Blink twice if you are the type of person who reads every user manual for the products you buy.
I'll go first 👀 👀
Reading user guides makes me feel in control. I think that I can use a product to its full potential.
If you are looking for a growth loop, I would say that documentation is essential for developer marketing. If developers are your target market, just create awesome documentation (looking at you, Stripe), and you are better off as a marketing investment.
And that's what a developer will do: they will google your business to see if you are legit, they want to scan documentation, and they make up their mind really fast.
When you sell to developers, you need technical documentation because even if they are not the decision-makers, they influence the deal (based on the Stack Overflow Developers survey 2020). And even if developers might not make the final decision, you probably won't get far if they say no.
Why do you need to start product documentation as soon as possible?#
Documentation refers to any type of information written to explain to the user the functionality or architecture of a product, system, or service. According to a BPTrends survey, 46% of companies claim that their processes are less than 25% or not at all documented.
And I get it. For a startup, documentation can easily get overlooked because it's hard to see an immediate return on investment.
However, any company launching a new product or version, regardless of how large or small, should train its users about it, what it is, and how to use it. Are training sessions for users better than documenting the product? Here are my reasons for believing technical documentation is necessary it the form of a meme:
Users always need handy documentation. This is a form of always available support for them. Basically, it consists of a guide with step-by-step instructions, as well as code snippets. Since this is the case, almost all product-based companies invest heavily in technical writers and in documentation.
Who should write technical documentation?#
The chicken and egg question.
Most often, technical writers create the documentation with help from designers, developers, and subject matter experts. In some cases, product managers create it themselves, or founders do so in startups.
It's no secret that developers dislike writing documentation. This isn't what they do. Yes, that is correct, but any developer will also tell you they hate reading undocumented code. So good documentation is necessary, but how do you get started?
As part of our recent GitHub App launch (currently in beta), we developed an app to simplify technical documentation by writing it in markdown in a GitHub repository. We'll fetch the repo and the `/docs` by default if you install the app.
So, why technical documentation is important for B2B SaaS#
Technical documentation is intended for customers, employees, and curious people who want to learn what they can do with your product. Here are 4 good reasons why internal documentation is important!
Still, if you are a technical founder, increasing revenue is one of your goals. There are several ways to accomplish this. Even if you only focus now on growing the user base or just building the product, you need to grow revenue at the end of the day.
Documentation impacts revenue in multiple ways: it reduces support tickets and customer service expenses, increases team productivity and developer efficiency, reduces onboarding time (for customers or employees).
TURN STATIC DOCS INTO INSTANT ANSWERS
Build beautiful knowledge portals that are easy to navigate, search and share
You should absolutely create and maintain product documentation. Make it outcome-oriented, not 'technical'—that is, not confusing. Its purpose is to help developers achieve their goals with your product, which will help retain them because they see its value.
There is another hidden cost of development that you should consider. Your developers or support team may need to refer back later to technical documentation.
(Source: CommitStrip.com)
Your team's technical documentation might differ from what you publish externally for customers, for instance. You could provide documentation to new engineers as part of their onboarding process.
Also, having technical documentation readily available benefits developers outside of your company. If you want to outsource an integration or a piece that needs specific skills, they may need more information about how your software functions to create a custom integration.
Therefore, writing technical documentation takes time and effort. It may be helpful to think about the audience of your documentation (internal or external), what they will need from your documentation, and how they will use your information. Once you've done that, just try to avoid common documentation mistakes.
So, in conclusion, if you ever wondered why technical documentation is important if you are a b2b SaaS startup, we got your back with Archbee!
FAQ#
Frequently Asked Questions
Because for developers, your docs are the product’s interface—and often their first hands‑on experience. They use them to evaluate fit, learn, integrate, and troubleshoot without waiting on your team.
What strong docs deliver:
- Build trust fast: versioned APIs, clear limits, SLAs, and a changelog signal maturity
- Speed evaluation: quick starts, sample requests, and sandbox/test keys let devs try before talking to sales
- Reduce friction: self‑serve onboarding shortens time to value
- Cut support load: searchable how‑tos and troubleshooting deflect common tickets
- Improve adoption and retention: best practices and error guides keep users unblocked
- Boost technical SEO: pages that answer specific dev queries attract qualified traffic
What “great” looks like:
- A 10‑minute quick start that ships a working example
- Copy‑paste snippets in multiple languages
- A complete API reference with examples, error codes, auth, pagination, webhooks, and rate‑limit details
- Task‑based guides and tutorials for common jobs
- Troubleshooting playbooks and FAQs
- Nice‑to‑have but powerful: a live API console, sample apps, and Postman/SDK collections
Because doc debt compounds. Capturing decisions while they’re fresh is faster, cheaper, and more accurate than reconstructing them months later. Early docs also enable customer self‑serve and keep teams aligned.
Benefits of day‑one docs:
- Preserve decisions, architecture, and trade‑offs before they get lost in chats and PRs
- Create a shared vocabulary that aligns design, product, and engineering
- Enable early adopters to self‑serve and reduce repetitive questions
- Speed onboarding for new hires and contractors
- Turn feedback into better product and better docs as you ship
- Prepare earlier for security, compliance, and enterprise reviews
Minimum viable docs to launch with:
- Getting started and a 10‑minute quick start
- Authentication, environments, rate limits, and error handling
- Top use cases with task‑based guides
- API or SDK basics with examples
- Troubleshooting and known issues
- Changelog/release notes and a deprecations policy
Make it sustainable:
- Assign an owner per feature or area
- Use docs‑as‑code: markdown in the repo under
/docs, reviewed via PRs - Add documentation to your Definition of Done
- Keep a style guide and templates for consistency
- Set a review cadence and track metrics like time to first successful call, search success rate, and ticket deflection
Make one person accountable and everyone a contributor. Treat docs as a team sport with a clear owner and a predictable workflow.
Ownership model:
- Product or technical writer: editor‑in‑chief for structure, clarity, and consistency
- Engineers and QA: provide technical details, maintain examples, and review for accuracy
- Support and customer success: contribute FAQs, edge cases, and real‑world tips
- Design and UX: shape information architecture, diagrams, and readability
- Security and legal: own security, compliance, and policy content
Operationalizing it:
- Assign a doc owner per feature or surface area
- Adopt a docs‑as‑code workflow: markdown in a repo, PR reviews, automated link checks, and linters in CI
- Add documentation to the Definition of Done so features don’t ship without it
- Provide a style guide, templates, and snippet libraries for repeatable quality
- Schedule periodic audits to retire stale content and fill gaps
- Set SLAs for updates after changes ship (for example, within 24–72 hours)
- Track analytics like search queries with no results, time to first success, and ticket deflection
Devs treat your docs as the real interface to your product. Clear, complete docs let them assess feasibility, effort, and risk before they write production code.
What developers look for in minutes:
- A quick start that works on the first try
- Clear auth, environment setup, and example requests or SDK calls
- Error codes with causes and fixes, plus diagnostics guidance
- Operational details: limits, pagination, webhooks, idempotency, versioning policies
- Real sample payloads and test data or sandbox keys
Why it matters:
- Faster evaluation and implementation means fewer meetings and blockers
- Less guesswork yields fewer bugs and less context switching
- Better onboarding for new engineers and partners preserves institutional knowledge
The outcome: a shorter path from “hello world” to production—with fewer surprises along the way.
Because it powers every stage of the customer journey and your internal operations—and its value compounds over time.
How docs drive the business:
- Evaluation: prospects and developers self‑validate with quick starts and references
- Purchase: clear security, architecture, data flow, and compliance pages speed reviews
- Adoption: task‑based guides shorten time to first value and reduce hand‑holding
- Expansion: advanced tutorials and best practices unlock more use cases
- Retention: troubleshooting, SLAs, and reliability guides reduce churn
Operational benefits:
- Fewer support tickets and lower cost to serve
- Faster onboarding for customers, new hires, and partners
- Smoother marketplace and third‑party integrations
- Differentiation versus competitors with thin or outdated docs
Make it an asset, not a chore:
- Give docs an owner, a roadmap, and analytics
- Use a docs‑as‑code workflow so docs ship with every release
- Measure impact: time to first successful call, search success rate, doc NPS, and ticket deflection
- Review and retire stale content on a regular cadence