Up to 70% Traffic Drop Due to CWS Domain Migration Errors!

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David Walker

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Jul 1, 2024, 5:49:32 PM (9 hours ago) Jul 1

to Chromium Extensions

Dear Chrome Web Store Team,

We were thrilled to see the Chrome Web Store's new, fresher, and more user-friendly design.

However, alongside the new design, we have experienced a significant loss—up to 70% of install traffic to our extensions has diminished.

Here are some examples:

We have a large portfolio of dozens of extensions and have been developing exclusively for the CWS since 2017. This is our primary business. Yet, during May-June 2024, we observed a dramatic decline in traffic across all our products, with many experiencing more than a 3X reduction in installs!

The primary traffic source for extensions has always been organic Google Search results (not CWS Search).

Currently, we are seeing a substantial drop in our rankings on Google Search across all extensions. Many extensions that were previously on the first page of Google Search results are now appearing on the fourth, fifth, sixth pages, or have disappeared entirely! To reiterate, in many cases, the drop in installation traffic is up to 3X.

We believe the traffic loss results from critical errors during the transition from the old domain, chrome.google.com, to the new chromewebstore.google.com, as well as critical errors in meta tags on the listing pages of extensions. It seems ironic that the Chrome Web Store Team, being part of Google, has not followed the guidelines set by another Google team—Google Search—resulting in what feels like a reset of our years of effort.

We have identified the most severe errors that can be quickly corrected. We reference (1) Google Search guidelines, (2) how things were handled in the old version of the CWS, and (3) how similar issues are managed on another marketplace—Google Play.

Key Issues and Solutions:

1. Critical error in redirects when moving to a new domain!

Problem: Google Search recommends using a 301 redirect when moving to a new domain: "We recommend that you use HTTP permanent redirects if possible, such as 301" (source). A 301 redirect is considered as a Permanent redirect (Google Search writes that it’s used to “show the new redirect target in search results" - which is what we actually need) while a 302 redirect is considered temporary (source).

However, if we check redirects for any extension page, we'll see both redirects! For example, check the following links:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
301 Moved Permanently https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
302 Found https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh

You can check the above-mentioned report here: DomSignal Report

Firstly, it shows that the page is moved permanently with a 301 redirect (but to the new URL which is, by the way, not user-friendly, which is also bad for SEO), then it is redirected with a 302 (which does not comply with Google Search guidelines for moving to a new domain and leads to complications in transferring all collected signals from the old domain to the new domain - meaning a loss of traffic).

Solution: Implement a simple 301 redirect from the old domain to the new for each page on the new domain, like this: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
301 Moved Permanently https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh

2. The meta description tag is missing!

Problem: The new version omits the crucial SEO tag <meta name="description" content="desc is here">, although Google takes the description from there for the search result page and recommends filling it out properly (source).
In the previous version of CWS, <meta name="description"> used the extension's short description.
On Google Play, <meta name="description"> contains the short description of the app.
Solution: Return <meta name="description" content="desc is here"> on each extension page as previously and add the extension's short description there.

3. No indication of translation for extension pages through meta tag <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" />!

Problem: If we have different language variations for an extension page, we have to tell Google Search about these different variations with a set of <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" /> elements (source). Otherwise, Google Search won’t recognize our translations.

But in the new version of CWS, there are no <link> elements with translation!

In the previous version of CWS: each extension page had a set of <link> elements with translations.
In Google Play, for each language variation of an app page, there is a set of <link> elements with translations.
Solution: Return a set of <link> elements with translations on each extension page.

4. <H1> tag duplicates <TITLE> tag

Problem: Google Search recommends using descriptive and concise text for <title> (source) and explicitly states: “Avoid repeating the exact page title in a heading on the page” (source). If <title> tags and <h1> tags are duplicates, it is considered bad SEO practice and can negatively affect your search engine ranking. However, in the new version of CWS, <title> duplicates <h1>.
In the previous version of CWS, <title> used the extension name plus "- Chrome Web Store," and for <h1>, only the extension name was used.
In Google Play, in <title>, they use an app name plus "- Apps on Google Play," and for <h1>, they use only the app name.
Solution: Format <title> as it was in the previous version in the form of <title>Extension Name - Chrome Web Store</title>.

5. Two <H1> tags!

Problem: In fact, there are two <h1> tags on the new CWS! While Google Search explicitly writes: “Use a unique level-1 heading (h1) for each page in a set of documents and only use a level-1 heading once on a page” (source).

In the current version, there are two <h1> tags. Check this report for one of our extensions: SEO Check Report

In the previous version of CWS, there was one <h1> with the extension name.
In Google Play, there is one <h1> with the app name (check this report: Google Play SEO Check).
Solution: Keep only one <h1> with the extension name.

Unfortunately, there are some problems that cannot be fixed due to the move to a new domain:

6. Huge trust and backlinks of the old domain chrome.google.com compared to the new chromewebstore.google.com.

Problem: CWS was launched on the old domain in 2011 and over time it has accumulated immense trust. Over 13 years, CWS in general, and extensions linked to the old domain have been mentioned by lots of trusted authoritative sources, including top-tier news sites, which over time built the paramount authority of the old domain.

Specifically, the old domain chrome.google.com has accumulated 281.1 million backlinks over 13 years, whereas the new chromewebstore.google.com has ten times fewer, at 29.7 million (data from Semrush). This cannot be corrected on the new domain.

Solution: Revert to the old domain?

We urge the Chrome Web Store team to consider that although developers appreciate the new design, our primary concern is our users. Their numbers and satisfaction directly impact our happiness and financial outcomes.

The most effective solution would be to revert to the old domain, chrome.google.com/webstore, which holds significant SEO weight.

If this is not possible, please address the critical errors we've outlined above that can be quickly fixed.

P.S. We have been developing extensions since 2017, invested a lot of time, effort, and resources in CWS, and created dozens of extensions. For the past 7 years, we have been exclusively developing for CWS. During this time, we have promoted the platform to many fellow developers who have created useful products here.

However, such unpredictable changes with the domain and the loss of 70% of install traffic lead to huge financial losses and reduce the most important aspect of business - the ability to plan, making us deeply saddened and discouraged about future development on CWS.

We eagerly await the correction of these errors. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.