In some ways it can be difficult to accurately quantify what the most important things are for any new webmaster. Different things are important at different times. Quick; think of the most important thing in your life. Right now. Say it out loud...

I bet you didn't say the toilet... but you'd miss it intensely if it wasn't there. Ok, a bit contrived, I'll admit. Still, I've compiled a short list of things I think, in general, everyone should make an effort to get a hold of if you want to make life a bit easier for yourself.

The list below is by no means the be all and end all of website creation and management. There are similar tools available that can do perfectly respectable jobs. The idea here is really to give you a broad overview of the types of things you should be using in order to efficient and effective at your job.

1. Firebug

Firebug is a freely available downloadable plugin for the FireFox browser. You are using more than one browser to test your site during development, right? It's as ingenious as it is invaluable and has a number of different operations that allow you to pick apart exactly why and how your website is behaving the way it does.

Personally, I use firebug most when I am trying to get the design (look and feel) of a website just right. Firebug's inspection mode allows you to point at any element on a webpage and view the HTML and CSS responsible for it. Not only that, but Firebug tells you exactly where that CSS is - useful when you have tens or hundreds of different CSS files with thousands of lines of code.

There's a lot more to it - but I'll let you explore it for yourself. It's one of those things, you look back and wonder how you ever got by without. Like tea...

2. cPanel

What Firebug is to website development, cPanel is to server administration. There are other administrative tools out there, but cPanel is generally more expensive. I say that as a good thing though because, in this case, you get more than what you pay for.

Administration panels are basically wrappers around native linux commands. Instead of having to type in something like

you can use a file browser.

cPanel provides a powerful and intuitive platform from which to use the tools that allow you to manage a server - everything from database administration, to email and file system settings, server logs and stats and so on - depending on the permissions and access available on your hosting account.

All things being equal, if one hosting service offers cPanel and the other doesn't - take cPanel.

3. Quality content

What cPanel is to server administration, quality content is to SEO. Providing good, informative and useful content is really, really ridiculously important for attracting the type of people who are interested in what you have to say or sell. There's a caveat though - quality content will get you onto the search engines, but backlinks will really push you up the rankings.

Often, though, the two go hand in hand. Someone is more likely to link back to you if they know that you offer a quality site that will enhance there reputation by association. No one will link to a site that has no redeeming features - and if they do, then it's likely they are some sort of backlink scam that's not worth anything anyway.

4. Google analytics

What quality content is to SEO, Google analytics is to web traffic intelligence. Not all companies utilize Google's free analytics services for a variety of reasons - some, for example, don't like Google knowing the ins and outs of their web traffic. But, not having a good analytics service (or at the very least good server logging and reporting) is like fighting an aerial battle without radar. It's no fun at all...

If you're just starting out, get an analytics account because it will really help shed some light on how your visitors are getting to the site and what they are doing once they are there. Often, you'll be surprised by the fact that people tend to do things differently from what you orginally intended - especially if you're offering some sort of tool or complex service.

Understanding what people expect and need from a website is most of the battle. Once you know this, it's a case of rolling up the sleeves and providing it.

5. Linkedin

What Google analytics is to intelligence, Linkedin is to social networking. I for one, am not particularly social, and I think people in general waste far too much time talking and not doing. With that said, it is imperative these days to harness what the web has to offer to make important connections. The old addage, it's not what you know, it's who you know really does apply.

Linkedin is a social network with a slight twist; it specifically concentrates on business. Instead of regaling your friends with fascinating stories about why you've decided to change your favorite color from pink to blue, you can actually spend some quality time trying to meet people who are interested or involved in areas of business that can be of use to you.

Naturally, the service is swamped with people trying to do the same thing, or peddle goods and so on, so it's not as easy as signing up and becoming a millionaire, but effective use of linkedin is a valuable skill.