How to get more people to use my web app?

February 5, 2006 12:01 AM

I've developed what I think is a useful web application/site, now I just have to get people to use it.

The application is especially an invite only social networking site defined by a geography location (it does a lot more than just this, but you get the idea). This is by design, as I feel it would give credence to all the community members that use the site, tho I do realise it limits the overall membership.

I've invited a few friends, who have all signed up, but they haven't invited anyone else. They've all said they don't know who to invite when I've asked about inviting others. I don't want to go the Web 2.0 Checklist route of collecting email address and emailing out invites at a later date, or just inviting strangers from other forums.

What to do, what to do?

posted by X-00 to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Have you considered local press releases?
posted by b1tr0t at 12:08 AM on February 5, 2006

Metafilter Projects might be a start.
posted by Brittanie at 1:24 AM on February 5, 2006

If people like a website, they tell their friends. Useful sites don't need publicity. Maybe the small size of your site's network limits its usefulness at the moment. If you can add something that has value *right now*, you'll have an easier time. You need to add some "ladies get in free before 11".
posted by the jam at 2:08 AM on February 5, 2006

Tip someone over at Lifehacker and explain the concept to them. Give them an invite, of course, and see if they think it's as useful as you do.
posted by disillusioned at 3:40 AM on February 5, 2006

Obviously you can't make your members invite their friends.

You said you don't want to invite strangers from other forums but how about making a passworded sign-up system and posting that to Projects. That way you could gain some new members who aren't total strangers in the sense that you know everybody who signs up is a mefite.
posted by sveskemus at 6:39 AM on February 5, 2006

Sounds like a problem might be that by limiting the membership geographically, you're discovering little islands of geographically-related people. Beyond that, people just don't know who to invite.

Does the site require everyone to be related geographically? That is, are there sections for "east coast" and "west coast" ? That way all your members need not be related, just grouped in common areas.
posted by odinsdream at 10:17 AM on February 5, 2006

No people aren't required to be related geographically but they are required to be related by XFN standards, the geography stuff is basically my attempts to limit the membership to a set country (New Zealand).
posted by X-00 at 12:30 PM on February 5, 2006

You need to ask your users what makes the site useful to them, and iterate responses to that. Then get your users to, well, socially network and invite their friends -- because the site is more useful to them with their friends there.

If your users tell you the site isn't useful to them right now, you need to rethink your approach in some fundamental ways.
posted by dhartung at 3:47 PM on February 5, 2006

Have you considered the possibility that your site sucks and no one is brave enough to tell you? Or that your friends are completely lames who don't have any other friends you don't already know?

Also, I'm in New Zealand, in the web industry, even, and I've never heard the slightest glimmer of a hint of a rumour of a mention of this.
posted by The Monkey at 6:19 PM on February 5, 2006