How to launch your Side-Project on ProductHunt
ProductHunt is surely one of the places you want to consider for your project or startup. Below you'll find key information to get your work promoted on PH.
What to know before launching on ProductHunt
ProductHunt is one of the sites which can send major traffic your way - if prepared well. As with many sites, a low-effort posting will get little attention. Make sure to prepare your launch with:
- a catchy tagline (60 chars maximal)
- a great icon, ideally animated (240x240px, max. 2 MB)
- graphics (1270x760px)
- an engaging text with emojis to tell your story
- maybe a product/project video (if possible)
If you've got a personal blog, make sure to prepare a post before launching. It helps to have it ready and just publish it with the project. Same goes for a newsletter of course.
If you are not a technical person and struggle to get decent graphic prepared, check out Stencil. That's an easy drag-and-drop web-based graphic app with the complexity of, for example, Photoshop.
How to launch on ProductHunt
Make sure to post your project just after midnight San Francisco time. This way you can be sure to get maximum exposure. Thursdays work well generally. You can also schedule it for the right time a few days in advance.
As soon as your post is live on Product Hunt, tell your story in a tweet or even better write a thread about it. Check out this example to get a better idea. Tag @ProductHunt and maybe some maker friends. Include me @spekulatius1984, if you like: I'm happy to help with a retweet. Don't forget to include a link to your product page in your thread!
Welcome everyone into the discussion on your PH post and respond to comments as they come in. Don't forget to upvote the comments as well. Every bit helps you drive more attention to it. Same goes for Twitter. It might become a long and exciting day!
What to avoid when launching on ProductHunt
- Don't ask for upvotes, it's against the rules and you just annoy people.
- Don't spam everyone you know with your ProductHunt link. Post it and mention you appreciate support - that's plenty already.
- Don't try buying fake upvotes or anything like this. It will be noticed and you'll ruin your image permanently.
- Don't launch and run away: You need to be responsive and engage with the community. Passive launches fail regularly.
Examples of ProductHunt launches
I've launched a few times with different results. Mostly my projects reach a few hundred upvotes and receive a few thousand visitors. Here are some of my posts:
More information
If you want to dive deeper into learning how to get the most out of your launch, check out these resources:
- How to Launch on Product Hunt by the PH team
- All you need to know for prepping your Product Hunt Launch by Frank Lagendijk.
- How I Got To #1 on Product Hunt as a Nobody
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