Mac & Chrome Setup Guide for SEOs
Upgrading or switching your hardware can be a slightly time consuming process. A modern Macs’ setup is expedited massively with the latest i5 Intel processors and eDRAM chips but remembering and downloading all your programs / apps / extensions can be a time consuming process. In lieu of forking out for an expensive AirPort Time Capsule for automating backups or spending on extra iCloud storage, sometimes it can be quicker to just have a checklist of programs to refer to in ensuring your new Mac gets setup as quickly as possible.
Now of course, everyone’s Mac setup is going to be completely different. We’ve all got our own choice of programs and extensions for making life easier. But as an SEO there’s certainly a lot of repetition in the tools that we use to make our day to day a lot easier. The spectrum of SEO tools is broad, but I wanted to give the lowdown on the tools, sorted by type, that I find most useful and a little summary for each.
Do be aware before you get started that Chrome does of course allow you to rather simply login to a new browser and port across all your saved themes, extensions, bookmarks etc. as long as you’re sure to check the “sync” setting which you can find by going to:
chrome://settings/
Mac Apps and Programs
Now not all of these are SEO specific, but they save time and frustration when using a Mac every day.
AVG AntiVirus
What’s it for? Protecting your Mac against
Where to get it? The Apple store
And why? The end goal is pretty simple with this one but if you’re doing a presentation or if you have an important meeting, ensuring that your Mac doesn’t go to sleep is key. Switching on the timer function for Amphetamine ticks this box. The name is pretty jokes too.
Spectacle
What’s it for? Resizing windows to preset positions on your screen(s) using default or customizable keyboard shortcuts.
Where to get it? The official website
And why? Window size management has never been intuitive on the Mac and is one area where Windows (post Vista) usurps Apple; not the case after installing this. With a simple keyboard shortcut, you can resize windows to be full screen, quarter screen and everything in between.
Amphetamine
What’s it for? Ensuring that your Mac doesn’t go to sleep – important for meetings and presentations
Where to get it? The Apple store
And why? The end goal is pretty simple with this one but if you’re doing a presentation or if you have an important meeting, ensuring that your Mac doesn’t go to sleep is key. Switching on the timer function for Amphetamine ticks this box. The name is pretty jokes too.
