You’ve Got 5 Seconds, So Say It Like You Mean It

If I’ve learned one thing from launching a SaaS platform, it’s this: no one gives a damn what you’re building if they can’t figure it out in five seconds.

Since launching Headless Hostman this has, frankly, been something I’ve personally struggled with a lot.

Here’s a recap of our thinking, and where we’ve ended up today.

Web Launch 1: Talking Purely About What Static Is

When we went to market, our position was 99% about why you need Static WordPress and what Static WordPress was.

We launched a very aggressive marketing and sales strategy and I quickly found out something pretty surprising.

All of our leads already had that basic foundation of understanding. They wanted to know why our platform was different and what it specifically did.

Web Launch 2: Trying to Talk About Ourselves (Assuming You Know Static)

From that understanding, we quickly pivoted.

This was high-level and sleek, yes.

But to critique ourselves, the home page’s first read wasn’t exactly clear.

• What were we, exactly?
• How do you turn your WordPress site into Static without losing your head?

Booking demoes and leads wasn’t an issue. But they all started with the same question: “what is it, and how does it work?”

And how many demoes and leads did we miss with an unclear first 5 second message? We have analytics to probably figure that out at some point.

Web Launch 3: Exactly What It Is, Immediately

Perhaps it’s slightly less sleek than a smashed pumpkin head and some fancy high-level messaging, but it delivers our purpose in 5 seconds.

• Platform purpose: we are a Static Site Generator and Host
• Audience: people with WordPress websites (yes, that’s an audience of its own)
• How we make it happen: with the features immediately visible above the fold.

Thinking Through the Rest of the Flow Out Loud

With a purpose established, thinking through the rest was brain intensive.

We got them on the hook and now we have to lead them to conversion.

2. Benefits

But not just benefits — the benefits our unique platform brings.

Unless you’re completely unique, you’re likely competing with people trying to achieve similar end-goals as you.

When you talk benefits, the formula is: how it benefits the person + how you do it differently = the value proposition.

It isn’t always just that though. There is something to be said about table stakes though. Study your industry and understand what people have come to expect, because the omission of those things might raise unnecessary questions.

3. Compatibly 

This comes down to knowing the industry you’re playing in and the common concerns they have.

For us, Static WordPress so often comes with sacrificing Plugins or Theme builders. People are trained to know that.

We wanted to address this concern big and bold with our unique value proposition.

By this point, people know: “hey it does static, it looks awesome, but what do I have to give up?” The answer: nothing.

4. Credibility

This one’s obvious. Every SaaS needs to show proof of concept. Where you put it really depends on the flow you’ve set up and the industry you’re playing in.

We chose to set this up midway down the page. You know what we do, you know why it’s great, and you know it most likely works for your unique set up.

Now, you see other people who have already made that journey which reinforces what you were thinking.

5. Comparing

Comparing yourself to your competition is not something to take lightly. It’s something to think about carefully.

Maybe you don’t like picking a fight, and want to just keep the peace. That’s fine, and probably appropriate for some industries.

But, I’d argue if you are in a very crowded space, you need to speak directly to why they should pick you over something else. WordPress solutions are dense in general, and Static WordPress seems to be getting denser.

If you’re a challenger brand, you have even more burden to prove yourself and why you exist.

The entire reason we built Headless Hostman was a reaction to the existing solutions. So not only do we call that out, but we back ourselves up with the facts on an entire comparison page.

6. Ok, Let’s Convert Now

By now, someone’s likely asking how much does this cost?

It’s time to drop that info —

Followed by addressing our most-common question: how does this work if I want in?

How Can You Make Your SaaS Website Convert Better?

Hopefully reading my stream of conscious helped break the writer’s block I had pivoting our home page.

Let’s boil it down.

Tell people exactly what your platform does, and who it’s for within the first 5 seconds

Avoid overly ambitious taglines or value statements that communicate nothing.

When you “make it” and become a household name — where everyone knows what you do — yeah sure then you can have that luxury.

Here’s a quick example of someone I think does it well: 

Wave Apps: Manage your money like a boss. Wave lets small business owners like you create beautiful invoices, accept online payments, and make accounting easy—all in one place.

(Ok, they snuck in a nice tagline here, but it’s short and immediately set up by what they do)

• And the rest of the page then focuses about how they do that, and the benefits of how their solution

The message makes it super clear: it’s for small business owners who want to get paid and manage their accounting. Easy.

Tell Them Why Your Platform Rocks

Whether you start with benefits, comparisons, or customer credibility is up to the narrative flow you’re building.

Once they know what you do though, you have to seal the deal.

Don’t Be Afraid of Change

I held onto that smashed pumpkin, red hero for dear life. Embracing the change, I’ve already seen our metrics increase.

Don’t let “trying to feel fancy and smart” get in the way of making what you do clear.

And don’t be afraid of iterating as you continue to learn.

About the Author
Ben Butler is founder and lead developer of Headless Hostman, and the owner of Top Hat — a design and web agency.

About SaaSwatch
Our diary of building SaaS and the diary of others building their’s.