The Tech Stack We Use
We know that our blog isn’t the best looking nor does it have a ton of fancy features. However, we still get occasional questions about what tools and services I use to build and make this blog run. So here is a rundown of the services we use.
Some of these are affiliate links which means we'll get a small commission for referring you to these tools. This is no way affects our choice of tools. We pick the tools based on our needs.
Web Hosting & Content Delivery Network (CDN)
We have multiple web sites running smoothly on Cloudways. Their prices are reasonable, and their interface makes it a snap to spin up and manage applications. Even scaling up as your traffic grows is just a couple of clicks. And, we really appreciate the abundant documentation they have.
We use Bunny.net as one of our sites' CDN to speed up performance. It's also incredibly inexpensive to use for storage of files and streaming videos that we use on this site. The performance is top notch!
WordPress Theme and Page Builder
We use GeneratePress for our theme. It’s clean, fast, and highly customizable.
When we want to build custom pages easily, we use Thrive Architect as our page builder.
Affiliate Plug-In
HomeTechHacker is an Amazon Affiliate. Putting all the links on each page and making them look pretty and have up-to-date pricing information would be nearly impossible without a plug-in. This plugin (AAWP, short for Amazon Affiliate WordPress Plugin) has transformed our affiliate game and made adding good-looking Amazon product information with affiliate links a snap.
Graphic/Video Editing
I'm not a graphic artist or a great video editor. But, with Canva, I can do a fast and efficient job of both. This is my go to tool for social media, advertising, and web site graphics. I also use it for video editing and creating presentations. The Pro version is worth it!
Marketing Automation and Lead Generation
Simple and inexpensive email marketing and automation platform that integrates with most other major products. It has good deliverability rates and an easy to use interface for creating campaigns and email autoresponders.
Thrive Leads was an easy choice for building opt-in forms. The forms are buttery smooth and they offer all different types of opt-in forms that just work. They integrate seamlessly with WordPress and don’t have a huge learning curve. There's built-in A/B testing, advanced triggering options and it works with all the major email providers.