Dmytro started writing SEO content 5 months before the product even launched (January 2022, launching May 2022). He wrote technical how-to articles around his niche — "how to do task X, how to implement this stuff" — so that by launch day he already had Google traffic coming in. He had no social media following and no existing audience, so SEO was his only viable cold-start channel. Simultaneously, he ran a "marketing month" where he tried every channel he could think of — Google Ads, Reddit, Indie Hackers, social media — essentially shotgunning distribution to see what stuck. When he ran Google Ads and saw actual paying conversions, it confirmed that search intent was real and that doubling down on organic SEO was worth the long-term investment. These early paid experiments validated the channel before he committed fully to content.
Screenshot One
Screenshot API that captures website screenshots and delivers them programmatically
10 moves, in order
- Pre launch (Jan–Apr 2022)SEO content
Started writing technical how-to content around the screenshot/browser niche 5 months before launch. Published articles on specific developer tasks (e.g., 'how to make screenshots in Python') to accumulate Google indexing and early ranking before the product was live.
Had existing Google traffic on day of launch (May 2022) - Launch (May 2022)Product Hunt launch
Launched on Product Hunt and reached top 2–4 positions. Leveraged his growing X/Twitter following to drive upvotes and visibility, which he explicitly said would have been impossible without the social audience.
Top 2–4 Product Hunt finish; spike in signups and backlinks - Early growthGoogle Ads
Ran Google Ads as part of a broad 'marketing month' testing all channels. Saw actual paying conversions from search ads, which validated that search intent was real and confirmed SEO was worth long-term investment.
Confirmed SEO/search as primary acquisition channel; stopped ads after validation - Growth phaseSeo keyword optimization
Used Google Search Console to identify which keywords existing posts were already ranking for, then rewrote and optimized those posts to better match search intent. Repeated this loop continuously — publish, check rankings, optimize, update — until hitting first-page or #1 positions.
Ranked #1 for 'screenshot API' and related keywords; estimated 50–60% of all revenue attributed to SEO - Growth phaseBacklink outreach and partnerships
Actively built backlinks via: cold DMs to relevant site owners requesting guest posts, paying to be listed in directories, a content swap with Cloudflare (each wrote about the other), and later exchanging backlink mentions with people who found him through his X presence.
Improved domain authority; Cloudflare featured him on their site, boosting credibility and traffic - Growth phaseSeo competitor content
Wrote a comparison post ('best screenshot APIs') that included real backlinks to competitors — a tactic most competitors avoided. His hypothesis was that linking out satisfied user search intent and prevented bounce-backs to Google, helping the post retain its ranking.
Ranked #1 for competitor comparison keywords for an extended period - OngoingBuild in public — Twitter
Built in public on X (Twitter), growing to 26,000 followers by sharing MRR milestones, customer case studies, and technical insights. Used the audience indirectly: to support Product Hunt launches, to DM people for backlink exchanges credibly, and to generate word-of-mouth that showed up as branded Google searches.
26k followers; collateral SEO boosts; PH launch success; occasional direct customer referrals (e.g., one LinkedIn MRR post brought a customer who then referred another) - OngoingNo code platform integrations
Built official integrations with Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and N8N. Customers searching for automation workflows (e.g., 'how to screenshot into Google Drive automatically') find the product through these platforms' own search and marketplaces.
Additional passive acquisition channel; customers arrive pre-qualified via workflow searches - OngoingGithub open source sponsorship
Posted technical open-source tools on GitHub and sponsored relevant repositories. When developers search for tools on Google, GitHub results appear at the top, and they see Screenshot One branding as the builder or sponsor.
Developer discovery channel; specific conversion numbers not stated - OngoingAffiliate program
Runs a passive affiliate program that he does not actively promote. A handful of affiliates promote the product organically.
~$1,000–$2,000 MRR from affiliates (stated as approximate)MRR $2.0k
10+ years as a software engineer and tech lead building B2B products gave him deep technical credibility in the screenshot/browser API niche. This authenticity helped him write authoritative technical content (e.g., "how browser rendering works") that resonated with developer ICPs and built trust. No pre-existing audience — advantage was domain expertise, not distribution.
SEO (organic Google search via technical content + backlink building)
Targeting everybody with no defined ICP — he described this as a long plateau period where he was "the most annoying person in marketing" trying to sell to everyone. Paid directories drove traffic but no conversions, so he stopped. Generic social media posts don't go viral and don't directly convert (30 likes, 2k views per post at best). He also noted that if he'd known SEO would be his primary driver, he would have skipped building a social media presence entirely and saved significant time and mental health costs.
I built a SaaS solo to $24K/month (and I still feel lazy)
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