Author: Saffire

Less than 10 years ago, Google introduced Chrome, which has slowly nudged out its competition to become the most used browser on the web – worldwide. Part of its charm is that it gives us the ability to add extensions to our browsing experience. Extensions are little apps which can connect websites and interact with web pages. They’re like robots waiting to help gather information, speed things along, transform documents & images, and even provide coaching for the information we create or view on the web.

If you haven’t explored the world of extensions, I recommend you hop over to the Google Chrome Web Store and take a look around. There’s all kinds of helpers available. So many that it can be overwhelming. The Saffire staff has made a list of recommended extensions that you might find useful (in no particular order).

Clear cache – Clear your cache and browsing data with a single click of a button.

Google Page Analytics – Allows you to see how customers interact with your web pages in real time, including what they click and don’t click.

ColorZilla – Advanced Eyedropper, Color Picker, Gradient Generator and other colorful goodies

Check my links – it crawls through your webpage and looks for broken links.

Edit This Cookie – You can add, delete, edit, search, protect and block cookies on a site-by-site basis.

What font? – it can identify fonts used on a web page

Measure It – Draw out a ruler to get the pixel width and height of any elements on a webpage.

Image Size Info – Inserts option in the browser’s image context menu to view image width, height and file size.

Window Resizer – resize browser window to emulate various screen resolutions

Grammarly – As you type on nearly any website – Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. – it underlines spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and helps you fix them on the fly. It helps you become a better writer.

Nimbus Screenshot / Awesome screenshot – Both of these extensions do essentially the same thing and they do it well: Capture and annotate screenshots and local pictures

Notes for Google Drive – Easily create notes from within Chrome that are automatically synced as Documents to your Google Drive account.

Convert HTML to PDF – if you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer this extension will convert an entire web page into a PDF file that preserves the layout, formatting and links of captured pages.  (Windows only)

Evernote web clipper – Clip the web pages you want to keep. Save them in Evernote. Easily find them on any device.

Forecast Plus – Provides local and long-range weather forecast

Expensify Web Receipts – If you use Expensify, this will upload the current webpage as a receipt to your Expensify account. It makes business expense reimbursement easier and faster!

Honey – Simply: it tells you when you can save money. Cool! Click on the Honey button during checkout and Honey will automatically apply coupon codes to your shopping cart. Click on the Honey button on a supported online store and instantly see all the coupons and sales available for the store.

Amazon Assistant – shows Amazon pricing on products while looking through Google or other shopping sites. It gives you access to the Deal of the Day, Product Comparisons, Universal Wish List, and shortcuts to popular Amazon destinations right in your browser.

Turn off the lights – Use this with your favorite video site. With a single click on the lamp button, the page will fade to dark. And automatically focus on the video. By clicking on it again, the page will return to normal.

Hover zoom – point the mouse on web images to view them full size. Great for scanning image galleries.

Home New Tab Page – No need to stick with the default new tab that Chrome designed. Create your own, with notifications, badges, recently closed tabs, quick notes, calendar and more.

We don’t officially endorse or provide support for any of these extensions – nor can we be held liable if one of them turns into a gremlin and devours your computer. Just like adding apps to your phone, you need to stay ‘cyber safe’. Check out the reviews for anything you download to your computer and stay away from anything that sounds or looks a little ‘phishy’.

 

This article was written with love by:

 

      Phil Thompson, Client Experience Manager, Saffire

 

 

 

 

 

In today’s tech savvy world, it’s no surprise that every organization needs to have a presence online. An engaging and visually appealing website will generate better customer traffic and create new business opportunities. As humans, our brains recognize images long before we start to read text. When it comes to designing successful websites it’s important to embed high quality images that will resonate with your viewers and showcase your brand. If the images on your site are of lower quality, people visiting your page many times consider your content as less credible and will leave your page if they are not engaged with your imagery and content.

In Saffire’s many years of designing websites, we have found that the best sites are the ones that utilize the power of simplicity, usually through photos.  Don’t let visual clutter disrupt the flow of your page. Select only the best photos to be displayed. Photos on a website are much like the saying, “It’s better to have four quarters than one hundred pennies”; keep your pages simple, engaging and beautiful.

There are four main elements to consider when it comes to good photography: Image Quality, Effectiveness, Message, User Response. 

 

Image Quality

A good photograph is a large photograph and will have colors that set the tone of the image, have lots of lighting, and a unique style to set the image’s mood.

 

Effectiveness

The nature of good photography is shown through its composition. It can often be very subjective, but good composition turns ordinary scenes into eye-catching images.

 

Message

The message behind good photography is the story you want to tell. When a photo’s intention or meaning is clearly presented, the image becomes much more appealing.

 

User Response

Imagery helps you communicate thousands of words in seconds.  A good photo can potentially communicate all you want to say about your brand and encourage purchases. A recent survey by NewsCred states, “93% of people say that visual imagery is the #1 factor impacting purchasing decisions”.

The tricky part about good photography is accessing it. Sometimes you do not have the budget to pay for outrageously priced professional photos, but still want the impact of good photography. Don’t fret, there are MANY FREE, high-quality images you can start using on your site today.

Examples of where to source your free and unlicensed images:

• Pixabay
• Unsplash
• StockSnap
• Flickr
• Pexels
• Death to Stock Photo
• Snapwire Snaps
• Gratisography

In short, when intriguing copy, dynamic design and great photography work together;  your event, venue or destination instantly becomes more credible. The visual sense dominates when it comes to purchasing. You cannot afford to have poor quality photos on your website.