sales-producthunt

What this skill does

# Product Hunt Platform Help

Helps with everything related to launching, promoting, and succeeding on Product Hunt — the largest product discovery platform with DR91 dofollow backlinks, 5M+ monthly visits, and a 24-hour daily launch window.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **Where are you in the Product Hunt process?**
   - A) Planning a launch — haven't submitted yet
   - B) Preparing assets and building a supporter list
   - C) Launch day — need real-time guidance
   - D) Post-launch — analyzing results or planning relaunch
   - E) Researching whether PH is worth it for my product
   - F) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your product?**
   - A) SaaS / web app
   - B) Mobile app
   - C) Developer tool / API
   - D) AI / ML product
   - E) Physical product, browser extension, or other

3. **Have you launched on PH before?**
   - A) No — first launch
   - B) Yes — relaunching with a major update (6-month minimum gap required)
   - C) Yes — looking to improve on a previous launch

4. **What's your budget for PH-specific promotion?**
   - A) $0 — organic only
   - B) Under $100 — Pro tier
   - C) $100-300 — Super Pro tier
   - D) $1,000+ — Promoted Products or ads

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to another skill, route:
- Multi-directory launch planning → `/sales-launch-directory`
- Email marketing to launch supporters → `/sales-email-marketing`
- Landing page optimization → `/sales-checkout`
- Audience growth for pre-launch → `/sales-audience-growth`
- Other specific launch platform → hand off to that platform's skill

Otherwise, answer directly from the Product Hunt knowledge below.

## Step 3 — Product Hunt platform reference

### How Product Hunt works

- **Daily launches**: Products launch at 12:01 AM PT and compete for 24 hours
- **Ranking**: Algorithmic — NOT purely upvote count. The 2026 algorithm heavily weights comment quality, account age, and engagement patterns
- **Featured vs. not featured**: PH editorial team decides which products get featured on the homepage. Non-featured products get minimal visibility
- **Relaunch rule**: Must wait 6 months between launches, and the new launch must represent a major update
- **Maker profile**: Claim your product as a maker for credibility badge and ability to respond to comments

### 2026 algorithm changes (Q1 update)

The algorithm now punishes manufactured engagement and rewards genuine community participation:

- **Comment quality > raw upvotes**: 50 upvotes + 30 genuine, substantive comments outranks 200 upvotes + 5 generic comments
- **Account age matters**: Votes from accounts active 6+ months carry significantly more weight than new accounts
- **Spike detection**: Sudden vote surges (e.g., 100 votes in 10 minutes) trigger anti-manipulation filters. Steady engagement throughout the day is rewarded
- **New accounts are weak signals**: Accounts created shortly before a launch carry almost no weight
- **"Ask for feedback, not upvotes"**: Framing your ask as "check out my product and let me know what you think" performs better algorithmically than "please upvote"

### Launch preparation (6-week timeline)

**Week 1-2: Foundation**
- Create or update your PH maker profile
- Study top launches in your category — note their taglines, screenshots, first comments
- Start engaging on PH daily (upvote, comment genuinely on other products) to build account credibility

**Week 3-4: Assets**
- **Tagline**: Problem-focused, under 60 characters. Lead with what it solves, not what it is
- **Description**: First paragraph = pain point. Second = how you solve it. Third = social proof or differentiator
- **Thumbnail/Logo**: 240×240px, clean, recognizable at small size
- **Gallery**: 5-8 images or a mix of images + video. First image is the hero — it must communicate value instantly
- **Video**: 1-2 minute demo. Show the product in action solving the core problem. No long intros
- **First comment**: Draft a 200-300 word maker comment covering: why you built it, what problem it solves, what's new/different, a specific ask for feedback

**Week 5-6: Community building**
- Build a list of 300-500 supporters (past users, newsletter subscribers, Twitter followers, beta testers)
- Prepare a personal message template (NOT "please upvote" — instead "I'm launching X, would love your honest feedback")
- Schedule social media posts for launch day
- Prepare responses for common questions and objections
- Choose your launch day: **Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday** — avoid Monday (backlog competition) and Friday-Sunday (lower traffic)

### Launch day execution

**12:01 AM PT — Product goes live**
1. Post your first comment immediately — this is the most-read piece of content on your launch page
2. Send your supporter notification within the first 1-2 hours (not all at once — stagger over 2-3 hours to avoid spike detection)
3. Be available ALL DAY to respond to every comment within 15-30 minutes
4. Share on social media with direct links (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, relevant communities)
5. Do NOT ask for upvotes — ask for feedback, opinions, and honest reviews
6. Engage genuinely with other products launching the same day — the community notices

**Engagement throughout the day:**
- Respond to every comment substantively (not just "thanks!")
- Ask follow-up questions to commenters
- Share behind-the-scenes context, data, or stories
- Update your first comment if you hit milestones or get common questions

### Pricing tiers

| Tier | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free launch | $0 | Standard listing, 24-hour window, DR91 dofollow backlink |
| Pro | $100/mo | Analytics dashboard, A/B test taglines, scheduled launches, priority support |
| Super Pro | $300/mo | Everything in Pro + featured placement boost, custom launch URL, team collaboration |
| Ship (Pre-launch) Pro | $59/mo | Pre-launch page, email collector, "notify me" button, early follower building |
| Ship Super Pro | $199/mo | Everything in Ship Pro + advanced analytics, custom domain, integrations |
| Promoted Product | $4,000-6,000/day | Guaranteed top-of-page placement (not organic ranking — marked as promoted) |
| Self-serve ads | $5,000-10,000+ | CPM-based display ads across PH |

### GraphQL API

- **Endpoint**: `https://api.producthunt.com/v2/api/graphql`
- **Auth**: OAuth 2.0 or Developer Token (create at producthunt.com/v2/oauth/applications)
- **Rate limit**: 6,250 complexity points per 15 minutes
- **Key queries**: posts, topics, collections, goals, users, comments
- **Webhooks**: Not natively supported — use polling or third-party integrations

For full API reference, see `references/producthunt-api-reference.md`.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's situation, provide specific recommendations:

**For first-time launchers:**
1. Follow the 6-week timeline above — do NOT rush
2. Launch on smaller directories first (use `/sales-launch-directory` to plan the sequence)
3. Build genuine PH engagement for 4-6 weeks before your launch
4. Prepare for the reality: ~80% of launches don't achieve their goals, usually because they launched without an audience

**For relaunchers:**
1. Verify you're past the 6-month minimum
2. Document what's genuinely new — the community will call out shallow relaunches
3. Reference your original launch in your first comment ("Last time we launched X, your feedback led us to build Y")

**For "is PH worth it?" questions:**
1. PH is worth it for: dofollow DR91 backlink (free), social proof, early adopter feedback, potential press coverage
2. PH is NOT worth it for: sustained traffic (it's a spike, not a stream), guaranteed users (conversion rates