it could be a lot of different things. but i will say a major part that i've found thus far:

building hype prior to launch and having friends in the community helps

those friends having friends is important too. and not just some schmuck you talked to 10 years ago who could care less about you. but friends who genuinely want to support you. nor am i talking about being in a 'clique'. these people are people you speak to that, even if they wouldn't join themselves, they'd be more than happy to refer to others they know who might. they are just happy to lend a hand and see you do well. that is that.

in terms of building hype, friends help and go a long way as well. but making an official interest check and not letting it go too long un-bumped is important. just don't put it up too early before your site is ready! even if you have to ask a supportive friend or other staff member to post in the thread. this ensures people are seeing your interest check.

tl;dr talk, talk, talk! talk about your site to your friends and others. don't let it leave minds. such a tactic goes miles.

in a more situational sense; you should think about the setting and how appealing it is to other people. for instance, if it is a fandom concept - how popular is that fandom? do you see people in the community talking about it? threw out a quick interest check a few times and got at the very most, three likes? for an original concept - the same as above can be applied just as well.

for a public roleplay, it is to come to terms with not all ideas will appeal to the masses. seeing that you're trying to push a specific idea, think about if it would only appeal to a certain type of people.

then, there are the site concepts that you can't really win and you just need to make them as simple or elaborate as you want them. for example, there are people who love systems and those who hate them. same with lore. some people love sites with very little lore and others who say the more lore, the better!

once you can get a few people into your concept and look into your site, ask them for feedback even if you have to take it anonymously through google forms. i've noticed more than ever that a lot of people within the community are quiet. they speak their grievances to their friends and never to the people who can fix them. however, i suspect that is built up from years of mistrust from bad experiences and the like.

i hope that helped, if even a little bit. and i wish you luck with your site! i'll keep an eye out in case you ever advertise. : 3

hello, i am here with an update.

SOON

and when i, porsef, say SOON - i mean, REAL SOON like WE'RE COMIN' IN SUPER HOT.

we are making amazing progress in terms of getting ready for launch. the general coding that needed to be done is at a point where it's 90% finished. vayu mentioned before in this thread that all our info is done and we have been working diligently plugging it all in.

hope to be back here soon for the exciting news. : ) you'll likely get the lovely vayu. but WHO KNOWS, could be me.

stay tuned!