How a Developer Navigates Your Product Website Homepage
Developers scroll your homepage quickly to get a general sense of your product, then head directly to your docs. In the docs, they're looking to understand your product under-the-hood, if it integrates with their current stack and tool set, and if it solves their problems.
When a developer lands on your developer product's homepage for the first time, they're looking for the immediate indicators that it's for them.
In a matter of a second or two I can identify if a SaaS product is for me, a developer. These are the things I look for:
- GitHub is immediately identifiable
- Docs is in the main navigation
- Homepage hero messaging that makes it clear, like "How developers build successful products" [from Posthog]
- None of the main navigation gives off an enterprise vibe, like "Solutions"
- "Sign up" call-to-action vs "book a demo" or "book a call"
We're generally* looking for all the indicators that tell us this product is self-serve and we don't need to "hop on a call" to gain access. Developers are looking to solve the problem that is blocking them right now, and move on.
Tessa Kriesel
The Self-Serve Developer Journey
After the immediate navigation and homepage hero review, a developer will either leave, or dive a little deeper to learn more. Here's what they'll do next:
- Quickly scroll the homepage to get a general understanding of what the product does
- Review the documentation with fairly decent detail to validate or invalidate the impression they got from the homepage
- Search for the integrations page to validate if the product already seamlessly connects to their pre-existing tool stack.
- Next, over to pricing to understand if the product is even an option for them.
- Now, things are a little bit less predictable, however, they're generally looking to build credibility and more deeply understand the product. They'll likely take one or all of the following steps next:
- Read the blog, ideally looking to learn from the product and engineering team, as well as looking for how others use the product.
- Look for how other developers are getting support, is there a community? Are examples being shared somewhere?
- Product pages and otherwise that further validate it meets their specific needs.
- Other pages and external links that build credibility around the product and company. They're trying to find developers who use it to learn how they're using it, and what problems it solved for them.
- Eventually signing up for the product, unless you ask for a credit card, then they'll go to the next product like yours.
Ideal Developer Website Main Navigation
If you're bringing together your marketing website and unsure what your main navigation should look like, I'd recommend something like this:
- Products
- Docs
- Pricing
- Blog
- Developers
- Enterprise (if you have one)
Developer Websites I Love
Keep It Simple
Developers like it simple and they just want to build stuff. Make it easy for them to build stuff with your developer product—from homepage to docs to production.
Curious what developers think of your homepage? Our team can help you solicit feedback from your target audience developers, as well as drive improvements to your entire developer journey. Book a call.