Chrome extensions can really benefit you and your business if you find the right ones, but, the question is which ones should you get? Depending on your business and what you have to offer will impact which Chrome extensions are best for you. Therefore, we have put together a list of 5 generic extensions you need when building and growing your business.

Grammarly

Grammarly is one of those Chrome extensions which helps with your grammar… just as you’d expect from the name. So, if you are a business owner or a member of staff who spends part of your time creating content including blogs, pages, or just general information, Grammarly can help you perfect it. The extension corrects your grammar and spelling as you write to ensure you are not making any mistakes within your work to make it as professional as possible. Thankfully, the extension offers both a free and paid service. So, if you are just starting out and are trying to get a feel of multiple extensions before finding the best one, Grammarly is something new to try!

Pro: Highly accurate.

Con: Free version is limited.

LastPass

Moving on from content creation, every business needs some sort of security. LastPass is an extension that keeps all of your passwords locked away in one place. It is a great way to save time when logging in to different websites as it automatically enters your password if it is saved in the log. So, if you have a memory like a fish or change every password you make, LastPass will turn into an essential.

Pro: Passwords are safe and secure.

Con: Passwords do not always autofill.

Boomerang

Boomerang is a chrome extension which is compatible with Gmail. It is essentially known as the ‘ultimate email productivity tool’. The extension allows you to track and schedule emails. In other words, you can type out your email now and schedule it for whenever you like in the future. Not only that, but you can also track your emails meaning after you have sent it, you can see if your email has been read. The last thing you want is for your work to pile up, so if you had the opportunity to schedule emails, it could make your life ten times easier.

Pro: Great for organisation.

Con: May slow down your Gmail.

Page Analytics

If you are wanting to get a better understanding of how your customers interact with your website or your page, Page Analytics will do the trick. As a business owner, you love to understand how to improve and grow, even the small things. So, gathering a better understanding on your page analytics will really benefit your brand for the future as it allows you to know what to work on.

Pro: It is free of charge.

Con: To understand the analytics you need to be aware of the ‘language’.

ClickUp

ClickUp is a Chrome Extension has it all. It is perfect for the organisation and control over your daily schedule. ClickUp is an award-winning extension used by major companies all over the world. It allows you to do create and save tasks, bookmark pages, track time, capture important screenshots, and even help with emails. It’s even marketed as an app to replace all!

Pro: It has all of the necessary features.

Con: Can sometimes be laggy/freeze.

Isometric business partnership concept with businessmen and managers holding bulb in office isolated vector illustration

Our Help

Although, as you will know, Chrome extensions are only a minor help when it comes to growing your business. There are many more factors which come into play. Therefore, here at Hive Digital Media, we can offer you multiple services to help develop your company. These include SEO, Social Ads, Content Marketing, Google Ads and Web Design & Development, for more information click here.

How Reducing Web Clutter Benefits Your Website

Want to take your website to the next level? Cutting down on clutter can do just exactly that. Web clutter unnecessarily takes up useful design space on your website. Cleaning up your website will open doors for interaction with your audience. In turn, the numbers of leads you have will start to stack up.

What is Web Clutter?

Web clutter is the excess elements on your webpage aside from your main headlines and content that you aim towards your buyer personas. Web clutter also is the result of having too many elements on a webpage that aim to draw your reader’s attention. Your website visitors won’t know where to look first if you have unnecessary elements to deter them from your main content. Consequently, they may not get to view the page as you intended, get fed up and exit completely.

a mac computer showcasing a website layout as they try to get rid of website clutter

Evaluate Your Site’s Present Design

Analysing the current state of your site can be of good use. It gives you a gauge of what to keep and what to remove as you’ll find that only necessary content will remain on your site after the de-cluttering process. If your website’s filled with loads of ads, doesn’t have a cohesive colour scheme and is packed with design elements, your audience can be easily distracted when going to your page. This leads to your bounce rate increasing – the opposite of what you want for your website. In case you don’t know, the bounce rate is the percentage of people who land on one of your web pages, then leave.

Less Is More

Giving your webpage a ‘spring clean’ allows your page to be clear of all old and outdated information. Information that was possibly taking up useful white space on your website. Having a good amount of white space on your page gives your viewer a better experience. You may be wondering how this is so. White space draws eyes to your content quicker – the eyes are instantly drawn to what’s different. So, having the right balance of space plus your content creates a better visual experience for your audience. Cleaning your page removes the cognitive load for your audience as there’s less info for them to process.

It Improves Your SEO

Having too many links whether external or internal on your website, can decrease your site’s optimization. It’s because it leads to your site being over-optimised – having an over optimised website is just as bad as keyword stuffing. Basically, keyword stuffing is adding multiple variations of keywords where they add no value. Not to mention it leads to your audience’s attention being diverted easily from what you want them to focus on. In fact, in April 2012, Google leveled an over-optimisation penalty. As a result, link and keyword-stuffed sites were entirely deindexed – the reverse of what you aspire for your page. Therefore, it’s important for you to solely have necessary outbound/inbound links for your site.

Stick to a Limited Colour Scheme

Stick to a set colour scheme – automatically the vibe of your website will be set. If you’re unsure of what colours to use, go for brand colours. This allows your brand image to be cohesive across all platforms you use. Even try to use similar fonts across the board – your audience will become visually accustomed to your brand even with the little details.

Keep Everything Updated!

Outdated content on your website induces problems that you simply just don’t need. They can lead to a lack of security as well as compatibility errors. This usually happens when you’re adding recent tools and plugins to your site. Keeping your themes updated works in your favour – the appearance of your website may be the first impression to some! So, make sure they leave your page with a good one!

Thoughts?

Cutting down on web clutter is, in fact, a form of renewing your website. Not to mention it allows you to stay up to date with constantly changing trends. By doing this and making a routine do this you get to stay ahead of the curve. It’s better for you to consistently cut down on web clutter because your competition most definitely will be!

If you would like to talk to us on how we can turn your content into leads and revenue, then just hit the ‘Let’s Talk’ button below.

6 Great Resources For Copyright Free Images

Finding images online can be difficult at the best of times. However, it can be made easier with the help of free images on certain websites. A thousand words will say one thing and an image will say another. This is why you need to make sure you always have the most relevant images. Whether you are advertising on a billboard, online or a magazine, people are likely to be drawn to the images used in some context. 

How can I find copyright-free images?

Copyright makes us take that extra mile when trying to find photos for our social media, website, blogs etc. It can be an issue for businesses, bloggers, and media outlets, especially when they find the perfect image online and then realise they cannot use it.

Thankfully, you have a few options to use when avoiding this. You could try using your own images? Or you could ask the owner if you can use their image? You never know.. they could just respond. It’s definitely worth a shot, right? But our favourite option is finding the best copyright-free websites available to us! Read on to see our top 6 best free image sites!

copyright free images

1. Pixabay

With copyright-free images, this site has a very large database of high-quality pictures. It is a platform where people can upload their images and after Pixabay has reviewed them, they are then published to the site for people to use. You’ll be able to find great options here.

2. Canva

Canva is a great site which allows people to use images for free. They do have a large range for free but if you get the premium option, you are then able to get your hands on hundreds of more which might be more relevant for you and your company.

3. Unsplash

Unsplash is a site which promotes itself with the tagline ‘photos for everyone’. Unsplash offers a large collection of free high-resolution photos and has become one of the best sources for stock images. The Unsplash team comes through new submissions and features the very best photos on their homepage.

4. Gratisography

If you are wanting high-quality images to match a unique site, then this might be the site for you. Although the range on offer isn’t extensive, it is at least highly distinctive. It is perfect if you are wanting to stand out as they don’t only have your typical images on there.

5. Burst

The site is laid out in a very simple way to help you navigate through. You have the ability to sort through new photos, popular collections, or perform a search for specific image keywords you’re looking for. Although Burst doesn’t have as many images as the others, Shopify has announced that they will be adding more weekly.

6. Pexels

With a big selection of high-resolution images, Pexels is a site which has images for everything. This site is filled with images of their own as well as ones from other sites which gives them a large range.

What to do now?

Now you know 6 copyright-free image platforms, but do you know how to use them? This is where we come in. We are here to give you the best digital marketing experience and grow your brand.

If you would like to talk to us on how we can turn your content into leads and revenue, then just hit the ‘Let’s Talk’ button below.

Introducing Hive Digital Media

We may be new to the market, but don’t let that fool you. Our team have an unrivalled array of experience dealing with businesses of all sizes using various digital products.

Who are we?

We are Hive Digital Media, a digital agency focusing on results and delivering an excellent return for all our clients. Our aim is to grow your business whilst maintaining a long-lasting partnership.

The team are proficient in Digital marketing, SEO, Content marketing, Web development, Social media and much more.

We service clients across the UK and overseas, with the way digital marketing has evolved over the years with the use of Skype, Hangouts and Zoom, we are able to help businesses from all corners of the globe.

Hive Digital Media

Our values

We place extensive focus on the development of our staff, as we believe that by increasing their knowledge and experience, our clients are the ones that ultimately benefit through great results and service.

We welcome businesses small to large to get in touch if you need that extra boost or if you’re looking to take your business to that next level. As a team, we often demand more of ourselves than our clients do. We love what we do.

Overcome your challenges

Our free of charge marketing discovery consultations will enable us to put together a plan for you based on the current challenges you’re encountering.

You will have access to our full team who can create a full strategy for your business. Also, we can put together a full in-depth plan on how to get can hit your KPI’s and boost your companies ROI. This is fully explained and presented to you as a new client.

Book some time

With our wealth of online marketing experience, we can offer amazing quality consultation to your business. Which can be presented to your board as marketing expert reports. This can help you push a new marketing channel to your board or just back-up your plans.

Get in touch now and start making waves. Just click the ‘Let’s Talk’ button below to book some time with us.