As nothing is constant but change, so are the frequent switches between my browsers, and my web usually evolves for the better, but sometimes for the worse, also.
My particular evolution went something like this: Netscape, KDEKonqueror, Mozilla Phoenix (early Firefox), IE, Firefox, Opera, and over the last year Chrome. My latest switch to Google Chrome has had the biggest effect on my daily web usage, particularly from the amazing assortment of extensions. The browser is also light and stylish with cool themes.
If you haven’t tried it already I highly recommend you do. With Chrome quickly gobbling up market share, it’s clear I’m not the only one who’s recognizing this.
Ok, enough of this Google Chrome. Let’s talk about some SEO tools. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a website web presence.
Google Chrome’s Extensions, much like Android‘s Apps, are full of garbage with a few gold nuggets hidden amidst the madness.
So let’s see which pins we found in this haystack.
1. Firebug
Get down and dirty with your code or your competitor’s code. You’ll be able to find the tweaks and tags that can boost your rankings. Not for the beginner but an absolute must for the OCD expert.
Firebug Lite is not a substitute for Firebug or Chrome Developer Tools. It is a tool to be used in conjunction with these tools. Firebug Lite provides the rich visual representation we are used to seeing in Firebug when it comes to HTML elements, DOM elements, and Box Model shading. It also provides some cool features like inspecting HTML elements with your mouse and live editing CSS properties.
Benefits of Firebug Lite bookmarklet
- Browser toolbar integration
- Able to activate Firebug Lite for a particular domain
- Firebug Lite will be loaded before all other scripts, allowing it to capture all
console calls, and all XHR requests for that page
- It is faster to load because all code and images will be stored in the extension’s directory on your machine
- Will be able to read external resources in the next version
Limitations
- Cannot read external resources
- Won’t work well on pages with framesThe
- JavaScript debugger isn’t available
- Net Panel isn’t available
2. Goo.gl URL Shortener
Goo.gl URL Shortener_SEO_Extensions_Google_Chrome
Goo.gl Shorten URLs on the fly, add them to history, and integrate them with social media. Do I need to explain this further? It’s a time saver.
- Auto copy to clipboard
- goo.gl history
- Keyboard shortcut
- Context menu
- QR Code
- Highly customizable
- Incognito mode
- Share with your default mail client
- Share with many different services like Evernote, Facebook, FriendFeed, and many others.
3. Google Reader
Let’s face it, there’s a lot of information out there for SEO it’s a highly dynamic industry, and you need to be on top of your game to stay in it. Google Reader is an essential tool.
It Displays the Google Reader unread count. Clicking the icon shows a preview of your reading list in a popup (or it can open Reader in a new tab, see the options page for configuration).
4. IE Tab
Another holdover from Firefox, IE Tab allows you to browse the web as if you were using IE. I use this extension at least twice a day to confirm page appearance, double-check a ranking, or if Chrome is having an issue with loading a page.
For WINDOWS Only
Use Internet Explorer to display web pages in a Chrome tab. Some sites can only be displayed using IE, and with this extension, you can now see those sites without leaving Chrome. Great for web developers who want to test the IE rendering engine, users who use sites with ActiveX controls, and users who want to use the explorer view for local files (i.e. file:// URLs).
5. MozBar
MozBar is SEOmoz, so you might expect this to be top of the list. However, SEOmoz has done an exceptional job with this tool.
SEO Toolbar Highlights
- Easy access to SEOmoz link metrics while you surf the web
- Analyze Page overlay, exposing metrics and page elements
- A SERP overlay with detailed link metrics
- Simple highlighting of non-followed links.
- Quick access to powerful tools.
- Ability to display the toolbar at the top or bottom of the page.
6. Note Anywhere
Maybe I am not the first to tell about this one, but I am not the last. Even if you hate Chrome, this tool makes it all worth it. It’s basic, it’s simple, but it has already completely changed the way you work.
Note
As the name says, you can leave a right note, anywhere. On any page, on any site… leave… close your browser, and come back 2 days later.
The Features
- On any page, you can make notes on the web page, on any position
- The notes get saved in real-time.
- All notes can be moved by mouse: drag and drop
- When you go to that page again, the notes get loaded automatically.
- And on the logo, it shows a badge indicating the number of that page.
New Feature Added In Version 0.5
- Options to change the style of notes
- A notes summary feature
Next Version Plan
- Resize the note size
- Import and export notes
- Sync notes between different computers
- Share notes with others
7. Screen Capture (by Google)
Screen Capture is an easy-to-use extension to capture the visible content of a tab, a region of a web page, or the whole page as a PNG image.
No more CTRL+ALT+PRTSCN, this simple tool by Google lets you highlight the section of the page you want; highlight the visible area, or highlight the whole page (can’t do that with PRTSCN – that I know of). After you select, annotate, highlight, and mark it up however you’d like, and then email it to that lazy coworker who can’t find the broken link or misspelled keyword. It’s like slapping them, nicely.
You can also edit your captured image before saving it as a PNG image. Highlighting, redacting,t d adding text are supported.
What set this extension apart are:
- Super fast when capturing pagimagesge, esp. for large pages
- Support horizontal scroll for large pages that do not fit in one tab screen horizontally
- Intelligently detect floating objects on a page and avoid repeating capture of the same floating objects if whole page capture requires scrolling
- Works on Windows, Linux, and Mac
8. SEO SERP
I’ve found the SEO SERP tool to be slightly buggy. However, the usefulness is there and I’m sure they’ll iron out the issues soon. Basically what it does is it allows you to check your search rankings per term. Quick and simple, definitely saves time for those of us that occasionally get addicted to checking rank.
A simple tool to check quickly the position of a list of sites given by a particular keyword. For example, on the sample image, you can see Wikipedia ranking #1 and Amazon ranking #18 for the keyword “LCD”.
Results are now permanently stored (on your browser) and can be browsed on the “results” page.
Next updates will use this data to show statistics, daily trends, and anything else useful.
9. SEO Site Tools
SEO STools is an all-inclusive powerhouse of SEO information. It includes 6 main sections:
- External Page Data {click here}
- Page Elements
- Social Media
- Page Terms / Tools
- Server / Domain Info
- Suggestions
Some of the unique features and enhancements include highlighting your domains in Google search, trend data in Google webmaster tools, and Social Media stats in Google Analytics. A close second to MOZbar, this tool is an absolute must.
This tool is the most comprehensive SEO Tool on any browser… not only does it pull more metrics from more sources, including social media reactions, but it also enhances common tools like Yahoo Site Explorer and Google Webmaster tools with links, anchor text, and page rank. Even no-follow link highlighting, pop-out ability, and color themes.
10. Stay Focused
Ever spend 3 hours trying to figure out who to trade Randy Moss for on Fantasy Football? Nah, me neither. The Stay Focused tool will help with all that, though. Get back to your link building; get back to your analytics, and stay focused. OK, honesty time… I ended up disabling this tool… but you shouldn’t, it’s awesome and works better than you think it will.
You sit down at the computer, and you swear you’ll be productive. Next thing you know, it’s twelve hours later. You’ve checked your email, updated your Facebook status, browsed the trending topics on Twitter, read your RSS feeds, looked up your favorite band on Wikipedia, vanity goggled yourself, cyber-stalked your ex, looked at all your high-school crushes’ Facebook photos, watered your plants on Farmville, and lost a week’s pay playing online poker.
What you haven’t done is WORK.
StayFocusd is a productivity extension for Google Chrome that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend browsing time-wasting websites. Once your allotted time for the day has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day.
It is highly configurable, allowing you to block or allow entire sites, specific subdomains, specific paths, or even specific pages. That means you can block delicious.com, while still allowing access to delicious.com/save so you can add new bookmarks. Or you can block google.com/reader while still having access to the rest of Google’s sites.
Conclusion
Well, as I’m sure you know by now, there are a ton of tools out there, and while Chrome and its extensions are just one of them, I think they’re worth a tntonI don’t work for Google. I’d love to hear your recommendations as well.