RankInPublic

About RankInPublic

RankInPublic is a practical feedback and validation platform designed for builders, creators, and entrepreneurs. It solves a critical early-stage problem: getting honest, actionable feedback on your product, website, or design without relying on friends, family, or expensive agencies. The platform operates on a simple, community-driven principle: you give feedback to others, and in return, you receive valuable insights on your own projects. Its core value proposition is turning the often opaque process of gathering user opinions into a structured, public, and gamified experience that also drives tangible growth. By participating, you not only refine your offering based on real data but also gain visibility, earn powerful backlinks for SEO, and drive targeted traffic to your website. RankInPublic is for anyone launching a SaaS, a new website feature, a logo, or any digital asset who needs to make data-informed decisions quickly and cost-effectively.

Features of RankInPublic

Design Tournaments

RankInPublic's flagship feature is its head-to-head design tournament bracket. You can submit your website or design to compete against others in a public voting system. This structured, elimination-style format forces clear choices and generates definitive ranking data, showing you exactly how your design stacks up against peers. It transforms subjective opinion into a clear, visual leaderboard, providing undeniable evidence of what resonates best with a real audience of builders and potential users.

Quick A/B Testing

Go beyond simple rankings with direct A/B tests. You can quickly pit two versions of a webpage (via URLs) or two different images (like logos or hero graphics) against each other. This feature allows for rapid, focused iteration on specific elements of your product. Collect binary choice data to see which variant performs better in terms of user preference, helping you make confident design and messaging decisions before a full public launch.

Testimonial Collection

As your project advances through tournaments or tests, RankInPublic provides a built-in system to capture authentic feedback in the form of user testimonials. These are not simple star ratings but real comments and reactions from engaged community members. This feature helps you build a repository of social proof that can be showcased on your own website or marketing materials, adding credibility and trust for future customers.

Guaranteed Visibility & SEO Backlinks

This is a key growth-oriented feature. By simply entering a tournament, your product is guaranteed visibility on the RankInPublic homepage to a targeted audience of builders. More importantly, performing well can earn you a powerful, dofollow backlink from the RankInPublic domain directly to your site. This directly addresses a major pain point for new launches by providing an immediate SEO boost and a credible referral traffic source.

Use Cases of RankInPublic

Validating a New SaaS Landing Page

Before driving paid traffic to your new SaaS landing page, use RankInPublic's A/B test or tournament feature to validate which headline, value proposition layout, or call-to-action button color performs best. This ensures you launch with the highest-converting version, saving ad spend and increasing your chances of capturing leads effectively from day one.

Choosing a Logo or Brand Identity

Stuck between two logo concepts or brand color palettes? Upload the images to RankInPublic and run a quick A/B test. Gather rapid feedback from an unbiased audience to see which design resonates more strongly. This data-driven approach removes internal team bias and helps you select a brand identity with broader appeal.

Gathering Social Proof for a Launch

Use the platform to run a tournament for your MVP. As participants vote and comment, you actively collect genuine testimonials and user quotes. These can be immediately leveraged on your website, in your launch announcement, or on product hunt pages to demonstrate early traction and user validation, building crucial trust with your first customers.

Boosting Early-Stage SEO and Traffic

For newly launched websites with low domain authority, earning quality backlinks is challenging. By participating and performing well in RankInPublic tournaments, you can earn a valuable backlink from a relevant site. This not only improves your search engine ranking potential but also drives direct referral traffic from a community actively interested in discovering new tools and products.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RankInPublic really free to use?

Yes, the core functionality of RankInPublic, including entering design tournaments, running A/B tests, and collecting feedback, is completely free. This allows builders at any stage, especially those bootstrapping, to access valuable validation tools without cost. The platform may offer premium visibility spots ("Get Featured"), but the essential feedback mechanisms are accessible to all users.

How does the tournament bracket system work?

When you enter a tournament, your submission is placed into a public, head-to-head bracket against another product or design. The community votes on each matchup, and the winner advances to the next round. This continues through several rounds until a grand final winner is crowned. The bracket visualization on the site clearly shows which rounds are running, finalized, and who is advancing, making the competitive process transparent and engaging.

What kind of analytics does RankInPublic use?

RankInPublic is committed to user privacy and offers a choice. You can opt for "essential-only" cookieless analytics, which minimizes data collection, or accept all analytics to help the team improve the site. This flexible approach allows users to control their privacy while still contributing to the platform's development, as outlined in their Privacy Policy.

How do I get my product featured on the homepage?

The homepage features both tournament participants and selected "Featured" products. For premium featured spots, there is a separate "Apply now" process, as these are limited opportunities for enhanced visibility. For standard visibility, simply entering a tournament guarantees your product a place on the active tournament homepage, exposing it to thousands of community voters.