It’s only natural to want something beyond the ordinary: an exceptional house, the latest phone, or an enhanced Chrome with special functionalities. Whereas the first two wishes can be fulfilled through hard work and having a sufficient amount of money in your pocket, the last one demands some pondering.
Even if it doesn’t look like it, browser extensions are nothing more than small software programs that serve only one purpose. Compared to native apps, web extensions, or add-ons, require much less investment and time for development. But, actually, the last factor varies according to the way you decide to build up your Google Chrome extension. Let’s consider three of them.
Get It From the Internet
Some of the browser extensions are free and published online by IT enthusiasts and renowned companies on the Google Chrome Web Store. Thus, they can be simply downloaded and successfully leveraged. But one caveat here: such open-source web extensions can be potentially dangerous. Before uploading, make sure it’s safe and doesn’t affect the performance of a browser. Under the guise of an innocent Chrome extension, the software downloaded can turn out to be a malicious virus that, instead of keeping all your passwords safe, will hack all your accounts or redirect your traffic to other websites.
Build a Chrome Extension Yourself
Basically, every Google Chrome extension can be created with your own hands with enough diligence, enthusiasm, and, of course, time. For the most simple Chrome extension, you’ll have to learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the Chrome Extension API. There are plenty of online courses and books that will aid you in the process.
Still, no one guarantees that you’ll instantly end up with a perfect web extension that works flawlessly. It’s a rather long and arduous journey that can only be handled by trial and error. But, once done, it’ll surely reward you with satisfaction for another successfully completed project.
Hire a Software Development Company
When it comes to building a new software product for business, at some point, everyone should face the choice between building it themselves or entrusting it to a software development company. Going for the last option, you will have a strict time frame within which you will receive the Google Chrome extension you need, without the extra hassle and the need to gobble up huge chunks of information.
Take your time to do research on a particular company you lean toward. Search for reviews on different websites, explore the software products they’ve built, check pricing, and reach out to them to learn if they’re ready to go for Google Chrome browser extension development.
Be it Safari, Chrome, or Edge, Fively has helped many enterprises augment their browsers by building fully customized extensions based on the peculiarities and special needs of a company. The showcase of their works, as well as a website filled with reviews, confirms that you can set the highest expectations that will most likely be met. Handling every stage of SDLC, including design and maintenance, Fively is ready to tailor a browser extension specifically for you.
But you can’t address an agency without having at least a vague image of an app you’d like to see inside your Chrome browser.
Types of Google Chrome Extensions
Pre-built Chrome functionality is never enough for advanced businesses. Having all important tools inside a browser is a must for those who don’t want to constantly switch from one app to another but want all of them in one place. Before going for Google Chrome extension development, think about the weak points of your business and the processes you’d like to keep automated and organized. Let’s see the most popular concepts for a Google Chrome extension.
Password Managers
Many business owners opt for Google Chrome browser extension development that will take care of all their passwords and logins. Together with the feature of auto-fill, such add-ons generate complex passwords, show you the leaked and weak ones, and let you share them with trusted people.
CRM
You can embed a CRM system into the browser to have better lead capture and automate email routines. Some Google Chrome extensions can be connected with different social media platforms, add contacts directly to your database, and work out email templates for different types of clients. Moreover, you can receive notifications from the tool when your email is opened and check customers’ activity status.
Time Trackers
Regardless of your company’s size, time-tracking add-ons can help maintain your and your workers’ productivity at a high level. You can check how much time they spent on certain websites, the total number of hours they dedicated to work, and analyze how efficient your team members were during a certain period. You can leverage such small apps for getting alerts when a deadline is close, or you’ve extended the appropriate amount of time on a website.
To-Do Lists
Build this type of Google Chrome extension if you wish to achieve a more organized workflow. Consider how convenient it would be to be able to view all tasks scheduled for today by simply clicking a button in your browser’s toolbar. Sometimes it’s built as a collaborative tool for heads to assign tasks and monitor their status.
Analytics and SEO Tools
If you’re running an online shop, writing a blog, or involved in any business that is directly connected with successful marketing strategies, you probably need to keep track of user behavior, SEO, and published content. You can build Chrome extensions to perform all these tasks without leaving your browser.
You can run it every time you need a website’s SEO analysis, search for keywords, compare your website with that of a competitor, and receive metrics from all your social media pages. By the way, you can build a Google Chrome extension that makes it possible to write and schedule a post for different time zones from any page.
Of course, the list is not complete and aims to just give you a glimpse at what your future web extension can look like. Whether you decide to address a custom software development company or not, careful analysis of your workflow can take you one step closer to a better understanding of what kind of web extension will be most advantageous for your business.
