With so many to Chrome extensions to choose from, it’s tricky to pick out the tools.
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20 OF OUR FAVOURITE CHROME EXTENSIONS FOR SEO
Let’s start with another of Google’s own products, Page Analytics. It’s a nifty little extension that gives you pertinent real-time information whilst being relative unobtrusive on the page.
When in use, it sits nicely at the top of the tab, and provides analytic data regarding pageviews (including unique pageviews), number of active visitors, average time on page, bounce rate, and exit percentage.
The best thing about this extension is that it delivers essential information without you having to open the full desktop version of the platform. It’s a handy time-saver when you’re battling competing deadlines.
Next up, one of the most popular extensions for SEO enthusiasts is the MozBar. As you probably expect from marketing powerhouse Moz, it’s packed with features that SEO specialists actually need. From this extension you’ll be able to find real-time information wherever you are.
On the MozBar you’ll find powerful tools such as SERP link metrics, highlighted keywords on any page, custom search facilities, and information about custom search engines, page elements, and HTTP status.
The free version is comprehensive and user-friendly, but if you want to unlock more features, such as keyword difficulty scores and page optimisation suggestions, you can opt to pay for a subscription.
This extension is, as the name suggests, packed with useful tools for SEO specialists, wrapped in a light, intuitive UI.
There are six sections: external page data, page elements, social media, page terms/tools, server/domain info, and suggestions. A wide range of SEO activities are covered, right from within Chrome.
Our favourite features are those which are directly integrated with Google, like Webmaster Tools and Analytics. You’ll have instant access to valuable data without having to delve into multiple platforms.
The SEO Quake extension is a multi-purpose tool that provides features such as instant SEO audit, internal and external link examination, and a comprehensive comparison of multiple domains – which the brand has imaginatively titled ‘SEO Showdown’. We love a dash of fun in our reporting tools!
The user interface is smooth and intuitive, and can be customised according to the tools you actually want to use. It’s a great all-rounder and an essential for SEO professionals.
It’s super important to regularly check for broken links. This tool makes it’s easy, by displaying colour-coded links and a small bar of data underneath each Google search result.
Link Miner not only tells you whether a link is working correctly (green if it is, red if it’s not), but provides information about how visitors have interacted with it.
You’ll be able to see how many people have liked and shared each link, as well as the number of associated backlinks. The best feature is the ability to download relevant data as a CSV file, right from the extension. It’s a great little tool that adds plenty of value without creating a distraction.
A fantastic tool for analysing the success of a page on social media. This extension provides most of the functionality of the full Buzzsumo platform in a light, easy-to-use format.
You’ll be able to view share counts in real time, which gives you the power to quickly analyse which pages are currently popular and capitalise on visitor interest.
The Buzzsumo Chrome extension also displays a website’s most shared content, allowing you to hone in on what’s working well. It will even help you to discover which formats are performing best.
Note that the Buzzsumo extension doesn’t currently provide information about the number of shares on Twitter. However, this can still be viewed from the full version of the platform.
The name of this extension promises a lot, and it actually delivers! It’s a SEO keyword research tool that provides information about Google search volume and the cost per click (CPC) across various websites – such as Google
Analytics, Search Console, and Trends, Amazon, YouTube, and so on. Instead of logging into various platforms, this can all be managed from the extension, making it a real time-saver.
You’ll be able to view real-time information within the widget, and it also offers you the option to download data to a CSV file.
Nofollow tags were originally created by Google to prevent spamming in the comments section of blogs from warping the search engine algorithm. A great idea, but the knock-on effect is that perfectly innocuous links are given the nofollow treatment.
Nofollow is a tag that’s automatically or deliberately applied to the URL of a web page. When they’re visited, it doesn’t count toward ranking on search engines.
You may not realise that some of your own website’s links have the nofollow tag, which means that you might be losing out on the SEO benefits of your highest performers.
The No Follow extension helps you to identify links with the nofollow tag applied. This allows you to take corrective action on the links that you do want to contribute to search engine ranking algorithms.
Another fantastic tool for SEO specialists looking to weed out broken links. Check My Links works in the background, highlighting all links and using a simple traffic light system – green for valid, red for broken – that allows you to quickly assess which links require attention.
This extension also automatically publishes HTTP response codes and full URLs of broken links to the Console log within Chrome, which can be found by using the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + J.
Check My Links is a hidden gem. It’s not all bells and whistles, but it does a very important job perfectly.
Need to capture website data in a spreadsheet fast? Scraper is the tool for you! It will instantly mine data from an web page using XPath or jQuery, and automatically generate a Google Sheet for quick access. You can also copy and paste data into an Excel spreadsheet if you prefer. It’s simply a great little time saver for SEO professionals!
Another fantastic extension that does a simple job very well – and quickly! – is Page Load Time. As you’ve probably guessed, this tool tells you the speed with which a page loads, automatically.
It sits right next to the address bar, completely unobtrusively – just a small clock icon and the the number of seconds to load the page. This extension uses Web Timing API for ultimate precision. An absolute essential!
Switching our focus from super simple tools to the more complex and data-rich, the Link Research SEO Toolbar gives you advanced SEO metrics in a format that’s intuitive, easy to understand, and actually useful.
There are several parameters available on the toolbar, including social media buzz and impact, user engagement, the Power and Trust of a page, its backlinks, the strongest pages according to keyword ranking, and many more.
You can also customise a toolbar to drag and drop at the bottom of every page, giving you instant access to the data you need. In short, it offers extensive functionality in a lightweight package.
Let’s focus on impact and buzz for a moment. These important metrics allow you to gauge how successful a marketing campaign is, and Impactana presents them right at the bottom of the page.
No fuss, no logging into a platform to perform the copy and paste routing over and over. Just instant, in-screen results. Impactana uses both measures – yellow for impact, blue for buzz – and provides essential information automatically.
Buzz shows you how many shares a page has received across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Impact delves deeper, displaying data regarding page views, comments, downloads, and other actions.
Impactana also integrates seamlessly with Buffer and Hubspot for further analysis. It’s a nifty tool that competes admirably with bigger names. Well worth a try.
Remember when your textbooks used to be full of sticky notes to serve as markers for the most important sections? Imagine the stationery nerd satisfaction of that time, updated for the digital age. Enter, Note Anywhere.
Just as the name suggests, this genuinely fantastic tool allows you to place a sticky note on any web page, and – as if by magic – it will stay there.
Seriously. You can return several days later and your note will be waiting patiently for you. An absolutely essential tool for reminding you to complete SEO actions, and really, for any other reason. You’ll wonder how you used Chrome without it!
Are you ready for another handy tool you didn’t know you needed? Say hello to Google Screen Capture. It grabs a screenshot – by section, visible area, or whole-screen – then allows you to annotate and mark up the image however you like. All from an extension.
It’s perfect for communicating a situation with co-workers, particularly if you’re having a problem that’s easier to show than tell.
We love how richly detailed and visually-impressive this extension is. Similar Web is one of the more in-depth tools that instantly show key metrics for any website, including traffic, engagement rate, keyword and search engine ranking, social media buzz, and key sources of traffic.
Click through the tabs for more detail, and take advantage of an interface that makes analysis straightforward. We can’t rave enough about how good this extension, and the value it can offer. Highly recommended.
If it’s metadata you’re interested in, this extension is up to the job! Meta SEO Inspector delves into the depths of a website, pulling the useful data that’s usually hidden away from the everyday browser.
As well as HTML tags, you’ll be able to see XFN tags, microformats, the canonical attribute, nofollow links, and other useful page properties. It also displays warnings of possible contraventions of the Webmasters’ Google Guidelines. An excellent choice for in-depth analysis.
To all the content creators out there, this tool was built just for you! It allows you to optimize your content using SEO insight data. From within the extension, you can see search engine and keyword rankings, backlink authority, and summary information that includes metadata.
Our favourite feature is Usability Audit, that analyses the content of each page and gives a technical score. It’s perfect for identifying potential issues quickly! A great all-rounder for content creation wizards.
We’ll end as we began, with a tool that comes directly from Google. When installing tags, it’s perilously easy to make a mistake or otherwise get a result that’s not 100% what you wanted.
The Tag Assistant extension quickly performs an in-depth analysis of any page, verifying which Google tags have been installed correctly, and highlighting any with errors that need your attention.
Google Tag Assistant will also automatically suggest improvement that can fix issues with link tags, so if you’re in a pickle over to fix an issue, you can resolve it without delay. Like all Google products, it interacts seamlessly with its siblings.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
Which Chrome Extensions for SEO do you find the most useful? Let us know in the comments below!
