Launch diary Day 8: 77 projects and making the site findable

Where I'm at: UpstartRadar is eight days old: a free community where makers list what they've built, give each other feedback, and earn visibility by taking part, never by paying. Built solo alongside a day job, with the real numbers shared as I go.

The numbers (change since Day 6)

• Visitors: 1,989 since launch (+263 in two days, 62 so far today)
• Projects listed: 77 live (+12), 46 claimed by their makers (+12)
• Members: 45 (+11)
• Newsletter subscribers: 9 (+3)

Every new listing since Thursday has been claimed by its maker, which I'm taking as a good sign.

What I worked on: being findable

A directory only works if people can find it, and these days that means search engines and AI tools as well as Reddit. So I spent the last two days on the unglamorous basics:

• Faster pages. Project logos are now small modern images, several times smaller than before, and the font file is lighter. The home page shows 24 logos, so it adds up.
• Listings that explain themselves. Makers can now add who their project is for, how it's priced, and where it runs (web, phone, browser extension and so on), and choose a proper main category. That's what people want to know at a glance, and it helps search engines describe each project accurately.
• Category pages with real intros. Instead of a bare grid, each category now says what's in it, in plain words.
• A badge for your Radar Check score. If your weekly website check scores well, you can show it on your own site. It's optional, like everything else here.
• A same-day fix. Bing's webmaster tools flagged two pages sharing the same description. Small thing, fixed the same afternoon, and now every page has its own.

Coming next

On Monday the first automatic Radar Check reports go out: every claimed project gets its website score, one fix to make that week, and its numbers for the week. I'm curious (and a little nervous) to see how makers react.

After that I'll be heads-down for a bit upgrading RuleRadar, my tool for posting on Reddit without breaking each subreddit's rules.

One ask

If you've built something, list it free and you'll get your first Radar Check on Monday.