Why Bluesky might be your next website traffic
goldmine
In no time, Bluesky's decision to allow external links has turned it into a major web traffic booster, giving X and Threads some serious competition.
Bluesky is shaking up the social media world. A few days ago it reached 23M users and it's already sending more referral traffic than X and Threads for some publishers.
Dave Earley from Guardian Australia said their posts on Bluesky brought more traffic to theguardian.com in its first week than any week on X this year. He also mentioned that Bluesky got them at least twice as many visits as Meta's Threads.
On the same day, Matt Karolian from The Boston Globe revealed they're seeing three times more traffic from Bluesky than Threads, and four and a half times more conversions to paying digital subscribers.
So what's Bluesky's deal?
Bluesky feels like Twitter’s simplified twin, with 256-character posts featuring media and standard interactions like likes, comments, and reposts. But it's built on the open-source AT Protocol, offering transparency and custom feeds. You can pin personalized algorithms — think of it like making playlists for your timeline. Bluesky also doesn’t punish you for sharing external links.
Bluesky's COO, Rose Wang, summed it up by saying:
We want Bluesky to be a great home for journalists, publishers, and creators. Unlike other platforms, we don't de-promote your links. Post all the links you want—Bluesky is a lobby to the open web.
Indie publishers are noticing the shift too. Luke Plunkett from tech outlet Aftermath said their referral ratio from Twitter to Bluesky went from 9:1 to just under 2:1 in three months.
And here are the stats from Alejandro Tauber from EUobserver:
Bluesky (3.3K followers): 3.8K unique visitors
X (203K followers): 1.32K unique visitors
And that's from one week!
Meanwhile, Elon Musk confirmed once again, that X penalizes (decreases visibility) posts containing links. He even retweeted advice suggesting users avoid posting external links if they don't want their reach limited — they should "Just write a description in the main post and put the link in the reply."
Bluesky seems to be following TikTok's early growth strategy — make everyone famous. Remember when you could post a random 10-second video on TikTok and rack up thousands of views overnight? TikTok turned everyday folks into stars like Charli D'Amelio, Khaby Lame, and Zach King. Bluesky might be on a similar path.
For Indie Hackers, this shift could mean an opportunity. If you're building a product, growing an audience, or driving traffic to your site, Bluesky could be the new hotspot for traffic farming.
Is Bluesky the next big thing? Too early to say for sure, but it's definitely a platform to keep an eye on.
Bluesky's focus on external links and transparency definitely sets it apart. It feels like a refreshing space for creators and publishers to actually benefit from their content without the usual algorithmic roadblocks. Excited to see how this evolves!
Curious to learn how many people thing it is just a fad and will fade away.
Totally agree! Just launched a Bluesky tools directory last week and the engagement has been surprising - first sale within 5 hours, 4 user submissions and newsletter feature in 24 hours. The platform's growth feels similar to early Twitter days, especially with their StarterPacks helping distribution. Being early really makes a difference here.
Wild!
This is still underrated imo.
We can still do so much with blusky. I am going to cover exact playbook to grow on bluesky in weekly playbook in my newsletter botsgonewild .co
Totally agree！
Right when steam started to pick up at bluesky we posted a single blog post and saw really impressive traffic numbers right away. Really confirms what you are saying here.
This turned into us creating a tool for it: https://blueskyfollower.com which is growing quickly.
"Bluesky’s approach to boosting web traffic is truly exciting, especially for indie creators and publishers. The openness to external links and personalized feeds makes it feel like a breath of fresh air compared to X and Threads. It’s amazing to see platforms prioritize visibility and engagement rather than limiting reach—definitely worth exploring!"
I'm new to BlueSky, would love to connect with fellow indie hackers. Here is my handle fnduati
Your articles are my go-to for webdev tips! EchoAPI has been a fantastic addition to my workflow, letting me test my APIs directly within my development tools.
BSky is interesting but rn the feeds are kind of weak and there's a massive ai-powered landgrab going on. The BSky ultra-permissive API strategy is a big bet, and I feel like Threads has more interesting content rn. What's for sure is that the X alternatives are here to stay, people will divide their attention between them.
Wow, those stats are wild—outperforming X with way fewer followers is crazy impressive. Does anyone know if certain types of posts or industries do better on Bluesky, or is it good for all kinds of content?
Bluesky is emerging as a major web traffic driver, outperforming X and Threads for many publishers. With its open approach to external links, customizable feeds, and transparency via the AT Protocol, it's gaining traction among journalists, publishers, and indie creators. Bluesky's early success mirrors TikTok's strategy of boosting visibility, making it a promising platform for audience growth and website traffic. Keep an eye on it—it might be your next big traffic source.