How to Get Your First 100 Users for a Chrome Extension

The first hundred users are the hardest, and they decide whether the next thousand arrive. You have no reviews, no install count and no ranking. This plan assumes you have a working extension in the Chrome Web Store and no audience.

First: make the listing worth clicking

Everything else sends people to your store page. If the page does not convert, more traffic is wasted. Before you promote:

• The name says what the job is (see store SEO).
• The first screenshot shows the finished result.
• The short description fits in 132 characters and leads with the job.
• There are no lists of brand names or audiences in the description, which risks rejection under the keyword spam policy (checklist).

Second: install it like a stranger

Open a fresh browser profile, install your extension from the store, and try to do the main task without any help from yourself. Write down every point where you hesitate. The first minute of use decides retention, and early users who fail silently never leave a review.

Where the first 100 come from

1. People who already have the problem, asking for help

Search forums, Q&A sites and community groups for questions your extension answers. Reply with a real, complete answer. If your extension is the best fit, mention it once and say you built it. Ten honest answers on the right threads usually do more than one announcement post, and they keep sending visitors for months.

2. A page on your own website

Write one page that describes the problem in the words people search and links to your store listing. Add a "Add to Chrome" button. It becomes a destination for every link you build and can rank in normal search.

3. Launch directories and maker communities

Submit to a few directories and post in a maker community. Expect a short burst of visitors and, importantly, feedback from people who build things. Our map of where to submit explains what each type is for.

4. People you already know

Colleagues, past clients and followers who have the problem. Ask them to try it and tell you honestly what confused them. They are your fastest source of usability fixes.

Reviews: ask early, ask well

A new listing with no ratings looks risky. To get the first ones:

• Ask inside the extension, right after a successful use, with one clear button.
• Ask people who have just had a good result, not everyone.
• Make it a single click to the review page.
• Never offer rewards in exchange for ratings. It violates store policy and can get you removed.

Measure the funnel

You need to know where people drop out:

1. Store page views to installs: a low rate points at the listing.
2. Installs to first successful use: a low rate points at onboarding.
3. First use to second use: a low rate points at the product.

Fix the weakest step first. Adding traffic to a leaky funnel only makes the leak bigger. Track your keyword positions at the same time (how) so you can see search start to contribute.

What not to do

• Do not buy installs or reviews. They are against the rules and produce users who never use it.
• Do not paste the same promotional post into many communities.
• Do not keep adding features before you know why the first fifty users left.

A four-week plan

Week 1: fix the listing and the first-run experience. Week 2: write your website page; answer ten real questions in communities. Week 3: submit to a few directories; ask your first happy users for reviews. Week 4: read the numbers, fix the weakest funnel step, repeat what worked.

When you are ready for a launch page, a followed link and a rank tracker, list your extension on Extension Club.