I created a site to curate funny app stories. What can I do to get traffic?

4 replies
Hi fellow warriors,

I spent the past few months building a content submission site to curate funny app stories.

I am looking for your feedback on how to market this site:

www.appgags.com

The system is similar to sites like fmylife and textsfromlastnight.

I've tried submitting a few posts on reddit and stumbleupon, but they didn't quite work for me. Perhaps, it's something in the site that people don't like.

Thanks a lot for your advice in advance.
#app #created #curate #funny #site #stories #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author Boris Beo
    Hey 1nspired,

    Here are some of my thoughts, as a frequent FML reader.

    I've seen many FML "clones" appear and disappear, and in many cases I could have predicted their disappearing. In some cases the lack of funny content was to blame. In other cases, it was clear that the user interface was nowhere near FML's features. In many of these cases, it was the combination of the two.

    To be quite honest, when I initially read your post, my first response was: "oh! another FML clone". But after taking a look at what you have developed, I'm saying you have a great looking website with potential (again, coming from someone who spends at least a few minutes a day reading FML and LHAO).

    The domain name clearly states what the site is all about. However, I'm not so sure I dig the slogan: "What has changed since you got a smartphone?". It may be just me. It got me confused for a second. And in my opinion, it needs to be clear what I can expect from a website, within a second.

    I've read some of the stories. There's some interesting material, but if you want to beat the best, you need to deliver even more. I'd rather see less updates on your website (but making sure I'm smiling ear to ear) than to see it loaded with mediocre stories. But then again, that's subjective.

    As in marketing the website, I think you could change some things in order to get the site more traffic. For instance, social media should be one of your main concerns. After all, I've discovered FML after one of my friends shared a story on Facebook.

    While you do have a LIKE and DISLIKE button, these are tied to your own database. When a user clicks a like button, it's only visible to your website's visitors.

    While you do have custom Twitter and Facebook sharing buttons, they don't display the number of likes. For the time being (until your website gets some decent traffic), I would strip down your own like and dislike buttons and give all attention to social media buttons (with counters). You need those visitors in your visitors' social networks!

    The same goes for comments. I would implement Facebook commenting, which would post any comment to the user's Facebook wall, allowing it to be seen by their friends.

    After a while, once you're satisfied with the popularity of your website, you can always switch back to your own voting system...

    Just my two cents.
    Hope it helps.

    Kind regards,
    Boris
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    • Profile picture of the author 1nspired
      Hi Boris,

      Thanks a lot for taking your time to review my site. Your advice is very valuable to me.

      I will definitely incorporate your feedback in the site.
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      • Profile picture of the author randak
        I like the site. Nice layout and interesting enough to differentiate from the others of similar ilk.
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        • Profile picture of the author 1nspired
          Hi randak,

          Thanks you for the kind feedback!
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