How My Simple Chrome Extension Gained 10,000 Users in Six Months
Welcome to my first blog post! Today, I will share how my simple Chrome extension gained 10,000 users from scratch in just six months. I launched the extension on April 24, 2024, and by November 7, 2024, it reached 10,033 users. As of today, March 8, 2025, the number of users has grown to 26,619. Here is a graph from my Developer Dashboard:
Chart of weekly active users for Font Detector over the last year
In this post, I will explain how I came up with the idea for the extension and how you can follow my steps, spending only a couple of weeks on development.
Engineers' Problem
Like many developers, I often strive for the perfect solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. I try to create something so new and unique that it would delight users. This is a common mistake among engineers.
On Reddit, for example, there are many communities where developers share ideas they have worked on for months or even years, only to find out that users don’t use them or don’t see their value.
Often, the story ends with the project remaining unfinished, and the developer doesn't understand why it failed. I myself have a graveyard of unsuccessful projects, and I know how it affects motivation. But there is another way!
Finding an Idea
Define Your Objectives
The first step in developing a successful extension is to clearly understand your goals. Ask yourself:
- Do I want to create a tool that genuinely benefits users?
- Am I aiming to develop something complex primarily to challenge myself?
Choose the Right Path
I prefer the first approach: focusing on rapid development, getting quick feedback from the market, and making fast improvements. This strategy ensures that your product meets real user needs and allows you to adapt quickly based on feedback.
However, if you lean more towards the second approach—striving to create something completely new—I understand and respect your perspective. Even in such cases, there are valuable lessons to be learned that can help you grow as a developer.
Practical Tips for Idea Generation
- Focus on User Needs: Prioritize ideas that solve real problems or improve user experiences.
- Embrace Simplicity: Start with a minimal viable product (MVP) to test your concept without making it too complicated.
- Stay Flexible: Be open to changing your idea based on user feedback and market demands.
- Leverage Existing Solutions: Look at what's already available and find gaps or areas where you can make improvements.
Example from My Experience
When I decided to create Font Detector, I focused on a specific need—identifying fonts on web pages. By keeping the scope narrow and user-focused, I was able to develop a straightforward tool that resonated with users, leading to rapid adoption and growth.
Idea Validation
After finding an idea, it's important to make sure it has high organic traffic. Use tools like Google Trends, Ahrefs, SERank, and SEMRush to evaluate keywords.
Key Parameters for Evaluation
- Traffic Volume: Look at 2-5 keywords related to the extension's functionality.
- Keyword Difficulty: Check how competitive the chosen keywords are.
- Presence of Competitors: See how many competitors there are for each keyword.
- Competitors' Size: Study the scale of competing products.
- Competitors' Quality: Assess the quality of existing solutions.
- Main Competitors' Features: Identify the main features of competitors to save development time.
- Implementation Difficulty: Find open-source codes or libraries to simplify development.
- Additional Competitor Information: Look into their revenue and the challenges they face.
Evaluate all these parameters for each idea on your list (10-20 ideas). Choose ideas with good traffic, low competition, and moderate implementation difficulty.
History of the Font Detector Extension
Market Analysis
I started by examining extensions with over 10,000 users and found a font recognition niche. Notable examples included Font Spotter, What Font, and Font Finder.
I looked at the features these extensions offered to find common elements and potential gaps. This helped me understand what users expected and what could be improved.
I focused on making sure that the main function of Font Detector—recognizing the CSS property font-family when hovering over text—was both simple and easy to implement. The goal was to create a tool that was user-friendly and effective, addressing a specific need without unnecessary complexity.
Keyword Research
Effective keyword research was crucial to ensure that Font Detector reached its target audience and appeared high in search results. Here's the process I followed:
Competitor Name Analysis
- I avoided branded keywords like “FontSquirrel” or “WhatFont” to prevent legal issues and ensure uniqueness.
Focusing on Organic Keywords
I concentrated on organic, non-branded keywords that potential users were likely to search for. These included:
- “font finder”
- “font identifier”
- “font detector”
- “find font family”
- “find font style”
Selecting and Narrowing Down Key Phrases
- Created a list of about 20 keywords related to font detection and identification.
- Used tools like Google Trends, Ahrefs, SERank, and SEMRush to check search volume and competition for each keyword.
- Narrowed down to 2-3 highly effective keywords with high traffic and low competition to maximize visibility.
Maintaining a Comprehensive Keyword List
I retained the other 15-18 keywords and added them to the extension's description and metadata, boosting its SEO performance and searchability.
Launch and Growth
Font Detector statistics on SEMRush
I focused on a quick development cycle, completing the extension within a week. This allowed me to enter the market fast and start gathering user feedback early on.
By using the selected keywords in the extension's title, description, and metadata, I ensured that Font Detector was easy to find for users searching for font recognition tools.
The combination of a clear value proposition, ease of use, and effective SEO strategies led to rapid user growth. Within the first six months, Font Detector reached 10,000 users and continued to attract more!
Conclusion
If you're a developer struggling to attract users to your Chrome extension, know that you're not alone. Building a successful extension takes more than just a great idea—it requires understanding your goals, finding the right idea, validating it, and effectively reaching your audience.
I hope you found this article helpful and inspiring. Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right approach and perseverance, you can achieve impressive growth for your Chrome extension.
Good luck with your development journey!