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Ask HN: How do new blogs break the backlink–indexing loop?

We run a small coding blog sharing our learning experience and I keep hitting the same loop: Google won't index most of our pages because the site has no authority. Authority comes from backlinks. But nobody links to a site that doesn't show up in search results. 110+ posts and almost nothing showing up on Google. Bing has started indexing them, but Google won't budge. Google indexed us in the beginning, just a bit, then after one of their updates we were destroyed and never re-covered. We've tried long-form guides, short tutorials, long-tail keywords, competitive keywords, niche topics with zero competition. I'm not sure anymore if content is the problem. We have no noindex issues, no missing sitemaps, no crawl errors — all the basic SEO boxes are checked. Site is submitted to Search Console, PageSpeed Insights performance is good (99% desktop, 85+ mobile). We started cross-posting to Medium, Dev.to, and Hashnode but we can't even be sure that's the right path. We've been posting consistently, thinking consistency was the key — but it doesn't seem to be enough on its own. It truly feels like we're fighting an invisible monster without knowing if what we're doing is correct. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ranting — I still have patience left in me. Just thinking out loud here in case someone has been in the same shoes and found a way out. What actually moved the needle for you? We'd appreciate any guidance.

gus_massa 8mo ago
If it's on topic, you can post the articles here. But don't post too much. Most of the times it's better to add a few minutes later a comment explaining you are the author and will reply questions.
- lilcodingthings 8mo ago
  yeah good point, I was a bit worried that this approach is frowned up by the community, but I will try it out. thank you for your suggestion.
  - gus_massa 8mo ago
    There are not hard rules, but my recommendation is to not post your own stuff more than one a week. (I prefer once a month but as I say there is no hard rule. I like longer articles, and it's difficult to write them unless the blog is your full time job.) Usually technical articles with a few relevant photos/graphics are the best. Try to not use AI, because there will be a lot of complains in the comments. Perhaps only to fix orthography and grammar errors, or a few style problems. --- https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-overlay-effect/ https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-o... May be a good post for HN, but who knows, my css knowledge is very low. https://littlecodingthings.com/docker-docker-compose-commands-i-keep-forgetting-cheat-sheet/ https://littlecodingthings.com/docker-docker-compose-command... All the examples are one line. It's probably too close to a manual or tutorial. I don't expect it to get traction, but who knows, my docker knowledge is very low.
    - lilcodingthings 8mo ago
      Thanks for taking the time to look at our articles! That's really helpful feedback. I'll start with the more technical and in-depth posts, as well as ones that describe personal paths and experiences, and see how it goes based on people's feedback The once-a-month approach could also be a good starting point for me. I'm trying to blog while working full time and, as you said, it is hard indeed. Hopefully, as time goes by — and fingers crossed, by making the right decisions, people will start reading, Google will start showing us in results, and we'll stop feeling as if we're writing for ourselves only. Although I don't feel bad writing just for myself, it would be nice to know that someone else may read what I'm sharing. :)
raw_anon_1111 8mo ago
Oh well, I’m going to be that guy, if I wanted to learn about how to create a CSS overlay effect, why would I go to Google or your blog in 2026 https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-overlay-effect/ https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-o... Instead of just going to ChatGPT or using Claude to just do it for me? Even when I search for “how to do a CSS overlay effect” on Google I get an AI overview of the answer? Now the question is what unique insight do you have that once I saw one of your posts, I would add it to my RSS reader? Or that would
- lilcodingthings 8mo ago
  It's totally fair to be that guy, it's a great question! :) AI is absolutely a powerful tool, and I use it daily for coding problems and most of the times brainstorming too. But I don't see it as a replacement for everything else. I still find myself searching Google, reading blogs, watching YouTube tutorials, and browsing documentation. Each format clicks differently depending on the context and what I'm trying to learn. As for what we offer — our posts come from real experience and real problems we've encountered. There's a voice, a perspective, and a learning journey behind each one that AI-generated answers can't quite replicate (I hope). As an example, we have posts like https://littlecodingthings.com/remote-work-freedom-or-burnout/ https://littlecodingthings.com/remote-work-freedom-or-burnou... and https://littlecodingthings.com/am-i-too-old-to-learn-coding/ https://littlecodingthings.com/am-i-too-old-to-learn-coding/ these are real personal experiences and reflections from our own journey. That's the kind of stuff you'd probably want to hear from an actual person, not an AI. Overall I'd say to someone with your concerns, check out our blog, and hopefully our tone, style, and the way we break things down resonates with you in a way that other resources don't. If it does, we'd love to have you stick around! :)
robotanjing 8mo ago
I just checking your website, while cant give any advices, kudos to you, pretty solid website to add to my bookmark
- lilcodingthings 8mo ago
  Thank you so much for the kind words, that really means a lot! We've been building this blog with a lot of love and genuine passion for coding. Our goal is to bring value to our community by sharing our experiences, lessons learned, and the things we're still figuring out along the way. We hope you find something useful in there!

gus_massa 8mo ago

If it's on topic, you can post the articles here. But don't post too much. Most of the times it's better to add a few minutes later a comment explaining you are the author and will reply questions.

lilcodingthings 8mo ago
yeah good point, I was a bit worried that this approach is frowned up by the community, but I will try it out. thank you for your suggestion.
- gus_massa 8mo ago
  There are not hard rules, but my recommendation is to not post your own stuff more than one a week. (I prefer once a month but as I say there is no hard rule. I like longer articles, and it's difficult to write them unless the blog is your full time job.) Usually technical articles with a few relevant photos/graphics are the best. Try to not use AI, because there will be a lot of complains in the comments. Perhaps only to fix orthography and grammar errors, or a few style problems. --- https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-overlay-effect/ https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-o... May be a good post for HN, but who knows, my css knowledge is very low. https://littlecodingthings.com/docker-docker-compose-commands-i-keep-forgetting-cheat-sheet/ https://littlecodingthings.com/docker-docker-compose-command... All the examples are one line. It's probably too close to a manual or tutorial. I don't expect it to get traction, but who knows, my docker knowledge is very low.
  - lilcodingthings 8mo ago
    Thanks for taking the time to look at our articles! That's really helpful feedback. I'll start with the more technical and in-depth posts, as well as ones that describe personal paths and experiences, and see how it goes based on people's feedback The once-a-month approach could also be a good starting point for me. I'm trying to blog while working full time and, as you said, it is hard indeed. Hopefully, as time goes by — and fingers crossed, by making the right decisions, people will start reading, Google will start showing us in results, and we'll stop feeling as if we're writing for ourselves only. Although I don't feel bad writing just for myself, it would be nice to know that someone else may read what I'm sharing. :)

raw_anon_1111 8mo ago

Oh well, I’m going to be that guy, if I wanted to learn about how to create a CSS overlay effect, why would I go to Google or your blog in 2026 https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-overlay-effect/ https://littlecodingthings.com/simple-ways-to-create-a-css-o... Instead of just going to ChatGPT or using Claude to just do it for me? Even when I search for “how to do a CSS overlay effect” on Google I get an AI overview of the answer? Now the question is what unique insight do you have that once I saw one of your posts, I would add it to my RSS reader? Or that would

lilcodingthings 8mo ago
It's totally fair to be that guy, it's a great question! :) AI is absolutely a powerful tool, and I use it daily for coding problems and most of the times brainstorming too. But I don't see it as a replacement for everything else. I still find myself searching Google, reading blogs, watching YouTube tutorials, and browsing documentation. Each format clicks differently depending on the context and what I'm trying to learn. As for what we offer — our posts come from real experience and real problems we've encountered. There's a voice, a perspective, and a learning journey behind each one that AI-generated answers can't quite replicate (I hope). As an example, we have posts like https://littlecodingthings.com/remote-work-freedom-or-burnout/ https://littlecodingthings.com/remote-work-freedom-or-burnou... and https://littlecodingthings.com/am-i-too-old-to-learn-coding/ https://littlecodingthings.com/am-i-too-old-to-learn-coding/ these are real personal experiences and reflections from our own journey. That's the kind of stuff you'd probably want to hear from an actual person, not an AI. Overall I'd say to someone with your concerns, check out our blog, and hopefully our tone, style, and the way we break things down resonates with you in a way that other resources don't. If it does, we'd love to have you stick around! :)

robotanjing 8mo ago

I just checking your website, while cant give any advices, kudos to you, pretty solid website to add to my bookmark

lilcodingthings 8mo ago
Thank you so much for the kind words, that really means a lot! We've been building this blog with a lot of love and genuine passion for coding. Our goal is to bring value to our community by sharing our experiences, lessons learned, and the things we're still figuring out along the way. We hope you find something useful in there!