How to Validate a Website Idea in Under 48 Hours

Here's the brutal truth: most website ideas are terrible. I should know—I've had plenty of them. The good news? You can figure out if yours is terrible before you waste months building it.

This isn't about perfect market research. It's about getting real data fast so you don't end up with another "brilliant" idea that nobody wants.

Step 1: Get Specific About Who You're Helping

"Everyone" is not a target audience. Neither is "small business owners" or "people who want to be healthier." Get specific or get disappointed.

Who exactly are you helping? What keeps them up at 2am? What makes them want to throw their laptop out the window?

ChatGPT prompt that works:

Help me define a specific target audience and problem for a website aimed at [your general idea]. Make it narrow and specific.

Step 2: Check if Anyone's Actually Searching for This

Here's where most people skip the homework and regret it later. Use free tools to see if people are actually searching for solutions to the problem you want to solve.

Tools that won't cost you:

• Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account)
• Ubersuggest (3 free searches per day)
• Ahrefs' free tools (limited but useful)

What you're looking for:

• Monthly search volume (are people looking for this?)
• Competition level (can you actually rank for anything?)
• Related searches (what else are they searching for?)

High search volume + reasonable competition = potentially good. No searches = probably bad.

Lazy person's version:

What are high-volume, low-competition keywords related to '[your topic]'?

Step 3: Spy on the Competition (Ethically)

Check out who's already solving this problem. Don't copy them—learn from them.

• What are they doing well?
• What are people complaining about in the comments/reviews?
• What obvious gaps do you see?

This isn't about being different for the sake of being different. It's about being better where it matters.

Research prompt:

Analyze the top websites helping [your target audience] with [your problem] and suggest gaps I could fill.

Step 4: Talk to Real Humans

This is the part everyone skips because it's scary. Don't skip it.

Find your target audience online and ask them questions. Reddit communities, Facebook groups, Twitter, Discord servers—wherever they hang out.

Don't ask: "Would you use a website that does X?"
Do ask: "What's the most frustrating part about [the thing you're trying to solve]?"

People lie about what they'll buy, but they're honest about what annoys them.

Survey prompt:

Write a 5-question survey to understand the biggest challenges [your target audience] faces with [your topic].

Step 5: Build the Simplest Possible Test

Time to see if anyone actually cares. Create a simple landing page that explains your idea and collects emails from people who want to know when it's ready.

Tools for the commitment-phobic:

• Carrd - dead simple landing pages
• Webflow - if you want more control
• A simple Google Form - if you want to go minimal

What to include:

• Clear headline that explains the benefit
• 2-3 bullet points about what you'll do
• Email signup form
• Nothing else (resist the urge to add more stuff)

Copy prompt:

Write compelling landing page copy for a website that helps [your audience] [achieve specific outcome] by [your solution].

Step 6: Get It in Front of People

Time to share your landing page and see what happens. Don't overthink this part—just get it out there.

Where to share:

• Relevant Reddit communities (follow the rules, don't spam)
• Twitter with relevant hashtags
• Facebook groups where your audience hangs out
• Email it to friends who fit your target audience

Tiny budget hack: Run Facebook or Google ads with $20-50 and see if anyone clicks and signs up. If nobody clicks even with paid traffic, that's... not good.

Launch announcement prompt:

Write a short, engaging post announcing my new website [brief description] and asking for signups from [your target audience].

Step 7: Deploy and Pray (But Mostly Deploy)

Get your landing page live using something fast and reliable:

• Vercel - connects to GitHub, deploys in seconds
• Netlify - similar to Vercel, also great
• Cloudflare Pages - fast and free

Push your code, connect your repo, hit deploy. Your site should be live in minutes, not days.

Share the live link everywhere you can reach your audience. Focus on speed, not perfection.

Step 8: Look at the Numbers and Make a Decision

After 48 hours, check your data:

Good signs:

• People are signing up for your waitlist
• Keywords show decent search volume
• Your target audience is engaging with your posts
• Competitors exist but have obvious problems

Bad signs:

• No one signed up
• Search volume is basically zero
• People seem confused about what you're offering
• Everyone says "interesting idea" but nobody gives you their email

If the signs are good, keep going. If they're bad, iterate on the idea or try something else. Better to fail fast than fail slow.

Analysis prompt:

Help me analyze these website validation results: [your data] and suggest next steps.

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The whole point is learning fast and cheap. Most ideas need tweaking (or scrapping) after you get real feedback. That's normal. Better to find out now than after you've built the whole thing.

What Comes Next?

If your validation looks promising, the next step is growing from your first dollar to $100/month. That's where the real work begins.

If you want this validation process broken down into manageable chunks with someone keeping you accountable, Indie10k turns each step into a guided mission. Because sometimes you need an AI coach to prevent you from skipping the boring-but-important parts (like actually talking to your target audience).