As a person who has a slight understanding and awareness of technology, I am frequently approached by my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances with queries about my software recommendations for different purposes.
I hope that my list of indispensable software for today’s online world will provide a starting point or a reference for those looking for reliable, efficient, and universally approved software.
What I cover below.
Web hosting
For the past 4 years, I have used Siteground. They host in the UK and have tremendous online support, which is what you need when a website update sends your website spiralling (and they also allow you to do staging sites as well as a lot of other good things).
Domain Registration
I tend to opt for Namecheap. They do bill in USD, but this is not an issue – the bank takes care of that. It just works, and I then point (called DNS pointing) the website at Siteground.
Microsoft 365 with no questions. The setup is simple and can come with a significant raft of other products. Now I know that this is a marmite decision – some of you will love Google, and that is great – but certainly go for a system that is open and can integrate with others.
Picture editing
Canva all the way. A simple, online program that delivers a big punch in design capability.
Word Grammar
Despite Word having a built-in grammar tool, I find Grammarly amazing. Correcting grammar and spelling across platforms. A big tick from me.
Video Conferencing
Zoom or Teams. I tend to use what my clients want. I don’t tend to find many using Google. Its probably heretic to say this, but there really isn’t that much of a difference between them
Calendar Management
This is a must in today’s online world. I have just started to use Trafft – an equivalent for Calendly and Acuity. This allows clients to book both paid and non-paid meetings directly into your calendar based on your availability. Very cute – and certainly something worth paying for.
Social Media Management
I just love Social Bee. I have been using them for a long time now and this single subscription invites you to post to your major social accounts. They have also just introduced an AI model that helps you create snappy posts although I must admit I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way.
Free or Paid For?
On the subject of paying for services – my view is that whilst there can be programs that are ‘free’, if I get value from them, then I will pay. Software Recommendations are therefore built around your specific need. What is it that you are actually trying to do.
As an example, at the moment, I am thinking about how I manage my customer data. I can spend a lot on services that I really do not need, but similarly, I can get some stuff free. Where do I draw the line? It is down to my requirement, budget and real need not nice to haves.
I then tend to find the additional addons are invaluable. So I got a better software as a service (SAAS) and I helped the company by not being a freeloader.
I would love to hear your preferences in the comments below.