Useful Tools for Small Businesses on the Web




Blidget




Create a blidget; a widget that sits on your website and pulls in the latest entries from your blog. Customizable and free




Browsershots




Browsershots lets you test how your site looks in different browsers; Firefox, Opera, IE, Safari, running on different operating systems; Linux, Windows, Mac.




Colour Lovers




If you are planning changes to your Web site, Colour Lovers helps you work out what color schemes work well together. It also gives you RGB and Hex reference numbers if you want to pass them on to your site developer.




Contribute




If you are paying a programmer for each tiny change to your website, it can get expensive, and quickly. Contribute allows you to easily update pages on your site using your browser; no technical knowledge required and can save you tons of money in programmer fees. From Adobe - $169 with free trial period available.






Decluttered




How to declutter your desk. Not so much a tool, but a how to on making your desk neater; always good for business – and cheap and easy to do.




Deyey




Design your business cards online for free; then save them on your own PC and print them up. A nice alternative to better design without the cost.




Favicon Generator




A favicon (favorite icon) is an icon that is displayed in the browser address bar before the site’s URL. If you don’t have one, but want one, upload an image and the favicon generator will create a favicon for you to use.




Fax Zero




If you’re in the US or Canada and don’t have a fax machine, go to this site, upload your document and send your fax for free.




Feedburner




Feedburner is a free media distribution service for blogs and RSS feeds. This means you can automate the process of sending your news to your audience via e-mail or RSS. It also allows you to track who is reading your content.




GIMP




Gimp is a free powerful, full-featured photo editing program, comparable to Photoshop. Available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.




Google Alerts




If you want to know what is being said about you or your company online, Google Alerts offers you an easy way to keep track. Type in the words you want monitored (your name, your business name, your competitor etc.) and let Google e-mail you each time that word appears in search results.




Goog 411




Instead of calling 411 for information call 1800 Goog 411 ( 1 800 4664 411) and get a street address or phone number for free.




Icon Buffet




You need an icon, but where to get it? Become a member and get free icons sent to you, or buy your own packs here. The philosophy is quite neat. They give away free icons every month, but not everyone gets the same ones. The idea is to swap them (sorta like swap cards) and use what you like.




Icon Factory




The Icon Factory offers great looking icons you can use for your site as long as it is not for commercial use (then you have to buy them). But, for non profits, this just might be the way to go.




International Time




Does your business deal with customers internationally? Make it easy for them to contact you by adding a link to local time on your contact page–customizable.




Jott




Jott is a free service that converts your voice into text and sends it to you via e-mail or text message; great if you need to record something but don’t have a pen handy. (US only.)




Media Convert




You upload one file format, and Media Convert will convert it to another file format. Works with most formats of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, video and audio.




Montastic




Montastic monitor your website and send you an e-mail if it goes down. This free service can check your site every ten minutes, and saves you the trouble of visiting your site as often.




Open Source Web Design




Over 2000 free designs for you to choose from for your Web site.




PC Decrapifier




Have you ever bought a PC only to find it filled with pre installed junk you don’t need? The PC Decrapifier gets rid of all that stuff. Free for personal use




Resizer




A free image resizing site. Upload your pictures and edit them online.




SEO Tools and Lessons




9 SEO tools you shouldn’t be without from Aaron Wall (with free lessons).




Stock Xpert




Stockxpert is a royalty free stock photography community. With over 100,000 images, search by keyword for the image you need. Costs per image range from $1 - 3.




The elements of typographic style applied to the Web




For the tech inclined.




Typeflash




If you’ve ever been stumped for inspiration when it comes to typography for your site give typeflash a go.




Widgetbox




A useful assortment (over 30,000) widgets that you can add to your site – all free




How To and What is?




Understand Search Engines and Subject Directories




UC Berkeley offers lessons on how to search, including explanations on the differences between search engines, subject directories, and the invisible Web.




What is RSS?




RSS and all its bits explained by Darren Rowse.




The best 10 RSS readers for Windows, Mac and Linux




There are many free RSS readers out there, Tad shows you the best.




Understanding Domain Names




What is a domain name and how does the domain system work? A non technical explanation from Internic.




How to Podcast




A free step by step guide for anyone wanting to create a podcast




How to Design Web 2.0 Style




A tutorial that covers various common graphical elements of Web 2.0, with explanations of how, when, and where to use them best.




HTML for Beginners




In English; also has intermediate and advanced HTML.




CSS for Beginners




In English, with intermediate and advanced CSS guides.




Photoshop Tutorials




Easily understandable and doable, if you’ve ever wanted to give it a go, try visiting this site first.