Documentation isn't a manual. It's a marketing asset.

If you've ever evaluated a SaaS product seriously, you know the move: read the landing page, get interested, then immediately look up the docs to find out if it actually works the way the homepage suggests. Docs are the prospect's reality check. Most teams don't write them like that.

Docs are read before purchase

Search analytics on most B2B SaaS sites tell the same story. Documentation pages get a meaningful share of pre-trial traffic. People search the feature name, find the docs, scan to confirm the feature is real, and only then sign up.

If your docs lead with "To configure the X module, navigate to Settings → Modules → X," you've missed the moment. Open with what the thing is *for*, who it's for, and what it can't do. Then get into the steps.

The two-line opener

Every doc page I write now has the same two lines at the top: *what this is* and *what this isn't*. Five seconds of clarity at the top saves five hours of misuse downstream.

When docs and marketing disagree

The most useful audit a marketing team can run isn't on their landing pages. It's on their own docs. Read every doc page out loud and ask if the marketing claims survive contact with the implementation. The places where docs hedge — "in some cases," "depending on your plan" — are usually the exact places where landing-page copy was too clean.