Setting up a website like Chantahlia Design takes a number of resources and recently I have been asked about how Chantahlia Design was created. This is a list of resources I use to make Chantahlia Design the amazing site it is today.
This page contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, sign up for a program or download a free resource, I may receive a payment at no cost to you.
Tech Website Resources
Hosting
To create any website the first place to start is with hosting. I initially chose Bluehost as my host for a number of reasons.
First, Bluehost has unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. This was important as I knew I wanted to grow Chantahlia Design. I tend to have a habit of going full out with anything I do, so I guess I always knew I would need lots of space.
Secondly, Bluehost has great pricing. I initially signed up for three years to take advantage of deal available. It also meant I would commit to the website for a minimum of three years as an incentive to work on the site. Many bloggers / web site owners give up within their first six months but we know that anything good takes time.
Thirdly, Bluehost have amazing customer service. When I had an issue I would just jump on their chat and always had amazing help. Like with anything, you may find the occasional person who isn’t quite as helpful, but my experience was great. I have read poor reviews on Bluehost, but my experience was only positive.
I loved being with Bluehost but as Chantahlia Design grew, I felt the need to move hosts. I chose Interserver. As Chantahlia Design grew into a huge site I was reaching the limits available in shared hosting. I also wanted to provide the best use experience possible. At Interserver this allows me to have hosting and storage for the download files handled separately but still on the same host.
Interserver has amazing prices that never change from your initial sign up price and for shared hosting that starts at just $5.00 per month. They also have so many other options to grow into and have helped me upgrade to a larger server for so much less than other hosts.
Interserver’s customer support is totally amazing. I am not very techy but they always treat me kindly and help with what I need.
WordPress.org
I use WordPress.org for Chantahlia Design. It is free and I combine it with the free WooCommerce theme. WooCommerce is generally used for selling goods but I use it for my free downloads. I do this by combing WooCommerce with the Free Downloads WooCommerce plugin. It is quite easy to follow the set up and if I get lost I just google what to do next.
Tech Help
I admit I am not very technical but have been very proud of all I have learned over the past few years in setting up Chantahlia Design. However, there have been a couple of times where I found myself out of my depth and have turned to Fiverr to get things done. On Fiverr there are so many amazing people from around the world to help out when you don’t know what to do. I have been blessed with some great help at a reasonable price. If you ever need help ( not just tech help) Fiverr is a great place to check out. If you click through here it will give you 20% off your first gig.
Advertising
As I give away everything for free on Chantahlia Design, I have ads on the site to help pay for the running of the site and give me some pocket money.
I use Monumetric for running the ads on the site. They are a wonderful advertising agency who do all the work to make the ads on my site run smoothly. They are super prompt with helping me in any way. I thoroughly recommend Monumetric. You do need to have at least 10,000 page views a month to use them but I cannot fault their service.
Design Website Resources
The font used for headings on Chantahlia Design is called Berrylicious. This is a free font you can download HERE
Affiliate Website Resources
In order to help me with the costs of Chantahlia Design I am an affiliate for a few design websites. By using the links I receive a small commission for any purchases you make at no cost to you.
These include, Design Bundles and Font Bundles where you can get amazing Freebies and paid design resources.
Creative Fabrica – another great site for freebies and paid design resources.
The Hungry Jpeg – again a fantastic site for design resources. If you do make the decision to buy something through the Hungry Jpg you can receive a discount with my links: Click through my link for
10% off any font – use code FONTA10
10% off any Craft – use code CRAFTA10
If you have a website and would like to become an affiliate, one of the best sites to apply to is Shareasale.com Here you can join many affiliate programs.
Social Media Scheduling
Social Media is an essential part of marketing Chantahlia Design
Pinterest brings a lot of traffic to my website and I use Tailwind to schedule my pins. I started on their free 100 pins a month plan but upgraded to a plus plan for more pins. It is a life saver for me helping me organise my time better. If you click HERE you can receive a month for free on a plus plan and I will also receive a month free. I suggest you try it on the free plan first to get the hang of the program and if you upgrade this link will give you a month free.
I also use an amazing plugin called Tasty Pins. This helps me with having my images optimized for Pinterest, SEO and accessibility. It costs just $29.00 a year but saves me hours in adding data individually to the thousands of pages images on my site. Instead I can just go into my media area and quickly move through them, optimizing as I go. You can check out Tasty Pins HERE
I hope this list helps you a little and I would love you to use any of my links as a way of supporting me.