What's New: Free content distribution channels

(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)

The type of content that works best varies from channel to channel:

• On GrowthHackers or Hacker Noon, go for 1K-3K words, and more in-depth content. Keep it shorter on DEV and LinkedIn, with listicles or tips.
• After launching your new website, you want it to show up in search engine results quickly. Submit a sitemap and set up proper meta tags right away.
• $20K+ MRR and 300+ customers from building Zendesk apps. Sorin Alupoaie used automation to free up valuable time to focus on marketing.

Launch your SaaS apps and get MRR in days, not weeks, using Databutton. Join hundreds of solo founders prompting AI to build custom, mobile-friendly React/Python apps. Databutton’s AI agent can code anything, from a simple Stripe integration to complex AI-driven workflows. Launch your apps with one-click deploy. #ad

Free Content Distribution Channels 🆓

by Martin Baun

Here are some free channels where you can share your excellent content!

Medium

Longer content tends to perform better here (1.5K-3K words). The most popular topics are:

• Self-improvement.
• Entrepreneurship.
• Technology.
• Productivity.

How-to guides, opinion pieces, and personal stories all do well.

LinkedIn

The ideal length of a post is shorter, with most posts ranging from 500-800 words. The most popular topics are:

• Career development.
• Leadership.
• Entrepreneurship.
• Industry news and trends.
• Workplace culture.
• Professional networking.

Articles that provide career advice, insights, and industry news perform well. Lists, tips, and quotes are also popular.

Indie Hackers

The word count varies depending on the content, but many posts range from 1K-2K words. The most popular topics are:

• Startups.
• Entrepreneurship.
• Bootstrapping.
• Marketing.

Articles that provide practical advice, case studies, and insights into the startup world tend to perform well.

Hacker Noon

The most popular posts are in-depth technical articles on topics such as:

• Blockchain.
• AI.
• Machine learning.
• Web development.

The most popular articles tend to be 1K-3K words.

Product Hunt

Product Hunt is primarily focused on product discovery, but it also has a strong community of founders, marketers, and developers who share their insights and expertise through articles and comments.

The average length of articles on Product Hunt is 500-1.5K words, with shorter articles and listicles being most popular. Articles that share personal experiences and lessons learned tend to perform well.

GrowthHackers

The most popular articles on GrowthHackers are those that provide actionable insights and case studies on:

• Growth hacking.
• SEO.
• Content marketing.
• User acquisition.
• Social media marketing.

The average length of articles on GrowthHackers is between 1.5K-2K words, with longer, more in-depth articles being most popular.

Dev.to

The most popular articles on DEV are those that provide practical tips and insights on:

• Web development.
• Programming languages.
• Career development.
• Open source software.
• Software engineering best practices.

The average length of articles is 1K-1.5K words, with shorter articles being more popular.

Moz Blog

Moz is a popular SEO tool provider that also publishes a blog on topics related to SEO, content marketing, and digital marketing.

The average length of articles is 1.5K-2.5K words. Longer, in-depth articles are popular.

Articles Factory

Lots of content here is ~400-500 words long.

Use attention-grabbing titles, and include images and videos to make your articles more appealing.

DZone

DZone is a community-driven platform for developers. The most popular topics include:

• Java programming.
• Agile development.
• DevOps.
• Cloud computing.
• Web development.

Articles that spark discussion and feedback from the community tend to perform well.

VentureBeat

VentureBeat is a popular technology-focused news and analysis website covering topics related to startups, emerging technologies, and industry trends.

The average length of articles on VentureBeat is 500-1K words.

HubPages

HubPages publishes articles on various topics, including technology, marketing, business, and more.

The platform favors in-depth, comprehensive articles, with a minimum word count of ~500. In addition to the publishing platform, HubPages also offers a revenue sharing program for founders who wish to monetize their content. This program allows you to earn money based on the traffic and engagement of your articles.

TechPlanet.today

The most popular topics on TechPlanet.today include:

• AI and machine learning.
• Cybersecurity and privacy.
• Internet of Things (IoT).
• Blockchain and crypto.
• Mobile and web development.
• Cloud computing.

Reddit

Check out these subreddits for indie hackers:

• r/InternetIsBeautiful.
• r/SideProject.
• r/GrowthHacking.
• r/Softwaredevelopment.
• r/netsec.
• r/cybersecurity.
• r/privacy.
• r/Webdevelopment.
• r/Indiewebdev.

For more thoughts, guides, and insights, visit my blog!

Discuss this story.

In the News 📰

from the Trendy Software Ideas newsletter

❌ TikTok implements restrictions on ads targeted at teens.

😶‍🌫️ Audience targeting for a privacy-conscious future.

💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.

💬 From keywords to conversations; the shift in advertising.

💰 AI is the engine behind VC gains.

🕵️ The first fugitive to be caught by the internet.

Check out Trendy Software Ideas to discover more software ideas inspired by recent news.

Get Your New Website Seen in Search Results 💻

by Tuiddy

After launching a new website, it's super important to get it to show up in search engine results quickly. By using modern tools and techniques, like AI-driven SEO strategies, you can speed up this process. Here are some key steps to help you get indexed and visible fast!

The guidelines

1. Submit a sitemap: Create and submit a sitemap to Google Search Console and other major search engines' Webmaster tools. A sitemap helps search engines rapidly discover and index all pages of your website.

2. Optimize website content: Ensure that your website content is rich, original, and relevant. Use relevant keywords and phrases naturally to enhance search engine rankings. AI tools, like SEO AI, can analyze your content and suggest optimizations to improve its relevance and keyword usage.

3. Set up proper meta tags: Each page should include appropriate title tags and meta descriptions, helping search engines understand the page's topic and content. Using AI to evaluate your meta tags can ensure that they are compelling and keyword optimized.

4. Ensure clear website structure: A well-structured website enhances user experience, and facilitates effective crawling and indexing by search engine spiders. Use clear navigation structures and internal links to help spiders explore your site thoroughly. AI tools can help diagnose structural issues, and recommend improvements.

5. Use high-quality external links: Obtain external links from authoritative and relevant websites, which can boost your site's authority and rankings in search engines. AI can assist in identifying potential link building opportunities by analyzing competitors and related industries.

6. Utilize social media platforms: Promote and share your content on social media to increase website exposure and traffic, indirectly impacting search engine rankings. AI tools can optimize your social media strategy by identifying the best times to post, and the most engaging content formats.

7. Monitor and adjust strategies: Regularly monitor your search engine rankings and traffic, and adjust your SEO strategy based on data. Continuous optimization and improvement are key to maintaining competitiveness in search engine results. AI-powered analytics tools can provide deep insights into your performance, and suggest actionable improvements.

By following these steps and using AI-driven SEO tools, you can boost the chances of your new website getting indexed quickly, and showing up high in search engine results. This will help drive more traffic, and increase visibility for your site!

Discuss this story.

🔥 Landing Page Hot Tips

by Rob Hope

Strengthen your landing page with these design, development, and conversion tips!

Focus on solving copy first.

Polishing the design of a badly-worded landing page is counterintuitive, and a waste of time. You need to clearly answer:

• What will you solve?

• Where will you take them?

• Who will they become?

Weak or confusing copy will sink your conversions, no matter how well designed the landing page.

Subscribe to Rob's One Page Love newsletter for his favorite UI, design, and development finds.

Building Zendesk Apps to Help Support Teams 🤗

by Sorin Alupoaie

This month, I hit two important milestones: $20K+ MRR and 300+ customers! At Swifteq, we create Zendesk apps that help customer support teams work smarter, not harder. We've had over 120% growth in the last year!

The background

Swifteq is completely bootstrapped, which is a great feeling. The journey's had its ups and downs, but overall it's been exciting and rewarding.

I love the independence of running my own company. No investors or cofounders means that I get to focus on what matters most: My customers. Sure, there's more responsibility, but the freedom that comes with it is totally worth it.

What I've done well

• Built useful tools: I've focused on creating apps that make a real difference in my customers' day-to-day work. All my recent apps have paying customers, and some are driving a lot of our recent growth.

• Automated routine tasks: I've freed up my time by automating parts of the trial and customer lifecycle processes that used to take up too much of my day.

• Created excellent documentation: With the help of a fantastic writer, we've built a great help center. We've kept it up-to-date based on customer questions. This is an ongoing process, but it's paying off.

• Written helpful blog posts: With the help of a great industry-focused content marketing agency, we've shared practical tips and insights for customer support teams using Zendesk.

• Started taking marketing seriously: I'm still new to this, but I've made good progress in learning.

What I can do better

• I've underpriced most apps: I initially set prices too low, and was slow to correct them. This hindered my ability to reach profitability sooner, and reinvest in the business. Lesson learned: Low prices might work for mass consumer or close to consumer markets, but not so much for niche B2B products.

• Ignored marketing and sales: Being an engineer, I love building products. So, I neglected marketing. I even missed a major website indexing issue that hurt my SEO efforts for months.

• Took on too much development work: Instead of hiring developers, I tried to handle too much of the technical work myself. This took away time that I could have spent on growing the business.

Future plans

• Build more of what customers need: This means new features for existing apps, as well as brand new apps. I have two new Zendesk apps planned for release next month.

• Optimize prices: I'll adjust pricing to reflect the value my apps deliver, while ensuring healthy profit margins to fuel growth.

• Focus on larger customers: Many of my apps, like Help Center Manager and Analytics, are most valuable for mid-market and enterprise customers.

• Invest in marketing and sales: I'll dedicate more time and resources to marketing, especially SEO, to attract more customers.

• Reach out to potential partners: I'll explore partnerships within the Zendesk ecosystem to find ways to grow together.

Building great products for my customers is still my priority, but I've learned that it takes more than that. You need to build a business around your products, and that means marketing, sales, support, and everything else!

Discuss this story.

The Tweetmaster's Pick 🐦

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

Enjoy This Newsletter? 🏁

Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.

Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.

Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Martin Baun, Darko, Tuiddy, Rob Hope, and Sorin Alupoaie for contributing posts. —Channing