How to Position and Write SaaS Website Copy From Scratch – MVP #1 (Flexibble)
Most articles on ‘how to write website copy’ don’t go deep enough into the intricacies of writing copy or approach the topic from a practical standpoint. So, I decided to try something new and be a bit more practical.
In this article, we’re going to create copy for our very own SaaS, built from scratch. While I won’t go into the importance of customer research, you can read about it here, we’ll conduct some light research to help us understand a helpful way to write website copy. It’s going to be a long one, so buckle up!
Our Very Own MVP – FLEXIBBLE
We’re starting our own pseudo-company! Instead of just imagining a SaaS company, I decided to build a lightweight SaaS from scratch (#I’m a developer, so I might as well use those skills). We’re essentially starting a company just to write copy for its website. To me, it’s easier for you to visualize the process and follow along when you and I have our own little MVP *wink, wink* that we’re writing website copy for.
The application I built is called Flexibble, a Dribbble clone.
Side note: If you’re interested in learning how I built this app, this is the video I used.
Dribbble is arguably a SaaS. I’m calling it a SaaS because of the literal definition of SaaS (hosted on a cloud) and, secondly, the subscription model.
Even though Flexibble is slightly different from Dribbble, as you’ll see in the coming sections, it is, by the same logic, a SaaS. It’s also both B2B and B2C. B2B because it’s open to companies looking to hire developers, and B2C because of developers showcasing their work. I recommend you take a quick look at our MVP (it’s not perfect, but it’s a start) before you proceed so you can understand how we break down the positioning and messaging.
Positioning and Differentiation
In reality, you wouldn’t build an MVP before you conduct your research. We’re working our way backward because I’m trying to show a process for writing high-converting copy. A part of that process is making sure our mise en place (positioning and differentiation) are in order.
Ideally, people create products to solve a problem. They may start with a hypothesis and then do the research to validate or invalidate the hypothesis. Either way, the market need, and the audience must be validated. A product usually needs to achieve product-market fit in order to scale.
“You can build a product that you think your audience will want but end up finding out after launching that your customers don’t care for your product because it doesn’t solve their problem”.
Okay, now back to our MVP. Let’s say we came up with this hypothesis.
Developers need a place to visually showcase their projects: like a Dribbble for developers.
And let’s say we did our market research, talked to ideal personas, stalked them on social media and in forums like Quora and Reddit, and realized that this is a real problem that our target audience faces.
And so we went ahead to create this problem statement.
Competitive Analysis
While it’s not a great idea to copy your competitors, you’ll not be wrong to gauge the market to see what’s out there. The goal of competitor analysis is to identify the gaps in your competitor’s strategy and positioning, so you can fill them. Don’t copy your competitors’ strategy verbatim and expect to stand out in the eyes of your customers. Because you won’t.
We’ll start our analysis by generating a list of competitors.
Target Audience: Developers
- Dribbble
- Codepen
- GitHub/ GitHub Pages
- Behance
- Cargo
- Carbonmade
- PortfolioBox
- AdobePortfolio
- Portfolium
Now, let’s see how Flexibble can differentiate itself from the competition while keeping in mind the problems of our target audience. We’re going to create a comparison between Flexibble and each of the competitors. Then we’ll see how Flexibble can fill in the gaps left by the competitor
| Competitor Differentiation | Flexibble Differentiation | |
| Dribbble/UpLabs | Caters to a broad spectrum of creative professionals | 1. Caters to only developers 2. Users can see other dev projects Gap(How we’ll show up): For developers who want a niched platform with a strong emphasis on visual storytelling to showcase their innovations and achievements. |
| Codepen | 1. Offers a platform for front-end developers to create and share front-end code snippets and projects. 2. Focuses on development |
1. Focuses on a broader range of developer projects 2. Focuses on community Focuses on ‘showcasing’ projects vs development. Gap(How we’ll show up): For developers seeking a platform that showcases diverse coding projects with rich visual narratives |
| GitHub/GitHub Pages | Allows developers to create static personal portfolio web pages |
1. Allows developers to tell the full story of their projects at once. 2. Allows developers to sell themselves more conveniently 3. Project-based social media for developers to interact meaningfully with each other. Gap (How we’ll show up): For developers who want to interact with peers and go beyond traditional code-based displays and create immersive, interactive presentations that showcase the full scope of their projects. |
| Behance | Caters to a broad spectrum of creative professionals | Focuses on developer-centric presentations Gap (How we’ll show up): For developers who are seeking a dev-centric platform that prioritizes their specific needs, skills, and aspirations alongside visually compelling presentations. |
| Cargo | Website builder designed for creative professionals, including developers, to showcase their work. | Caters to developers, emphasizing both coding prowess and visual storytelling Gap (How we’ll show up): For developers who seek a platform that enables them to showcase coding projects with both technical intricacy and captivating visual presentations. The technical depth of their projects is harmoniously blended with visual storytelling |
Now, let’s do the same thing for our second target audience
Target Audience: Recruiters/Employers
- Toptal
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- GitHub
- Stack Overflow Careers
- HackerRank
- Dice
- AngelList
- Indeed
Comparison table for the second target audience
| Competitor | Competitor Differentiation | Flexibble Differentiation |
| Toptal | Provides a curated network of top freelance developers for short or long-term projects. | Focuses on showcasing developers’ projects with a balance of technical depth and visual storytelling. Gap(How we’ll show up): The employability proof is in the dev-projects pudding. A different approach for evaluating developers’ capabilities. Flexibble allows developers to visually present their projects and coding expertise, giving recruiters a more comprehensive view of candidates’ capabilities. |
| Upwork | Offers a broad freelance marketplace connecting recruiters with freelancers across various fields, including development. | Provides a platform exclusively for developers to present their work with an emphasis on visual and interactive elements. Gap (How we’ll show up): Showcases dev projects, offering a unique visual storytelling format that complements traditional freelancer profiles. |
| Fiverr | Caters to a broad spectrum of creative professionals in different industries. | 1. Niched platform for employers looking specifically for developers. 2. Easier to navigate Gap(How we’ll show up): Presents developer projects in a visually appealing and comprehensive manner, allowing recruiters to assess coding skills through interactive showcases. |
| Caters to a broad spectrum of creative professionals in different industries. | Caters to only developers.Allows devs to visually present skills. Gap(How we’ll show up): Provides a visual and interactive dimension to developers’ profiles, enhancing recruiters’ understanding of candidates’ technical expertise. |
|
| GitHub | Code repository platform where recruiters can explore developers’ open-source projects and contributions. | Enables developers to showcase their projects in an interactive and visually appealing manner. Gap(How we’ll show up): Flexibble goes beyond the code-centric presentation of GitHub by allowing developers to provide a more engaging and comprehensive view of their work. Also, Flexibble reduces time and workload for recruiters. Don’t sift through random portfolios, we’ll do the sifting for you by recommending the top picks. |
| Hackerrank | Provides coding challenges and assessments to help recruiters evaluate candidates’ coding skills. | Enables developers to visually showcase their coding projects in a compelling way. Gap(How we’ll show up): Flexibble enhances the candidate assessment process by allowing developers to present their coding achievements through interactive visual narratives. A different approach for evaluating developers’ capabilities. Cut your assessment time in half because top picks are rigorously assessed. |
Gathering Our Raw Materials
I won’t go into the importance of customer research or specifically how to conduct it; You can read about it here. Previously, we established our hypothesis after conducting light research on some problems for our target audience. Now, let’s expand on that research. Let’s add desires, objectives, and reasons for the switch to our research.
In an ideal scenario, after collecting rows and rows of data from interviews, surveys, reviews, and social mining, you analyze them. Rows and rows of data mean nothing if you can’t interpret them.
Look for recurring themes and sticky messaging to add to your copy. What are the gut-wrenching words that customers keep using? What are the words that jump at you?
Since we don’t have rows and rows of data, we won’t go in depth. We will, however, be introducing some sticky words from our spreadsheet in our work.
Now, let’s ask ChatGPT to generate some testimonials for our site.
Now we have something to work with. Let’s move on to outlining, writing, and wireframing our copy
Hero section
The hero section contains the main headline, subhead, hero image, and the CTA/ click trigger. The headline is extremely important. It tells your visitor whether or not to stay or leave.
It’s not easy to generate a killer headline. You may have to stay on it for a long time. I typically generate 10+ headlines and refine them as time goes on.
Because of our audience’s stage of awareness, we’re going with a more benefits-focused headline. Here are a few headlines I came up with
- The developer’s showroom
- We elevate developer showcases beyond code
- The developers’ canvas
- Tell the full story of your project – with code and visuals
- Why have a code library when you can have a showroom – Introducing… the developers’ online showroom.
- You’ve worked hard, now show the world what you’ve got.
- When you’re done building the next groundbreaking app, this is where you display it for the world to see.
- When you’re done with Github, Flexibble is your next stop.
- When you’re done coding THE PROJECT, it’s time to showcase THE PROJECT.
- After console.log, ‘share work’ is next.
- The developer’s last stop after coding the project
- Code it, we’ll show it.
- Unveil the brilliance behind the code
Headline suggestions for recruiters
- The recruiter’s buffet of top-tier developers
- A new way to hire right
- The employability proof is in the Flexibble pudding
In the end, I went with this,
The problem/solution section
I included this section to give our dev audience more context on the issue at hand: portfolios that developers are exposed to are usually code-based portfolio platforms, portfolio website platforms, or general portfolio platforms as stated in the problem statement or customer painpoints. There are very few developer-only platforms that visualize developer projects.
Putting it all together
Now we have a complete homepage. Take a look!
I hope this ‘tutorial’ gives you a more in-depth understanding of how to write website copy from scratch. If you have any thoughts on this article, let me know.
