Financial advisors thrive on efficiency. Browser extensions are a fantastic way to boost efficiency in day-to-day tasks that you may not have realized were possible. With the right browser extensions, you can speed up the process of many everyday tasks to get through your workload faster.
Not to pick a favorite, but we’re pretty avid users of Google Chrome around here, so we’ve compiled this list of our favorite browser extensions supported by Chrome – also known as Chrome plugins.
Keywords Everywhere
Essential for: Researching keywords for your SEO and advertising efforts If you’re looking for an easy way to keep SEO top of mind and keep track of the top keywords people are using, look no further than the Keywords Everywhere extension. Every time you search for something on Google, you’ll see its traffic and current cost per click info.
Awesome Screenshot
Awesome ScreenshotEssential for: Whole-page screenshots, Marking up screenshots Screenshots are a handy tool, especially when it comes to communicating with your clients. If a client is having trouble understanding a certain function of your website, screenshots are an easy way to guide them through the process.
With modern technology, just about any desktop computer or laptop has screenshot capabilities, but what happens when you need to screenshot an entire webpage? Screenshot. Scroll down. Screenshot. Scroll down. And so on and so forth until you’ve covered the page.
With Awesome Screenshot, now you can capture the whole page all at once, making an annoying and tedious task a simple one. Awesome Screenshot also allows you to make markings on your screenshots. This will allow you to easily add any additional messages. Describing exactly what you want over email can be challenging, but by writing on an image, you can easily and efficiently add more clarification.
Buffer
Essential for: Posting to Social Media Like a Champ Buffer is a great piece of software for posting to social media, whether you post to just one account or have several accounts across multiple channels. The plugin makes it super easy to schedule that great Social Security article you’re reading to post on your Facebook page in just one click.
And before you schedule that next social post…
Grammarly
Essential for: Keeping Your Social Posts, Emails and Blogs Free from Embarrassing Typos We’ve all been there before: You just had a super profound insight hit you in the middle of the day and you quickly posted it on Twitter only to realize after it went out that it’s barely legible due to an abundance of typos. Never again. The Grammarly plugin has got your back on typos, and it doesn’t end there. Grammarly watches out for passive voice, grammar errors, contextual spelling and more.
Instapaper
Essential for: Saving Articles for Offline Reading When traveling for business, I’m sure you sit on the airplane itching to read the latest articles and insights. But at $7 an hour for in-flight wifi and the shocking hike in prices at the airport newsstand, what options are you left with? Watch the decade-old in-flight movie that they’ve selected? Browse the latest copy of SkyMall? Not if you have Instapaper. With Instapaper, you can save articles from all your favorite sites in one place. The best part? You can enjoy them offline.
1Password
Essential for: Managing your passwords This might be the most worthwhile browser extension of them all. 1Password automatically stores all of your login information to any of your favorite sites, so that you never have to click that shameful “forgot my password” button again. Click the 1Password icon in your Chrome browser, and the app will detect which site you are on and automatically fill in your login information for you.
feedly Mini
Essential for: Saving your favorite news and news sites As a financial advisor, it’s crucial to keep up with the latest news in finance. With so many sites out there that serve as great sources for information, it can be a hassle bouncing from site-to-site. That’s where feedly comes in. With feedly, users are able to create “feeds” that show the latest insights from your favorite sites – all in one place.
Page Analytics (by Google)
Essential for: Tracking the performance of your website We recommend that any advisor should have a Google Analytics account set up for their site. It allows you to access key insights on your website, such as site traffic, bounce rate, top performing pages and more. Once your free Analytics account is set up with your firm’s website, install the Page Analytics browser extension to quickly access this data. There are new browser extensions being created every day, so don’t be afraid to play around and discover more that work for you. This list is a great start in using plugins to help you boost your daily efficiency.
Looking for even more ways technology can help make your practice more efficient? Check out “The Growing Advisors Guide to Must-Have Tech.”
