SaaS Product Launch Checklist

# SaaS Product Launch Checklist

## Pre-launch

- [ ] **Decide who the launch is for and what you want them to do** (critical). Pick one audience and one action, such as starting a trial, booking a demo or buying. Every post and page should point to that action.
- [ ] **Test the full new-user path yourself** (critical). Sign up with a fresh account, finish onboarding, complete the core action and, if you charge, pay. Fix anything that blocks a stranger from getting value.
- [ ] **Write a one-line description of what it is and who it is for** (critical). Use plain words. If you will launch on Product Hunt, its launch guide caps taglines at 60 characters.
- [ ] **Set up analytics and channel tracking** (high). Make sure you can see sign-ups and payments, and tag each launch link (for example with UTM parameters) so you know which channel each sign-up came from.
- [ ] **Check that search engines can reach your public pages** (high). Your robots.txt should not block public pages, and a sitemap should list them. Remember robots.txt does not keep a page out of Google; noindex does.
- [ ] **Write a title and meta description for your main pages** (recommended). Give the home, pricing and key feature pages a unique, accurate title and description so search results and link previews describe them well.
- [ ] **Prepare screenshots and a short demo** (high). Show the product doing its main job. People decide fast, so the first image should show the outcome, not a logo.
- [ ] **List your launch channels and read each one's rules** (high). For example, Show HN on Hacker News only accepts things people can try, not landing pages or sign-up pages.
- [ ] **Tell your existing users, waitlist or newsletter the date** (recommended). The people who already know you are the most likely to try it on day one and give useful feedback.

## Launch day

- [ ] **Publish on each channel you planned** (critical). Post your listing or announcement where you said you would, with the same clear one-liner and a tagged link.
- [ ] **Add a first comment on how and why you built it** (high). Explain the problem, what is different about your approach and what feedback you want. Keep it factual.
- [ ] **Reply to questions and feedback through the day** (high). Answer every real question. Note bug reports and feature requests in one place as they come in.
- [ ] **Watch errors and the sign-up flow** (critical). Keep an eye on error logs, sign-ups and payments. Fix anything that stops new users before polishing anything else.
- [ ] **Do not ask friends to upvote or comment** (recommended). Hacker News' Show HN rules do not allow it, and other communities discourage it too. Share the launch, not a request for votes.

## After launch

- [ ] **Contact everyone who signed up** (high). Send a short personal note asking what they hoped the product would do. Their answers tell you what to build and how to describe it.
- [ ] **Write down what each channel brought** (high). Record visits, sign-ups and paying customers per channel, so you know where to spend time on the next launch.
- [ ] **Fix the top reported issues and post an update** (high). Ship fixes for the most common problems and tell the people who reported them.
- [ ] **Keep your product listed where buyers look** (recommended). Add the product to directories and marketplaces your buyers use, with the same description and links.
- [ ] **Plan your next launch moment** (recommended). A major feature, integration or pricing change is a reason to post again. Put a rough date on it.