UpstartRadar launch diary, Day 2: 164 visitors, 56 listings and 3 pieces of feedback
Day 2 of the official launch, and the numbers moved in a direction I didn't expect: traffic tripled, but the thing UpstartRadar is built around (people helping each other) barely moved at all. Here's what happened, honestly.
The numbers so far
- 164 visitors yesterday, up from 50 on Day 1, and 77 so far today
- 56 live listings (up from 44)
- 28 listings run by their creators, who either listed them or claimed them
- 20 members (up from 13)
- 2 newsletter subscribers (no change, and something I've already worked on, below)
- 3 pieces of feedback and backs across the whole site
Where people came from
Mostly Reddit, as expected. But the moment that made my day was smaller: 9 visits from Google search. The site is less than a week old, so seeing real people find it through search, rather than through me posting a link, felt like the first sign it can stand on its own.
A trickle is also coming in through the blog, which only went up yesterday.
What I did
- Posted on Reddit, including a "drop your link and I'll add you" thread, which brought in most of the new listings
- Joined the waiting lists for several launch sites
- Started this blog, so the diary has a home of its own
- Shipped a big update overnight: listings now get a dofollow link once their creator claims them, a "Needs feedback" list shows projects nobody has reviewed yet, and new subscribers get 25 bonus credits
What didn't work
Launch sites with free tiers often aren't really free. Most offer a free listing, but the free queue is months long, and the paid upgrade jumps you to the front. I'm on the waiting lists anyway, and I'll report back on which ones were worth it.
Indie Hackers needs a paid upgrade before new accounts can post, which is why this diary lives here instead.
The lesson: dropping a link is easy, engaging is hard
Lots of people were happy to drop their link in a Reddit thread. Far fewer took the minute to claim their listing, even though claiming is free and gets them a dofollow link and their visitor stats. And leaving feedback on someone else's project? Three times, across the whole site.
That's the real challenge for a community built on "help others and you'll be seen". Everyone wants visibility; not everyone wants to give the attention that creates it. So the next updates focus on making engagement easier and more rewarding:
- Faint prompts in the feedback box (first impression, one thing that confused you, one suggestion), so a useful comment takes 30 seconds
- A Needs feedback list, so you can see exactly where help is needed
- Coming soon: give feedback on two projects, and your own gets feedback in return
What's next
- Nudging the creators whose listings are getting views but haven't been claimed
- Building the "give feedback, get feedback" swap
- A later diary entry with whether any of this changed the numbers
One ask
If you've built something, list it free, and while you're there, leave one honest piece of feedback on a project in the Needs feedback list. I'll give your project genuine feedback in return.