4 ms·

You posted the Tarsnap redesign 111 days ago, here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=820705 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=820705 As far as I can tell

by jfarmer 17y ago

You posted the Tarsnap redesign 111 days ago, here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=820705 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=820705 As far as I can tell you didn't incorporate a single piece of advice you received in that thread. I'd print out patio11's comment and staple it above my desk. The homepage still looks like the website for any random, academic OSS project. It doesn't say "hardcore," it says amateur, and there's no way I'm trusting you with my money, let alone my sensitive data. I just don't understand what that homepage is designed to sell, and why you're so insistent on keeping the "minimalist aesthetic," the crazy pricing, and the walls of text. Is it for your sake, or for your customers? If the former, I think I know why Balsamiq has higher sales. For example, imagine I'm a potential enterprise client who, for compliance reasons, needs exactly what you're offering. How much do you think I'd be willing to spend? Does your site even let me spend that much? You have a beautiful piece of technology. My background is in mathematics so I really appreciate the brilliance that went into building something as comprehensive and innovative as tarsnap. But that is the first step of 10. The other 9 steps are about marketing and sales, and Balsamiq is better at that than you are. EDIT: An illustration of your distribution strategy vs. Balsamiq's. http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups

cperciva 17y ago
you didn't incorporate a single piece of advice you received in that thread I filed a lot of it away for future reference, since I figured that having a website at all took priority over making it look as nice as possible. Is [the current aesthetic] for your sake, or for your customers? Both. Whenever I mention the possibility of changing the "feel" of the Tarsnap website, I hear an outcry from my current users. Of course, that is a rather biassed sample... imagine I'm a potential enterprise client who, for compliance reasons, needs exactly what you're offering If you need backups for regulatory compliance reasons, Tarsnap can't help you -- regulators need paperwork, and Tarsnap doesn't have it. An illustration of your distribution strategy vs. Balsamiq's. http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups I absolutely agree, and I think this is my biggest problem -- getting people to the Tarsnap website in the first place, when the crowded market makes it almost impossible for someone to find Tarsnap via search engines (unless they're already searching for "Tarsnap"). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Google really cares about how flashy a website looks...
- rms 17y ago
  You can do the SEO though. There's not much to it. Basically you just email people and ask them to link to you, or if they really want to do you a favor, link with the keywords "secure online backups" or whatever phrase you want to target.
  - cperciva 17y ago
    You can do the SEO though. There's not much to it. Huh. Really, that's it? I thought SEO was all about "optimizing" website text to include keywords multiple times and stuff like that.
    - rms 17y ago
      Yeah, SEO consultants pretend there is a lot of voodoo to it, which is only true if you're doing heavy affiliate marketing stuff. In your case, you just need to give Google the info it needs to appropriately rank your site via inbound links. That doesn't hurt, but I think that only really works for less competitive keyword phrases. SEO is mostly just best practices. Some HN member posted their site http://360voltage.com/ http://360voltage.com/ here, it will point out where your site is not following SEO best practices. If you can get 5 or 10 or 20 good links to your site, especially from weighty BSD domains, it should go a long towards improving your search engine rankings. Another thing you can do is a yahoo search for your competitors, say site:mozy.com and then look at their inbound links and think about how you can get similar links. As a start, how come you haven't been on Techcrunch yet? Your narrative should play well there.
      - cperciva 17y ago
        how come you haven't been on Techcrunch yet I don't know enough about how Techcrunch selects its stories to answer this question. I'd certainly be happy to appear there.
        rms 17y ago
        Mostly you just need to ask and not have been covered on Mashable. tips@techcrunch.com Let them know who you are, why it's interesting, and why it's news. I think your narrative, "BSD security guy creates idealized secure online backups" is interesting enough by Techcrunch standards. You should also watch Arrington's Startup School talk.

by jfarmer 17y ago

cperciva 17y ago

you didn't incorporate a single piece of advice you received in that thread I filed a lot of it away for future reference, since I figured that having a website at all took priority over making it look as nice as possible. Is [the current aesthetic] for your sake, or for your customers? Both. Whenever I mention the possibility of changing the "feel" of the Tarsnap website, I hear an outcry from my current users. Of course, that is a rather biassed sample... imagine I'm a potential enterprise client who, for compliance reasons, needs exactly what you're offering If you need backups for regulatory compliance reasons, Tarsnap can't help you -- regulators need paperwork, and Tarsnap doesn't have it. An illustration of your distribution strategy vs. Balsamiq's. http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=secure+online+backups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups http://www.google.com/search?q=mockups I absolutely agree, and I think this is my biggest problem -- getting people to the Tarsnap website in the first place, when the crowded market makes it almost impossible for someone to find Tarsnap via search engines (unless they're already searching for "Tarsnap"). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Google really cares about how flashy a website looks...

rms 17y ago
You can do the SEO though. There's not much to it. Basically you just email people and ask them to link to you, or if they really want to do you a favor, link with the keywords "secure online backups" or whatever phrase you want to target.
- cperciva 17y ago
  You can do the SEO though. There's not much to it. Huh. Really, that's it? I thought SEO was all about "optimizing" website text to include keywords multiple times and stuff like that.
  - rms 17y ago
    Yeah, SEO consultants pretend there is a lot of voodoo to it, which is only true if you're doing heavy affiliate marketing stuff. In your case, you just need to give Google the info it needs to appropriately rank your site via inbound links. That doesn't hurt, but I think that only really works for less competitive keyword phrases. SEO is mostly just best practices. Some HN member posted their site http://360voltage.com/ http://360voltage.com/ here, it will point out where your site is not following SEO best practices. If you can get 5 or 10 or 20 good links to your site, especially from weighty BSD domains, it should go a long towards improving your search engine rankings. Another thing you can do is a yahoo search for your competitors, say site:mozy.com and then look at their inbound links and think about how you can get similar links. As a start, how come you haven't been on Techcrunch yet? Your narrative should play well there.
    - cperciva 17y ago
      how come you haven't been on Techcrunch yet I don't know enough about how Techcrunch selects its stories to answer this question. I'd certainly be happy to appear there.
      - rms 17y ago
        Mostly you just need to ask and not have been covered on Mashable. tips@techcrunch.com Let them know who you are, why it's interesting, and why it's news. I think your narrative, "BSD security guy creates idealized secure online backups" is interesting enough by Techcrunch standards. You should also watch Arrington's Startup School talk.