Most Chrome extensions don't fail because the code is bad. They fail because they're invisible.
You ship, you refresh the dashboard, and... 12 installs. The product works. The demo is clean. But the Chrome Web Store won't rank a listing with no installs and no reviews, and you can't get installs or reviews without ranking. Classic cold-start loop.
After enough launches, I stopped treating growth as a one-time push and started running it as a cycle. Here's the exact loop I use to take a new Chrome extension to its first 1,000 users.
TL;DR — the loop:
- Launch to import an early audience
- Convert installs into real Chrome Web Store reviews
- Stop marketing, build the feature and UX
- Treat support like a growth channel, then repeat
Step 1: Launch to import an audience
A brand new listing has zero distribution. Waiting for organic discovery on day one is the slowest possible path. You need to borrow an audience that already installs extensions, so the early traffic actually converts instead of bouncing.
I use ExtensionLaunch for this first push (disclosure: it's my product). The point isn't "more traffic," it's qualified traffic that turns into installs the store can count.
Step 2: Convert installs into Chrome Web Store reviews
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it's the one that decides whether you ever rank.
Chrome Web Store ranking leans heavily on review count and recency. Your first 20 to 50 honest reviews are what move you from "buried on page 6" to "shows up in search." No reviews means no ranking, which means no organic installs.
I use ExtensionBooster to get real reviews from actual devs who install and use the extension. Not bots. Fake review velocity gets you delisted, and the store got much better at detecting it.
Step 3: Stop marketing and build
Once organic installs start trickling in from ranking, change jobs. Pour everything into the feature and the UX.
Reviews get you found. Retention is what makes the whole thing compound. An extension people keep open beats one that gets installed and uninstalled the same afternoon, every time.
Step 4: Treat support like a growth channel
Reply to every review and every email. Your first 100 users will hand you your roadmap for free, and the ones you rescue from churning are the ones who end up referring others.
Then repeat the loop
Ship the next version and run the loop again: launch the update, gather fresh reviews, build, support, relaunch.
Each turn compounds because you're stacking social proof on a listing that now actually ranks. That's the difference between a Chrome extension that flatlines at 80 installs and one that crosses 1,000 users.
What's the wall you keep hitting, distribution or retention? Curious where most builders stall.
