No Comments Written by Robert on July 30, 2008 – 3:45 am

The Google Toolbar is an add-on for both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. This tool instantly displays the Google PageRank of a Web site, giving you a brief snapshot of Google’s opinion of the Web site. The Google Toolbar also highlights any keyword you select whenever it appears on a Web page. This gives you a clear picture of how and where a competitor is using a target keyword or keyword phrase.

The Google Toolbar also has a very useful AutoFill feature which allows you to quickly enter commonly typed strings such as passwords, Web site URLs, e-mail addresses, and more.

The Google Toolbar is an add-on for both the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox Web browsers. The Google Toolbar includes several features that should prove useful during the various stages of SEO. These features include the Google PageRank of a Web page, a tool to highlight a given keyword within a page, and an AutoFill option to cut down on the time spent typing the same information over and over again. The Google Toolbar displays the Google PageRank of any Web site you visit.

Google PageRank is a numerical value ranging from 1–10 that acts as an indicator of the general importance Google has assigned to the individual Web page. Generally speaking, when you are looking for linking partners, higher PageRank sites are more attractive targets. The Google Toolbar allows you to highlight any keyword on a Web page.

You can insert a keyword into the Google Toolbar to quickly see where and how the keyword is used throughout the Web page. The toolbar highlights the keyword wherever it appears, be it in the headline, subheading, body copy, or internal links. SEO requires you to perform a number of extremely repetitive and monotonous tasks.

These mundane tasks include a range of activities, from signing up for social media accounts to joining affiliate programs. Using the AutoFill feature of the Google Toolbar allows you to substantially shorten the amount of time spent on each of these tasks. AutoFill allows you to enter your information once, and then it automatically fills in the appropriate forms you do not have to retype the information each time you encounter a new sign-up form.

Install the Google Toolbar

The Google Toolbar offers standard and custom installation options. The custom installation option allows you to add many useful features that do not come as part of the standard installation, including keyword suggestions, comparisons of Google and Yahoo search results, page size lookup, and a view of the code-totext ratio. These tools are useful shortcuts when you analyze a competitor’s Web site, or when you take a step back and review your own work objectively.

These tools and many more SEO- and non-SEO-related buttons can be found at http://toolbar.google.com/buttons/gallery. The Google Toolbar offers an interesting opportunity if you happen to be a Web programmer or developer. For example, you can use a Google application program interface (API) to create your own custom buttons that your users can then add to their Google Toolbar.

This is a fantastic way to engage your audience, spread your name, and keep your visitors returning to your site time and again. The work you put into making a custom button can end up paying off considerably, especially given the fact that the Google Toolbar has begun to appear as part of the standard installation of Mozilla Firefox. You can view the developer information for making your own toolbar button at www.google.com/tools/toolbar/buttons/apis.