Top 10 Blogging Tools We Use

If you've been around the blogosphere for awhile, you'll know there are hundreds of widgets, plug-ins and blogging tools you can use to enhance and optimize your blog.

Being an active experimenter, I like to play with new blogging tools, but frankly there are many more than I could ever experiment with and many don't apply or translate well to my business blogs.  Patsi and I have working on a list of web marketing tools that we use so it occured to me that I should make a list of my Top 10 Blogging Tools.  In general, these are tools I use and recommend to our blogging clients.

1. TypePad, of course.  Our blogging platform of choice.
2. HipCast (formerly Audioblog.com) for creating podcasts and posting audio and video on blogs.
3. Feedblitz:  the gold standard for delivering blog updates via email.
4. Trumba Event Calendar: This is a new widget recently introduced in the TypePad library.  I love being able to easily post our calendar of events.
5. BlogAds.com: The blog advertising network we use.  There are many others and I like the fact I can set my own advertising rates and choose whether or not to run an ad.
6. Sitemeter:  Again, there are tons of web analytic programs out there.  This one is free or you can upgrade for a small fee.  Frankly, I cannot remember how I learned about Sitemeter, but I'm using it and find it simple to set up and use.
7. MajikWidget:  another widget service.  I particulary like the polling widget you can create for your blog.  Helps encourage interactivity with your readers.
8. Pingoat: ping 50+ blog directories every time you post.
9. Feedburner:  create a smart feed for your blog + numerous options for optimizing and publicizing your blog content.
10. Google:  I use Google Alerts to be keep up to date on what's happening in my niche; I have used Google Adsense for generating ad revenue; and I use Google Search (set up through your Google Adsense account) on my blog so visitors can search for specific content within the site.

Comments

[Tris Hussey]

Hey have you tried Qumana? You know nice blog editor ... can use it when not online, looks like Word ... spell check ... Drag and drop stuff.

Give it a shot and let me know if you have any questions.