Learning to use Firefox keyboard shortcuts to reduce your trips to the mouse can lead to a much more fulfilling web browsing experience, especially at those times that your mouse just isn’t doing the trick.

Okay, you got me. I have, on occasion (read: often), neglected to charge my wireless mouse for long enough that, when it’s time to get posting on Lifehacker, I find myself totally mouse-less.

Now you’re thinking, “What, just because this wire-hating jerk can’t remember to put his mouse on the charger every now and then, I’m supposed to get all excited about the idea of using Firefox without a mouse?” But that’s not it at all, people!

I’m the kind of web surfer who’s never terribly happy when he has to move his hand over to the mouse, and frankly, jumping over to the mouse every time you need to follow a link is so 2004. Check out the following Firefox keyboard shortcuts (some well-known, others not), and before long you’ll forget all about the little rodent next to your keyboard.

Navigation from the toolbar

The address bar shortcut should be as instinctual as breathing by now, but there’s a few more shortcuts to that top bar that you should keep in mind.

* Select location bar: Ctrl/Cmd+L or Alt+D
* Select search bar: Ctrl/Cmd+K
* Back: Backspace or Alt/Cmd+Left
* Forward: Alt/Option+Right or Shift+Backspace
* Change search engine: Ctrl/Cmd+Down (Next) +Up (Previous)

The last shortcut, used to change the search engine, was a big discovery for me. I’ve always been interested in additional search bar plugins, but it was never worth the trip to the mouse. No problem any more.

Searching pages

The find-as-you-type feature was an epiphany. While Google is great at getting you to the right web page, Firefox’s find-as-you-type feature gets you the rest of the way.

* Find as you type text: /
* Find as you type link: ‘
* Regular old find: Ctrl/Cmd+F

The link search is very useful, especially when used in conjunction with…

Opening pages

Unless you do all of your browsing in one page, these shortcuts are huge when you don’t want to go running for your mouse.

* Open link in new window: Shift+Enter
* Open link in new tab: Ctrl/Cmd+Enter
* Open address/search in new tab: Alt/Option+Enter

Used together with their respective shortcuts (address and search bar shortcuts and the find-as-you-type link shortcut), the page opening shortcuts go a long way toward mouse-less browsing.

Grab bag

The following shortcuts fall into a more general grab bag of useful shortcuts.

* Caret browsing: F7
* Refresh: Ctrl/Cmd+R or F5
* Refresh (override cache): Ctrl/Cmd+F5 or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R
* Switch tabs: Ctrl/Cmd+Tab
* Select tab (1-9): Ctrl/Cmd+[1-9]
* Compose email: Ctrl/Cmd+M

The preceding shortcuts are of mostly obvious usefulness. Switching tabs and reloading pages are must-have shortcuts for any mouse-eschewing Firefox-er. A less-known feature, Caret browsing, inserts a cursor into the text of the page and is very useful for highlighting and copying text.

If you’re looking to change your default mail program (e.g. to Gmail, etc.) to best utilize the Compose email shortcut, check out these tips for setting your default mail program.

So you’re a web writer, huh?

If you’ve recently turned Firefox into a full-fledged web writer, then there are a couple more useful shortcuts that you need to know.

* Spellcheck (with Spellbound extension): Ctrl+Shift+F7
* Save Entry (with Scribe extension): Ctrl+S

And there’s so much more!

Hate the mouse and the keyboard? While I can’t solve that entirely, I can suggest that you throw some very useful and time-saving Quick searches into the mix.
keyconfig.png

Keyconfig extension

Finally, if you haven’t totally satisfied your shortcut cravings, you can install the Keyconfig extension. Keyconfig allows you to define Firefox shortcuts to your hearts content.

Download Keyconfig

Some of the shortcuts above may be old hat, while others may be news to you. I’ve excluded a lot of the more obvious universal shortcuts (like copy and paste), but I tried to include everything you need to browse just as you would with a mouse in hand. Still not enough? You might want to check out the full list of Firefox keyboard shortcuts.

There was a satisfactory volume of bitch done about Google’s preference to embody ‘real’ numerical volume interpretation in a keyword apparatus refurbish (released 07/07/2008). Many people announced hoorah during a code brand new age of honesty from Google, as good as twice as many huffed as good as puffed as good as discharged it as false off hand. But roughly no a single published a formula of their tests with any numerical visibility.

So how do you exam it? In speculation you usually need to find a keyword with a 100% clarity share for a poke term, as good as see either a impressions figure for Jun matches with a figure since in a tool. But it was never starting to be which simple…

There is no approach inside of a Google interface (to my knowledge) to settle if a keyword has 100% clarity share, unless which keyword has been placed is in a own adgroup. Our accounts usually have one-keyword-adgroups in really singular resources as, even with tall volume expect matches, there have been routinely a handful of conditions which organisation easily together, be they plurals or usual variations (such as a ever benefaction “keyword UK”, which regularly gets volume though frequency justifies a own adgroup from a peculiarity measure indicate of perspective for a uk targeted .co.uk site).

So what keywords is it in accord with to pretence have a 100% IS as good as compare as closely as probable to Google’s sum keyword volume? In speculation a keyword has to do a following mandate to be authorised for this test:

• It needs to be utterly uncapped, a arrangement wantonness by any bill or adscheduling.
• It needs to be active upon BOTH Google as good as a poke network, as a keyword tool’s total embody both.
• It needs to have a same denunciation as good as place settings as a tool, which in a box needs to be English, United Kingdom. The apparatus as nonetheless cannot be set to embody segment targeting (and if a sad oversight of a trade estimator apparatus when it comes to UK segment targeting is anything to go by, I’m not sure I’d have make make make use of of of of it if it did!).
• It needs to be using in 1^st position, during all times. This is since a poke network includes ‘search results’ upon sites which have singular space to arrangement ads (eg ebay) as good as uncover usually a tip couple of results.
• Finally a keyword needs to be set to Exact Match. In speculation this isn’t an comprehensive necessity, you could grasp a 100% IS upon a broadmatch keyword, as good as a tool’s formula have been filterable by all compare types, though i consider a stream ‘Expanded Broad Match’ relevancy lottery which Google seems to be using (perhaps a theme of destiny post), as good as movement caused by disastrous keywords, etc, will usually supplement serve inaccuracies in to a test.

The sort of keywords which rught away open to thoughts when we’re articulate about ‘always top, regularly displayed’ conditions have been those associated to brand. Many of a clients need to be shown as a tip outcome when a poke upon their code is performed, either due to foe opposite an untrademarkable brand, bad positioning inside of a algorithmic listings or to foster a specific campaign. Of course, code conditions have been mostly low volume, though opportunely a couple of of a clients have really general keywords as their code names, so you was equates to to ensue with 8 keywords of varying volume levels which should have received, as distant as possible, a 100% clarity share.

I’ve dark a temperament of a keywords, though a total have been real.

Many of these differences have been huge, with both “Generic Keyword A” as good as “Generic Brand A” carrying some-more than twice a volume Google estimates. Interestingly, a ‘average poke volume’ is closer to a tangible Jun figure with all though a single result. you wasn’t starting to embody a ‘average’ statistic, theorising which it certainly takes in to comment twelve months interpretation to concede for full seasonality , though a actuality it seems some-more scold equates to it needs to be discussed (more upon this below).

Why a inaccuracy? Well, you contingency take in to comment Google’s strategy of a figures. Google admits to usually giving ‘approximate’ data, though goes a single step serve than simply rounding – it essentially groups all keywords in to sets of volumes. No have a difference what poke question you put in to a apparatus a volume will regularly be a single of a bound set of results.

For example, with a kind of volumes we’re traffic with (between 1,000 as good as 100,000 impressions) Google allows usually a following formula from a keyword tool:
90500, 74000, 60500, 49500, 40500, 33100, 27100, 22200, 18100, 14800, 12100, 9900, 8100, 6600, 5400, 4400, 3600, 2900, 2400, 1900, 1600, 1300, 1000, 880, 720

Lets put those estimations opposite a keywords. you have dull any tangible keyword volume DOWN (as all of a formula surpass a estimations) to a closest accessible result. The list right away looks similar to this for June:

As you can see dual keywords, “Generic Brand B” as good as “Generic Brand C”, have been right away correct, though all a others were underestimated by some-more than a single category. This isn’t such a large emanate during a reduce finish of a volume spectrum, where sets have been closer spaced, though for aloft volume keywords this creates a interpretation extravagantly inaccurate. Generic B was usually a single set out, though this is still 10,000 impressions, potentially hundreds of clicks a month.

The clarity interpretation which a apparatus constructed for Jun is not accurate, even once Google’s rounding is taken in to account. Does this have it useless? Well, no, of march not. First of all you’ll notice that, with a difference of “Generic Keyword A”, a keyword’s relations positioning in a volume list was correct. Secondly, a normal volume was some-more accurate, as good as this is a mainstay many will have make make make use of of of of for all though seasonally influenced campaigns.

This inconsistency in in between a correctness of a normal impressions as good as a Jun impressions suggests to me which Google has manipulated a results. The approach in which a keywords have been grouped in to sets for volume competence indicate they have been grouped in alternative ways, maybe during a thematic level, as good as if Jun was a bad volume month in sure sectors (which it was) Google competence assuage a formula in these sectors down. Its most some-more dangerous for Google to overreach volume than blink volume – a code brand new advertiser might be put off behest upon a tall volume term, or might extent their bid, bill or place targeting since of a tall volume estimate, thus it creates clarity for Google to carefully blink clarity volume, as evidenced by a actuality all Jun formula were reduction than a tangible impressions.

The last cause is a location/language environment set by a user. How scold is Google’s place data? Does it brand UK volume in a same approach it identifies UK users when ads have been displayed, or does it have make make make use of of of of a some-more uncomplicated method? The usually approach to find out would be to demeanour during interpretation from accounts in alternative regions, quite a default US, as good as see what trends have been observed. Additionally you hold it ideally expected which if modifications have been done to a volume total of keyword groups, as referred to above, afterwards these modifications have been substantially formed upon US interpretation as good as rolled out opposite alternative markets (particularly if a denunciation is a same).

I goal this has helped give an discernment in to a correctness of a interpretation a apparatus produces. Please let me know what trends you’ve seen – i’ll refurbish this when a Jul total have been published as good as see if my observations lift through. you still consider this turn of prominence is most improved than a aged relations volume bars – if zero else you can have make make make use of of of of a formula to uncover a some-more scold relations volume than a aged 1-5 scale. Use it, with caution, as good as pretence some-more volume than estimated.