As a webmaster & designer it is important for you to have the latest tools and resources at your fingertips to enable you to stay at the top of your game, and to also provide an excellent service to your clients.
Below is a list of some of the most frequently used webmaster tools & resources.
Webmaster Communities
You will be surprised how much you will learn by using these online networking portals to discuss relevant topics with real people.
When so many people come together within such a wide industry you can imagine that everyone will bring their own piece of knowledge to the networking table. By networking and building trust with others who have a similar but not always the same skill set as your own, it can lead to gaining working relationships with some of the other forum members. For example – you may be a designer who is in need of a programmer for one of your larger projects, or you may indeed be the programmer who can fill this needed gap.
They can also be used as a "Timeout" for yourself if you have been working for hours on your latest project and just need to take a break.
Webmaster Talk – Webmaster forum – Web Design – Coding – SEO
Sitepoint – Design, HTML, CSS PHP, ASP, MySQL and many more resources for your web site
WebHosting Talk – The largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet
Digital Point – Webmaster Forum – Internet Marketing & Search Engine Optimisation
Graphic Design Resources
Next we have a bunch of sites that are bound to be useful to any graphic designer whether you are a beginner or seasoned professional.
Dafont – A popular collection of fonts for windows and mac users
Smashing Magazine – Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers
Computer arts – The world’s best-selling magazines serving the creative industry.
My Fonts – Find Fonts, Try Fonts, Buy Fonts
National Association of Photoshop Professionals NAPP – Learn about Photoshop CS4, Lightroom & Digital Photography
Stock Photography
There can be many benefits to using stock images such as convenience as they save you time from hiring your own photographer, but there can also be just as many downfalls as it is important for the user to fully understand the license agreement that may come with their purchased photo.
iStockphoto – Search royalty free images & photos
gettyimages – Stock photography, editorial photos, footage & music
Shutterstock – Royalty free subscription stock photography & vector art
Earn Money With Your Website & Blog
As much as many of us genuinely love to blog about our chosen topic, we must also be realistic with the fact that we also need to live outside of the cyber world. So using some of these methods to display targeted advertisements on your Website or blog could increase your profit margin while doing something you love – ah the best of both worlds.
Google AdSense – Google AdSense is a free program that enables website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads and earn.
Commission Junction – A global leader in affiliate marketing, online advertising, and search engine marketing
By Sell Ads – BSA is one of the best ways for websites to sell ads
PayPal Donations – If you offer a free service or really useful free information through your blog or website you may find people like to make a donation towards your efforts and the upkeep of your website.
Text Link Ads – Largest text link ad market place with thousands of advertisers and growing
Optimise Your Website
You may have the most beautiful looking website on the Internet, but it can be the way a search engine such as Google see your website that can make or break you. You can use some of the following SEO tools to monitor and improve your search engine performance.
Nibbler – A free tool for testing your website
SEO Moz – Providing SEO education, tools, & resources
W3C Link Checker – Check your website for broken links
Website Grader – Free SEO tool that measures your marketing efforts by producing a report for your website & comparing you with your competition.
Clicky – Providing web analytics in real time
Hosting
Another piece to the success jigsaw is who you choose as your hosting company. Try to gain real customer feedback before settling for a hosting company and work out what it is that you actually need, such as a reseller account or dedicated hosting.
Hostmonster – Web Hosting, can pay with PayPal
Hostgator – Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting & Dedicated Servers, can pay with PayPal
Lunarpages – Affordable Web Hosting
Photoshop Tutorials
As a designer you can never have enough knowledge and should always take time to keep learning new techniques so that you can make sure that the design work you are producing looks up to date with all of the latest trends and styles. Here are just a few different websites where you can find loads of the latest Photoshop tutorials.
CG Links – Photoshop Tutorials
Adobe Tutorials – Photoshop Tutorials
Clever Tutorials – Photoshop, Flash, and PHP Tutorials
Psaddict – Photoshop Tutorials
If you can think of any other useful resources which you have used yourself as a designer or webmaster then please let us know about them below. If you liked this post please share it and also subscribe to our feed to be notified when From Designer – Webmaster All The Tools & Resources You Will Ever Need (part 2) is released
About The Author:
 Michelle Kirkbride | Michelle Kirkbride has many years of experience as a web developer & consultant, she currently lives in Yorkshire, UK with her two beautiful children and loving partner. She spends far too much time at her computer and is currently addicted to her work. |
Great list of resources, will be using a few of these.
great list, will be waiting for part two and three
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