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13 Comments

Landing page launch! Build beautiful API docs.

Hey indiehackers,

I'm a software engineer, and for the first time I'm building a product that I myself will be a user of :)

Portal is a saas that will let you build documentation portal like Stripe's in a simple WYSIWYG editor. (Although the MVP is geared more towards the API docs).

Any feedback / tips about the landing page, product and how to get the initial traction is highly appreciated!

Here's the landing page: https://portal.dev

  1. 2

    Just requested access, looks great!

    I'd agree with others. Look at using more examples and customer case studies, showcase User's docs they've built using portal.dev

    1. 1

      Thanks for the feedback!

  2. 2

    Is that space api real? I was building something just like that.

    1. 1

      It's not real :) But it was inspired by NASA APIs: https://api.nasa.gov/

  3. 2

    This is actually pretty neat the only thing missing is more examples, we built our own docs on https://usetrove.io/ (only visible when you signup).

    1. 1

      Hey Tony, thanks for the feedback. There will be a live demo that you can open and edit immediately. Hopefully that counts as one big example :)

      Btw, I checked out your product, and your docs. Looks solid! Any reason why your docs are for logged in clients only?
      My understanding is that docs can serve as a marketing content too if they're open in the public.

  4. 1

    Hi @valrepsys,

    Congratulations on launching Portal. I completely understand why this exists, and I think API developers will love this. I used a different API documentation generator a few years ago, and I recently experienced Stripe's API docs for the first time when I implemented Stripe for my website, https://getsplashpd.com. I agree with you: Stripe's design is beautiful and it's clear why developers would want a design that's equally good looking.

    Varepsys, I think you're under-selling this. For example, have you considered adding some customer testimonials? Have you considered proving the value with numbers -- for example: "Create API docs for 1 resource in just 15 minutes" or "3 out of 4 people prefer the design of these docs to ____."

    I created a website that helps entrepreneurs describe their products in a more powerful way by intelligently recommending sentences while they write promotional messages. (https://getsplashpad.com).

    I would be happy to help you write a promotional message for Portal that you could post on Indie Hackers or email to users on your wait list. We could do a 15-minute video call and use SplashPad to create your message (free of cost). Are you open-minded to that?

    Varepsys, I hope we get a chance to connect soon and give Portal a boost.

  5. 1

    I Think adding an active blog, case studies would be helpful for your growth and don't forget SEO

  6. 1

    I find these guidelines are useful when assessing how credible a site is: https://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html

    What's missing:

    1. Real examples of output.
    2. Nothing about your background.
    3. No address or phone number
    1. 1

      Thanks, this is useful. By background you mean more about the team who's building it? Including the phone number for saas companies is not very typical I think, but I guess adding a location as in 'Made in [x]' might add to the credibility.

      1. 2

        The bar you need to pass is much higher than "made in X."
        Companies that charge $100/month answer the phone.
        Companies with enterprise plans answer the phone.
        Your "free plan" is not the place to anchor on what's expected of you. You are trying to play in the enterprise space. The Stanford Credibility Guidelines offer a good perspective on what is needed to establish credibility.

  7. 1

    Looks very promising!

  8. 2

    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

    1. 1

      Great feedback!! Thank you.

      Agreed on lack of icons, and that it's a bit boring. Adding more design and icons is WIP.

      A bit of a side story, but I hired a designer on fiverr to do the icons (they had some really nice work on their profile). But the result was pretty bad, so I didn't include them.

      You are so right about content marketing. It's never too early to start doing that.

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