No longer considered a passing fad, blogging has proven itself to be a valuable marketing tool for those who have valuable, interesting or even entertaining content to share with the world. Here are seven indispensable tools that may be useful for amateur and pro bloggers alike:

WordPress is a blog publishing application which may be used for basic content management and focuses on web standards and usability. Features include, but are far from limited to: a user-friendly workflow, rich plugin architecture and an advanced templating system. WordPress is free and has become one of the most popular blog software applications used. RSAWEB provides web-hosting packages suitable for hosting WordPress sites.

Bit.ly and Goo.gl are used to shorten the length of your URL, enabling you to share the link easily, Tweet and email to it to friends, with the objectives being: stability (ensuring the services have good uptime), security (protecting users from malware and phishing pages), speed (fast resolution of short URLs) and tracking (see how many people followed your link).

Google Analytics is a valuable tool which allows you to track the traffic information associated with your blog. You can view the number of unique visitors, page views, as well as how the visitors arrived at your site. This information provides you with useful insights into your target audience, hence preparing you to write better-targeted content and strengthen your marketing initiatives.

Google Feedburner allows bloggers the ability to create and manage their own custom RSS feeds and track the usage of their subscribers and readers. It is the leading tool for media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds assisting bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers to promote, deliver and ultimately profit from their blog.

Disqus expands on your blog’s discussion community through using Discus Comment as a comment system and moderation tool for your site, also allowing users to comment via their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

TubeMogul, if you decide to include video into your blog, then TubeMogul is the tool for you. TubeMogul presents the blogger with a single point for deploying uploads to multiple video sharing and media sites. Additionally, the analytic technology aggregates your video-viewing data to give users the information as to who, when, where and how often their videos are being watched.

HubSpot gets you found online with advanced inbound marketing tools and shows you how to convert more visitors into leads. The full package will burn a hole in your pocket, with the cost of packages ranging from US$250 to US$12,000 p/month. However, the 7-day free trial should give you a fair understanding into the products capabilities. There are also HubSpot free tools available at Website Grader, and Twitter Grader which will analyze your Twitter account, followers and Twitter habits.

These suggested tools are merely the entrance gate to a whole world of apps that will assist any blogger with getting the most out of their blog. There’s an app that will suit a bloggers every need, it’s just a question of: Which one is your favourite?

WordPress is an easy to use website management system and also happens to be one of the most popular blogging platforms available out there.

Over the next few weeks we will be discussing WordPress, how to set up your own blog, as well as posting our thoughts and advice on how to get the most out of WordPress on a budget. Whether creating a large, high volume WordPress site or your average smaller site, the following tutorials will definitely assist you.

Topics include:

1. Setup – How to setup your first website/blog using WordPress
2. Design – Easy ways to make your WordPress site look world class with themes
3. Plugins – Pimp your wordpress website with plugins
4. WordPress Security – securing your site
5. Make a success out of your website

This series should put you on the right path to building a successful website and possibly even a sustainable business. WordPress isn’t for everyone, and although RSAWEB uses an alternative, Joomla for our main site due to the finer control it provides, our blog is a WordPress designed site.

That said WordPress is an awesome tool and always worth using.

Please let us know if you would like to see any further topics and subscribe to our twitter feed at http://twitter.com/RSAWEB to receive updates about any new posts. Click on the ‘Get Updates’ and ‘Get Tweets’ icons on the right to follow this series. RSAWEB offers WordPress Hosting with any Linux Business or larger package as an “Easy Install” option.