When I started building the Skool House website, I had a difficult time finding the right tools and resources that worked well.
A lot of time and effort was wasted digging through all the options.
As a result of the struggle, I created this page to show what I used to build and manage this website. My hope is to provide some guidance in helping you build an awesome website!
simplicity of
GeneratePress Premium
This website is built on GeneratePress theme for WordPress. It is a free WordPress theme that focuses on speed and simplicity.
With the GeneratePress Premium plugin added-on, I have so much control over how I want the website to look and work. I have been using the theme for 2 years and it is perfect for my needs!
Super Fast
Theme is very lightweight and loads incredibly fast. I didn’t want a theme with a lot of features I was never going to use.
Awesome Support
The support team is nothing short of amazing! They go above and beyond sometimes and responses are actually helpful.
Page Builder
GenerateBlocks Pro
A simple, lightweight plugin that is feature-rich and allows you to build beautiful websites. This is specifically made for those who want more control over how each blocks works and appears.
Curious about what you can build with this plugin? Look at the in-depth look at GenerateBlocks.
It’s unbelievable what you can create with just 4 blocks!
WordPress
Other Plugins
Here are some of the other plugins used to enhance the functionality and overall appearance of our website.
Perfmatters
This plugin has made a world of difference in optimizing this website to load super fast. It is a must-have plugin for any website running on WordPress.
Login Designer
Instead of using the standard WordPress login page, you can now build a beautiful customized login page to match your brand. You can choose from one of the default templates, or make one of your own.
WP Show Posts
Allows you to display posts anywhere on your website using an easy-to-use shortcode. You can pull any post types like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, WP Download Manager, etc and it works with any theme.
LiteSpeed Cache
A free and open-source WordPress plugin that helps reduce the load times of our website. It’s an all-in-one site acceleration plugin with a server-level cache and a collection of optimization features.
Novashare
There are a lot of free plugins for social sharing, so why pay for one? Simple, it’s optimized for speed. Built by the same team who created Perfmatters, so you can expect a high-quality plugin!
Rank Math Pro
Rank Math is one of the best Search Engine Optimization plugin that makes it easy to optimize the website with their built-in suggestions.
We Use MDDHosting
After jumping around with various hosts over the years, I finally settled on MDDHosting. Having used their service for over 6 years, I couldn’t be happier!
Speed
For a small company, MDDHosting is surprisingly fast! It rivals the speeds offered by Kinsta and Flywheel.
Even with the basic plans, you are getting a LiteSpeed webserver with multiple layers of caching.
Customer Service
All the support tickets have been answered quickly andthey go above and beyond typical customer service provided by some of the popular hosts.
Bonus: No hidden fees, no price manipulation, no promotional e-mails, no spam.
Security
Offers everything you need for security – SFTP and SSH access, ModSecurity, SiteLock, SSL/TLS certificate, and daily off-site backups.
Affordable
Monthly rates for Cloud hosting are affordable and unlike many other hosts, they do not lock you into a commitment for a year. They offer monthly hosting plans starting at $7/month.
Web Tools
These are some key tools used for managing our website.
Google Fonts
An excellent alternative to Typekit (a paid service) would be Google Fonts, which offers an amazing collection of web fonts for free!
Google Workspace
Offers all the popular Google services such as Gmail, calendar, docs, video conferences, and more. We primarily use it to host our email account and share files.
Google Analytics
Monitor your traffic source, how much time people spend on the site, identify popular content, and so much more. This information is incredibly valuable to growing your website.
Google Search Console
A great tool to help you rank better in Google search results. Google Webmasters helps diagnose my website to see if there are issues that needs to be resolved (duplicate pages, 404 pages, bad links, etc).
Workflow
Tools and software used for maintaining the creative workflow.
Notion
Notion has been a game-changer. It’s atool that I use daily to keep notes, ideas, project details, and anything else. What makes it great is that it’s easily accessible from anywhere and on any number of devices.
Adobe Photoshop
An industry-standard tool for creating rich graphics. The bulk of the graphic work for our articles is created in Adobe Photoshop.
Adobe Lightroom
While Photoshop is great to work with individual files, if we are working with bulk photos, Lightroom is the way to go.
Affinity Designer
Looking for an alternative to Adobe Illustrator? Affinity Designer is a great tool for producing vector and raster artwork. Best of all, you pay once for the license!
Camera Gear
Fujifilm X100F
For any photography needs, this is my primary camera and it’s probably one of the best mirrorless cameras out there. Most of the photos we have taken in the last couple of years have been using the Fujifilm X100F.
A fantastic camera to take on the go without having to worry about adding bulk or carrying multiple lenses around. The fixed prime lens produces outstanding photos.
Costs
Building and managing a website can get expensive very quickly. See the list below for all the costs involved in maintaining this website (amounts in USD).
$28
/year
Domain Name
Skool.house is bought from NameCheap. One of the more affordable registrars for purchasing domain names.
$30
/month
Hosting
MDDHosting has been providing exceptional service and no yearly commitments.
$59
/year
GeneratePress Plugin
Provides advanced features to customize the theme. You also get a discount when renewing the license.
$39
/year
GenerateBlocks Plugin
Provides more advanced features to the free plugin. The entire website is built using it, so it’s worth the investment.
$25
/year
Perfmatters Plugin
A performance-enhancing plugin and worth every penny. Improved loading times without upgrading hosting services.
$25
/year
Novashare Plugin
You can manage with a free plugin for enabling social sharing but this plugin gives you lot more control.
$6
/month
Google Workspace
Email hosting and access to all the tools needed to manage a website.
$10
/month
Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom
Used for creating graphics and editing photos for our articles.
$57
/once
Affinity Designer 2
Amazing tool for creating vector graphics. And the best part is that you only need to buy it once!
$518
/year
Total Annual Cost
Annual cost for maintaining the site. Does not include Affinity Designer since it is a one-time investment.
Notice
Affiliate Links
Please note some of the products and services contain affiliate links. This means I will earn a commission if you make a purchase using those links.
Every product or service which includes an affiliate link is something I have used and trust.
I will NOT promote any product or service that I haven’t used or trust myself.
I recommend you find out more about the product or service see if it’s right for you.
You do not have to use the affiliate link through us to purchase anything. But if you do make a purchase through the links on this site, it will help a lot in growing this website.
If you have any specific questions about a product or service, please feel free to contact me.
