First, for those that do not know, a plugin in a small piece of software that can be installed on your WordPress site to add a specific feature to the site that WordPress does not have as part of the standard software package. There are literally thousands of plugins to choose from, the majority of which are free. By adding plugins, your WordPress site can be very powerful. Along with the many free plugins available, there are also specialized plugins available for a fee. If you still do not find what you need, it is also possible to hire someone to create a plugin for you. The possibilities are endless.

Anyway, the following 7 plugins are ones that we use and feel that every blog must have.

Akismet – This plugin saves you a lot of time in deleting spam comments. You set the specifications and the program learns over time which type of comments you do not want to see. Akismet blocks the spam comments so you do not have to deal with them.

All in One SEO Pack – This plugin allows you to configure each page and each post to be highly SEO friendly.

Contact Form 7 – With this you are able to add an attractive contact form to your blog which will make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you.

Google XML Sitemap – This plugin creates a sitemap of your blog. The biggest benefit of the sitemap is that it makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index new information on your site quickly.

ShareThis – This is a plugin that makes it very easy for your visitors to share information they find interesting on your site with their friends.

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – This plugin will add, beneath each post, a list of posts that are related to the subject of that post. This helps keep your readers on your site longer.

StatPress – This will give you an idea of your visitor statistics each day. You will still probably want Google Analytics but this information is available on the site.

While there are other plugins that you will probably want and need depending on your blog, these are the 7 that we feel every blog needs. Hope this list helps. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in comments or through the “Contact Us” page.

FYI: We are offering a special discount of up to 50% off through August 1, 2010 for anyone that would like help setting up a WordPress site. For more information, click here.

Photo credit: Interactive Institute

Do you have a website? We all know that having a web presence is important. So before we really know any better, we go out, find a web designer, determine what the site should look like and how it should work. Several weeks later, after a few design changes and tweaks, it’s done and online. We couldn’t be happier, right.

After the site has been up several weeks, we have learned more about how the site should look or be laid out or just wish we had done some things a little differently. If we want the changes to happen now though, we have to rehire the web designer to make those modifications and that’s going to cost more money and it’s going to take time. Not that those changes really need to happen immediately. But, once you decide what you want, doesn’t it just make you crazy to have to wait for even the simplest changes? It does me (and maybe it’s just me but…).

There’s another way. Instead of a static website that rarely changes, I’d like you to consider a blog. You have the ability to change a blog as often as you wish. Make the changes you want, don’t like them, change it back. It’s very simple. The changes can happen on your schedule. Immediately or a few days from now. A site that is changing and evolving will keep your customers coming back to see what’s going on.

We recommend a WordPress blog. WordPress is free to use and is easily customizable. There are literally thousands of plug-ins that are also free to make the site do what you want it to do. You want the site to be SEO (Search Engine Optimized) friendly, there’s a plug-in for that. You want the site to have analytics, there’s a plug-in for that. You need a sign-up form for a mailing list, no problem, there’s a plug-in for that too. If you can think of it, there’s probably already a plug-in designed to it.

There are many free themes available as well. The theme is the skin. What the site looks like – the colors, fonts, how it’s laid out, etc. Install a new theme and the look and feel of the site changes. Installing a new theme literally takes a few seconds (finding the theme you want to use takes much longer). Along with the free themes that are available, there are also premium themes that can be purchased. The ones that we recommend cost about $100 give or take, have great support forums and free updates. Installation is a snap.

You can have your blog hosted free at WordPress but we recommend you buy your own domain name and have it hosted by the provider of your choice. You should be able to get hosting for $15 per month or less. Blue Host is an excellent service that is very WordPress and user friendly.

I’ll be writing more on this topic in future posts but if you are anxious to get started but would like some help, we offer website/blog installation. We would be glad to help you get started.

Thanks for spending some time with us today. We appreciate it!

Photo credit: Donncha @ InPhotos.org