Preparing for launch

Let’s talk about preparing your launch, including how and what to prepare. We’ll even include reasons why you might throw your preparation to the wind.

This article covers:

When to launchSubmitting your productContent checklistYour first comment

When to launch

The best day to launch

There is a lot of chatter online about the best time to launch. Many helpful makers will piece together bits of data from previous launches, or share personal anecdotes on the topic. We love when our community supports each other. We love data, too – it helps separate fact from fiction. But one of the main facts to keep in mind: there are a LOT of variables that affect your launch. Many are things you don’t have control over, like what news will break that day or who else is launching. It means there is no golden-ticket answer that will get you straight to the top of the leaderboard.

There are pros and cons to launching on different days. One thing that remains consistent is the work week. We tend to see larger companies launch (along with solo makers) on the weekdays since that follows normal business hours. Weekends, when people have some time to spare, can be great for smaller teams, side projects, and personal apps. While weekends might have fewer launches from big tech names, products launched on the weekend get 15% more “Visit” button clicks than those on weekdays.

Also, if your product is gaining traction on Twitter, don’t be afraid to ride those tailwinds on Product Hunt too. If your goal is distribution, the right time to launch could be right now. You can always launch again after you’ve updated your product. We’ve seen plenty of top-notch makers, like Notion and Locket, make the most out of a spontaneous launch.

Ultimately, the best time to launch your product is when you’re ready to do so. Many makers want to control as much of their launch as they can. We fully encourage that, but be careful not to miss the forest for the trees. Remember your goals. There is a lot about your launch that you do have control over — like what your first comment will be and how you will use social media to promote it. Rather than spend time developing theories and hacks, focus on your prep and what you’re doing to drive authentic engagement with your product.

The best time to launch

For makers who don’t have any constraints or urgencies, a rule of thumb is to schedule your launch for 12:01am PST. This is due to the simple logistics of our website. The homepage runs on a 24-hour cycle based on Pacific Standard Time. Posting at 12:01am PST gives people a full 24 hours to view your product. Keep in mind you can schedule your post up to 1 month ahead.

However, everyone’s situation is different. For starters, not everyone is targeting a global audience. If you’re planning to follow the U.S. news cycle, your launch should likely complement that. For example, maybe you spoke to a journalist who is going to drop an article about your company with a press embargo ending on Friday at 8am PT. Your launch is best scheduled on Friday at 8am PT so you can use the momentum from the buzz — the Product Hunt community loves to be among the first to try new products. If you’re a European, Asian, or African startup, there could be a benefit to launching earlier in the day. Or maybe your team simply won’t be online until 9am PST, and you want to celebrate the launch together, or need their help responding to the feedback you receive.

Choose a time to launch that works best for your goals.

Submitting your product

Anyone can hunt, or submit, their own product when they’re ready to launch (read why you shouldn’t pay a hunter). After you log in to Product Hunt with your personal account, click the "Submit" button in the top right, and then click “New Product.” You’ll be prompted first to enter the product's URL and will start the flow to submit your product. You can schedule your launch up to 1 month in advance.

Content checklist

Below we have recapped all fields and forms that you’ll come across when submitting your product, along with best practices for each so you can prepare anything you want ahead of time. Note that all of your work will be auto-saved and accessible as a draft, so you don’t need to have all the information at once.

URL - A direct link to the primary product page, usually your own landing page or homepage where the product can be used or downloaded. In some cases, your URL might otherwise be a link to an external site, like the App Store or a Github repo. Shortened links (e.g. bit.ly) and track links (e.g. Google UTMs) are not accepted. If this is your second time submitting the same product in less than six months, see here.

Name of the product - Only the product's name, no description or emojis (unless it is a legit part of the name).

Good: “Meow On-Demand App”

NOT allowed: “Kitty sounds you’ll love” or the “The best cat app”

Tagline (max 60 characters) - A very short description of the product — no gimmicks or over-the-top language. Don’t make it hard for the community to understand what the product does. This is typically the main element that drives someone to click on a product from the homepage and learn more.

Good: “Send your friends a voicemail meow from a real cat."

NOT allowed: “The most ameozing app in the app store”

Links (optional) - If the product has additional links, such as to the App Store, Google Play, Amazon, etc., you can add them here.

Twitter handle (optional) - This should be your product’s handle, in most cases, not your personal one.

Description (max 260 characters) - This is where you can give more information about what the product is and/or does. It’s good practice to have a short, concise explanation of your value proposition and features.

Topics - Choose up to 3 topics that strongly relate to your launch. We suggest including at least a few so your product will show up on our topics pages.

Thumbnail (required) - Use an image with square dimensions. We recommend 240x240. GIFs for the thumbnail are popular and they can look sharp as hell, but note that they aren’t necessarily tied to success. Less than a third of Product of the Day products used an animated GIF as a thumbnail. All images, GIF or not, need to be under 3MB. Note that GIFs do not autoplay (they animate on hover) so you will need to ensure that the first frame is what you would like to appear as the thumbnail. GIFs with strobing effects, quick cuts, unreadable text, etc. are not recommended and may be edited by the Product Hunt team.

Gallery images (Two required) - We highly recommend putting some thought into your gallery images. While some technical products only need a couple images, others might need many. Animated GIFs can also be used. The recommended size for images in the gallery is 1270x760. You can upload multiple images to the gallery at once. Once the images have been uploaded, you can also drag and drop them to re-order them. The gallery will need 2+ images before it is viewable on the post page.

Video (optional) - About 53% of products that reached Product of the Day since 2021 include a video, so videos can help depending on what your product is, but aren’t always necessary. If you don’t have a budget for a high end video, consider doing a quick demo with a video tool (e.g. Loom). This can go a long way to helping the community see your product in action, and helps personalize your message. For uploading, only YouTube links are supported. Make sure your video is not set to private. You’ll also need the full URL; shortened links will not load.

One fun thing to note: The community does appreciate some fun and that can create buzz. For the 2021 Golden Kitty Awards we gave away an award for Best Video. Check out the winner (it will make you LOL).

Interactive Demo - The most successful launches tell a compelling story of the product, including showing what the user interface looks and feels like. Build your demo with ScreenSpace or Arcade — both are free for Product Hunt launches.

Makers - We’ll ask you if you are one of the makers of the product. You can also add your co-makers here. You will need their Product Hunt usernames, so make sure they’ve created an account well before launch day so they can join the conversation and are credited for their hard work.

Shoutouts - Share the tools that helped you bring your product to life. You only get three shoutouts per product launch, so make sure you’re spreading love to the ones who had the most impact on your journey.

Pricing - There are three options: free, paid, and paid (with a free trial or plan). Select the option that correctly describes your product's pricing status.

Promo - If you'd like to offer a promo code for the Product Hunt community, you can add it here. All input fields are required: “What is the offer?,” “promo code,” and “expiration date.” See more advice about promo codes here.

First comment - Be sure to kick off the conversation with a comment about the product. This is a very important part of your launch — 70% of products who achieved Product of the Day, Week, or Month had a first comment by the maker. Read more advice in the next section.

Launch/Schedule - You can now schedule your launch up to 1 month in advance so that you can tease it, drive traffic, and collect followers well before your big day (which we highly suggest!).

After you select “Schedule for later,” you can submit your launch and choose to “Tease launch” from the “My products” page (please note that this option is only available to makers and team members of the Hub). Creating a teaser will let you:

1. Create a custom promotional banner on your Product Hub page so that you can tease what’s coming in your own words. You can share this page on social media, email, etc. to attract more followers. The more you can build your community before your launch, the better positioned you are for an explosive launch day.

2. Display your product on the Coming Soon feed — anyone who discovers it there can follow it and will get a notification when your launch goes live.

If you're ready for your launch to go live right away, you can select the “Launch now” option.

Working in stealth? You can still schedule your launch and choose not to promote it on the Coming Soon feed or elsewhere.

Find info on the best time to launch here.

For troubleshooting during the building of your launch page, reach out to our support team using the chat button on the bottom right corner of the website.

Your first comment

What it is and why

On every launch page you will find a place to leave comments, which is what the community uses to share feedback about your product. We can’t recommend enough including a personal comment here — the “first comment.” It will appear right below your product gallery, so it's highly visible. 70% of products that achieved Product of the Day, Week, or Month included a first comment by the maker. You will have the option to include one when you submit your product, so you don’t have to wait until your launch is live.

What to include

The first comment is your opportunity to introduce the Product Hunt community to the team and the product. Think of it not only as a way for the community to learn about the product itself, but for them to get to know the people (and process) behind the product. Consider including:

• Key features

• Who it’s for: ideal users and use cases

• Your story

• Your goals if relevant (looking for feedback specifically? Ask for it).

• Note any pricing or special offers for your launch or the Product Hunt community

• Ask for feedback (NOT upvotes)

• Images, videos, and GIFs are welcome

• Emojis are great too. We suggest using them sparingly and strategically, like bullet points for a short list of key features.

Here’s a great example:

Pro tips: Kanye may disagree, but in our experience being humble and helpful is the best tone. Marketing-speak doesn't usually resonate very well either. Use simple language to describe your product and make sure to highlight who the product is for. You can’t be everything to everybody, so the community appreciates when you show that you know who your target users are. If you’re not sure as to who that is yet, feel free to present a few use-cases you’ve noticed your users have.