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Glossary of launch and indie maker terms

Launch platforms, growth metrics and link jargon come with a lot of terms that sound alike. Each entry here defines one in plain words, shows how it works on a real launch, names the usual mistake and links to the pages where you use it. There are forty-five terms, from backlink to time to value.

The words that come with directories, rankings and backlinks.

Launch Platform: What It Is and How Makers Use One

A launch platform is a site where makers present a new product for votes and feedback. The four formats, what they ask of you, and how to pick one.

Launch Directory: Meaning, Risks and Which to Submit To

A launch directory is a catalogue of new products you submit to once and stay listed on. What to check first, and why Google names low-quality directories.

Upvote on a Launch Platform: What It Counts and What It Does Not

An upvote is one person’s vote for a launch. What it counts, how Hacker News, Uneed and this board treat votes, and what to ask people for instead.

Launch Queue: What the Wait Is and How to Plan Around It

A launch queue is the wait between submitting a product and its launch date. How TinyLaunch, Uneed and BetaList handle it, and when skipping is worth it.

Featured Listing: Editorial Pick or Paid Slot, and How to Tell

A featured listing is a launch given prominent placement, by an editor’s choice or by payment. How to tell which, what to ask, and how to measure it.

Maker Comment: The First Comment on Your Own Launch

A maker comment is the first note the builder posts under their own launch. What belongs in it, a before-and-after example and the usual mistakes.

Show HN: What It Is and What Qualifies as a Show HN Post

Show HN is the section of Hacker News for things you made that others can try. What qualifies, what does not, and how to prepare, from its own guidelines.

Backlink: What It Is, Where a New Product Gets One and How to Check

A backlink is a link to your site from another site. Why Google cares, where a new product’s first ones come from, how to find yours, and what is spam.

Dofollow Link: What It Means and Why Launch Sites Sell It

A dofollow link is an ordinary link with no rel attribute that tells search engines to ignore it. How it works, and what it means on launch directories.

Nofollow Link: When a Site Uses It and Whether It Is Worth Having

A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow" to say the page owner would rather not vouch for it. When sites use it, when you should, and its real value.

UGC Link: Meaning of rel=ugc for Comments and Community Posts

A ugc link sits inside user-written content, such as a comment or forum post, and is marked rel="ugc". What it is for and what makers should expect.

Domain Rating (DR): What the Ahrefs Score Measures and What It Does Not

Domain Rating is an Ahrefs score from 0 to 100 for a site’s backlink profile. How it is built, what it ignores, and why Google does not use it.

Domain Authority (DA): The Moz Score, Its Limits and a New Site’s Start

Domain Authority is a Moz score from 1 to 100 that predicts ranking ability. What it means for a brand-new site, how it differs from DR, and its limits.

Referring Domain: Counting Sites That Link to You, Not Links

A referring domain is one website that links to yours, however many links it has. Why that count beats a link total, and how to read it in Search Console.

Anchor Text: The Clickable Words of a Link and How to Choose Them

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a link. What Google asks of it, six types compared on one product, and why exact keywords backfire.

Launch stages and testing

The words for when and how a product is released.

Launch Day: What It Means When the Platform Sets the Date and When It Does Not

Launch day is the day a product is first shown to a public audience. How platforms define it, what to prepare, how to measure it and why it is not the end.

Soft Launch: Releasing to a Small Audience Before You Announce

A soft launch is a real release to a limited audience before the public announcement. How to keep it small, set exit criteria and what to record.

Hard Launch: The Loud Public Release and When You Are Ready for It

A hard launch is the full public announcement of a product across many channels at once. What must be ready first, how to sequence it and when to skip it.

Relaunch: Launching Again After You Have Changed the Product

A relaunch is a second public launch of a product that has genuinely changed. The four honest reasons, what platforms allow and a pivot example.

Waitlist: Collecting Emails Before Launch and What the Count Means

A waitlist is a list of people who asked to hear when your product is ready. How to run one, how to read the count and why signups prove little.

Closed Beta: Invite-Only Testing, With TestFlight and Google Play Examples

A closed beta lets only invited testers try an unfinished product. How to pick testers, how TestFlight and Google Play handle it, and what to ask them.

Open Beta: Letting Anyone In Before the Product Is Finished

An open beta lets anyone try a product that is still being finished. What it tests, how Google Play handles it, and the capacity you need before you open.

Early Access: Selling or Sharing a Product While It Is Still Being Built

Early access gives people a working but unfinished product, often for money. What Steam’s own rules require, how it differs from beta, and where it fails.

Dogfooding: Using Your Own Product the Way a Customer Would

Dogfooding means relying on your own product for real work before and after launch. How to do it honestly, a worked example and what it cannot tell you.

Press Kit: What Goes in One and Where to Put It

A press kit is one page of facts, words and files a writer needs to cover your product. What to include, where to host it and a worked example.

Positioning and copy

The words for what you say about the product.

ICP: What an Ideal Customer Profile Is and How to Write One

An ICP is a written profile of the customer who gets the most from your product. What goes in it, a worked example and how it picks your launch channel.

Tagline: Definition, Examples and How to Write One for a Launch

A tagline is the one short line beside your product name. How it differs from a slogan, what it must do on a launch listing and how to test it.

Value Proposition: Meaning, Parts and a Worked Example

A value proposition is the specific benefit you promise one kind of customer and why they should believe it. Its parts, a swap test and a worked example.

Positioning Statement: What It Is and How to Fill In the Template

A positioning statement is an internal sentence fixing who a product is for, its category and its difference. A fill-in template and an example.

Elevator Pitch: What It Is and How to Say Yours in 30 Seconds

An elevator pitch is a spoken summary of your product that fits in a short ride. See the four-beat structure, a timed script and how to practise it.

Call to Action (CTA): Meaning, Examples and How to Write One

A call to action tells a visitor what to do next. The parts of a good CTA, where to place it on a launch page and how to test it with little traffic.

Landing Page: What It Is, What Goes on It and How It Differs From a Homepage

A landing page is built for one audience and one action. Its anatomy, what to show before you have testimonials and how it differs from a homepage.

Metrics and growth

The numbers and loops a launch is judged by.

Conversion Rate: Formula, Worked Example and How to Read It on Little Traffic

Conversion rate is the share of visitors who take the action you want. The formula, a worked example and how to read it honestly on little traffic.

Activation Rate: Definition, Formula and How to Pick Your Activation Event

Activation rate is the share of new signups who reach their first real moment of value. The formula, how to choose the event and how to track it by hand.

Retention Rate: How to Calculate It and Read a Retention Curve

Retention rate is the share of a user group still active after a set time. The cohort formula, a worked example and how to read a small launch cohort.

Churn Rate: Formula, Revenue Churn and What One Cancellation Does to It

Churn rate is the share of paying customers or revenue lost in a period. The formula, the compounding maths and how to read it with few customers.

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): How to Calculate It and What Not to Count

MRR is the monthly value of your active subscriptions. See the formula, a worked example with annual plans, the movements behind it and what to leave out.

ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): Meaning, Formula and When to Quote It

ARR is the yearly value of your recurring contracts. The formula, why one good month times twelve misleads and when a small maker should quote it.

Bootstrapping: Building a Product Without Outside Funding

Bootstrapping means funding a product from your own savings, income and early customers, not investors. What it changes about costs, time and launch.

Product-Led Growth (PLG): Meaning, Requirements and a Self-Serve Funnel

Product-led growth lets the product win and convert customers through self-serve use. What it needs, how it differs from sales-led and when to skip it.

Growth Hacking: What It Means and a Small-Scale Experiment Loop

Growth hacking is a loop of fast, measured experiments across the customer journey. An ICE-scored backlog and tactics a small maker should skip.

Referral Program: How It Works and When a Small Product Needs One

A referral program rewards users for bringing in new ones. How the incentives work, the K-factor arithmetic, how to start by hand and when to hold off.

UTM Parameters: The Names, a Naming Sheet and Launch Examples

UTM parameters are tags added to a link so analytics can show where a visit came from. The parameter names, naming rules and how to tag each launch link.

North Star Metric: How to Pick the One Number That Tracks Real Value

A north star metric is the single number that best captures the value users get from your product. How to choose one, test it, and break it into inputs.

Time to Value (TTV): How Long a New User Takes to Get a Result

Time to value is how long a new user takes to reach a first real result. How to measure it with a stopwatch, why to use the median and how to shorten it.

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