugin to create several custom-designed Directory websites.

Email Marketing Tools

Free plan available for up to 1k subscribers→ Creator plans start at $29/mo

Try ConvertKit

ConvertKit

My #1 recommended email marketing tool!

ConvertKit simplifies email marketing! You can create forms, automations, landing pages, broadcasts, tagging & segmentation, and more making it easy to connect with your audience, share valuable resources and sell with ease. Seriously… ConvertKit is so easy to use and affordably priced.

Free 14-day trial → Plans start at $15/mo for 500 subscribers

Try Active Campaign

Active Campaign

Active Campaign is another solid email marketing and automation tool that allows you to create email marketing broadcasts and campaigns with powerful tagging & segmentation capabilities. I typically recommend ActiveCampaign for more seasoned business owners.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools

Free 7-day trial → Plans start at $119.95/mo

Try SEMrush

SEMrush

SEMrush is the secret sauce to a winning SEO strategy! It’s been my go-to tool for years to find & rank for hundreds of highly targeted keywords!

This premium keyword research tool allows you to spy on your competitors, find juicy keywords to dominate the search engines, improve your overall online visibility and make smart business decisions with their marketing insights.

Get 100k credits for $10

Try Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere is a browser extension that’s extremely handy for keyword research and creating blog post outlines. You can view monthly search volume, CPC, and competition data of keywords on multiple websites. I personally use the Chrome extension to gather additional keywords for H2’s & H3’s in my blog posts

Graphics & Stock Photos

Free forever plan → Pro plans start at $9.95/mo

Try Canva

Canva

Canva is an online drag-and-drop design tool that allows you to create beautiful designs including graphics for your blog, Pinterest printable PDFs, slide decks, business cards, and more!

I personally use the Pro plan to unlock all of their features including downloading images with transparent backgrounds, accessing premium stock photos, resizing graphics with a single click, and more!

Free membership available → Upgraded membership plans start at $167/yr

Try Ivorymix

Ivory Mix – Feminine Stock Photos

Ivory Mix is the most comprehensive membership of stock photos and marketing resources built to empower busy female entrepreneurs. You can plug these photos into your website, Instagram, blog, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube strategies!

Monetize Your Website

Free to join!

Try Shareasale

Share-a-Sale – Affiliate Marketplace

ShareASale is an affiliate marketplace that connects merchants with content creators. ShareASale is one of the leading affiliate networks online if you’re looking for products and companies to promote on your blog or business website.

It is always free to join ShareASale as an Affiliate, the sign-up process is quick and easy, and once you are approved into the ShareASale network, thousands of Merchant Programs will be waiting for you to join them as a partner.

Free to apply → $99 setup fee if approved

Try Monumetric

Monumetric – Ad Network

Interested in monetizing your site with display ads? Monumetric is your full-service ad revenue partner, helping you reach your revenue goals while preserving the best user experience for your site. If you have between 10,000 – 80,000 monthly page views, you can apply to get into Monumetric’s program.

This is the first ad network I used on my Christian lifestyle blog!

WordPress Technical Support

Pricing starts at $47 (one-time fee)

Try imark Interactive

iMark Interactive

iMark Interactive is a full-service WordPress support company offering one-time support or ongoing plans to help site owners with any technical issues.

If you need a quick WordPress fix, monthly support plan, HTTPS site integration, or site speed overhaul, Grayson’s team at iMark Interactive is the best in the business!

Business Must-Haves

We can’t forget about these other business essentials!

Free 14-day trial → $6/mo per user

Try Google Suite

Organization

Google Suite – Business email, file + photo management & more

I recommend G Suite Basic for every blogger & business! I personally use it for my domain-name-based business email, shared calendars, online document editing, organization & storage, & so much more. I know it can help you do the same.

Free trial for 1st 3 clients → Plans start at $35/mo Enjoy 20% off your 1st month or year when you use my link!

Try Dubsado

Client Management

Dubsado – Client Management, Invoicing & Schedulers

Dubsado is a powerful CRM for service-based businesses. Now, you can send proposals, invoices, and contracts plus you can automate call scheduling and email communications with prospects and clients!

I use this tool in my business every single day. It makes life as a service-based business owner easy!

Free forever plan → Pro plans start at $11.66/mo

Try Grammarly

Writing

Grammarly

As you type, Grammarly checks your text for hundreds of common and advanced writing issues. (Since I write so much I use the premium version but they have a free version available!)

You can use the Chrome extension or use their desktop app and use it literally anywhere you type! This is a MUST-HAVE because it will make your messages, documents, and posts clear, mistake-free, and impactful.

Bundles start at $197

gET lEGAL tEMPLATES

legal

A Self Guru – Legal Website Templates

Every website needs a privacy policy, terms & conditions, disclaimer, and other legal documents for legal protection. A Self Guru’s templates are easy to customize but most importantly, bring peace of mind!

Free forever plan → Pro plans start at $12.95/user per year

Try CloudApp

communication

Cloud App

With Cloud App, you can record your screen as a video with your voice and/or face, capture your screen and annotate the image, or record a GIF and then instantly share it as a link. I use this tool all the time to visually communicate with my clients and create tutorials!

Social Media Scheduling Tools

Being consistent on social media is half of the battle. Using a scheduling tool can make it easy to offer new and relevant content on a regular basis to various social media sites.

Forever free plan available → Pro plans start at $9.99/mo billed annually

Try Tailwind

Tailwind

Tailwind is the social media scheduling tool you need when you don’t have a marketing team. You can create and schedule your Pinterest or Instagram content making it easy to show up consistently without feeling like a slave to your phone.

Get 10 posts FREE → Starter plan starts at $12.50/mo (billed annually)

Try Later

Later

With Later’s visual content calendar you can plan and schedule your Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok, and/or LinkedIn posts. Plan ahead, batch your posts & save a ton of time!

  • About
  • Affiliate Agreement Terms And Conditions
  • Affiliate Program
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer

Privacy · Terms & Conditions · Disclaimer

© 2023 Boykin Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Linkedin Instagram YouTube Pinterest Facebook
Sign up now & I’ll send you:

The Ultimate Website Launch Roadmap

This roadmap checklist will guide you through the launch steps so don’t leave any important steps when building your website.

Privacy Policy: We hate spam and promise to keep your email address safe. Unsubscribe anytime.

  • Hire Katy – Web Design
  • Join DIY Dream Site
  • Portfolio
  • Tools & Resources
  • Binge The Blog
  • Contact
  • About
Search