ph-analytics-setup

Product Hunt Analytics Setup

This skill helps you set up comprehensive analytics tracking to measure your Product Hunt launch performance and optimize your funnel.

When to Use This Skill

• Before launch: Setting up tracking infrastructure
• Launch day: Monitoring real-time metrics
• Post-launch: Analyzing results and ROI

Essential Metrics to Track

Product Hunt Metrics

Metric	Source	Importance
Ranking position	PH homepage	Critical
Total upvotes	PH product page	Critical
Comments	PH product page	High
Saves/bookmarks	PH product page	Medium

Website Metrics

Metric	Source	Importance
Total visitors	Analytics	Critical
PH referral traffic	Analytics	Critical
Bounce rate	Analytics	High
Time on site	Analytics	Medium
Pages per session	Analytics	Medium

Conversion Metrics

Metric	Source	Importance
Signups	Your database	Critical
Trial starts	Your database	High
Purchases	Payment system	Critical
Conversion rate	Calculated	Critical

Analytics Tools Setup

1. Google Analytics 4

Basic Setup:

1. Create GA4 property
2. Install tracking code
3. Set up events
4. Create conversion goals

Key Events to Track:

// Page view (automatic)
// Signup started
gtag('event', 'signup_started', {
  'source': 'producthunt'
});

// Signup completed
gtag('event', 'signup_completed', {
  'source': 'producthunt',
  'plan': 'free'
});

// Trial started
gtag('event', 'trial_started', {
  'source': 'producthunt',
  'plan': 'pro'
});

// Purchase completed
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
  'source': 'producthunt',
  'value': 99.00,
  'currency': 'USD'
});

UTM Parameters: Add to all your links:

?utm_source=producthunt
&utm_medium=social
&utm_campaign=launch_jan2024

Real-Time Dashboard:

• Navigate to Reports > Realtime
• Filter by Traffic Source = producthunt.com

---

2. Plausible Analytics (Privacy-Focused Alternative)

Setup:

1. Add script to website
2. Configure goals
3. Set up custom events

Benefits for PH Launch:

• Real-time by default
• Clean, simple dashboard
• No cookie consent needed
• Easy referrer tracking

---

3. Mixpanel / Amplitude (Product Analytics)

For Deeper Funnel Analysis:

Events to Track:

- Page Viewed (with source)
- Signup Started
- Signup Completed
- Onboarding Step 1
- Onboarding Step 2
- Onboarding Completed
- Feature Used (first time)
- Upgrade Clicked
- Payment Completed

Cohort Analysis:

• Compare PH users vs other sources
• Retention by acquisition source
• Feature adoption by source

---

4. Product Hunt Specific Tracking

Manual Tracking Spreadsheet:

Time	Rank	Upvotes	Δ Upvotes	Comments	Visits	Signups
00:00	-	0	-	0	0	0
01:00
02:00

Tools for PH Tracking:

• Upvote Bell (upvote notifications)
• Manual refresh and logging
• Custom scripts (PH API)

Dashboard Setup

Launch Day Dashboard

Create a single view showing:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           PRODUCT HUNT LAUNCH DASHBOARD         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                 │
│  PH METRICS          │  WEBSITE METRICS        │
│  ───────────         │  ─────────────────      │
│  Rank: #4            │  Visitors: 1,234        │
│  Upvotes: 234        │  From PH: 987 (80%)     │
│  Comments: 45        │  Bounce: 34%            │
│                      │                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                 │
│  CONVERSIONS         │  HOURLY TREND           │
│  ────────────        │  ────────────           │
│  Signups: 156        │  [Chart showing         │
│  Conv Rate: 12.6%    │   upvotes over time]    │
│  Revenue: $1,240     │                         │
│                      │                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tools for Dashboards:

• Google Data Studio (free)
• Grafana (self-hosted)
• Geckoboard
• Notion (manual)

Tracking Implementation Checklist

Before Launch (Required)

Website Analytics:

• Google Analytics 4 installed
• Real-time dashboard accessible
• UTM parameters prepared
• Referrer tracking verified

Conversion Tracking:

• Signup event tracking
• Purchase event tracking
• Goals/conversions configured
• Test conversions working

Referrer Attribution:

• producthunt.com identified correctly
• Can filter traffic by source
• Landing page tracking works

Before Launch (Recommended)

Advanced Setup:

• Custom dashboard created
• Alerts configured
• A/B testing tools ready
• Heatmap tool installed (Hotjar, etc.)

Spreadsheet Tracking:

• Manual tracking sheet created
• Hourly logging template ready
• Team access configured

Launch Day

Monitoring:

• Real-time dashboard open
• Logging started at launch
• Team has access
• Alerts working

Funnel Visualization

Typical PH Launch Funnel

Product Hunt Page Views
        │
        ▼ (Click-through rate: ~20-40%)
Website Visitors from PH
        │
        ▼ (Engagement rate: ~40-60%)
Engaged Visitors (>30s or 2+ pages)
        │
        ▼ (Signup rate: ~5-15%)
Signups / Trial Starts
        │
        ▼ (Conversion rate: ~10-30%)
Paid Customers

Track Drop-Off Points

Set up funnel in analytics:

1. PH page → Website
2. Website → Signup page
3. Signup page → Signup complete
4. Signup complete → Onboarding
5. Onboarding → First value
6. First value → Payment

Benchmarks & Goals

Typical PH Launch Benchmarks

Metric	Poor	Average	Good	Great
PH → Site CTR	<10%	10-20%	20-30%	>30%
Bounce rate	>70%	50-70%	30-50%	<30%
Visit → Signup	<3%	3-8%	8-15%	>15%
PH visitors	<500	500-1500	1500-3000	>3000

Set Your Goals

LAUNCH GOALS:

Product Hunt:
- Target upvotes: [___]
- Target comments: [___]
- Target ranking: Top [___]

Website:
- Target visitors from PH: [___]
- Target bounce rate: <[___]%

Conversions:
- Target signups: [___]
- Target conversion rate: [___]%
- Target revenue: $[___]

Post-Launch Analysis

Key Questions to Answer

1. Acquisition:

   • How many people visited from PH?
   • What was click-through rate?
   • How did PH compare to other sources?

2. Engagement:

   • Did PH visitors engage with content?
   • What pages did they visit?
   • How long did they stay?

3. Conversion:

   • How many signed up?
   • What was conversion rate?
   • How does this compare to other channels?

4. Quality:

   • Are PH users retained?
   • Do they convert to paid?
   • What's LTV of PH-acquired users?

Analysis Template

POST-LAUNCH ANALYSIS: [Product Name]
Date: [Launch Date]

ACQUISITION
- PH referral visitors: [___]
- % of total launch traffic: [___]%
- Peak hour: [___] with [___] visitors

ENGAGEMENT
- Average time on site: [___]
- Pages per session: [___]
- Bounce rate: [___]%

CONVERSION
- Total signups: [___]
- Signup conversion rate: [___]%
- Paying customers: [___]
- Revenue: $[___]

COMPARISON
- PH conversion vs. average: [___]%
- PH user quality score: [___]/10

LEARNINGS
- What worked: [___]
- What didn't: [___]
- For next time: [___]

Analytics Checklist

Setup Phase (1 Week Before)

• All tracking code installed
• Events configured
• Funnels set up
• Dashboard created
• Test tracking working
• Team access granted

Launch Day

• Real-time monitoring active
• Hourly logging in progress
• Alerts working
• No tracking issues

Post-Launch

• All data captured
• Analysis completed
• Learnings documented
• Comparison to goals

Output Format

ANALYTICS SETUP FOR: [Product Name]

TOOLS CONFIGURED:
- Website analytics: [Tool]
- Product analytics: [Tool]
- PH tracking: [Method]
- Dashboard: [Location]

EVENTS TRACKING:
- [ ] Page views with source
- [ ] Signup started
- [ ] Signup completed
- [ ] Trial started
- [ ] Purchase completed

FUNNEL CONFIGURED:
[Diagram of your funnel]

GOALS SET:
- Visitors: [Target]
- Signups: [Target]
- Conversion: [Target]%
- Revenue: $[Target]

DASHBOARD LOCATION: [Link]

TRACKING VERIFIED: [Yes/No]