SaaS Marketers Should Steal This Company’s Homepage
And it’s not even from a SaaS company
I’ve been working on a piece of research looking at how adept (or not) software companies are at using their homepage to clearly tell their story — what they do better than the competition, who would benefit the most from their product, how their work life would be better once they buy it. Kind of the basics of why you have a homepage.
Though after looking at dozens¹ of SaaS homepages I’ve found one common theme:
Every company is doing its best not to stand out.
Like a 14-year old boy at an eighth grade dance, praying that he’ll blend into the wall and nobody will notice him. Then sweating profusely when a girl goes up to talk to him and stammering, “Omnichannel Customer Journey Analytics to help you surface actionable insights to optimize customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.” ²
Rather than offering clarity, differentiation, and a clear reason to purchase the product versus the competition, they use Gobbledy and generic images to make it virtually impossible for a buyer to understand why they should buy.
That is, until I found a SaaS homepage worth stealing. And it wasn’t from a SaaS company.
Seller Systems has the best SaaS homepage.
Seller Systems sells courses helping people launch Amazon businesses. I know that that’s not the same as selling software, but as far as I’m concerned, the same principles apply.
Let’s take a deeper look at everything they’re doing better than every billion dollar, heavily funded software company.
Better Thing #1: They’re clear about why product exists.
Seller Systems sells courses, sure. But what they’re really selling is Success. Anyone can sell courses. They sell Success.
How do I know that? Because they use clever graphical tricks to call it out.
That fake highlight on the word “success” sure does draw your eye to the word “success,” doesn’t it?
Then right below it, this short text block with “massive success” circled. Circled! And that first sentence in bold so if you’re only going to read one sentence, it’s obvious that that’s the sentence you use. It seems so obvious, yet…
So why do many people want to launch an Amazon business? Because they felt unfulfilled by a full-time “regular” job. Maybe they felt like that job didn’t let them be themselves. Maybe they felt strongly about a problem that they wanted to solve with a new product.
Which is why the part about “remaining authentic and true to your mission” is so strong. That’s why people start an Amazon business — to be successful while remaining true to themselves. Brilliant.
Better Thing #2: The clarity of the call to action
Look at the little graphical twist in the CTA here:
That arrow pointing at the CTA sure does draw your eye, doesn’t it?
When you’ve created a CTA, haven’t you thought to yourself, “Gee, I sure hope people see this thing.” But nobody thinks, “If I just draw an arrow pointing at the CTA, that’ll help people notice it.”
So they usually just stick the CTA on the page and hope it works.
And the CTA is often “Request a Demo” or “Contact Us.” Which is fine, except if you’re at the first content block on the homepage, do you really know enough yet to decide if you want a demo?
The answer is that you don’t know.
What you really want is something useful (and free) that will introduce you to the value the company delivers.
Which is why Seller Systems’ CTA is for a free masterclass. It provides clear value at no cost while serving as an intro to the value the paid product provides.
If you’re a SaaS marketer — think about what you can provide that’s truly useful (not a whitepaper), free, and reflects the value you’ll provide to your customers. (For complex software, it could be an RFP template, for example…)
Better Thing #3: Repetition of your key benefit is important
The next block on the homepage seems to repeat some of the language from the first block.
They really want to make sure you know they’re selling success. Which you can see because they have “selling success” highlighted in blue text. And then again in the sentence below it.
Is that repetitive? Yes. Is repetition how people understand what you stand for? Yes.
Is Maxwell House good to the last drop? Yes.³ How do I know that? Because they’ve repeated it for 100 years.
Better Thing #4: CTAs all the way down
You don’t know which block on your homepage will be the piece that resonates so much with your visitor that she wants to take action. So why just have a CTA at the top of the page? Every block should include one, as Seller Systems does:
That up arrow is something you never see — so of course your eye is drawn to it.
And every block down the page has a CTA with an arrow.
Better Thing #5: Get more granular as you go down the page
If people are still reading further down the page, add granularity to the offering. Toward the top you can speak more generally (earn success with our free class). But as your visitor goes further down the page, add more detail.
I really like how they call out that you’ll learn how to “source, launch, and sell” your private label product. It’s the correct next level of detail for what you’ll learn in the course.
And of course, they go back to a key insight about their customers — they want to start an Amazon business to have success in their life while staying true to themselves. So they mention how success will “free up your schedule.”
Better Thing #6: The founder speaks the same language as the buyer
It’s less common now, but from 2015–2019 there was a common founder story that went something like this:
“I was in the store and I really struggled buying a pair of socks, so I wanted to start a company that made buying socks less of a chore.” ⁴
Look at how Seller Systems’ founder uses empathy to tell his story and connect with the buyer:
If you’re looking at these courses to start an Amazon business, you’re probably also in the midst of a “career pivot.” “Incredibly accessible” shows that you don’t need any background in this. The story is about the curvy road it took him to be successful, and how he’ll use that experience to make it easy for you. “You don’t need me to make it any harder.”
Written like he’s speaking to the buyer as an expert and with empathy.
Bravo.
Go back and look at your own homepage. Does it do these 3 things:
Concisely tell prospects why you’re better than competitors?
Speak to a deeper emotional reason why someone might buy your product?
Repeat those things so it’s clear to your prospect why your better on a product and emotional level?
If not, I’m happy to chat.
¹ I wish I were exaggerating. (Go back)
² Or the 14-year-old-boy-at-a-dance equivalent. (Go back)
³ To paraphrase someone who used to be President, “depends on what your definition of the word ‘good’ is.” (Go back)
⁴ That’s a made-up example, but also it isn’t. (Go back)