Indie Dev Launch Strategy — Getting Traction on ProductHunt, HackerNews, and Reddit

Shipping is only half the battle. Getting people to notice, try, and talk about your indie project requires a deliberate launch strategy. In this article I'll walk through the pre-launch checklist, ProductHunt mechanics, the HN Show HN format, Reddit community rules, and how to coordinate everything on launch day without burning out.

Pre-Launch Checklist

Start at least two weeks before launch. Rushing this almost always results in embarrassing bugs on your biggest traffic day.

LANDING PAGE □ Hero headline — one sentence: "X for people who Y" □ 3–5 screenshots or a short demo video (< 90 seconds) □ FAQ section (minimum 5 questions) □ Contact / feedback form or email □ OG image (1200×630 px, < 300 KB) □ Mobile layout verified on real device □ Core Web Vitals: LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1 □ Privacy policy + cookie consent (GDPR)

PRODUCT QUALITY □ No crash-level bugs in the happy path □ Onboarding completes in ≤ 3 steps □ Error…