Launch boards were built for apps, and most of the advice about launching assumes software. But many of the most useful things on the web are websites: a reference site that answers one question better than anyone, a small shop with a point of view, a service business that finally has a site worth visiting.
They can launch too. What works for them is a little different. This guide is part of our launch playbook.
Who accepts websites
Not every platform does. Check before you prepare.
- Show HN is for "something you've made that other people can play with". Its rules list "blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, and other reading material" as off topic. An interactive tool on your site may fit; a content site usually doesn't.
- Product Hunt accepts many kinds of launches, but its featuring guidelines (read in November 2026) list kinds of products that are typically not featured, including directories and lists, templates, courses, books, services and stores. Product Hunt's home page shows the featured launches first, so a website there is less likely to be seen.
- Every Debut accepts software and websites people can use or visit today: content sites, guides and reference sites, media and channels with their own website, online shops, and business and service websites. It does not accept a single article or post, waitlists, link farms, doorway pages or parked domains.
The rest of this guide covers the three most common kinds of website launches.
Content sites, guides and reference sites
A content site launches well when it is clearly useful for one group of people.
What to show
- The promise in one line. "Plain-English guides to small-claims court, state by state" is a launch. "My thoughts on business" is a blog.
- Your three best pages. Link them in the description or the first comment. Visitors judge the site by them.
- How you work. Who writes, how you check facts, how often you publish, and how you make money. Readers and moderators both look for this.
- What is finished. "Guides for all 50 states" is a stronger launch than "5 states so far, more coming", but the honest version of either is fine.
What to measure
A content launch brings a burst of curious readers who mostly leave. The useful signals are:
- Returning visitors in the weeks after.
- Newsletter or follow sign-ups, if you have them.
- Search impressions in Google Search Console. Submit a sitemap there. Google notes that "submitting a sitemap is merely a hint", not a guarantee, and that one sitemap holds at most 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed. Most new sites are far from either limit.
- Which pages people share. Those are the pages to build more of.
Online shops
A launch board is not a marketplace, but a new shop with a clear identity can find early customers and, more importantly, early feedback on trust.
What to show
- Real product photos, not supplier images. The first image should show the product people come for.
- Prices, shipping and returns, each in one line, in the description. Launch visitors won't hunt for policies.
- What makes the shop different. Made by hand, sourced from one region, sized for a specific need, cheaper because of a specific choice. Say it concretely.
- Who is behind it, at least as a business name and a contact page.
What to watch out for
- A launch is not a coupon blast. Discounts are fine at the end of the first comment, but a listing that is only a discount reads as an ad.
- Make checkout work on a phone. Test a real order before launch.
- If you dropship or resell, say so. Visitors will find out, and honesty costs less than a bad review.
What to measure
Visits by source, add-to-cart, first orders, and the questions people ask before buying. Those questions are your missing product page copy.
Service businesses
Plumbers, accountants, design studios, tutors and clinics rarely think of "launching". But a new website, or a rebuilt one, is a real moment: you can show people what you do and how to book, and you get honest feedback on whether the site works.
What to show
- What you do and where. "Boiler repairs and annual servicing across south Leeds" beats "Quality heating services".
- How to book or get a quote, in one step, on a phone.
- Prices or ranges where your trade allows it. Even "Most boiler services cost between X and Y" (with your real figures) builds trust.
- Proof that you are real: a business name, a phone number that is answered, photos of your own work.
Local listings
For local services, the launch is the start, and local search does most of the work afterwards. Google's guidelines for a Business Profile say you can create one if your business "has a physical location that customers can visit, or travels to customers where they are". Service-area businesses "should hide your business address from customers". A rented mailing address that you don't operate from, and P.O. boxes at remote locations, are not eligible.
On Every Debut
The website of an established business that sells its services launches in the Company league. That keeps it out of the Indie league, where self-funded teams of ten or fewer compete, and it means your business is ranked against other companies, not against side projects.
Media, channels and newsletters with their own site
A video channel, podcast or newsletter can launch its website when the site itself is worth visiting: an archive people can search, episode pages with notes, guides built from the content. A site that only says "subscribe" is closer to a sign-up page. Show HN treats newsletters as off topic; Every Debut accepts "media and channels with their own website", as long as there is something to visit today.
The website launch checklist
The pre-launch checklist applies to websites too. These items matter most:
| Check | Why it matters for a website |
|---|---|
| Speed: LCP within 2.5 s, INP 200 ms or less, CLS 0.1 or less | Content and shop visitors leave slow pages first |
| Open Graph title, image and description | Shared links are how websites spread |
| Sitemap submitted in Search Console | Starts the search traffic that outlasts the launch |
| About and contact pages | Moderators and readers check them for trust |
| Clear policies (shops) or service area (services) | Removes the main reason to hesitate |
| Three best pages linked from the listing | Visitors judge the site by them |
The speed thresholds are Google's "good" values for Core Web Vitals, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads.
Writing the listing for a website
The parts are the same as for an app; see writing a launch page. The differences:
- Tagline: name the subject and the reader. "Reference tables for US sales tax rates, updated monthly."
- Description: what the visitor can do on the site today, how current it is, and who runs it.
- Images: screenshots of real pages, not the home page hero alone. For a shop, products; for a service, your work.
- First comment: why the site exists, what is unique about how you make it, and what feedback you want ("Which state's page was hardest to follow?").
After launch week
For websites, the after-launch work is mostly patience: publish, improve the pages people visited, and answer every question you got. Our after the launch guide covers follow-ups and measuring. For a website, add two things to it: watch Search Console for the pages that start getting impressions, and improve those first.
How Every Debut treats websites
Every Debut accepts websites in the same weekly cohorts as software. A launch week runs from Monday 00:00 UTC to the next Monday; for the first 48 hours lists are shuffled and no numbers are public; every approved launch gets at least 300 real views; votes are weighted by a published table; and rank is never for sale. Launching is free, and our own team's websites are labelled as ours when they launch. Read the guidelines for what qualifies, then submit your site.
Still deciding where to go? Our comparison of Product Hunt alternatives notes which platforms accept what.