Would anyone want this Mac app I made where you can just use the API to pull all the basic SEO fixes, see them in a dashboard and live-update meta titles, descriptions, and images to fix missing text/text-too-long problems?
I made this because I HATE going from post to post to post to post individually to update meta titles (and audit issues).
Hello, @curtisduggan
Absolutely, many people would find this Mac app invaluable! Streamlining SEO fixes and live-updating meta titles, descriptions, and images from a single dashboard can save significant time and effort. It’s a game-changer for anyone managing multiple posts and dealing with SEO audits.
I’ve launched this app. Fantom — The Mac App for Ghost
I was tired of tabbing in and out of every post to make changes I knew I needed to make to 100 posts (add Facebook description… make sure meta title was the right amount of characters).
This is the version 1, but it is like having an ahrefs or SEMRush dashboard of what’s wrong — instead of having to flip between browser tabs one by one.
Metadata updates that took me hours, now take me a few minutes.
That was my short-term pain, and I hope this solves it for you. V1 solves this.
My longer-term goal is to make it the most effective, useful local-Mac client for Ghost in the world. Everything at your fingertips. Useful.
Optimized for making SEO-related changes efficiently if that is your strategy.
Optimized for making RPM-related changes if ads are your strategy.
Let me add a few more things: I really believe in having utilities that you can use forever. I believe in one-time purchases.
That’s why, as an indie maker, I’ve priced it as a one-time low price that works out to less than $5/month if you use it for a year.
When you purchase this app once, you will have a tool for life, and one that will get better with community feedback over time — that is my promise.
For those of you that mentioned this would be helpful to you — I hope you will join me on the journey.
My pledge to the community is to make this amazing. If you are able to support this app, and you have any features you would like to have added, I will absolutely prioritize them.
I’m intrigued by the app, and have looked at it a couple of times in the App Store.
A suggestion or two or four:
Add more description of the features. I’ve studied the three images, but not sure what they do. Can I post from the app? Edit from it? Change the image from it? I see the SEO image, but again, not sure what it does. Just tell me what’s wrong? Or let me edit all those things from within the app?
I see that it requires a custom integration. How much testing have you done with sites other than your own? I’m not really up for adding an integration that breaks my site.
I think a video of the app in action would be VERY helpful.
And finally, perhaps put out a free version that is limited in some way? I don’t mind paying the $ if the app is actually useful. But I won’t drop $50 on an app when I have no idea how it works or how well it works.
Add more description of the features. I’ve studied the three images, but not sure what they do. Can I post from the app? Edit from it? Change the image from it? I see the SEO image, but again, not sure what it does. Just tell me what’s wrong? Or let me edit all those things from within the app?
Absolutely. I put up a version 1.0.0 to make sure it could get on the App Store and I need to followup with marketing.
I see that it requires a custom integration. How much testing have you done with sites other than your own? I’m not really up for adding an integration that breaks my site.
I have tested it on 4 sites — it’s essentially about just grabbing an Admin API Key so the app can post or update, that’s it. But I do a better job of documenting it.
I think a video of the app in action would be VERY helpful.
Great advice, I am going to do this.
And finally, perhaps put out a free version that is limited in some way?
I was really hoping to find a minimum sustainable business model, but instead of charging $9/month (or more) forever like a SaaS and so many other online tools, just give it to customers for life at a reasonable price.
I don’t mind paying the $ if the app is actually useful. But I won’t drop $50 on an app when I have no idea how it works or how well it works.
However you raise a point that even if $50 is cheaper than $9/month for 2-5 years in the end, you still want to try more for less.
It may be that I simply need to go the typical route and offer more free functionality or a low monthly subscription to help demonstrate the value.
I have gotten feedback here and on Reddit and following up with a “v.1.1”
I’ll be posting a roadmap and updating things based on screenshots. What I am working on for next week’s release is.
Features
More editor/post editor functionality
Streamlined design
Handling of tags
Pricing
Free to download the app so it’s easier to play around with it.
Implement subscriptions and one-time purchase within the app.
As a reminder it already allows you to:
-Audit and update across your entire publication:
-meta description missing, title missing, meta description too long, too short, og image missing, twitter image missing
-quickly use feature image for og image and twitter image
-manage multiple Ghost publications from one view with quick switch
-upload Pinterest image per official Ghost-Pinterest (in beta)
-Break up paragraphs so your “style” is more like 1-2 sentences per paragraph instead of dense, long paragraphs — with one click. This is to adhere to the more recent trend towards this form of spacing.
Marketing
-Totally revamp screenshots, product showcase and icon with fresh design
-Publish a roadmap
-Create a dedicated website for the app
Working on the launch for this app and wanted to come back to this
With version 1.0.3 (current version)
Can I post from the app? No
Edit from it? No for post content Yes for all metadata
Change the image from it? Yes
I see the SEO image, but again, not sure what it does. Just tell me what’s wrong? Yes audits the entire publication for classic SEO metadata mistakes
Or let me edit all those things from within the app? Yes to editing all metadata in one place.
Version 1.1 will add a posts editor — draft and create and edit an entire posts natively on Mac. A bigger undertaking than just editing and optimizing existing metadata.
Free version with in-app purchases coming soon, so people can try it out with more confidence about what it does.
If there is literally anything (nothing is off limits) you wish a Ghost Mac App could do to help you manage your Ghost publication, let me know here.
Nothing is off-limits
Magic AI
Writing
On-page fixes
Keyword research
Content wizardry
Any integration…
Any pain point…
Ahrefs and semrush insights in a sidebar
AI-driven audits
Competitor analysis
SEO optimization magic
Instant rank tracking
Backlink suggestions
Smart done-for-you internal linking Anything you need
Windows user here, so I won’t get to try this out any time soon, but just a comment for you, @curtisduggan. I’d think really carefully about whether you want to build a separate post editor for post bodies, vs import exactly the post editor Ghost is using*. I’m thinking that otherwise you’re going to forever be chasing changes that break your process. It’s going to be a lot more pleasant to maintain this project if you just have to bump your dependencies when Ghost adds a new card (please please Ghost team, add some new cards!), rather than writing a whole new implementation while your users are gnashing their teeth because they can’t edit their posts until you release an update.
*This makes some huge assumptions about how your project is structured and might not make sense, and if so, sorry!
You are absolutely right, and that’s why are started more with “mass metadata fixes” and “image management” as the two problems to solve — not “redo the post editor in Swift instead of in the Ghost web client”.
If there is a post editor, it will be about incremental updates.
I’ve added
“Windows version” to the feature board:
I wonder what the breakdown is for Ghost users of Mac vs. Windows
I am confident that incrementally, some kind of post editing can be added, but as you mentioned, it will have to be done carefully and solve problems that people can’t solve by just logging in to the web client and doing it there.