Website management

Website management is about building on and maintaining your online web presence. Whether it's updating the website with content, or building new interfaces to streamline your organization.

Getting your website up and running is a great first step towards building an online presence for your brand and business. While WordPress is powerful and easy to use, there are certain steps you need to take to ensure your website continues to operate without any issues and convert your visitors into customers.


The Best Web Management Tools for Small Businesses in 2020:

Website owners today can skip the programming lessons and use intuitive website management tools that make it easy for even the most inexperienced beginners to build a website, make updates to it, and maintain it over time. These are some of the most popular and easiest-to-use website management tools to consider. 

Web Design

1. WordPress

  • WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that makes it easy to regularly update your website with fresh blog posts, news stories, and more.
  • WordPress does have a slight learning curve, but it’s relatively easy to tackle and you’ll be pleased with the number of features.
  • And while the CMS packs a lot of the most important functionality a small business needs, you can add to it with WordPress plugins.
  •  With over 45,000 plugins available that offer features spanning security, SEO, spam blocking, social sharing and more, you can find just about any additional functionality you need for your website. 

2. WP Website Builder

  • WP Website Builder is a tool that can help you build beautiful WordPress websites in the easiest way possible.
  • This plugin’s drag-and-drop user interface makes it approachable for all skill levels. Additionally, there are over 200 starter sites to choose from.
  • WP Website Builder comes in three budget-friendly pricing options and includes free hosting. You can get started with DreamHost and WP Website Builder in a matter of minutes.
  • You can choose from over 200 premium, industry-specific website themes. This makes it easy to use the drag-and-drop editor to make customizations.
  • The site builder also comes with SEO recommendations in real-time. You’ll be able to see right on your post edit screen where you can make SEO improvements. 

E-Commerce Software

3. WooCommerce

  • WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plugin and one of the best e-commerce solutions on the market. And it’s easy to get started! Basic features to help you manage sales, payment, shipping, and other common tasks come baked in.
  • If you need additional options, however, it’s easy to find extensions to add functionality.
  • Both WordPress.org software and Woo Commerce are completely free, as are some of the extensions (most of the others range from around $50 to $100). Getting your online store up and running doesn’t have to burn a hole in your pocket.
  • Security is vital for every website but especially if you’re managing transactions. WordPress’ dedication to security and frequent updates will help protect your site.
  • Additionally, customers using DreamHost’s managed WordPress options are protected by a built-in firewall that eliminates the need for additional security plugins.
  • WooCommerce itself is light on SEO-related features. It’s built using code optimized for SEO, and there are a few relevant extensions you can add, such as SEO Friendly Images.
  • However, if you really want to improve your store’s chances of getting to the first page of Google, you can download a WordPress SEO plugin. 

4. Shopify

  • Shopify is a subscription-based, e-commerce platform that makes it easy for beginners to build and customize an online store in very little time.
  • It also provides a “guru” service to guide you through the creation and management of your e-commerce site.
  • Shopify is one of the largest e-commerce solutions on the market. Because it requires a monthly subscription — plans currently start at $29 per month — you can count on Shopify’s rock-solid performance.
  • It’s easy for DreamHost customers to integrate a Shopify store with your site. There’s also an app store where you can download add-ons that provide functionality such as social media, shipping, and accounting.

 Social Media

5. Hootsuite

  • HootSuite integrates with Facebook, Facebook Pages, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Google+ Pages, LinkedIn, FourSquare, MySpace, YouTube, and WordPress.
  • It allows you to schedule posts ahead of time, focusing on peak performance times for each platform.
  • If you’re sick of switching between your social media profiles just to push out daily updates, then you’re going to love HootSuite. With HootSuite, you can manage all your social platforms from one location. 

6. Buffer

  • Buffer supports up to 25 social accounts, allowing you to post across all your platforms from one interface. Here are some of Buffer’s other top features.
  • Buffer allows you to create a custom schedule for each day. You can do it daily, monthly, or annually — basically whenever it’s convenient.
  • You’ll never have to wonder when you should share your next Instagram pic or Facebook missive. Buffer keeps track of your followers so you know when it’s the optimal time to post. 

7. Everypost

  • Everypost makes it easy to curate content from across the web, schedule your posts, and integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, and tumblr.
  • Everypost helps you curate content directly within the app — no switching around to find shareable content, design content, and post content.
  • You can maximize the potential of each post you create. This helps you reach all of your audience members, no matter what platform they are on.

Marketing

It’s not enough to build your website and forget it; you’ve got to be strategic about getting your brand out into the world — and in front of the eyes of your potential customers — as much as possible. Even if your business is a brick-and-mortar deal, promoting your website and digital offerings with marketing tools will usher local Googlers into your doors. 

8. Hubspot

  • Hubspot is a free marketing tool which is available in a plugin to track your potential customers and assist you to lead generation. It helps a casual browser to convert to a buyer or customer.
  • Hubspot helps to capture the visitor’s email address by creating a pop-up invitation or other modules. It can even pull information from any kind of submission on your website.
  • The WordPress plugin for Hubspot is very easy to use, even if you are a non-techie. It also easily integrates with other platforms like Shopify, etc.

 9. Google Analytics

  • When it comes to digital marketing, making data-informed decisions can be the key to success. The biggest name in search and analytics is Google Analytics.
  • Fortunately, when it comes to integrating Google’s tools with WordPress, you’re in luck. Thanks to the REST API, there are lots of opportunities for using Google’s free tools to increase the impact of your marketing efforts.
  • As we mentioned already, Google’s analytics tools are free to use. There’s a lot to choose from, too.
  • One thing you won’t have to worry about with Google is reliability. When you incorporate these tools into your marketing resources, you know they’ll work.
  • Google Analytics offers so many data collection options that it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, it also provides excellent documentation and extensive knowledge bases. 
  • Boosting your SEO and getting better rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) can be tricky. Google offers lots of testing tools for tasks like improving the Schema markup on your website. 

10. Yoast SEO

  • One of the easiest and most versatile things you can do to improve your WordPress site’s marketing resources is to use an SEO plugin.
  • Yoast SEO is a free tool for WordPress, with premium upgrade options. The free version has plenty of features to get you started, however.
  • Yoast will notify you when your most important pages haven’t been updated for six months. This is a big help for busy marketers and keeps your content fresh for better search results.
  • Yoast will automatically scan your content and score it for readability, so you can quickly adjust the length of your sentences or your use of passive voice (if needed). 

11. SEMrush

  • While there are a lot of great SEO tools on the market, we recommend SEMrush. It’s an established suite of SEO tools at an affordable price that’s trusted by 5 million marketers around the world.
  • Your online success depends on knowing what you’re up against. The SEMrush Competitive Positioning Map gives you an at-a-glance understanding of your direct competitors so you can identify their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Before you decide to expand your business into a new niche (or even a new country!), you’ll want to do some research. SEMrush’s Market Explorer tool simplifies the process of gathering in-market audience insights and analyzing new niches in your industry. 

Online File Management

Our last category of web management tools that can make your life easier as a small business owner is online file management programs.

12. Google Drive

  • Google Drive is a free set of tools provided by Google, and also comes included as a part of the G Suite product. Within Google Drive you can create and share a number of types of files, including documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
  • You can define who’s allowed access to each file you create, and whether they can simply view or also edit them.
  • Google Drive’s collaborative features make it easy for different people to see each other’s edits and comments, making it a powerful tool for your team to work together on your website, business plans, and any content you create for marketing purposes. 

13. Dropbox

  • Dropbox is a cloud storage solution that allows you to keep all your files in a central location that’s accessible from any device.
  • As with Google Drive, you can share those files with others and enable comments to allow for collaboration.
  • There’s a free version of Dropbox for individuals that allows up to a set amount of storage space, and a paid version for businesses that offers more storage and more features for collaborating. 

14. Box

  • Box is another product for content storage and collaboration. It boasts strong security features, so you can share content amongst the people who need access without worrying about competitors getting ahold of it.
  • Like the other products, it allows you to control who has permissions for each file and enable content and edits from those directly involved in each piece you share. 

There are also various other web management tools available in the market but you don’t need to overwhelm yourself by investing heavily in every other option.

All you need to do is select the niche in which you want to build your website. Use the content management system like WordPress and design a beautiful website.

If you use the above-mentioned web management tools effectively, then you can easily build your online brand successfully.

Do you know about any other web management tools? If yes, then do let us know in the comments section below.