SaaS launch checklist: the week before, launch day, and the week after
A SaaS launch checklist in three parts: site readiness the week before, platform timing on launch day and follow-up the week after, each with its guide.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·9 min read
A SaaS launch checklist has two halves: site readiness, done the week before, and distribution, done on launch day and the week after. Readiness means the site is indexed with a sitemap submitted, link previews render, pages load fast, forms and checkout work, security basics are in place and every launch link carries UTM tags; distribution means knowing when each platform's day starts, who you tell and what you watch.
Do readiness first. A launch concentrates your visitors into one day, and every one of them hits whatever is broken. This page is the hub for the launch guides on this blog: each step names what "done" looks like and links the guide that covers it in full.
What does a SaaS launch checklist include?
Three phases, each with its own jobs. The week before is about the site: can people and crawlers reach it, see it properly, and sign up. Launch day is about timing and people. The week after is about replies, fixes and listings that stay up. The table gives each task, what done looks like, and the full guide.
When
Task
Done when
Full guide
Week before
Site indexed, sitemap submitted
Homepage inspected in Search Console, sitemap status is Success
The week before: the site indexed with a sitemap submitted, link previews working, speed checked, forms and checkout tested, security basics in place, and analytics with UTM links ready. On launch day: the platform schedule and the people you tell. The week after: replies to every comment, fixes for what launch traffic exposed, and directory listings.
Week before: is the site ready for launch traffic?
The site is ready when a crawler can index it, a shared link previews correctly, the pages are fast on a phone, every signup and payment path works, and your analytics can tell you where each signup came from. Work through the steps in order, because the first ones take days to show results.
Scan the site before anything else. Run a readiness scan on your homepage and your signup page. LaunchScaler's free scan runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories with no account, including noindex and robots.txt blocks, sitemap problems, broken links, dead CTAs, forms with no submit path, slow pages and missing security headers. It gives you the fix list for the rest of this week.
Get indexed. Add your site to Google Search Console. A Domain property covers every subdomain and protocol and is verified with a DNS record; a URL-prefix property covers one prefix and allows other verification methods. Google says data should begin to appear in a few days, which is why this step comes early.
Submit your sitemap. Test the sitemap URL in URL Inspection, then paste it into Add a new sitemap in the Sitemaps report and click Submit. The status should read Success. Google is clear that submitting does not guarantee every URL is crawled or indexed. The guide to submitting a sitemap to Google covers the errors.
Fix link previews. Most launch platforms, chat apps and social networks build their link cards from your Open Graph tags. The Open Graph protocol requires four: og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url. Paste your URL into a private chat and check the card before a platform caches the wrong one.
Check speed. Run PageSpeed Insights on the homepage and pricing page, and read the mobile result as well as the desktop one.
Test every button and form. Click the header CTA, the hero CTA, each plan button and the signup form with the mouse, then with the keyboard, then at 320 px wide, with the cookie banner still showing. Put a real test payment through checkout in your payment provider's test mode.
Check the security basics. HTTP should redirect to HTTPS, and the response should carry HSTS and the other headers in the security headers checklist.
Tag every launch link. Google Analytics says to always use utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, for example ?utm_source=producthunt&utm_medium=launch&utm_campaign=launch-2026. Make one link per platform and per newsletter. Visits from ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude need no tags: GA4 has grouped them in an AI Assistant channel since May 13, 2026.
Prepare the platform accounts. Product Hunt says newly created accounts must wait 1 week before posting a product, and you can schedule a launch up to 1 month ahead. Create accounts for every platform now and ask your co-makers to do the same.
Launch day: when does each platform reset?
Platforms that rank by votes run on a daily clock, and a launch that starts late loses hours of its day. Product Hunt's day starts at 12:01 am Pacific Time, Uneed puts its daily batch live at 12:00 AM PST, and Show HN has no daily reset at all. The table sets out what each platform publishes about its day, checked in September 2026.
Platform
When the day starts
How products rank
What stays after the day
LaunchScaler
Reset time not published; a fresh board every day
Community votes; the readiness score on each card cannot be voted up or bought
A permanent listing in category and search
Product Hunt
12:01 am Pacific Time, on a 24-hour cycle
Upvotes, comments, time since submission and other factors
A permanent product page with every launch, reviews and awards
Uneed
12:00 AM PST daily batch
Upvote score on launch day, weighted by each voter's multiplier
The listing: always on paid launches, and on free launches that reach an upvote score of 10
Show HN
No daily reset; posts appear on shownew at once
Points; a post that clears a small threshold also appears on the show page
The Hacker News thread
BetaList
Featured for a day, then it moves down the list
Editorial selection, then engagement
The featured listing
SaaSCity
Paid plans live within 24 hours; free listings on a scheduled Monday drop
Community upvotes and ranking
The listing page and map placement
Put each voted launch on its own day. Every platform in the table that ranks by votes or points competes for the same supporters, so two on the same day split your attention and theirs. The full comparison of prices, waits and backlinks is in best product launch platforms, and the Product Hunt asset list is in the Product Hunt launch checklist.
Who you tell, and how
Tell everyone who might care, and ask them to visit and comment rather than vote. The rules on asking are strict and they are enforced:
Product Hunt: "you cannot ask people directly to upvote your product. Instead, ask them to visit and comment." Company accounts are not allowed; post from your personal account.
Hacker News: "Please don't ask friends to upvote or comment. That's not ok on HN."
Uneed: votes from batches of accounts created at once, or from a single IP address, are flagged and removed, so a final ranking can differ from what you saw during the day.
Send your list the launch link with its UTM tags, one short line on what you built, and a request for honest feedback. The launch week plan turns this into an hour-by-hour schedule.
What you watch during the day
Three screens are enough. Watch the platform page, where every comment deserves a reply within the hour. Watch your analytics by source, so you know which link is sending people. Watch your error logs and signup count, because a jump in visits with a flat signup line usually means something on the signup path broke.
Week after: what do you do once the launch is over?
Reply, fix and list. Product Hunt's own post-launch guidance is to keep monitoring the launch page, respond to new comments as you did on launch day, and follow up with the people who used your product. Then fix what the traffic exposed, and submit to directories whose listings stay indexed.
Answer every comment and email. Product Hunt's guide cites the figure that a lead requires 10 marketing touches before becoming a customer, so send everyone who signed up a thank-you with one useful next step.
Claim your permanent pages. On Product Hunt, open your product page and click "Claim this page" or "Request access to manage this page." The product page collects every launch, reviews and awards.
Fix what broke. Sort launch-day errors and support questions by how many people hit them. Anything on the signup or payment path comes first.
List in directories. Submit to directories and launch sites whose listings are permanent, spacing voted launches on separate days. The startup directories list says which ones to prioritise.
Read the numbers by source. Signups per platform, from your UTM tags, tell you where to put effort next time. The guide to traffic after launch day covers what a normal drop-off looks like.
Save relaunches for real new versions. Product Hunt shows a prompt if you submit again within 6 months of your last launch, asking whether it is a major update.
What are the most common SaaS launch mistakes?
Many launch-day problems are readiness problems found too late. A signup form that errors, a link preview with the wrong image, a slow pricing page, or a site Google has not indexed yet all cost more on launch day than any platform choice. The next most common mistake is asking people to upvote, which breaks Product Hunt's and Hacker News's rules and can get a launch removed.
The rest are timing and follow-up: launching on several voted platforms on the same day, posting after the day has already started, and going quiet the day after. The guide to product launch mistakes goes through each one with its fix.
Start with the readiness scan
Step one of this checklist takes a minute. Run the free scan on your homepage: LaunchScaler needs only the URL and no account, and runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories (search, AI visibility, security, compliance, speed and visual, and whether the site works), showing a verdict for each. Work through what it flags during the week before, run it again the day before launch, and it also opens the free launch on LaunchScaler's own daily board when you are ready.
02
What time should I launch a SaaS product?
It depends on the platform. Product Hunt's day starts at 12:01 am Pacific Time and Uneed puts its daily batch live at 12:00 AM PST, so a launch there should be scheduled for the start of the day. Show HN has no daily reset.
03
How far ahead should I prepare a Product Hunt account?
At least a week. Product Hunt says newly created accounts must wait 1 week before posting a product, and it recommends joining three months or more ahead to build a presence.
04
Should I launch on several platforms at once?
Give each voted launch its own day. Product Hunt, Uneed and Hacker News all rank by votes or points, so two on the same day split your attention and your supporters.
05
What should I do after launch day?
Reply to every comment, follow up with the people who signed up, fix the bugs and questions launch traffic surfaced, claim your Product Hunt product page, and submit to directories whose listings stay up.
A SaaS launch strategy in three phases (pre-launch, launch week, the month after), each with one goal, the work behind it and the metric that proves it.
