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I’ve been developing niche websites and blogs for quite some time now and there is always something you don’t think of, that some awesome piece of software thinks of for you. A lot of these programs solve problems I didn’t know I had.

So, in an effort to save my fellow niche bloggers some time, I’ve put together a list of the programs that have helped me out the most. Having the right tools in your toolbox will save you time and end up helping your success when it comes to blogging. As you develop your blogging workflow you may find some of these software choices more useful than others.

I develop on a Mac, so my list reflects that reality. Many are free, but some of the best cost money and they are well worth the investment.

The Best Mac OS X Apps for Niche Bloggers

RAGE Domainer

Are you acquiring lots of domain names and losing track of all the ones you own? Well, RAGE Domainer is an app that stores all your purchased domain names. It gives you useful stats such as the domain’s current pagerank, Alexa rankings, incoming links and tags. Pretty useful, especially if you plan to sell some domain names. You can import all your domains with a simple .CSV file from your registrar.

Cost:$39.98
Link: Download RAGE Domainer Free Trial

CyberDuck

If you’re running your blog on a remote web server (which you should be!), you’ll need a way to upload and download files to your server. CyberDuck is simple and free. It does the job and doesn’t ask for anything in return.

Cost: Free
Link: Cyberduck Download

Newsfire

Newsfire is a light and simple RSS Reader. The RSS Reader built into Apple Mail is woefully inadequate and hogs system resources. This program operates in the background and aggregates your important feeds nicely. Perfect for monitoring Twitter or your fellow niche bloggers in your particular subject.

Cost: Free
Link: Newsfire Download

Evernote

Evernote is God’s Gift to humanity. It’s a brilliant program and it’s where I start all my blog posts. It takes notes, everywhere. You can sync from your iPhone, Web Client or the desktop client. A perfect cloud computing application.

Cost: Free
Link: Download Evernote

MarsEdit

Logging into your blog’s admin over and over can get quite annoying, especially if you’re web server is slow about it. I recommend using this program to write your blog posts. It allows you to use HTML code, supports Blogger, Drupal, WordPress, upload images to your server and much more. It’s versatile and does exactly what it’s supposed to. Saves me a lot of time.

Cost: $29.95
Link: Download MarsEdit Trial

Rank Tracker

This program is a little pricey but in return it will track your keyword rankings for your sites. Perfect to see where you stand and where your traffic is coming from. Also great to see where you can improve your site’s keyword targeting.

Cost: $87
Link: Download Rank Tracker Demo

LiveQuartz

I’m completely inept at Photoshop. It also takes forever to load and most of the time all I need to do is resize or crop and image. I don’t need Photoshop for that. LiveQuartz is a simple Open Source image editor that makes doing simple image manipulation a breeze. It has it’s quirks but it’s so much easier to use than Photoshop.

Cost: Free
Link: Download LiveQuartz

MAMP

When you’re setting up a site, there’s a lot of work that goes into it. And making constant changes on a live web server is slow going. It takes forever to upload, change settings, etc. You should develop your blog/site in a development sandbox on your computer using MAMP. MAMP basically turns your computer into an internal webserver, with MySQL databases and all. It makes setting up new sites a breeze. Once you’re done setting everything up, simply move the files and the database to the live server and you’re golden.

Cost: Free
Link: Download MAMP

InstantShot

The screenshot program that comes with Macs sucks and is a pain to get to. Instant shot simplifies the screenshot process greatly and give you more options.

Cost: Free
Link: Download InstantShot

Coda

Once you start tweaking your website while it’s on a live server, it quickly becomes a pain in the butt to download files, open them, edit them and re-upload them. Coda streamlines the process by putting the FTP client and HTML editor all in one. Simply browse to the file you need changed, open it, edit it and save. One window web development. Brilliant for making adjustments to pesky WordPress themes or configuration files. It’s a little on the pricey side, but well worth the investment.

Cost: $99
Link: Download a Coda Trial

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is by far the best Twitter client you can get. You can set up groups and target your tweets for what you’re watching. It’s very versatile and best of all, free.

Cost: Free
Link: Download TweetDeck

FireFox – Stumbleupon

I don’t know if it’s just me but FireFox is a slow hog on my Mac but it’s worth keeping around simply for Stumbleupon. Stumbleupon is a great way to find other blogs in your niche or to find inspiration for content. It’s also great if you’re looking for a laugh or happen to like pictures of cute cats, like me.

Cost: Free
Link: Download Firefox, Download Stumbleupon

What are your favorite programs for blogging? Let me know in the comments.