Ask HN: Think we can compete with Yelp? Tell us what you think of our site.

#1

Post by mamasays » Wed, Apr 04, 2012, 6:32 AM UTC

Our team is bootstrapping a start-up called MamaAlwaysSays.com and we're trying to compete with industry leaders Yelp.com, AngiesList.com and CitySearch.com.

We're hoping you can check out our site and tell us what you think about our business concept, UI, features, etc. Any feedback you can provide would be much appreciated! Our site is still in Beta but we plan to launch on Mother's Day.

Visit the site http://www.mamaalwayssays.com.

Re: Ask HN: Think we can compete with Yelp? Tell us what you think of our site.

#2

Post by kkt262 » Wed, Apr 04, 2012, 6:45 AM UTC

How will your company compete? Do you have any competitive advantage over Yelp, CitySearch, etc?

I'm not a fan of the branding. Your name: Mama Always Says - it's too long and too easy to misspell (double A and double S in the URL).

I think your tagline needs to go. Why are you telling people not to write a review unless they have something nice to say? People want unbiased reviews, what's the point for them looking for reviews if its only going to be a good review? People WANT to see bad reviews so they know what places to avoid.

UI needs major improvement. Just doesn't look like whoever designed it has any design skills at all. Too busy and cluttered.

Re: Ask HN: Think we can compete with Yelp? Tell us what you think of our site.

#3

Post by mamasays » Wed, Apr 04, 2012, 6:56 AM UTC

kkt262 wrote: post #2

How will your company compete? Do you have any competitive advantage over Yelp, CitySearch, etc? I'm not a fan of the branding. Your name: Mama Always Says - it's too long and too easy to misspell (double A and double S in the URL). I think your tagline needs to go. Why are you telling people not to write a review unless they have something nice to say? People want unbiased reviews, what's the point for them looking…

Thanks for the feedback! We're looking to present a different way of looking for local businesses. We want our site to feature "the best of the best" so in order to do that we need to invite more positive reviews. Constructive feedback is definitely positive as well and we invite users to submit their feedback, which in turn goes directly to the business owners to encourage change. We're not trying to be another site of 3-star restaurants and C-average businesses.

Thanks for the feedback on UI and branding also!

Re: Ask HN: Think we can compete with Yelp? Tell us what you think of our site.

#4

Post by snooozy » Sun, Apr 08, 2012, 5:24 PM UTC

The design needs major work. Your value proposition should be very clear and a call to action should also be clear. Simplify as much as you can (content) and apply a web 3.0 feel to it.

I honestly don't see a clear competitive advantage over yelp but you know your market better.

How do you plan on making this viral? incentive consumers to use your website/App?

Check out Pinchit.com, They now have more than 100,000 user after few months of launching.

Best of Luck,