Thousands of great startup ideas lay in the graveyard. The cause of death? A poor landing page.

Landing pages are your first impression. And yet most indie hackers spend weeks or months building their MVP and then hastily assemble their landing page the night before they decide to launch.

I've seen thousands of landing pages from Indie Hackers and Product Hunt. Unfortunately, a few common mistakes stand out.

Not Speaking To A Customer

Many indie hackers aim too broadly. By building for a large addressable market, they think their success odds are higher. This, in practice, often leads to the opposite problem: their startup isn't a fit for anyone.

Instead, indie hackers should niche down. Imagine a single customer that might use your product. Answer: who are they, what do they do, and why is your product valuable?

Write your landing page to them – and only them. Then, expand your reach once you've dominated that small market.

Selling Features

The old saying "sell benefits, not features" is true.

Don't tell your customers what your product does. Instead, describe why they need to use it. What problems does it solve? What does it help them do cheaper, faster, or easier?

Please don't make your customer figure out how the tools you've built can help them. 

Trying Too Hard

Early landing pages are often littered with clever catchphrases and exaggerated benefits. Pretend that you're sitting down with your customer in a park and explaining why they should use your product. How would you describe the problems it solves?