SKILL.md
$27
Platform
Audience
Use
Indie Hacker
Indie makers, founders
Sustained engagement; authentic journey posts; ~23% conversion vs PH 3%
Hacker News
Tech, startups
Show HN launch; ~1,300 posts/day; front page = luck + timing
Hackernoon
Dev, tech readers
Content distribution
Industry forums
Niche verticals
Discount codes for leads; search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion; see discount-marketing-strategy for code strategy
Subreddit-specific
See reddit-posts; 90/10 rule; 29+ posts for traction
Discourse (self-hosted forum)
Community-specific
Owned forum; full SEO/GEO control; see Discourse SEO section below
Discourse (Self-Hosted Forum) SEO
If you run a Discourse forum (or similar self-hosted forum), SEO/GEO considerations differ from posting on third-party platforms:
Practice
Guideline
Guest access
Allow anonymous reading for categories meant to attract traffic; login-only mode severely limits indexed pages
Topic structure
First post carries SEO weight; write clear titles and substantive opening posts; avoid fragmented short topics
Sitemap & robots
Discourse generates sitemaps automatically; monitor in GSC as a separate property (subdomain or subdirectory)
Content quality
Merge duplicates, mark resolved threads, surface FAQ topics—forum-level quality signals affect crawl and citation
GEO
Structured topic titles and well-formed opening posts are extractable by AI tools; forum format with timelines and accepted answers lends credibility
Subdomain vs subdirectory
Discourse recommends subdomain for operational reasons; search engines do not inherently favor either for ranking—choose based on infrastructure, not SEO alone
Hacker News Launch
Practice
Guideline
Title
"Show HN: [Product] - [specific problem solved]"; honest, no clickbait
Timing
Tue-Thu; peak US hours; avoid weekends, Mon, Fri
First comment
Invitation to engage; product status (beta/MVP); differentiated solution; try-it link
Assets
Live demo, GIFs, screenshots, 30-60s demo video
Expectation
Traffic spike, not sustained growth; partly luck-dependent
Indie Hackers Best Practices
- Sustained engagement: 4–6 months; not a one-time launch
- Content: Authentic journey posts; product "sprinkled within"; avoid heavy promotion
- Result: ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; organic traffic from authentic sharing
For full Indie Hackers tactics, Build in Public content framework (40/30/20/10), first 100 users → indie-hacker-strategy.
Community Invitation Tactics
Channel
Method
Welcome email
Post-signup automation; 4x open, 5x CTR vs regular campaigns
Homepage CTA
Button, popup, banner; above-the-fold upgrade CTA
In-site placement
High-visibility areas; user-focused sections (e.g. dashboard, settings)
Banner
Homepage, carousel below hero
Registration emails
Success/confirmation email with community link
EDM campaign
Newsletter + banner, interview-for-membership
Discord
Post event/community info; founder engagement 2-3h/day
Vertical forums
Search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion
Post-login form
In-app signup form shown after login; high-intent placement
Welcome email best practices: One clear CTA per email; front-load value in subject; personalize (signup source, interests); link to best content, events; ask questions (~75% reply rate). Automated 2-4 email sequence.
Vertical Community Channels
Principle
Guideline
Target
Find channels where target audience gathers
Niche over broad
Industry-specific subgroups; avoid mass posting
Caution
Mass posting risks removal; match community tone; choose wording carefully
Examples
Reddit subreddits, Discord servers, Quora, X, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, niche B2B communities
Regional
Large communities by locale—event/activity promotion; target vertical channels within each; see localization-strategy
Community-led growth: Engage before promoting; build trust; contribute value first.
Natural Traffic (Complementary)
Channel
Use
Hashtags
Social tag optimization
Facebook groups
Indirect referral
Giveaways
Attention and conversion
Brand Basics (Encyclopedia, Q&A)
Platform
Use
Wikipedia
Global; neutral, cited content; brand credibility
Quora
Q&A; brand discussion, thought leadership, long-term SEO
Stack Overflow
Tech/dev; expertise signals, backlinks
Regional
Local encyclopedias and Q&A by locale; verified credentials; see localization-strategy
Wikipedia: Neutral language, credible references, no promotional content. Regional platforms require verified credentials; prioritize local search share. Free and sustainable; supports long-term conversion while search habits persist.
Output Format
- Forum selection and approach (HN vs IH vs industry)
- Community invitation plan (welcome email, CTA, banner, EDM, Discord)
- Vertical channel targeting
- Content strategy (authentic vs promotional mix)
- Timeline (launch vs sustained)
Related Skills
- reddit-posts: Reddit post copy, subreddit rules
- cold-start-strategy: Cold start orchestrates Product Hunt, Reddit, Indie Hackers, directories; this skill handles forum/community tactics
- indie-hacker-strategy: Indie hacker first 100 users; Build in Public; Indie Hackers tactics; this skill = forum/community tactics; indie-hacker = strategy + context
- directory-submission: Product Hunt, Taaft; different from forum community
- affiliate-marketing: Communities as recruitment channel
- top-banner-generator, popup-generator: Homepage CTA, banner
- newsletter-signup-generator: EDM, welcome email
- localization-strategy: Regional markets (local platforms by locale)