Ask HN: Reposting dilemma in Hacker News

[sushobhan]

What if my post does not get any attention at all, can I repost it? Rule says-

"If a story has had significant attention in the last year or so, we kill reposts as duplicates. If not, a small number of reposts is ok. Please don't delete and repost the same story, though. Accounts that do that eventually lose submission privileges."

The guideline is from story/news repetition perspective but it says nothing about the person who posts. So I'm not clear if I can repost my own post. Coming to the reason from where I got this requirement (pretty serious for me), We recently revamp our product site, I'm sure it's better than it's ancestor but skeptical if it meets standard UI/UX guidelines. Our sales figure, after launching the new site, does not see significant change either, which further provoked me to get some suggestions from other people. Yesterday I post a "Show HN:" requesting our community to provide their valuable feedback. Honestly speaking, I was expecting at least 5-6 suggestions but to my surprise, none came. It got only one comment and no evaluation. I know almost 90% of stories does not get engagement at all due to various reasons. But for us, it's not just a story, our survival depends on this product. So am I allowed to repost it again? If so, is there any mandatory time gap? N.B. - I intentionally exclude the post link as that might be seen as promotion as well.

[gus_massa]

It's not very clear, but my advice is to wait a few days.

I agree with the comment in the previous submission. The site has too many things. It's not very clear what are you selling.

Do you know one of your (potential) clients? Sit one of them in front of a computer and watch him/her navigate the site while you are mute and have your hands tied behind your back. What are they interested in? What do they want to find? Can you reduce our offer to one product and add a link to "many more fantastic products here!!!"?

[sushobhan]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. I like your idea to show very few on home page and providing a link to browse all other. Though these are all add-ons(paid), our base product WC Marketplace is a totally free WordPress plugin. We believe if we can increase user base of our base plugin then automatically sale of our paid addons increase. That's why most of the CTA redirects to WordPress site to promote downloading our plugin.

[Jaruzel]

Personally, I'd wait a few days, and then try a repost at a different time of day. HN regulars are pretty much global, and different crowds are reading at different times. I find posting during quiet periods results in slightly more interaction. Also include a specific 'call to arms' such as 'if you could improve X how would you?'

[sushobhan]

Thanks for commenting, would you mind explaining 'if you could improve X how would you?' this part a bit more. I didn't get it. Sorry for this additional trouble.