How I'd grow Typehut

Typehut is a tool that lets you publish your blog, newsletter, changelog, press page, devlog, announcements, events, and everything else you can imagine.

Wait, what? You’re not sure you understand what it does? Exactly.

They need to rework their positioning.

This is the perfect example of needing to pick a niche. They’re trying to be everything for everyone.

What do you think when I say Substack? Newsletter.

And when I say Ghost? Blog.

Even if Substack lets you publish on the web, and Ghost also lets you send newsletters.

Their positioning makes their value proposition immediately clear in conversation. Typehut needs to do the same.

Pick one of the things it does, and go deep there. Which one? Well, this decision is up to them. I’d probably pick between blog and newsletter.

Let’s keep it simple and say they pick the blog niche.

They need a compelling value proposition: why are they better than the competition?

It could be: a simple and easy-to-use tool to create a fast and neat blog.

Then, in the feature sections, they can list other benefits.

Design is often an overlooked element but it’s really important. It acts on a subconscious level that uses it as a proxy to evaluate product quality.

I love that their design aligns with their product. It transmits the idea of minimalism that’s aligned with Typehut core values.

Still, they’re missing a few things: an About page and Testimonials. Visitors want to know who runs the project, and what others think.

The big change would be letting visitors try a demo without signing up. In my experience, this significantly boosts conversions.

New product launch and initial customer acquisition involves manual community promotion. They gave it a try, but it wasn’t that successful.

The problem is, you can’t just post a link and expect people to care. If you want a shot, you need something that attracts attention.

One of the best ways to get interest is to tie the product to a personal story, and use storytelling.

People don’t care about the company pitch. They want to hear the real story - the struggles and small wins behind the launch.

They could also create an exclusive, time and member-limited offer for early adopters to acquire first customers.

Combining advantages like a special price with scarcity and urgency could really motivate people to try it, and it could be a win-win.

After, I’d try word-of-mouth with a strong referral program that rewards bringing in new users.

Bloggers usually know other bloggers, so if they like the product, think others will like it too, and get a reward for it, they’ll have no problem spreading the word.

For getting Google traffic, I’d first set up pages that target keywords with high buyer intent.

A good start would be comparison pages (“alternative to,” “vs,” etc.). One page for Medium, one for WordPress, etc.

To increase rankings, they need to build links and increase domain authority.

I’d look for websites that aren’t competitors and that rank for each one of those keywords (e.g. Medium alternative).

Then pitch them through email outreach to get Typehut added to their lists.

Pro tip: tools like Typehut often put widgets on the sites of free plan customers, but this doesn’t replace link building.

In fact, Google recently started cracking down on these types of links. They must be nofollow, or you risk a penalty that could kill your rankings.

Twitter would probably be the best platform - it’s one of the few networks with good organic reach.

But they can’t just post product updates. They need to come up with a good content strategy to engage and acquire new followers.

A good strategy to make the algorithm reward Typehut with visibility is simple. Just one tweet a day could be enough.

Example: Day 1 - a practical writing tip. Day 2 - ask a question. Day 3 - a giveaway. Day 4 - a funny meme. Day 5 - a successful case study.

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