Time Savers: 9 Tech Hacks to Improve Your Efficiency

July 15th, 2015 by Search Influence Alumni

Search Influence Tech Hacks Image

Trying to make your time working on the Internet more efficient? Looking for tools that could potentially save your life in case of an emergency? We here at Search Influence have gotten a good grasp on the types of tools that are effective in the workplace. Here are a few tech hacks you’ll be glad to discover.

Google Tech Hacks

As easy as Google is to navigate, there are more intricate systems at play in its algorithm that can be utilized when searching for something more specific.

Set a Time Range

In Google Search Tools, you can set Google to only display results within a certain time frame, with the range going down to as little as one hour.

What we use it for: Referencing content that is the most up-to-date or relevant.

Reverse Image Searching

In Google Images, you can upload an image or copy and paste an image’s link from the web and ask Google to find images that match that one. Google will also display similar images.

What we use it for: Determining whether an image is a stock photo; looking for the same image with different image dimensions.

Specific Website Search

Google allows its users to search for keywords on specific websites through a “site:keyword” search. For example, if looking for Bridget Juelich’s blog post “A Family Affair: Teaching Mom a Thing or Two About SEO,” entering “site:searchinfluence.com Mother’s Day” into the search bar will bring it up seamlessly.

What we use it for: Easily navigating websites to find specific content.

Gmail Tech Hacks

Gmail has become one of the most used email clients in the world. With Google and other companies implementing a host of functions and features, there’s a reason for all the excitement.

Boomerang

Installing Boomerang allows you to schedule specific messages to be sent at certain times. It will also allow you to archive important messages and bring them back when you need them.

What we use it for: Resending emails if there was no reply; streamlining inboxes.

Sidekick

Sidekick by HubSpot is an email tracker that allows you to see when emails you sent were opened. It can also be used with Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail.

What we use it for: Determining whether or not to resend an email; receiving social media or company info from senders.

Undo Send

Google has officially rolled out the undo send function for Gmail. After hitting send on an email, you have up to 30 seconds to undo it before it is received by the recipient.

What we use it for: Attaching forgotten files; retracting emails that were accidentally sent using “Reply all.”

Chrome Extensions

Chrome allows its users to install extensions to increase the functionality of the browser.

Pearls

Pearls allows Chrome users to highlight specific keywords on specific web pages, whole websites, or even the entire Internet. All the user has to do it type what words Pearl should find and highlight.

What we use it for: Drawing our eyes to special instructions; looking at specific phrases on web pages.

Grammarly

Grammarly is an online grammar and spell checker that will show you your errors in an instant. It also has a document function that saves projects to your account through cloud storage.

What we use it for: Quickly checking emails for spelling or grammar issues; helping ensure the quality of our written content.

The Great Suspender

 

Does your computer ever start to run slowly because you have so many tabs open in your web browser? The Great Suspender will suspend your tabs until you are ready to use them again. You can even tell the extension which websites to never suspend.

What we use it for: Saving tabs for later research.

With these tech hacks, your Internet exploration is sure to be both fun and efficient.

Image sources:

Google search tools image

Google reverse image search

Pearls Extension image

The Great Suspender image