How I'm Building Backlinks for My Tiny iPhone App (Without a Marketing Budget)

Hey IH!

Quick context: I'm a solo dev building Simple Memo, a dead-simple iPhone note app. You open it, type a thought, tap one button, and it lands in your email inbox. That's it. Think Captio (RIP) but still alive and maintained.

I wanted to share what's been working (and not working) for backlink building as a solo indie dev with essentially $0 marketing budget.

App directory submissions - I submitted Simple Memo to about 15 app directories and "alternative to" sites. This took roughly 6 hours total. Result: 4 dofollow backlinks, 8 nofollow. Domain rating barely moved, but the referral traffic from alternative-listing sites has been surprisingly steady at about 20-30 visits/week.

Community participation (like this post) - Being active on Indie Hackers, Reddit (r/iOSProgramming, r/SideProject), and a few smaller forums. I'm not spamming links, just sharing what I'm learning and mentioning the app when relevant. This is slow but it compounds. Genuine build-in-public posts get way more engagement than "check out my app" posts.

Writing SEO content - I published 3 blog posts targeting long-tail keywords like "best Captio alternative 2026" and "send note to email iPhone." One post is now ranking on page 2 for its target keyword after about 5 weeks. Not earth-shattering, but for a brand new domain, I'll take it.

ASO (App Store Optimization) - Honestly, this has been the biggest lever so far. Tweaking my app subtitle and keyword field moved me from invisible to top 30 for a couple of mid-volume keywords. The impact on organic installs was almost immediate, going from ~2/day to ~8/day within a week.

What hasn't worked - Cold outreach to bloggers for reviews: 0 responses out of 12 emails. Expected, but still stings. ProductHunt: I launched too early with no audience. Got 18 upvotes and it fizzled. Planning a relaunch once I have more traction.

Key numbers so far - Domain Rating: 5 to 8 (over 2 months). Organic search clicks: ~40/week. App Store organic installs: ~8/day (up from ~2/day). Growing slowly but steadily.

Biggest lesson - For a tiny utility app, ASO gives you the fastest feedback loop. SEO is a longer game but feels more durable. And community participation (like posting here) is the best way to learn what's actually working for other people. The 7-day free trial has been key for conversion, since people want to try a paid app before committing, especially from an unknown indie dev.

What's been your most effective backlink strategy as a solo founder? I'm especially curious if anyone's had luck with podcast appearances or guest posts for a small consumer app.

Building in public at simplememofast.co