Top 5 Social Media Extensions for Chrome

[tweetmeme source =”Ileane”]Google Chrome is quickly becoming the browser of choice and will most likely dethrone Firefox in terms of user sentiment, speed and security but let’s not forget about the growth of the Chrome extensions library. Although Firefox continues to be favored by webmasters, Chrome is gaining acceptance in the mainstream as users escape the grasp of Internet Explorer and embrace the security of  Google’s sandbox powered browser Chrome.

Paired with the success of Google Buzz, developers are paying close attention and quickly issuing extensions for Chrome that rival Firefox and incorporate quick access to Buzz, Gmail, Google Docs and of even the good old-fashioned social networking tool Twitter.

Tweetmeme

Tweetmeme extension for Chrome is a handy tool for sharing to your Twitter stream. It’s most often used for websites that don’t display the Tweetmeme button or if you simply can’t find the Tweetmeme button on the page. One thing I’d like to suggest to Tweetmeme is that they make it easier to cut or copy the text of the tweet. Most of the time I’d like to paste the tweet into HootSuite and schedule it for another time. By the way, if you have the Tweetmeme plugin running on your blog, check out my Hub Page on how to customize the Tweetmeme plugin settings.

My Shortcuts

I found out about this extension on Madras Geek’s blog and it is quickly gaining in popularity. What I like about My Shortcuts is that you can add custom URLs to gain quick access to your blogs or additional social profiles. The defaults take you to Gmail, Buzz, Contacts, Tasks, Docs, Reader, Voice and include additional options for creating new email and new documents.

Symtica

Symtica provide more comprehensive access to your Google accounts like Gmail and includes Google Analytics, YouTube, Blogger, Picassa and a host of others including your favorite and mine Webmaster tools (just kidding).

I’d like to see Symtica and/or MyShortcuts provide access to my AdWords and AdSense accounts to make the my life just a little simplier.

Google Buzz Button for Shareaholic

This extension is devoted solely to Google Buzz and the Buzz Button for Shareaholic will display the Buzz count of the page you’re visiting.

Google Mail Checker Plus

I first mentioned this extension in Web Browsers – What’s Yours? and it’s become one of  my favorite extension for monitoring Gmail and Buzz. Google Mail Checker Plus displays the count of unopened mail and allows you check and view your inbox without ever opening Gmail. Here’s a quick screencast to demonstrate.

Please follow me on Google Buzz and sign up for blog updates via email.

Now it’s your turn, I’d love to learn what extensions you’re using for easy access to social media? Do you use any blogging extensions for Chrome?

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Buzz Besties – BuzzerList, Bit.ly Quick Tip, Blogger Bon Voyage

Image via CrunchBase

This post lists a few highlights from Google Buzz from the previous month. The list includes the best buzzes, and buzzers that I found in my Buzz stream during the month. [tweetmeme source =”Ileane”]

• Two Chrome extensions for Buzz were introduced – BuzzerList and Troll Remover extensions are two good ones to install
• I buzzed a tip from Steve Rubel about how to create a bit.ly shortened URL’s right on the address bar of your web browser, with this one step process,  just enter “j.mp/” or “bit.ly/” before the address of the page you’re on
• Google Buzz Team announced the ability to “Reshare” in Google Buzz
• YouTube Goes Fully Social and Challenges Facebook by incorporating Google Moderator on your YT channel
• There’s a new search engine for Buzz called Buzzzy
• The Wibiya Toolbar adds a Google Buzz widget that will help keep your bounce rate down
• Google Reader Goes Public and Ping.fm gets Buzz which means posts shared via Google Reader no longer have comments disabled.
• There’s a Buzz Users Group on Orkut
• I stayed on top of the updates concerning Google I/O 2010 by following the official Buzz account
• And lastly, Siobhan Quinn Exits Blogger, Checks In At FourSquare

Now it’s your turn to share  your “Buzz Besties” for the month.

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Web Browsers – What’s Yours?

Image via Wikipedia

What’s your favorite web browser?

[tweetmeme source=”Ileane”]How often you search the web, and what you’re using the internet for – are most likely the key factors impacting your choice of browser. If you’re a novice, it’s quite possible that you may not even know that different browsers exist. You know enough to easily find the blue icon with the letter “E” and a yellow swoosh around it and you’re quite happy with that. You might even be aware that Internet Explorer is the most popular browser found on home and office PC’s around the world.
Bloggers, designers, developers, webmasters and other more advanced web users eventually explore more savvy browsers including the most popular ones from Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome and Opera. Similarly, cellular phone or mobile users will find “mini”, mobile or android versions of the same popular PC and Mac browser alternatives.

How do I know which web browser to use?

The simple answer to the question of which browser to use is – Try them all and pick the one you like. Hey the good thing about browsers is that you can use more than one. Right now I’m using Google Chrome but I also open Internet Explorer to access my work email account from Microsoft’s Webmail service. If you’re a blogger I recommend that you at least give Google Chrome a try.

SEO Site Tools Finds Google Page Rank

[tweetmeme source=”ileane”]What is Google page rank and what does it really represent? Sorry, I can’t answer that question although I see many bloggers trying. If you’re like me you’ve read countless blog posts promising to unlock the mysteries of increasing your page rank. Yet each time Google does an update like they did earlier this month, many of those same bloggers wake up to find that have slid down the slippery page rank ladder a notch or two. Go figure!

Well since I admit that the true value of Google page rank has me utterly baffled, the least I can do is introduce you to a little known extension for Google Chrome to help you find your page rank, or for the matter the PR of any site you navigate to.

Favorite Google Chrome extensions

First I must tell you this neat little social media story. For a couple of days I was tweeting a question to my followers asking which Chrome extensions they find useful. I got some great feedback and as a result ended up installing many of the recommendations and creating screencasts for some like Diigo, Zemanta and Readability. The other great thing that happened was that I was contacted by the developer of the extension that is the subject of my latest screencast tutorial. The developer’s name is Cole Carter and the extension is SEO Site Tools.

The point to this story is to demonstrate the simple power of social networking and how it can be worked to your advantage. I also wanted to let introduce you to Cole because he is looking for user feedback for this tool and he can be contacted if you have questions about the functions.

Why use SEO Site Tools

My favorite feature of SEO Site Tools is how it auto-magically displays the PR for any site you navigate to right on top of the tool icon. This means you can get rid of all those “prchecker” links you have in your favorites, because once you download this extension you will no longer need them. You can be done with going back and forth to find Alexa rankings too! All of the additional ranking information you need is displayed when you click on the tool. Take look at SEO Site Tool Demo – Ms. Ileane Speaks Episode #025.

You can see this tool has many features to help evaluate your site. In the video we had a look at some stats from 2createawebsiteand here’s the link for Lisa Irby’s blog.

SEO resources

Hungry for more SEO tips? The first blog that I would visit to learn about SEO is TimeThief’s One Cool Site Blogging Tips. Her site is packed with sound advice and numerous blogging tips and tutorials. Also check out Kikolani from Kristie Hines and her weekly Fetching Friday resources mashup, which always includes links to SEO resources. And last but certainly not least, follow Ann Smarty on Twitter, she writes for Search Engine Journal and started a fabulous community focused on guest blogging called MyBlogGuest.

Now I’d like to hear from you. Will you give SEO Site Tools a try?  And how you make out with the latest PR update?

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