Does this home page make you want to explore more?
This is the first time I am really "showcasing" my website and would love feedback on the home page: Build a stack.
- How do you feel when you first see it? Cluttered/Useful? Does it draw you in to explore further?
- Did you find something useful to click on the home page?
- While we are at it, did you find the product useful personally? I know it isn't landing page related, but I am curious. Feel free to ignore this request though.
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Hi @navpar,
I'll answer your questions in reverse order, hope you don't mind!
(3) I think you have a great idea. I've always struggled finding the tools I want online, not because there's not much options, but because there are far too many. I think it'd be really useful to have a genuine and thoughtful curation of the tools available that includes relevant details to guide one's decisions on building a stack that integrates well.
(2) I tried to go around the site for quite a bit. I personally wish there was more depth to the content than the current breadth. Perhaps less tools to start with, but more valuable insights about each (the kind of insights that's not easily and readily available out there).
(1) Again, in my personal and humble opinion, I think there's currently too much going on in the site. Perhaps that wouldn't be an issue if your site was already a known giant, but as a site that I newly land on and have no idea about, it's hard to figure out what's the most important thing. I love the hero text on the landing page, but I felt that there wasn't much "meat" in the site to support it.
I understand what you are saying. I agree that I need more "text" explaining each tool better. Haven't had enough time to do that. Frankly, the classification in to sub-categories (which double up as product functionalities) took a lot of time.
As for smaller, but "deeper" list ... I will think of a way of slicing/dicing the list. I think the "Featured" tools list will do some of it (under implementation). Or maybe tags like Start-up friendly, Free, Fremium, Open source, Freelance, etc will be a good idea.
Thank you for your comments. All good points. Will think of how best to implement them.
Hello Navin. Nice design and animations. Maybe a little bit of pictures or icons for the top categories so user can find the relevant item quicker.
On the job page, when you scroll down and the top bar is reduced, the hamburger icon is not able to show all the categories. For my screen, I can only see categories from Idea Generation to Sales Enablement but cannot see more even I scroll down.
Overall great site.
I have close to 500 categories and sub-categories. Finding relevant images for them all would be difficult. To be honest, even finding images for the search tabs was difficult!
Thanks for the catch. I was able to replicate it as well. Will fix it.
And thank you for the kind comment.
Maybe I should have posted all my feedback in 1 comment. I didn't mean to spam you :) Maybe 1 last thing piece of feedback, the logo looks angry.
Your feedback is much appreciated. Make as many posts as you wish!
An angry logo was certainly not the intention :) Will look in to it.
What stands out for me the most is that on the Learn #nocode page says not to register. I don't think it's ever too soon to have users subscribe even if it's not ready yet. As long as they understand it's coming soon.
It is currently open since I am still writing it. I actually plan to charge for it. I agree with you though. Will make it register.
The list of categories in the nav bar is a little overwhelming. Can you group them into categories?
I hear you. The search terms was a way to achieve this kind of grouping.
Having said that, if you look at any of the competitors (G2.com, Capterra.com, etc), they all have similar number of categories. In fact, they actually flaunt it :)
It's not the number of categories but the way you are displaying them. Maybe group them and have a menu that drills down from the groups to the categories.
Yes. It is a valid point. And I have been seriously thinking about doing this.
Only issue I see is that I have about 50 categories and 450 sub categories. If I want to implement this, I will end up with three levels of categories. Which will mean the user will have to click thrice before seeing any product. I was afraid I might lose people there.
But absolutely see what you are saying. In fact this might be the solution to the issue highlighted by lazyitinerary above.
I like your marketing of #lowcode. Honestly for what you seem to be targeting that might be a better name for your site.
I think your landing page is extremely cluttered. It made me think of those Chinese website that blast every last inch of whitespace with text.
There is so much stuff on the page I don't really know where to start, or what your site is about. Is this a tool to learn about different software stacks? Is it a marketplace? Is it a hosting provider? I click on the icons below the hero image and it just shows me hashtags. Once I actually perform a search I realize the site is more about collecting different products to compare them.
If I were a person who is not super familiar with software/programming I would probably want things laid out simply in a few categories like: email, landing pages, dashboard, etc. I think you have too much, maybe narrow it down to just 5-10 categories and display them all on the landing page.
:) I do believe that any software that provides an API is a nocode tool. For example, I built a diet planner (taking in height, weight, age, gender and giving out a customised diet plan) using HubspotCRM + Zapier.
The name is a play on Build a Bear which allows children to choose all the elements to make their own bear. Hence build a stack :) But I guess that isn't obvious.
Thank you for the comment about the lack of white space. Do you think it would look better if I removed the Frequent searches (the one with the #) or moved it down below?
As for hashtags, it looks like it isn't obvious that they are clickable. Will have to think about that if I want to retain that section.
Unfortunately, I have 3500 (and growing) tools in the db. Just 5 - 10 categories wont be enough. But hopefully. making the Top Categories section more prominent (as mentioned above) is a way to achieve that?
Thanks a ton for your comments!
Hey Navin this site has a lot of great resources, I was surprised actually. It sent me down the rabbit hole, I was particularly interested in the Ideation resources. I think there are lots of analogous sites that aggregate products and sites for other industries, so this makes a lot of sense. Very keen of you to ride the no-code wave!
Thank you! Yes, it can be quite a rabbit hole :) Hope you found something you can really use.
As for others ... there are quite few. I myself listed ~40 of them on my site :) https://buildastack.com/product-category/corporate/build-your-stack/
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I don't think software should be plural. Replace softwares with software.
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All great suggestions. Will implement them right away. I particularly liked the ghost buttons idea!
As for blogs, I too was skeptical. But I gave in to fancy animations rather than a simple, but clearer grid. Will go back to the old structure.
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All great thoughts. Thank you.
Couple of things:
I do not want the focus on the other tabs (consulting, jobs, etc). So it is ok if the focus remains purely on finding the software.
I am also in 2 minds about the # search terms. For someone really looking for a software, I think the search terms will be another way to find the right category (they almost act as "super categories" to the categories). But I agree they also look a bit jarring. Hmm. Will have to A/B test I guess.
The image is to show a Jungle (of softwares out there) and us guiding you to find the right one (with the arrow on the top). Clearly it did not work :) Any ideas on a contextual image? I guess that is the reason why G2, Capterra, GetApp also use generic images.
The stats icon is to compare products. Heart is to store & share your stack.
Will think about how best to implement some of your ideas. I am restricted somewhat by the theme I use and the functionalities I have enabled (do not want to use any custom code if possible!)
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Very interesting choice. Thank you. I will surely consider this option. I like the "find the right software for your business". Will have to somehow "marry" that with a different image
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Of course that is fine! Thank you for your help