We’re all about time-saving tools, especially tools that help small business owners save time with their online marketing. A quick Google search yields hundreds of apps and browser extensions to help you with this, that and the other thing. But which of these are really worth your while?
To save you from a lot of unnecessary searching and testing, we’ve put together a list of the very best browser extensions and apps for small business owners.They’re not just for small businesses; our marketing team and a lot of other big companies use these tools on a daily basis to save time and work smarter. What makes them great for your small business? They are simple to use and free (for the most part).
Bonus Content: Snag a copy of our handy time-saving tool sheet.
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Internet Browsers: A Quick History Lesson
Once upon a time in 1996, Internet Explorer was the most popular Internet browser used to surf the Web. And it stayed that way for a long time, until 2002 when Mozilla’s Firefox came along and shook things up. Safari (exclusive to Mac users) was released less than four months later. Many alternative browsers followed Safari, including Google Chrome. With over 1 billion users, Chrome is today’s most popular Web browser.
Your choice of browser is completely up to your preference; if you intend to make use of the browser extensions in this post, however, we recommend downloading Google Chrome.
Wait, wait. What’s the difference between extensions and apps?
You can look at Web apps as a browser’s equivalent to downloadable apps for an iPhone. These applications run inside your browser with a dedicated user interface. An example of a Web app is Google Docs.
Unlike apps, extensions have no dedicated user interface. Instead, they improve the functionality of Chrome and the websites you’re viewing in your browser. For instance, Groupon Coupons lets you find coupons and discount codes while you shop online. With the extension downloaded, you can access it while visiting any website, not just Groupon.
Browser extensions and apps can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store, while Firefox extensions are available on Mozilla’s Add-ons site.
Best Browser Extensions for SMBs
There are a ton of extensions and Web apps out there for you to explore. Below are some of our favorites. Try them out and let us know what works best for your business.
Awesome Screenshot makes it super easy to take a snap of your computer screen and edit it to share online. Highlight important information, blur out the sensitive stuff and add comments to a screen capture with the click of a button.
No editor? No problem. Grammarly checks your emails, docs and social media posts for errors to help you create error-free content.
Pocket lets you grab articles you might want to read or share and save them for later. Use the tags feature to keep things organized by topic. Easily save industry-related articles to share on your social accounts later.
Bitly shortens those lengthy URLs (links) that max out your character count on Twitter and make your posts look messy. It also lets you monitor customer engagement by platform on the links your share.
MozBar is a SEO toolbar that gives you insight into the results you see in Google. Access important SEO metrics and check backlinks on your business and competitor pages as you surf the Web.
Use Giphy to easily find the perfect animated image file (GIF) to respond to your emails and tweets.
We recommend using these sparingly, but sometimes the right GIF says everything you need to say, only better. Like the time Google answered a question from a reporter like this:
And finally, Buffer. Buffer makes it super easy to “automagically” share any page you’re reading and schedule posts to publish on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ business pages.
The easiest way to use Buffer is to install the Buffer browser extension; it happily runs in most every browser.
Adding Browser Extensions to Chrome
Before you can make use of these extensions, you need to have a browser that supports them. If you’re not already using Chrome, you can follow this link to download Google Chrome. Once you’ve installed Chrome on your computer, you can add new extensions to your browser by visiting the Chrome Web Store and searching for the extension you’re interested in.
When you’ve successfully added an extension, it will appear in your Chrome toolbar:
Wrap-Up
As we mentioned earlier, we’re all about saving you time. That’s why we’ve created a done-for-you marketing solution for small businesses. The browser extensions in this post are intended to help you better manage your online marketing. That said, if you think these extensions sound cool but would prefer to have someone else handle all of this for you, that’s what we’re here for! Give OutboundEngine a call and we can talk about an online marketing solution that meets your needs.
Want to learn about more time saving-tools for your business? Click below to grab our guide.
Are any of these browser extensions working for your business? If so, we’d love to hear about how you’re using them. Know of some other extensions we should add to this post? Please share in the comments below!
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