What makes you open an article on Indie Hackers?
Every day, I read a series of articles here, which are very interesting for those on the journey of creating a fully bootstrapped business, which is my case.
Generally, what makes me open one article over another is the feeling that the title gives me. I'm not sure if it's understandable, but it's a sense that in that particular article, someone will teach me something that could be very important for my journey — indeed, I've learned several things here.
However, I'm still curious about how others interact with this platform. What leads you to open and engage with an article on IH?
Trending on Indie Hackers
🔥 Roast My Landing Page
Are you talking about clicking a link from IH to a website? If you just make it a link type with no content 99% I won't click and some percentage i'd report it as spam as many/most are and usually quickly removed
If you just copy the post name or a single paragraph I consider it not worth it, as much as the poster doesn't care, just the motions of promoting.
If you give a couple of paragraphs that are specific to IH that are different from the article itself yet tie it all as a proper thing, you got a good chance if the content is of interest to me
If you put pretty much the entire article in the post, you have my respect and if I want more I might visit your site for more of you
I think the last it the longer term view and investment, don't make me click out, respect the platform, formatting etc, and I consider it establishing a relationship vs just promoting your posts, being part of the community vs being a marketing promoter bot that just thinks about his own objectives. That is valid not only for IH but other social platforms just the same.
I saved your response. Very comprehensive and full of interesting insights. Thank you for the contribution!! Truly
I'm similar to you, where I open all the articles I think I can benefit/learn from. In my case thats "Roast my landingpage", "I made that much money", or especially marketing and customer-building :)
I often open articles with titles like this: I made $xxx in xxx days.
In addition to the educational content you mentioned in the post, I am also interested in topics where I feel I can contribute and build an audience as a commenter. For example, I've noticed that the indie hacker market is dominated by the theme of making big money as fast as possible, which goes against my idea of having a lifestyle business. Hence, I often open the article and comment with questions. If the original poster claims fast growth, I'd ask questions to understand the compromises of such rapid growth, and point out that there could be other ways to scale as a lifestyle business. I'm no expert on lifestyle businesses, and I find it hard to find related topics, so I'm just trying to raise awareness and hoping to find more people with similar interests. On the contrary, if the post's topic is too one-sided, it becomes less interesting to engage with because people probably already have a well-constructed answer or expectation for the discussion.
Your strategy is quite interesting, and your lifestyle aligns well with mine. I also view my life in the way you point out, building a lifestyle business, even if it takes a long time. In my opinion, this makes indie hacking more rewarding.
I open articles on Indie Hackers when the title promises practical insights, actionable tips, or inspiring success stories related to entrepreneurship, startups, or building digital products.
Indeed, titles are very important. As everyone is at different stages and the amount of information available is massive, we need to use titles to filter the content we need. Recently, I have been wanting to work on some websites, and searching with a goal in mind is what motivates me.
You're absolutely right! With so much content, without a filter, you can get lost not knowing what you really want to consume.
Often, because the story resonates with me or it gives informations I need to build my business!
Same thing for me
I'll take a look at an article if it sounds interesting, or is something that I want to learn more about.
in short: the headline catches my attention.
This is a huge hint for how to get people's attention when marketing your product/service...
Absolutely! I think the same as you. It's about the idea that the title gives me, which determines whether I feel like opening that content or not.
I'am new to IH, but so far my favorite has been the homepage, and I click on the posts with the titles that interest me the most.
Welcome 😊! Believe me, you will learn a lot here.
Because I want to read another "Subscribe to my newsletter" or "I sold my AI startup for $15. AMA!"-kind of post.
Headlines are what get attention. From a marketing perspective (and copywriting) it's the number one determination of whether someone clicks on your content. That could be in Search, Social, email, or here.
For me too. Headlines are truly crucial.