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Ask HN: Tips for or mistakes to avoid when posting to Show HN

16 points by ohfunkyeah ↗ HN
Hello All! I am a complete amateur that has been heads down writing a webapp for the last 9 months or so. I probably only have a month's equivalent of a real developers output (but I've learned a ton). The app may be nothing to write home about (it's basically just a note taking application) but I have implemented a couple uncommon features for that domain that I am hoping will be well-received.

Having said that, I am gearing up to do a Show HN in the next month or two. I read hackernews and the comments pretty regularly (I especially pay attention to the comments for the Ask HNs and Show HNs).

One thing that I have noticed is that there are a number of sins you do not want to make with your app when doing a Show HN or you will likely have the discussion/comments centered on those things alone.

So I ask of you, what are your biggest pet peeves or cardinal sins of apps posted to Show HN?

Sins I've seen or mentioned in the comments below:

* No demo and/or no screenshots

* Forcing people to sign-up for a trial or login for a trial

* Unclear message about what the app actually is

* Unclear message about why I would use said app

* Untested across the latest browsers (e.g. works on newest chrome but not on Firefox)

* Bad typography choices and/or hard to read text

* over-reliance on boostrap for style (I am currently guilty of this one)

* the web app breaks on mobile device

* spelling/grammar mistakes

* site goes down from number of hits

* no link to the actual website

Yours?

Edit: adding some of the good sins from the comments

12 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 90.9 ms ] thread
bdfh42
Your second and third "sins" are the ones I most frequently observe - they seem to be present in almost all "Show HN" posts - oh and not providing a link to the web site.

A well researched "sins" list in this area might make a great addition to the "Guidelines page" - but there again a poor post is probably an effective indicator for the quality of what is to be found.

ggchappell
- Put a clear statement of what this thing is on the main page of the site (which should be the page linked to on HN).

- Don't ask my to sign up or give you personal info without giving me a good reason; let me see a demo or at least something like screenshots/results/examples first. Related: what am I getting out of taking time on your site and/or letting you know about me? Do I trust that you'll deal with my personal info in a respectful manner? (Hint: No, I don't.)

- If you are not a native speaker of English, then run the site by a native speaker before publicizing.

Concerning the first two above: even when you've paid attention to them, you probably haven't done nearly as good a job as you think. I come to your site knowing nothing about you or what you've done; help me understand.

For example, you say, "Unclear message about why I would use said app". Sure, make it clear. But first, pay attention to a more fundamental question: make sure that your site indicates that it is about an app. And be clear what platforms the app is available for. And how to get it. And does it cost something. Etc.

(Idea: Find someone who knows nothing about your project, show them the site, and then ask them what they think it's about. If there is a sign-up, then ask them if they noticed it. Ask them what they think they get out of signing up. Don't give them any hints beyond what they already saw on the site.)

6thSigma
Don't put too much stock in a Show HN. They are extremely hit or miss depending on the time you submit. You might get thousands of hits, you might get 20.

The only thing you should would worry about is making sure if there is a spike that your site doesn't crash.

The other things you're talking about are not optimizing for a Show HN, they are optimizing for a successful landing page.

ohfunkyeah
Not to sideline the topic at hand but have you ever heard of anyone doing an analysis of time submitted vs. number of hits?
6thSigma
It's not just the day or time of day - it also has to do with what tech news is going on at the time, who happens to be browsing /new at the time you submitted, etc.
stevekemp
Sadly it seems that the time of day, and similar things, have more effect on the submission than anythign else.

Even posts that garner many response of "No demo?", "No screenshots?" frequently gain responses than the few things I've posted. (e.g. Console mail client with lua scripting, sysadmin tools, or my updated blog-spam detection service.)

wikwocket
In addition to a Show HN, consider writing a blog post about your app, with a very intriguing and descriptive title, and post that as a normal HN link.
fjabre
Actually FUCK Show HN. My advice is to stay away from HN when doing your startup. Don't play to this crowd. It's just a huge echo chamber in here. Find a way to advertise your demo or beta product online - there's 1000s of ways to do this and get it in front of customers. The END.
covgjai
No doubt, there's 1000s of ways to do online promotion and get in front of customers. Show HN is also one such way. Few companies like geckoboard.com and freshdesk.com used Show HN effectively and ended up getting beta users, feedback and ultimately few initial customers.
thekingshorses
Instead of posting to show HN first, piggy back on somebody else's post that has similar idea, or topic. Post it as a comment and look at the response, comments, pageviews that you get. Fix/make changes based on the response. And once you think it is MVP, post it as show HN.