Write your homepage for the person who actually reads it: the end-user developer, not the CTO who signs the check. The developer becomes your champion and sells it internally for you.
Use this when: your homepage speaks to buyers/ROI, it's clever but vague about what the thing does, or a developer can't tell in 5 seconds whether to care, and can't start in 5 minutes if they do.
The core rule (Czakon)
Address end-user developers on the homepage; put enterprise/ROI/buyer messaging on separate pages (enterprise, pricing, case studies). If you write the homepage for the buyer, you've written it for someone who isn't there.
Framework: the sections, in order (Czakon)
- Hook / core message: immediately: what is it? Use a category ("CI for monorepos"), a known-incumbent comparison ("a Datadog alternative"), or a plain statement. Headline = what it is · subhead = for whom / what job.
- Hero: a real product shot; two CTAs: Get started (signup) and Docs. Answer "what's in it for me?" up top. Lead with the how, not the why.
- Social proof, right after the hero: recognizable logos are the fastest credibility you have. Impressive dynamic metrics (users, stars) if you've got them.
- Value prop & differentiation: why you over the 10 alternatives (see
value-prop-that-converts). - Getting started: a huge conversion lever. Free trial, no credit card, quick setup. Any hard barrier sends developers straight to a competitor.
Design: clean typography, breathing room, no "salesy BS," minimal heavy interactions. An embedded playground / copy-pasteable snippet creates an instant aha.
Framework: what must be on it (Frankl)
Cross-check the copy has all six:
- the problem in the customer's language (before the solution)
- the villain / undeniable trend
- attributed proof with numbers (name · title · company)
- the inciting event / urgency
- social proof (not anonymous)
- a low-friction path to try (free tier · docs · GitHub)
The MVP website (Czakon)
Don't build everything. Start with: homepage · docs · pricing · navbar (login, signup, contact, GitHub) · About (an About page builds trust for an unknown brand). Add later, deliberately: case studies → comparison pages → blog → templates → sandbox → enterprise page.
Transparent pricing. "Contact sales for pricing" reads as "expensive and slow." Show a number wherever you can.
Decision tree: hero CTA
Can a developer get value self-serve?
├─ YES → primary CTA "Get started" (signup/download) + secondary "Docs".
└─ NO → primary CTA "Read the docs" / "See how it works"; don't fake a signup that dead-ends.
Mistakes that look reasonable
- Writing for the buyer: ROI language up top; the developer bounces.
- Why before what: three sentences of vision before you say what it is.
- "Contact sales" pricing: kills self-serve trust instantly.
- No getting-started: a beautiful hero and no obvious first step.
- Puffery hero: "The powerful, seamless platform for modern teams." Says nothing (run
value-prop-that-converts).
Your next 30 minutes
- Read your hero as a skeptical developer: in 5 seconds, do you know what it is and if it's for you?
- Confirm the five sections exist in order; move buyer/ROI copy to its own page.
- Put a no-credit-card getting-started step above the fold or one click away.
- Run the page through ShipReady for the full 10-point scorecard.
Built from real dev-tool GTM experience, with frameworks from Adam Frankl (The Developer-Facing Startup) and Jakub Czakon (markepear.dev). Want a line-by-line teardown of your actual homepage from someone who's done hundreds? Reach out to me on LinkedIn.