No link building budget could buy these results.
Sleepyti.me
Super simple web app.
Tells you what time to go to sleep to get “an optimal number of complete sleep cycles.”
Easy as heck to make.
App was launched on Product Hunt then shared organically by relevant blogs, newsletters, and influencers.
35 THOUSAND backlinks from 4.5 THOUSAND unique domains.
Now sleepyti.me redirects to sleepopolis.com/calculators/sleep/ which:
- Works as a lead magnet for Sleepopolis.
- Helps Sleepopolis rank for more lucrative competitive keywords by boosting its SEO authority.
If you don’t know:
Backlinks = when one site links to your site. A backlink tells Google you’re trustworthy which helps you show up for more…
Keywords = things people search on Google, Bing, etc.
Link building = actively trying to get backlinks so you can show up high on Google for more keywords. Businesses spend A LOT of money on link building.
AND with certain types of keywords, your content will show on ChatGPT, Gemini, etc. too.
Another. Donothingfor2minutes.com.
Super simple web app.
For 2 minutes, don’t move your cursor, don’t type.
Now, redirects to Calm App.
384,000 backlinks from 7.1 thousand unique websites… extremely reputable ones too: Wired, TechCrunch, etc.
Publicity for it was a Product Hunt launch and it went viral from there.
No link building budget could buy those results.
One more.
Canva’s Color Palette Generator.
Super simple web app.
Drag an image in, gives you the four dominant colors in the image.
8.1 thousand backlinks from 2.2 thousand domains.
- Lead magnet for Canva.
- Helps Canva show up high on Google for competitive keywords.
The mistake that everybody makes
Viral lead magnets are not uncommon in the startup world.
What is uncommon is how few companies realize to keep the domains after the virality wears off – they usually stop paying for them instead of redirecting them to a relevant business for major SEO boosts.
The method is as follows:
- Buy cheap memorable domain.
- This has added benefit of making web apps fun to share on TikTok/IG Reels/YT Shorts. “Sleepyti.me” is way easier to share on video than “Sleepopolis.com/calculators/sleep/.”
- Put simple web app on that domain.
- Launch on Product Hunt / BetaList or send to journalists who have reported on your niche / similar products.
- If it catches fire, continue. If not, try again.
- Use as a lead magnet. Enjoy the backlinks you get.
- As virality is tapering off, put web app on your site and 301 redirect (a redirect that keeps the SEO link juice) the old memorable URL to the new URL on your site.
- Viralapp.com 301 redirects to yoursite.com/apps/viralapp
- In your site, have a RESOURCES or APPS section in your footer. Link to yoursite.com/apps/viralapp there.
- Keep paying for the old memorable URL for residual links.
- Wash, rinse, repeat and keep making simple, cheap, creative viral web apps that work as lead and link magnets.
Backlinks
Creativity is the most important thing in marketing.
No standard link building budget could buy those results and so many marketers and business owners I meet are lacking in creativity.
What I’m personally doing for the next 30 days:
- Get 5 random objects each day using https://perchance.org/object
- Spending 5 minutes writing a story, scene, or idea that connects all 5 random objects in some way.
I’m on day 3 of 30.
Creativity is like a muscle and can be developed and built up.
These 5 minutes each day for 30 consecutive days will have more ROI than anything else you do.
Hope you’ll all join me on this 30 day challenge. And feel free to share your results with me on my new 𝕏, Threads, YouTube, or here in this article.
