Your Best Feature Is Worthless If Nobody Knows About It
Your Best Feature Is Worthless If Nobody Knows About It
How I almost shipped a major competitive advantage that was completely invisible to customers
I spent three days building sophisticated framework detection for my llms.txt generating SaaS. It now detects React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Astro, and 10+ other JavaScript frameworks. It adjusts content coverage estimates based on rendering strategy. It's technically impressive.
And it was nowhere on my landing page.
The Problem With Building in a Cave
Here's what happened: I built a feature that solves a real problem. Competitors miss 60% of content on modern JavaScript-powered websites. They use basic HTML scrapers that can't handle SPAs. My tool detects the framework and estimates actual coverage.
This is a dramatic difference. It's the kind of thing Doug Hall would call a "meaningful unique" - something competitors genuinely can't match.
But I was so focused on making it work that I forgot to tell anyone it existed.
The Rob Fitzpatrick Test
Rob Fitzpatrick's "Write Useful Books" philosophy is simple: Does this help the reader do something they couldn't do before?
Applied to features: Does this help the customer solve a problem they couldn't solve before?
My framework detection absolutely does. If you have a React site, basic scrapers will miss most of your content. My tool won't. That's valuable.
But here's the thing about value: if customers don't know about it, they can't value it.
Doug Hall's Formula
Doug Hall teaches a simple structure for communicating value:
- Overt Benefit - What does the customer get?
- Dramatic Difference - Why is this better than alternatives?
- Reason to Believe - Why should they trust this claim?
For framework detection:
- Overt Benefit: "Works on ANY website technology"
- Dramatic Difference: "Captures 90%+ content from sites competitors miss entirely"
- Reason to Believe: "Detects React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Astro, and 10+ more frameworks"
This isn't marketing fluff. It's taking something technically true and making it understandable to someone making a purchase decision.
Where I Added It
I updated five sections:
1. Hero Section Added a trust badge: "Works on any technology: React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Astro & more"
2. Problem/Solution Section Two new bullets in "Our Solution":
- Works on ANY website technology (React, Next.js, Vue, Astro & more)
- Captures 90%+ content from SPAs that basic scrapers miss
3. Competitor Comparison Table New row: "Modern Framework Support"
- Us: React, Next, Vue, Angular, Astro + 10 more
- Them: HTML only / Basic scraping / Broken
4. Technical Difference Section Fourth grid item: "Framework Detection - React, Next, Vue, Astro & 10+ more"
5. Pricing Cards
- Free tier: "Works on any website"
- Paid tiers: "All 15+ frameworks supported"
The Pricing Card Insight
The pricing card change is the most important one. Here's why:
Pricing cards are decision points. That's where someone weighs "is this worth $4.95/month?"
Before: They saw analyses, pages, and basic features. Generic stuff every competitor has.
After: They see "All 15+ frameworks supported." That's a reason to believe the paid tier is different.
The free tier says "Works on any website" - still true, still valuable, but deliberately less specific. The paid tier is for people who recognize their React site needs proper handling.
The Lesson
A feature without marketing is an invisible feature.
I'm a developer. I like building things. Marketing copy feels like... not building things. But here's what I learned today:
The copy IS the product for the customer. They can't see my elegant framework detection algorithm. They can only see what I tell them about it.
Doug Hall's framework isn't about manipulation. It's about translation. Taking something technically true and expressing it in terms of customer benefit.
Actionable Takeaway
If you're building a SaaS, do this exercise:
- List your three best features
- For each one, write the Doug Hall formula:
- Overt Benefit (what do they get?)
- Dramatic Difference (why is this better?)
- Reason to Believe (proof it's true)
- Search your landing page for those benefits
- If they're not there, add them
Features don't sell themselves. Benefits do. And benefits only work if customers can see them.
Building LLM.txt Mastery - the tool that makes your website visible to AI search engines. Works on any technology: React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Astro & more.