Recommendations for promoting a new web app?

[geuis]

I've been working on a web app for a couple weeks. I should be able to launch it in a few weeks. So if anyone reading HN has had success at building buzz, what'd you do? I know the basics: post on HN, share on Twitter, submit to Digg, send to Techcrunch, etc. Going to get some of my buddies to promote it as much as they can, but none of them are big web celebrities. I feel certain that if you build a project that is simple, works very well for its purpose, and makes it easier for the user to do a task, then it has a better chance at success.

I made a Firefox extension about 3 years ago called "Cacheout!" that was up to about 10,000 regular users before I had to kill the project when my hosting situation died. It had gotten to the front page of Digg and had been shared around a few blogs. I considered it a minor success for me at the time.

What should I do to get ready to promote this new project?

[ajbatac]

There's a related thread here that might help: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=186133

[furiouslol]

Ok here's a tip/hack:

For optimal SEO results, use common superlatives like "best ever", "most XXX", "top 10" in your HTML title

[geuis]

Actually that link helps a lot. Thanks.

[il]

Either get ready to spend money doing traditional advertising, or go blackhat.

"Going viral" is a myth. The majority of the spontaneous viral hits in the past few years have been carefully planned and executed. Stories get to the Digg front page mostly through coordinated armies of professional Diggers or extensive friend networks. Bloggers take money for undisclosed paid reviews. And don't get me started on email marketing :)

I know because I've had a hand in all of that stuff. I've done it, and it works.

So, you are faced with a choice: whitehat or blackhat? Whitehat, start doing some traditional marketing- do some basic market segmentation, see what your competitors are doing, target "customers" etc, and then start buying ads- links, paid search, etc or else promoting on the sites your target market uses.

Blackhat, do blackhat SEO- spam blogs/forums, get links, cloak, etc.

Of course, a simple web app may not merit such extensive investment of time and effort, but the difference between a web app and a funded startup is fuzzy at best.

[MicahWedemeyer]

I'd say, you should have been getting ready for a long time. Talk ahead of time about what you're making so people are familiar with it at launch time.

That being said, here's my quick guide to free self-marketing:

trackback > comment > forum post

So, set up a blog and start linking to blog articles that are related to your area. Write something meaningful about what the person is saying and how it relates to your product. The blogger will probably follow the trackback and read your post, and might decide to write about it.

DO NOT just start blindly linking to stuff and creating trackback spam. Same goes for signing up for forums and creating an ad post. Nothing looks more spammy than a user account with 1 post saying "Check out my cool new website!"

[rms]

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-web-developers-seo-cheat-shee...

If you want to start playing shady you can buy paid links at forums.digitalpoint.com

[callmeed]

Yeah, some basic SEO can go a long way. I always say–decide what your highest valued search phrase is and start your browser title with that phrase.

It would help to know more about what industry you're targeting.

[abl]

what happened to your hosting for Cacheout?

[geuis]

I was poor and got poorer. Baby was on the way that miscarried, etc. Life sucked major. Much, much better now though.