customer-development, internetI recently launched a website where users can review websites, online stores, webseries, webcomics, social networks, etc, and now I am trying to build the userbase. Think of it like Yelp for the Internet, a place to go when you want to find not just the first result on a search page, but the best website for what you’re looking to do.
The problem is, without a userbase I have very little content so far, and without much content I’m having a hard time attracting a userbase.
The people I’ve shown it to seem to think it has a good chance of getting some popularity. Everyone has opinions about Facebook and Netflix and such, and I know A LOT of people looking for a good dress shopping site, or a new writing group, or the best online dating site, etc. And just like with restaurants and stores on Yelp, everyone wants to tell people about their favorite websites, and everyone wants to warn others of the terrible experiences they’ve had online. Many people who have seen the site have described it as one of those “I never knew I wanted this” ideas, so I’m (tentatively) enthusiastic about its chances.
But while I’ve added over 300 websites to the database so far with more coming every day, and we’re starting to get more and more people submitting their own websites as well, we don’t have nearly as many people writing reviews. I’ve written a bunch myself, and I’m trying to rally my friends and family as well, but obviously this is an uphill battle and a short-term patch, not a real solution. A review site lives and dies five the number and quality of reviews that its users submit. I’m experimenting with paid advertising on a number of platforms to increase the traffic, but it looks like so far people are coming to the site, looking around, murmuring “neat”, and then leaving. And without much content to read, I can’t really blame them.
So my question is, can anyone offer any advice for getting content up on a user-review site, before there is much pre-existing content to draw people in?
The website is called FlitterWeb and can be found at www.FlitterWeb.com.
Unless you have substantial resources, the usual answer to how to get from capability to sustainability is to find a niche where both the person searching and the person wanting to be found are both underserved.
That focus will let you be targeted in your efforts, and it also means that recruiting advocates and reviewers is simpler because if (say) you focus on delis in Delaware, you want to find deli-lovers in Delaware.
In the process, you’re likely to find other, related but distinct, ways that the site owners have hassle. The old wisdom was, ignore detail unless you can see it generalises. Today’s startup is more likely to want to serve passionate communities super-well, as long as there’s the potential to grow.
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