Microsoft Edge: User, what is my purpose?

User: To download Chrome.

Microsoft Edge: …Oh my god.

Google Chrome is now the king of browsers. For the longest time, Internet Explorer (now Microsoft Edge) represented a full 90% of the browser market share.

So, there’s a kind of poetic justice in the fact that I.E. is mainly used to download Google Chrome to Windows machines.

But what makes Chrome so appealing? Is it customizability (Firefox has that)? Or security (Safari is probably more secure)?

I’d say it’s actually two things, connectivity (with everything Google) and secure plugins. These two things make Chrome shine brighter than the rest. And very little effort is needed to make it that way.

If you do SEM and you aren’t using SEO Chrome plugins for your website, you’re missing out. Why? Keep reading to find out. (What? You thought I’d make this easy on you?)

1. SEO Chrome Plugins for On Page SEO and Usability Analysis

If you just need a quick and easy analysis of your website or a competitor’s, an SEO Chrome plugin will do. It’s faster than pulling up an SEO tool.

Page Analytics

Page Analytics is essentially a snapshot tool for viewing your own site’s Google Analytics while continuing to browse. It’s real-time once you’re logged on.

You can see metrics like unique page views, bounce rate, and average time on page. You can completely skip the Google Analytics page with this one if you want. And for some people, that’s super important for productivity.

Redirect Path

If coding isn’t your thing, then don’t worry, Redirect Path will still be super useful.

Have you recently moved your website? Or do you suspect that a competitor has? You probably want to know if that link juice moved with it.

You also want to know if the redirects are working for your backlinks.

This is exactly what Redirect Path is for. It’s a Chrome plugin that will show you all the redirects from a URL you enter.

You can see detailed descriptions of each redirect. Things like server types, cookies, caching and the IP address.

And lastly, you can actually discover backlink opportunities by following the redirect chain to individual pages.

Keywords, Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere is one of the best tools out there for understanding the search queries of your target audience. And without tools like this, access to search volumes is quite difficult.

It may not be the best tool for the job. But it’s certainly quicker than pulling up all the research tools you use.

This plugin pulls data from three sources, Google Keyword Planner, UberSuggest, and Google Search Console. While the results are approximate (no keyword tool is perfect), it does give you a quick starting point for your keyword research.

Mozbar

What if you could bring the most popular SEO service on the internet directly to your browser plugin bar? That’s exactly what the Mozbar does.

If you want most of what Moz has to offer without directly accessing Moz, then you should download this plugin. It allows you to check a host of metrics while browsing the internet.

You’ll see some of the most important ones on there like domain authority, page authority, link profiles, keyword highlights and more.

2. Link Building and Technical SEO Chrome Plugins

Doing outreach for link building is a pain in the…well, you know. And if there were an easier way than reaching out through brute email lists, we’d all do it, right?

But the thing is, there are easier ways of handling this task. And SEO chrome plugins are one of those ways.

Outreach With Ninja Outreach Lite

Ninja Outreach reaches far and succeeds. They enjoy access to over 4 million influencers. That kind of data is rare.

And with the Ninja Outreach Lite, you can pretty much have semi-free access to that database.

If you need to find influencers, this is your plugin. You can find all the information you need to get you started. Info like Name, follower counts, location, backlinks, domain authority and more are all right there for the picking.

Large-Scale Analysis With Scraper

Sometimes you just need to pull a lot of data from several different websites at once. And doing this audit with just a spreadsheet, a few online tools, and your own two eyes will have you screaming by the end.

There’s a plugin for that.

It’s called Scraper. And while it’s a bit more complicated than the other plugins I’ve mentioned. It’s much easier than the manual method.

It uses XPath query language and exports HTML data from your pages. And it does this across the whole website.

User Agent Switcher

There once was a time where you only had to worry about desktop website usage. Accessing the internet from the palm of your hand was a text-only adventure.

Today, screens vary in size and interactivity. And you need to optimize your website to fit those media.

The User Agent Switcher allows you to see exactly how websites look and function on every device. And you can do this with just a desktop or laptop.

Fix The Broken With Link Miner

One of the most effective ways of taking ground with your link building campaign is broken link building. But doing it manually through research and email requests is time-consuming.

And the most time-consuming part is the searching. How do you even begin?

But Link Miner will trawl the internet for you, searching for broken links in your niche. It will not only find the broken links, but it will give you all the data you need about the links.

Conclusion: There Are More

Of course, I could write about more extensions. There a plenty out there just as useful.

But these are the ones I’m downloading today and using on my own research.

If you have a favorite SEO Chrome plugin, let me know in the comments below.