1. HTML Editor to build your web pages
2. Graphics program to design and edit your
graphics
3. FTP program to upload your files to your hosting
account.
Other tools include
a. A zip / unzip program of in order to zip your
product files
b. An email client to receive/send emails to/from your
subscribers and customers
c. Plain Text Editor used to alter code in scripts as
well as for hand coding
d. An autoresponder to send messages / newsletter to
your entire subscriber list.
HTML EDITORS
HTML editors are used to create and edit web pages in
the web language known as HTML. There are many HTML
editors available both free and paid including
Dreamweaver and FrontPage.
However there is no real need to purchase one as you
can download some excellent HTML editors for free:
- First Page http://www.evrsoft.com
- HTML - Kit http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
and the free one we prefer is NVU
http://www.nvu.com
TEXT EDITORS
Many people prefer to code their websites themselves
by hand as it gives more control over how the website's
appearance; you can use a plain text editor and save the
files with the .html extension.
Notepad is already installed on your computer if you
have Windows but it cannot handle large files; Mac users
have TextEdit
NoteTab Light is a free text editor for windows:
http://www.notetab.com/index.php.
GRAPHIC EDITORS
A graphic editor is necessary so that you can design
and/or edit the web graphics. The most popular paid
graphics programs are Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, but
they are expensive
An excellent free graphic program is
- GIMP : http://www.gimp.org
and there are many free plug-ins available for it. The
website has tutorials for both beginners and advanced
users and you can download a help file to add to the
software.
There are many free graphics available on the
internet; simply enter the words into your favorite
search engine, for example 'free graphics' or be more
specific 'free golf sets image'
FTP PROGRAMS
An FTP program (File Transfer Protocol) is used to
upload your website files to your server. If your Control
Panel is cPanel, then there is already an FTP process
installed and your website host can explain how to use
it.
If you are a Mac user then the Mac already has a
pre-installed FTP facility which you access via
Command-K
There are many free FTP programs available and the
ones we recommend is
- CommanderFTP :
http://www.downloadsource.net/d1174/FTP-Commander-GetFile/
- AceFTP 3 :
http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftpfreeware/
The most popular FTP program for Mac users is
Fetch.
ZIP PROGRAMS
A zip / unzip program is used to zip your downloadable
products, ebooks, reports, etc and zipping them will
reduce the file size and hence the upload / download
times. Such a program will also allow you to unzip any
file ending in a .zip extension.
- WinZip evaluation copy :
http://www.winzip.com/download.htm
- 7-Zip : http://www.7-zip.org
Mac users will need Stuffit or a free program that can
be found online.
EMAIL CLIENT
As a website owner you should not use the free email
accounts on offer such as aol, msn, yahoo, gmail, hotmail
etc. These have ever increasing filtering automatically
installed and mail to or from your clients may well be
delivered.
Your hosting account will come with one or more email
accounts and these allow you to send and receive email
with your domain name such as anyname@yourdomain.com and
using such an email address not only looks professional
but also is an opportunity to promote your website as the
recipient can see you website name in the addess.
AUTORESPONDERS
There are free autoresponders available but many of
them are either limited in their functions or will
display a banner or advertisement on the emails that you
send.
FreeAutoBot : http://www.freeautobot.com
You can find more free autoresponders by typing in
'free autoresponders' into your favorite search engine's
search box.
If your website is providing ecommerce in any way,
then you should consider a paid autoresponder services
such as Aweber
http://www.aweber.com
There are many other tools that can assist you in
building your website, but the above list provides you
with all you need to get started. Later you will find
many additional tools may be necessary, such as an
encryption program to encrypt your email address to avoid
email harvesters and spam. Before you buy any program
always search in your favorite search engine as there is
usually an equivalent free program available.
