You’re an entrepreneur or small business owner who has decided it’s the right time to develop a business website … better yet, a business blog … now what?

Here are my personal must-haves for any new website (blogsite) that I develop for clients:

1. WordPress – WordPress is the best option to choose for a blogging platform. It’s easy to install, has lots of themes and plug-ins and can be highly customized for various requirements. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that WordPress  can only be used as a “blog” … there are many creative alternative uses for it.
2. Aweber – Aweber is an auto-responder that allows you to create a partially automatic dialogue with customers. It’s a great tool for instantly acknowledging form submitters that you received their submission and will get back to them, works great for email newsletters, and has wonderful tracking analytics so you can see what is or isn’t working with your email marketing campaigns and offers.
3. A Designer – Yes, I’m a little biased on my recommendation on this third item since I am one myself. A designer can setup your blogsite so that all you have to do is go in and keep it maintained with as little tech-know-how as possible. A designer can also customize the graphics for your blog so that your blogsite doesn’t look “cookie-cutter” and has a unique personality that fits your overall branding position. A designer can also help you choose which features and plug-ins would work best for your particular business blog based on your target audience.

You can learn about the WordPress plug-ins I use in my article: WordPress Blog Design: Plugins

I’m interested to have a dialogue with fellow designers, entrepreneurs and small business owners on this subject.

What other ingredients do you think make for a better business blog?