Hi there!
I often get asked which tools I recommend, so to make things easier here’s a list of everything that I use.
If you know me, you’ll know that I’m frugal AF and like to save money wherever possible. I bootstrapped my business and don’t believe in spending a lot on fancy software unless it adds real value.
Some of the links below are affiliate links, but I’ve only included products that I use myself and love.
I’ve also highlighted which tools are free and which have free versions.
Theme
The WordPress theme that I use on all of my sites is GeneratePress. It’s super fast and easy to use with no coding required. There’s a free version if you’re just getting started, but the paid version is definitely worth it.
Hosting
I currently use BigScoots Managed WordPress Hosting and I’m very happy with it. I’m on the Professional plan which costs $98.95 per month.
If you’re just starting out and want something cheaper, I had a great experience with Hostinger WordPress Hosting which costs only $2 per month.
Speed
To give my site speed a boost I use WP Rocket. This takes care of all of my website performance issues.
SEO Tools
I use ahrefs for my keyword research. It’s expensive, so if you don’t yet have any money to spend, I recommend that you take a 7-day free trial of SEM Rush and use that for your initial keyword research.
Another keyword research tool that I use every day is SearchResponse.io. This finds all of the ‘People Also Ask’ keywords that I use as headers in my posts. The free version is enough for most people.
For keyword research when updating old posts I use QueryHunter.io. This free plugin shows what keywords you’re ranking for that you haven’t included in your post so you can add them in.
Another free SEO tool I use is the Chrome extension SEO Minion which does all kinds of handy things like checking word counts and highlighting nofollow or broken links.
I always check Google results pages manually before committing to a keyword. As I live outside of the US, I use usearchfrom.com to show non-personalised results from the US. It’s free.
Images
I take most of my photos myself. But for the ones that I can’t I use Canva. There’s a free version, but I have the annual plan which comes with 100+ million premium stock photos and lots of cool editing tools.
Before uploading any images, I run them through TinyPNG to compress them and reduce the file size. It’s free.
Link building
I’m too much of a white hat chicken to do any real link building and I certainly don’t buy links.
However, I do use HARO to respond to journalists who are looking for quotes and have built some fantastic backlinks from newspapers that way. It’s free.
As I don’t have time to respond to HARO requests myself, I outsource this activity to Linkifi to respond on my behalf.
If you want to learn how to build links with HARO yourself, I recommend this masterclass.
Outsourcing
I hired virtual assistants in the Philippines from OnlineJobs.ph. They upload my posts, source images, find products to feature and help with research. This has enabled me to double the number of posts I can produce each month!
I use in-house writers for my content – I met most of these in real life. I’ve tested several writing services too, and my favourite by far is ContentPit. The prices are already very reasonable, but if you use discount code NICHESITELADY you’ll get 10% off.
To train my team, I make short screen-recording videos using the free version of Loom.
Templates
I use a set of ready-made writer templates, publishing guidelines and a content database from ContentSiteOS. Yes, you could make your own, but this done-for-you stack will keep you super-organised and it costs just $20. Bargain!
If you do affiliate marketing at all, you’ll want to combine that with The Ultimate Niche Site Template Collection. This is also super cheap and has a great template so you can easily work out which products will make you the most money, amongst other things.
Ads
I use Adthrive to manage my display ads. I love that it’s 100% hands-off. You need to have at least 100k visitors per month to join and they need to be mostly from the United States.
If you haven’t got that many visitors yet or they’re not from the US, then a good option is Ezoic. I’ve used it myself on all of my smaller sites. It’s free and you can start making money right away, no matter how many visitors you have.
Affiliate
I use Geniuslink to send my audience to the best affiliate program for their country. I find it to be better than Amazon’s OneLink. I also use it for split testing so I can work out which affiliate programs are converting the best. It only costs me a few dollars per month, depending on how many clicks I send through it.
For tracking my affiliate revenue I use Performance by Lasso. This pulls all of my earnings into one dashboard and sends me a daily email with the numbers. It’s free to track up to $1,000/month of commissions.
Banking
I live in the UK but get paid in US$ most of the time. So I have a US bank account with Wise because it’s free and easy to use and does currency transfers at really good rates.
Spelling and Grammar
I use Grammarly to help catch any spelling or Grammar errors. I find the free version to be sufficient for me.
Email Marketing
I manage my email lists using MailerLite. It’s easy to use while being cheaper than most alternatives. It’s free for your first 1,000 subscribers.
I grew my Twitter account to 25K followers in five months. I put a lot of that down to a tool called TweetHunter.io that I use to help me write and schedule my tweets in just one hour per week.
Selling Sites
I’ve only sold one website so far, but I had a fantastic experience selling through Empire Flippers and I will definitely use them again next time.
Empire Flippers only sell sites that are making at least $2k per month. For smaller sites, you can buy and sell through Motion Invest or Flippa. All of these sites do free valuations.
Education
YouTube Channels
You can learn everything you need to know about building niche websites for free from YouTube and podcasts. The channels that I recommend you check out are:
Courses
If you don’t have lots of time and want to learn things quickly and efficiently, then the best way is with a paid course.
For beginners, the best course I have taken is The Authority Site System.
If you’re more advanced and want to up your skills to earn $10k+ per month, then recommend that you take Fat Stacks Course. I learned a lot from this one.
Email Newsletters
Recently, I’ve been learning a ton by signing up to email newsletters. These have the advantages of being free and up-to-date with the latest info.
Some of my favourites are:
I send an email myself every Tuesday with a ton of useful tips. Make sure you’re signed up to get that…