Thank you Sir, this thread is very useful to a noob like me. I recently just bought a domain and now I can finally start because you just summarized all the tools I'm about to google and search!
I really appreciate it!
I've never tested a site without using Google's tools but I can say I've hit page 1 for a few sites and I'm pretty Grey HatGreat list but like others on here I personally would not use anything which gives Google more access to my sites like Google Analytic's or Webmaster tools.
I'd like to add to this list http://www.seoptimer.com/ - handy tool for website optimization ( it's not my site)
thanks op for the list.