If you look at your analytics, you will likely see a pattern: the most visited page on your marketing site is /docs.
For a developer tool, the "Landing Page" is just a formality. It’s the brochure in the lobby. The generic "Increase Velocity" headlines are noise they scroll past to find the "Get Started" button.
The Documentation is where the sale actually happens.
The "Time to Hello World" Metric
A developer evaluates your product by asking one question: "How quickly can I make this do something real?"
Your documentation is the interface for this discovery. If Getting Started involves 15 steps of configuration, filling out a form, and waiting for an email, you have lost.
Great documentation brings the "Hello World" moment down to seconds.
- Copy command.
- Paste into terminal.
- See result.
Stripe won the payments war not because they had better fees, but because their "Copy to Clipboard" button worked. They understood that the faster a developer feels powerful, the faster they convert.
Docs as a Content Strategy
Most companies treat docs as a technical afterthought—something engineers write when they have spare time. This is a strategic failure.
Docs are marketing content that targets High Intent users. A developer reading "How to implement Webhooks" is not browsing; they are trying to solve a specific problem right now.
- SEO Goldmine: Docs are naturally rich in long-tail keywords. "Python Stripe Integration" leads to docs, not the blog.
- Trust Signal: Broken links, typos, and outdated code snippets in docs signal "This product is abandoned." Pristine, interactive docs signal "This team cares about quality."
- Retention: Good docs prevent support tickets. They empower the user to self-serve, reducing the frustration that leads to churn.
The "DX" (Developer Experience) Loop
Marketing brings the developer to the door. Documentation invites them in. Product keeps them there.
If your docs are dry, academic, and hard to read, you are putting a padlock on the door. Treat your technical writers as your most valuable marketers. Invest in a fast, searchable, beautiful documentation site (like Mintlify or Docusaurus).
Stop hiding the details. In the developer world, the details are the product.
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