7 Essential Online Tools for Non-Webmasters

By Jinger Jarrett
Posted Sunday, February 15, 2004

I've built and edited all of the web sites I use to run my business. I wish I could take credit for the look, but I can't.
I purchased a nice business template I liked, to use as the basis for all of my sites. You don't have to do that though.

Even though I continue to maintain my sites myself, I couldn't do it if I didn't have some great tools that make it easy to do.

There are some really terrific tools you can get, for free, that can help you build and maintain an eye catching web site. You can even communicate with your customers or create interactive sections on your site that will continue to drive traffic to your site over and over.

All of the tools offered here are absolutely fr'ee to use. Bookmark them and save yourself a ton of money and time.

1. Templates
If you're really ambitious, you can design your own web site from scratch.

Unfortunately, creating and designing a web site from scratch can be time consuming and expensive. I have yet to find a free graphics editor that will help you create the kind of stunning graphics you will often see on the Web.

There are plenty of free web site templates available, even for business, and you can often use them by simply leaving a link to the site designer at the bottom of the page.

Free Site Templates- freesitetemplates.com
This is my favorite. I once used their templates before I bought my own. You'll find hundreds of designs here, and no annoying pop up windows while you are browsing.

This site has recently undergone a redesign of its own and is very easy to navigate.

Free Web Templates - freewebtemplates.com/
This site offers hundreds of free designs you can use. There are also links to other resources, including graphics, newsletters, and affiliate programs.

2. Sales Page Template

Pertinent
This nifty little tool is one I stumbled across by accident while surfing the Web looking for something else. I haven't seen a template like this anywhere else.

It allows you to type in your information for your sales letter. You can preview what you've created first.

You definitely want to bookmark this site. The webmaster is constantly adding new templates like this you can use for your business, and they're all free to use. If you have a newsletter, don't forget to add it to the directory while you are here.

3. Banner Creators

You'll find plenty of debate on the Web about whether or not you should use banners on your web site. However, a banner creator can serve another purpose for you: you can use it to create an original and unique header for your own web site design.

Free Online Banner Creation - total-harmony.com/promotion/banner_creation.html
Rather than give you one or two links to some banner creators, you can go to this site. It offers several different places where you can find banner creation tools. Also includes a description of each site.

Cool Text - cooltext.com
If you are looking to create a text banner, this is a great place to start. You can also make logos for your business.

4. Graphics Editors
Graphics are definitely not my strong suit. I find graphics programs to have a steep learning curve, and since I don't use that many graphics on my web site, I don't have a graphics program on my computer anymore.

Even if you don't use that many graphics on your web site, occasionally you may need to change the size, or add text to a graphic you are using.

You'll find online graphics editors much easier to use than software. You can quickly crop your graphics or add text to them and have them done in a few minutes.

Gif World - gifworks.com
This site has a complete graphics program online you can use to edit graphics or add text to them. It's very easy to use. The only format is gif though.

You'll also see numerous links to graphics sites where you can find plenty of well designed, and free, graphics to use.

Image Majik - studio.imagemagick.net/MagickStudio/scripts/MagickStudio.cgi
You can use this online graphic editor to edit both jpeg and gif formats. It's also very easy to use.

JPEG Wizard Online Optimizer! - jpegwizard.com
Since some graphics files can be quite large, causing them to load slowly, you can use this tool to optimize all of your jpeg files so they load quickly.

Spin Wave - spinwave.com
Offers both jpeg and gif optimization and compression.

There's also another type of graphic editor you can use online if you need ebook covers for your web site. Below are two places I recommend.

Oritz - oritsfree.com/Free_Ebook_Covers.html
Free Ebook Covers - freeebookcovers.homestead.com/covers1.html

About The Author
Jinger Jarrett is a former newspaper reporter and public relations specialist who now runs her own online businesses. She will show you "How to Really Start Your Business in 30 Days". Get her free ecourse now. SmallBusinessHowTo.com