What went wrong with my new product's launch?
Hey hackers, so I just started a new project called uiplease.com. It's basically a coding-blog site that explores interactive UI on the web, kinda like codrops.
I've posted it on ProductHunt, Designer News, and Reddit. It didn't meet my expectations, though. The page views are only 268 based on Google Analytics, and no one has subscribed yet. It went really bad, an d I wonder what went wrong.
I would like to ask your feedbacks regarding the content, design, tagline, grammar, actually anything. Thanks!
Hi, I've launched a few blogs so far and here is my take on what went wrong:
You promoted the site, instead of individual articles. This is not a good strategy - the value is in the articles, not in the site itself (until you build a brand). Promote articles heavily and people will subscribe if they like them.
You don't have enough pillar content. You should have at least 10 - 15 awesome articles if you are starting a blog like this. When I go to your homepage, it seems as if the site is either abandoned or incomplete. It's hard to subscribe to something like that.
The content of your about page is awesome and very convincing - you are talking about a problem ("Have you ever wondered how that cool interactive UI works?") and a solution ("Are you interested in learning the logic behind it?"). Move this copy to the homepage, right above the subscription box and I guarantee you'll get more subscriptions.
Good luck - hope this helps!
Thanks for the feedbacks!
May I know what is the blog you're running?
Great content! I'd just keep pumping out more of it. Sign up worked for me
Thanks for feedback david!
Same here! Just subscribed. Easy sign-up process and the frequency of emails matches the content type imo
Yep actually the site feels incomplete, with little to no value added.
We are working on a new site as well (http://chamaileon.io), but started focusing on producing top quality articles even before we would launch / have the product ready.
It seems to be working well, since after couple months the number of visitors is picking up slowly, we have returning visitors and new signups every day.
Deal with promotion once you think your site is really trustworthy. Now it isn't. Sorry to say.
It's fine man. I understand my site still lacks of content.
Thanks for your feedback!
No RSS feed? (At least my Feedly button in Firefox doesn't recognize it) I like the content and would subscribe via RSS, but don't like getting this as a newsletter.
Thanks, I will build the RSS feed for the next update
Design advice from a designer...
The front page could grab you more. Animations and interactivity are exciting, but I don't see any examples of that until I click a few times. First impressions are underwhelming given the content.
When I clicked Sponsor, it opened my Mail program, which annoyed me. It adds a click, but I'd rather nav to a page that explains what you're talking about and then gives me the option to contact you.
You need navigation elements. When I click on About or a Project page, there's no way to get back other than using the Back button on the browser.
Perhaps this is out of scope, or your target audience might already know, but I found myself asking Why in the tutorials. For example, why is one line in CSS and one in the DOM?
In that vein, I think you will provide more value to your audience and therefore to yourself, if you start generalizing principles for how to create your own work. As is, I imagine a lot of people will just copy the code and bounce. There's no point in writing, "And now we have to use the stroke dash offset" when I see that in the code already—or I don't, but I don't care because I copied, pasted, and it worked. But if you teach a man to fish, so to speak, I think you could engage people for longer.
What if you embedded a Codepen and gave people a list of increasingly difficult tasks to accomplish in-browser?
What if you taught people so well that you started a community that problem solved together, or a gallery that showcased the work you taught them?
Thanks for your advice!
I'm actually not sure whether people really read the article or not. I have feeling they just go to the demo and that's it.
But if I get rid of the content, that's just like a list of experiments. It's not too much content to offer.
That's what I'm saying—have more substance to your content to keep people there longer.
I think it's just not enough content yet. Places that you "launch" like that are going to glance at the site, see "oh he only has two posts," and then just forget about it. If you had 50 posts and they were as good as the first two you have, then it would have gotten more buzz.
Keep working on it, you're building a good thing.
I think you're right. I don't know what's the right amount, but founders should have quite a bit of content before launching. Unless they already have an audience that is willing to wait.
I just subscibed! I think this is awesome. I def need to up my animation game. A lot of UI sites talk about the use of animation, but not a lot talk about how to implement them... actually I do not know any, definitely a topic I am interested in. Please keep posting
Thanks for subscribing!
Yeah, sadly not too many people explain how their animations work.
Just subscribed. Keep the content coming!
Thank you!
My first thoughts are to listen to this podcast to learn that it is going to take time https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/009-clifford-oravec-of-tamboo.
Next, I would continue adding new content to the site. Try reach out to web tutorial sites such as https://tutsplus.com/tutorials and see if you could do a guest post.
My final thoughts are no one has subscribe b/c the subscribe button does not work. I tried to subscribe and it didn't do anything.
Good luck!
Thank you so much man, I'll try to reach out tutsplus or sitepoint.
Anyway, the button works just fine for me. If it works, it will open new tab to mailchimp page and asking to confirm your email. Have you checked your email?
No problem. I tried chrome, firefox and safari on a mac and it didn't work :(
Ah i think i found the bug, please try again :)
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I don't know enough about UI or design, but I think having to click 3 times before seeing the demo kind of took me out of it. If the user can see the animation slightly sooner, (without turning it into a nightmarish gif loop) I think that might help as well.
Quick thoughts: focus on long-term value.
Subscribing didn't work for me sadly. Nothing happens when I click the Subscribe button :(
I'm working to find the bug, do you want me to add you manually?
Sure, I will email you my personal email.
Hie, am clicking the subscribe button in firefox but its not working. when i click it nothing is happening
Thanks for reporting, do you want me to add you manually?
yes washie@public.co.zw
well you don't have distribution. social media is pay to play
how much are you paying for the content? are you writing the articles yourself? if yes would you be interested in writing articles for Code For Cash (freelance)?
good stuff
Yeah, I do everything myself. Can you email me about the detail?
My email: uiplease@gmail.com
Can you share the links for PH, DN and reddit?
If you read my description above, i did share it
No I mean links to your PH launch, your reddit launch etc. I'm happy to take a look and provide my thoughts.
Ah yeah sure
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/uiplease
https://www.designernews.co/stories/82855-learn-how-to-code-ui-animation-in-css-and-javascript
As for reddit, they took it down. They probably though it's self-promotion post
As for PH, I'd recommend posting an initial comment by yourself. That way users will know that the founder will be present and able to answer questions. I'm not sure if it's possible, but I would make the header photo (on the PH page) either a video or atleast a gif of the animation. The photo alone doesn't really tell me what the product does.
This may be minor, but if you are typing your URL into a text box, consider capitalizing it to UIPlease.com (although it looks like you might be going for all lower case as per your website). uiplease could also be uip lease, which is not what you're going for.
I'd also recommend making your images on your page gifs. I use Licecap (http://www.cockos.com/licecap/) to generate gifs, it's super easy. To me, it just makes sense that a site about animation has some quick animation.
Just my two cents - good luck with your project!
Craig
Thanks for the insights, I really appreciate it!
you are doing a great job! just subscribed!
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Something that comes up again and again and again with regard to content is that you can expect to work solidly for 6 months before getting any kind of attention - not great for failing fast, but them's the breaks. I'd recommend listening to the IH Podcast #1 if you haven't already, it's really interesting listening to how IndieShuffle ground it out in the early days.
Looks like a long term SEO game?!
Besides more Content, push the cool experiments in relevant groups frequently. Keep the weekly update up for at least 3 months - then check your stats again ;-)
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