Adding your web site to the Chrome Web store is a great way to increase your traffic and a very efficient way to get new loyal visitors. I would say that the Chrome Web Store is a ‘hidden’ source of traffic since many webmasters either don’t know that it exists or they ignore it thinking that it does not have enough users.
The good news continuous since the process of adding your web site to the Chrome store is very easy and straightforward and all you need is a Google developer license ($5) and a couple of icons. Before getting into the actual benefits of adding your web site, with some real examples of gains in traffic, let me first give you a quick overview about Chrome Web Store for those that are not familiar.
What is the Chrome Web Store?
Google Chrome is among the most popular web browsers with millions of daily users. A couple of years ago Google launched the Chrome Web store which is very similar to the Google Play (store for Android apps) or the Apple Store. The only difference is that in the Chrome app store you will find applications that run with-in the Chrome web browser or web apps (bookmarks to existing web sites).
You can access the store either by typinghttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/home in the Chrome address bar or by clicking the Chrome Web Store icon (When you click the NEW TAB (+) in Chrome, on the bottom of the empty page you will see 2 options: Most Visited and Apps. When you click the APPS you will see the Web store icon on the top left).
As you can see from the screenshot, items available in the store are separated into web apps, extensions and themes.
Below each application image you can also see the number of users who installed the App on their browsers. When you click on an image you have the option to add the particular web app on your Chrome desktop, review the app, or read existing reviews, screenshots and more details about the particular app.
When you choose to add an application to your chrome, the application icon appears in the APPS tabs every time you visit chrome (note: you have to be logged in with your Google account in order to add an app).
What are the benefits from adding your web site to the Chrome Web Store?
Everyone who read my introduction above must have understood the benefits for web site owners, but for the sake of clarity I will explain them below with some examples.
- Chrome has millions of users per day either by using Chrome on their desktops or through a Chrome Book (Laptops that runs the Chrome operating system i.e. the Chrome Browser)
- If you take a closer look to the number of users for the popular apps you will see that the number of people we use the Chrome Web store is not in any way low. Maybe compared to the overall Internet traffic is small but it is still a very good source of traffic especially for web site owners who are looking for more traffic sources.
- When a user adds your web app (web site) is more likely to visit it more often since he/she will see the icon in the apps list on a daily basis.
Should you add your web site to Chrome?
I would say yes. You have nothing to lose since it is easy to add you web site to the store and the cost is only $5 (one-time fee). If your web site is a good fit in one of the categories available in the Store you can be up and running in 30 minutes.
Are there any SEO benefits from adding my site to Chrome?
I don’t think that there are any direct SEO benefits from adding your web site to chrome but certainly there are indirect benefits.
- The more exposure that your web site gets, the more likely is to get natural links (Other web site owners see your web site, they like it and link back to it). This is not a theoretical benefit but it does happen and it’s great for SEO.
- There will be an increase in direct visits and people searching your web site by its name, factors that are both beneficial for SEO.
My experience with the Chrome Web Store
I have added a number of web sites in the Store the last six months and my experience is more than positive. A couple of weeks after adding my sites I noticed an increase in the “Direct Visits” and I do get a steady number of daily visits from the Chrome Store (There is a built-in integration with Google Analytics so you will know how many visitors are coming from the Chrome Store).
As you can see from the screenshot CalorieSecrets has 11,000+ users already (in less than 6 months) and this translates to more than 10,000 direct visits (in total) from the Chrome Store. There is also a steady monthly increase and this will bring even more traffic in the coming months. Other web apps have thousands of users which is very encouraging and another sign that adding my web site to the store was a correct decision.
In addition Google is investing a lot of money on the promotion of Chrome Books (and Chrome browser) so the number of dedicated chrome users is expected to increase dramatically in the near future.
How to add your web site to the Chrome Web Store
There is a detail tutorial by Google that describes the process but if you find it too technical to follow you can read my guide: How to add your web site to Google Chrome Store which is a simplified version for the non-technical people.
Traffic benefits from adding your web site to the Chrome Web Store by Alex Chris
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