Startup launch checklist

A directory editor decides in a minute whether your site is real. Fix these before you open a single form.

• Confirm signup works end to end in a clean browserReviewers arrive without your cookies, so a broken confirmation email ends the review.
• Publish one page that explains the product in a sentenceAlmost every form asks for a short description and a link that supports it.
• Show pricing, or state plainly that pricing is on requestDirectories that filter by price often skip a product with an empty pricing field.
• Capture three screenshots: the main screen, a task in progress, one resultMost galleries accept screenshots, and they save you explaining the same thing in text.
• Write a 60 word description you can paste without editingOne approved description is faster and more consistent than forty improvised ones.
• Open the site on a phone and check the signup button is reachableSome editors review on a phone before they ever open a desktop.

Listings borrow your credibility. Give them something to borrow.

• Upload a square logo at 512 by 512 pixels or largerA logo that is not square gets cropped badly in most listing cards.
• Prepare a 1200 by 630 preview image for cards and social postsDirectories that auto preview links use this shape, and a wrong ratio looks broken.
• Link a privacy policy and a terms page in the footerReviewers use these pages to judge whether the product is a real business.
• Write a founder profile with a real name and a real photoA named person is easier to verify than a brand with no face attached.
• Use one email address you check daily for every submissionVerification mail goes to the address on the form, and it often expires quickly.
• Check that the domain resolves on both www and the bare domainA dead variant is the most common reason a submitted link gets rejected.

The same profile is reused across dozens of directories. Decide its shape once.

• Choose one primary category and keep it identical everywhereMixed categories split your listing across pages that should point at the same product.
• Add three to five tags that describe the buyer, not the technologyBuyers browse by job to be done, while a stack label mostly describes how you built it.
• Write a tagline under 60 characters that names the outcomeShort taglines survive truncation in cards, search results and admin tables.
• Lead the long description with the problem, then the feature listA reader who does not share the problem will not reach the features.
• Set the canonical product URL, usually the home page or one landing pageSending every directory to a different page splits the traffic you are trying to measure.
• Decide whether you offer a launch discount and give it an end dateAn offer without an end date reads as permanent and stops being a reason to act.

A list you can finish beats a list that looks impressive.

• Build a list of at least 40 directories that accept products like yoursA list longer than your weekly time budget lets you absorb rejections without losing the plan.
• Remove directories that require a link back on your siteA reciprocal requirement turns a listing into a link trade you may not want.
• Mark which directories charge a fee and what the fee includesA paid review is still a review, but the budget decision belongs before the form, not after.
• Check the date on each directory list you copy targets fromOld lists are full of sites that stopped accepting submissions years ago.
• Note the review window and any account requirement for each targetKnowing that one site takes three weeks stops you chasing it after three days.
• Split the list into batches of ten so progress stays visibleTen is small enough to finish in one sitting and large enough to show a pattern.

Submitting is repetitive by design. Repetition is what makes it fast.

• Submit from the same email address every timeOne address keeps verification mail, rejections and login links in one place.
• Paste your prepared description instead of rewriting itRewriting invites small inconsistencies that make a product look copied.
• Answer the how did you hear about us field honestlyEditors read that field, and a junk answer is a small signal that the rest may be junk too.
• Save the confirmation number or a screenshot after each submissionSupport requests move faster when you can quote the reference the form gave you.
• Record the date, directory and status in one sheet as you goA list of forty submissions without dates cannot tell you what is late.
• Stop after one batch and review the results before the nextA rejection reason in batch one is cheaper to fix than the same reason in batch four.

Most lost listings are not rejections. They are submissions nobody finished.

• Search the inbox for verification mail the same dayVerification links often expire within hours, and a stale link means a dead submission.
• Complete any owner verification within 24 hoursA domain record or a meta tag left unconfirmed can hold a listing in review indefinitely.
• Wait the stated review window before following upA follow up sent early reads as impatience and gets a form reply at best.
• Send one short follow up that quotes the submission referenceOne clear message is easy to answer, and a thread of reminders is easy to ignore.
• Mark each target as approved, rejected or no reply in the sheetThe count of no replies is the number worth fixing next time.
• Drop directories that never respond from the next batchTime spent chasing silence is time not spent on targets that answer.

An approval notice is not the same as a correct listing.

• Open the live page and read the description as a visitor wouldTruncated text and stripped formatting are common, and both are easy to request a fix for.
• Click the link and note whether it is followed or notThe link attribute tells you what the listing can and cannot do for discovery.
• Request category or typo fixes through the directory's own processEditing in the place the directory expects is faster than emailing a general address.
• Add your best listings to a press or about pageA visitor who sees the product listed elsewhere has one more reason to trust it.
• Check referral traffic after 30 days, not after 3Directory pages are often indexed slowly, and a three day window measures nothing.
• Do not submit the same product twice to the same directoryA duplicate submission is usually merged or removed, and it costs you the first listing's history.

The second campaign should start from evidence instead of the same list.

• Sort the results by signups, not by domain scoreA high score on a directory page does not tell you whether its readers wanted your product.
• Remove directories that approved a listing but sent no visitorsApproval is cheap to give and says little about whether anyone reads the page.
• Schedule a quarterly recheck of the listing detailsPrices, taglines and screenshots drift, and an outdated listing is worse than a plain one.
• Update listings when pricing or positioning changesA visitor who arrives to a different offer than the listing promised leaves.
• Ask for a category change if the product now serves a different buyerThe wrong category sends interested readers to a page they would not browse.
• Keep the sheet so the next launch starts from evidenceThe second campaign is much faster when the first one left a record of what happened.