SaaS Directory Submission Checklist for Launch Week

Launch week is a bad time to discover you have no square logo and three different product names. This checklist is the week-of version. The long operating manual lives on the directory submission checklist. Use the checklist generator for a printable asset list, then come back here for order of operations.

Why SaaS is a different queue

SaaS forms ask for pricing posture, categories that look like G2, integration lists, and screenshots of a real product. Consumer apps can often get away with a store badge and a trailer. You cannot.

Reviewers also rewrite vague "AI-powered platform" copy into sludge. Specific beats poetic: who it is for, what job it does, what it is not.

Asset pack

Minimum files, exported, not Figma links:

• Square logo, PNG, 512px or larger, readable at 32px
• Three screenshots: core UI, empty state, one "aha" view (not the marketing hero)
• Optional 15-second silent screen recording
• OG image you already use on the site

Squint at the logo at thumbnail size. If you cannot recognize it, the directory will not either. Do not change the mark halfway through a 40-row queue unless you will go back and replace files.

Three description lengths

Write them once in a doc, then paste with light edits:

• Tagline (~50-80 characters): audience + outcome
• Short (~200 characters): the tagline plus the main mechanism
• Long (~600-1200 characters): who it is for, what it replaces, pricing honesty, what it is not

Do not synonym-spin a unique paragraph for every site. Reviewers are not impressed. Do customize the first sentence when the directory is clearly "for marketers" versus "for developers."

Keep the public product URL clean. No `utm_` on the website field. See how many directories to submit for volume caps so this kit does not get pasted into 400 junk forms.

Pricing, plans, integrations

Pick one pricing sentence you can stand behind for a year: "Free trial, paid from $X," "Free forever with paid team," or "Contact sales." Directories will cache it.

List integrations that are real. Fake Slack logos get you rejected or laughed at. If you have no integrations, say what you export (CSV, API) rather than inventing a marketplace.

Category mapping

Make a short list of allowed categories before you open forms: primary (one), secondary (two). "AI" plus "productivity" plus "developer tools" on every site looks unfocused. Match the directory's taxonomy. If they only have "Software," use software and put the niche in the first sentence.

Tier the week

1. Guaranteed / easy forms so you get live-URL practice
2. SaaS and Launch filters for category fit
3. High-DR dofollow even if picky (dofollow vs nofollow)
4. Paid only if it scored as media, not as leftover adrenaline (paid fees)

Do not start with paid featured slots while the logo is still a screenshot of a screenshot.

Accounts and email

Use a mailbox you control. Shared "info@" that four people ignore is how verification dies. Do not use a no-reply.

Put logins in a password manager vault named for the product, not in the tracking sheet. If a directory requires Google login, decide that before Tuesday night of launch week.

Analytics

One UTM pattern is enough: `utm_source` = directory domain, `utm_medium` = listing, `utm_campaign` = a single launch name. If a form rejects query strings, skip UTMs on that row rather than breaking the canonical URL.

Test whether your site preserves params. If directories strip them, use a short path like `/r/name` that 302s home.

After profiles go live

Do not beg for reviews on day one. Get the listing accurate first. Then, where the site is actually a review property, ask three customers who already like you. Fake reviews are a career decision.

Featured-on strip

Only add a logo to your homepage when the listing is live and you would be proud to send a customer there. A strip of dead badges is worse than none. Match logo treatments so it does not look like a scrapbook.

Week-by-week

Mon-Tue: Kit freeze. No more renaming the product.

Wed-Thu: Ten to twenty forms from the easy and SaaS filters. Verification emails same day.

Fri: QA live URLs. Fix wrong categories. Do not open a new fifty-row blast.

Following week: Pending follow-ups. Optional Light pack for the leftover guaranteed pool if founder time is gone.

QA before submit

Read the form once. Confirm name, URL, category, logo file, description length. Sites that catch "http://" in a field that wanted a domain will reject you into a queue you will never see.

After live: name, URL, category, link type if you care, screenshot in the sheet.

Handoff to a pack

Light ($49 / 60) and Growth ($99 / 177+) need a complete profile. If the kit is half empty, the pack waits on you. DIY Tier 1 and paid yourself. Hand the repetitive guaranteed pool to pricing if that is the cheaper close.

Ownership and hygiene

Claim existing listings (old contractor, old name) before creating duplicates. Use the legal product name consistently.

Do not store customer PII in the sheet. Do not paste production API keys into "API documentation" fields.

After launch

Once a quarter: click ten live URLs. Repair 404s and wrong descriptions. Directories rot. A campaign is not a one-time dump.

Sheet columns that matter

Directory, submit URL, date submitted, accepted, verify, live URL, link type, category used, notes, screenshot. That is enough. Color-coding fifteen statuses is how the sheet becomes art instead of a queue.

Related

• Full submission checklist
• How many directories to submit
• AI directories

Open the catalog, freeze the kit, then run the week in tiers instead of in panic.