5 Useful Google Chrome Extensions for Bloggers

Are you a web browsing ninja, or just plodding along with the default settings?
Google Chrome is now the browser of choice for almost half of the World-Wide-Web-browsing population of the Earth. So it’s a safe bet you either use it already, or you’ll give it a try soon.
There’s a ton of extensions you can add to your Google Chrome to customise it with tools that make blogging and promoting your blog easier. Here are just a handful of my current favourites:

1. WordPress Stats

This handy extension uses your WordPress.com account and Akismet API key to give you access to your blog’s stats from your Google Chrome. A little clicker showing your page views for the day is always visible, overlaid on the WordPress Stats icon in Chrome. No matter what web page you’re viewing, you can click that icon to check your blog’s top posts, referrers, search terms and links in an instant –all without leaving the site you’re on at the time. Get it here.

2. Evernote

Yep, you can get an Evernote extension for Google Chrome that lets you add anything you’re browsing to your Evernote quickly and simply. If you’ve never used Evernote, you’re missing out; it’s a taggable, searchable repository for all your read-it-later articles, URLs, podcasts, and notes to self. Get it here.

3. TinEye

Once you’ve added this extension to your browser, you can easily seek out copies of an image online. So the next time you see an uncredited image you love on a blog, just open TinEye up and it’ll scan the internet for matching images. That means you can track down higher-resolution copies, or find out about licensing to get a copy you can use on your own blog. Get ithere.

4. Rizzoma Research Sidebar

This is such a huge timesaver, I’m glad I found out about it! With the Rizzoma sidebar open, you can click all around the web while keeping your research notes together in one browser sidebar that follows you everywhere you go online. It’s much simpler and less time-consuming than clicking in and out of a Word document or Google Doc every time you want to update your notes. Get it here.

5. PlaceIt

You know those slick-looking photos you often see of a website or ebook being displayed on a shiny tablet, laptop or smartphone? You can create those in just a couple of clicks using this awesome tool. All you need is an image: an ebook front cover, a screenshot of your blog’s homepage, or a still from your video clip, for example. Then just choose the scene you’d like to see your image appear in, upload your image, and PlaceIt takes care of all the fiddly tilting and aligning to make it look awesome. Get it here.
With these 5 extra tools to simplify what used to be complex or time-consuming tasks, you’ll have more time to spend on blogging and promoting your work. Go ahead, try one and let me know what you think!