internetguzeldir.com A web directory reminding you how beautiful the internet can be.

Birth Year: 2023, Lifespan: 24, Story by: @mirat

Project Description

internetguzeldir.com (means Internet is beautiful in Turkish) was a lovingly curated web directory featuring over 500 unique links, all organized into nested categories. Built and maintained by a solo creator, the site aimed to celebrate the charm and diversity of the internet specifically for a Turkish-speaking audience. Visitors could explore a broad range of delightful digital projects, tools, and resources, reminiscent of the old web.

Where the idea came from?

The project was directly inspired by the subreddit [r/InternetIsBeautiful]. Wanting to offer something similar for the Turkish community, the creator set out to build a space that highlighted curious and creative corners of the web—something worth browsing just for the joy of discovery.

What was the tech & stack?

The site was engineered with simplicity in mind:

A 200-line Python script pulled link data from a Google Sheet.
It auto-generated static listing, category, and detail pages, including OG images, using Selenium.
Everything was deployed on GitHub Pages.

There were no servers, admin panels, databases, or logins just pure, low-overhead static generation.

What went right?

Minimal Technical Debt: Using Google Sheets and a simple script was an effective formula that kept complexity low.
Fast Deployment: Static generation + GitHub Pages meant quick iteration and minimal maintenance.
Clean Execution: The stack matched the vision: no distractions from building and curating.

Why did it fail? What went wrong?

Visitors Didn't Return: While initial launch drew interest, returning users were rare.
SEO Struggles: Despite proper tags and metadata, Google flagged the site as thin content, due to its short link descriptions resulting in poor search visibility.
Adsense Rejection: Google AdSense denied monetization for the same reason.
Categorization Challenges: As the number of links grew, deciding which category a link belonged to became increasingly difficult.
Weak Social Retention: A single Twitter account wasn't enough to convert visitors into followers.

Low Traffic, No Revenue: Without growth or monetization, the creator made the difficult choice to stop investing time.

Key lessons & advice

Directories Don't Win on Google Anymore: Search engines now prioritize long-form, article-style content.
Newsletters Don't Stick, Social Does: People rarely revisit or check newsletters. You need to funnel traffic into social platforms for retention.
Tags > Categories: For large or complex content libraries, tags scale better than rigid taxonomies.
Don't Build a Website If You Don't Need One: If doing this again, the creator would opt for an Instagram account that posts video content for each curated item automated via script and spread out over time.