Here are 15 Chrome extensions every SEO and marketer should know about to make their job that little bit easier.
Especially look at the 12th Chrome extension on the list; it’s a lifesaver!
Quick Links
- What is a Chrome Extension ?
- Ahrefs Chrome Extension
- Keyword Surfer
- Similar Web
- VidIQ Chrome Extension
- SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant Chrome Extension
- Google Docs
- Print Friendly
- SEO Minion Chrome Extension
- Find Email Addresses with Hunter.io
- Full Page Screen Capture
- Blue Button Web Page X Ray
- SERPS Redux
- Shopify Bulk 301 redirect
- Facebook Pixel Helper
- Google Tag Assistant
- Viewport Resizer
- Google Sheets
- What now ?
What is a Chrome Extension ?
An extension is a shortcut or additional feature of a solution that can be accessed or activated by clicking a link on your Chrome web browser.
Since the Chrome store extensions are Google approved, this adds peace of mind to the security and validity of these tools.
And as Google states, the extensions won’t crash your browser.
Now the list of Chrome extensions and the first one is, surprise, surprise …
Ahrefs Chrome Extension
Ahrefs is the best keyword research, competitor and backlink analysis tool, and I use it daily because I sell keyword research services.
They have a chrome extension that displays the domain rating of a website you are on.
Do a Google search, and you’ll see the local search volume, estimated clicks, keyword difficulty and global search volume.
But what’s cool is that you can see the metrics for all the topic ranking pages underneath each search result.
The extension is an excellent addition to their main service.
Keyword Surfer
Keyword Surfer is a handy little extension for doing basic keyword research.
It uses Google data, which isn’t very accurate.
As you can see from above, it overlays the search volume, country and estimated cost per click next to the keyword.
If the tool were a little more stable, data would be enabled next to the autosuggestions.
Similar Web
SimilarWeb is a website research tool, and their free Chrome extension will provide basic information about a website you are currently visiting.
If the icon turns to show blue and orange colours, then there is information about the website.
Click the icon, and you’ll get a drop-down window showing:
- Estimated Monthly Visits
- Time on Site
- Pages Per Visit
- Bounce Rate
- Trend of last 6 months website visits
Generally speaking, that’s enough information for basic website research.
Although be aware the free extension won’t find data on many low traffic websites.
You can also drill down and see other website information, including :
- Traffic sources
- What countries traffic comes from
- Where the website traffic comes from and where it goes to
That’s very generous information for free from SimilarWeb.
I’ve not used their premium service, but they don’t reveal their pricing, assuming they target the corporate market.
VidIQ Chrome Extension
VidiQ is a Chrome extension Youtube analysis.
I don’t use the extension, but it’s a useful reminder when I create videos.
VidIQ data is laid over your video whilst inside YouTube providing an SEO score, video optimisation checklist and video tags you’ve added or could add to.
SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant Chrome Extension
If there is one feature of Semrush that would make me consider switching from Ahrefs, it’s their SEO Writing Assistant.
It’s a few months since I used it on a writing project, but it’s a useful add on.
SEO Writing Assistant isn’t a Chrome extension; it’s a Google Docs add on tool.
That means you access the tool from the Add on menu bar inside Google Docs.
Once you’ve connected the tool with Semrush, you will see a right-hand sidebar containing the following SEO and writing metrics.
- Overall page score between 0 and 10
- Readability score between 0 and 100 where the target is over 65
- Words per page
- Target keywords to add to your page as you write and
- Your on page title and meta description
The add on is brilliant for writers to ensure their page is relevant to the keywords they are targeting or to show the client the page is optimised correctly.
Google Docs
Here are my 3 favourite features of Google Docs for writing.
- Spelling, grammar and word count
- Voice typing; if I eve record interviews with clients
- Commenting and sharing document with a client
Print Friendly
A Chrome extension and a toolbar add on that turn a web page into a PDF document.
Many of my web pages have a call to action where I offer users a PDF of the website after they complete the opt-in form.
Great for turning website visitors into prospects for future email marketing.
- Go to a url
- Press Print Friendly
- Click PDF and that’s you
SEO Minion Chrome Extension
SEO Minion is a new tool from the people at Keywords Everywhere.
And it’s very useful for 5 SEO tasks.
Analyse On Page SEO
Select this option to view the word count, page title, description, heading and open graph information about a page.
I’ve started to use this feature as I complete and launch a new web page.
Highlight All Links
For more SEO tips, you really should have links to 3 other pages on your website and an external link to a relevant, authority site.
This feature helps you quickly check both internal and external page links.
Check Broken Links
Use this feature for broken link building campaigns and website maintenance.
Serps Preview
As it says, enter a keyword, and you see a preview of your web page in Google search results.
- Enter a search query
- Press Preview SERP
- Look at how your page title and description appears in the search results
Google Search Location Simulator
Then you can preview how your page links in search engines in two different countries.
- Select your country
- Select another country
- Enter the search query you wish to view
- Look at the left side of the screen to see where you page ranks in your country
- Look at the right side of the screen to view your page position in the other country
Find Email Addresses with Hunter.io
The Hunter.io Chrome extension also helps you find an email address from a website you are visiting by clicking their Chrome icon.
- Visit website
- Click Hunter extension
- See email address
- Add to your list
Hunter also has a Google Sheets extension to add found email addresses directly into a Google Sheets document.
Rather cool, eh!
Full Page Screen Capture
I capture screenshots of web pages for a lot of SEO and website presentations.
My favourite screen capture tool is Snagit, a paid tool.
But sometimes, Snagit has problems capturing an entire web page.
So I use Full Page Screen Capture.
- Simply click the icon
- The tool capture the page in new browser tab
- Choose to download a PDF or JPG
- Download
- Edit image in your editing software of choice
And Bob’s yer uncle!
Blue Button Web Page X Ray
Another on-page SEO tool.
Notice that the extension highlights on-page issues in red.
In this instance, I don’t have alt tags for my images, something to rectify.
SERPS Redux
Serps redux is an SEO bookmarklet that will extract the URLs from a Google search result.
Say you need a list of website addresses from a search result, click the link on your Chrome browser, and a new window opens with all the HTML links.
If you change your browser settings to display the top 100 results, you can collect more URL’s faster.
Just copy and paste into a document or spreadsheet the URLs that have been extracted.
Shopify Bulk 301 redirect
Those business owners new to Shopify go mad, creating hundreds of catalogues and tags on their e-commerce website.
They end up creating too many low quality and duplicate collections.
So us SEO guys have to clean up their website structure and ensure only their best pages are indexed in Google.
Using 301 redirects is a good way to manage some of this housekeeping and spring cleaning.
Facebook Pixel Helper
This little extension isn’t really an SEO extension, but it’s good to know you’ve installed the Facebook pixels correctly for re-marketing to those who have visited your web page from organic search results.
My website has 2 distinct audiences, and knowing I can re-market on a per-page visit basis is super useful for targeted advertising.
Google Tag Assistant
Nice little extension to check you have to Google Analytics and Google Re-marketing tags installed on your website.
Strictly not core SEO plugins but helpful to know there are no issues when you analyse search traffic in Google Analytics.
Viewport Resizer
This Chrome add on lets me view web pages in different browsers such as desktop computers, tablets and iPhones.
Click Resizer on your Chrome browser and select the device of your choice, and you get an instant preview.
Google Sheets
I sometimes create a Donkeys and Unicorns SEO report to help me decide the best web pages to improve on a website.
Whilst, not a Chrome extension, creating a chart icon and function is essential in producing this helpful SEO report.
What now ?
Here are some other resources you will find helpful.