How do we increase developer conversion? In this session, I cover some ways to market your API, on and offline. You'll learn the major directories and marketplaces to add your API to, and how to set up your service for machine-readable discover. I also discuss Search Engine Optimization (SEO) suggestions for developer portals, and API definitions like OpenAPI Specification. Lastly, I reiterate the importance of creating and sharing evergreen knowledge.

1. API Marketing:First Comes Usability, Then Discoverability
How do we increase developer onboarding?
BILL DOERRFELD
@DoerrfeldBill
AT:
API Strategy
Conference
Nov 2, 2017

2. WHAT IS NORDIC APIS?
A international community of API practitioners and enthusiasts.
Quality events
all over the
world
High impact
blog posts
Illuminating
eBooks

3. https://nordicapis.slack.com
IN THE WORKS...
Future Nordic APIs plans
Webinars
(taking ideas)
Consulting Slack channel
Ex.

4. HOW DO WE FIND APIS?

7. Search Results for 'email API'

8. Thank you for
watching!
PRESENTED BY:
BILL
DOERRFELD
@DoerrfeldBill
AT:
APIstrat
Nov 2, 2017
That's how you discover APIs!

10. This doesn't exist ….. yet
● API Discovery: Can We Do Better?
○ APIs.guru
Mockup:

11. API Discovery is Uncertain
● Size: Over 18000 public web APIs
(ProgrammableWeb, 2017 data)
● Standards: Little consensus
● Varying Approaches: hand curation,
automated, metadata, directories,
using specifications.
● SEO: Still your biggest ally
● Word of mouth:

12. Trends: API Economy Growth
● 18,000+ APIs
● Enterprise
● Impacted sectors:
○ Business
Operations, end
user experiences,
FinTech, DevOps,
"AI," IoT, travel,
shopping, food, etc.

13. Competition: Create Unique Value

14. How do you stand out?
How to position service for discovery?
What strategies can we use?

15. 3x3-Tiered Discovery Approach
/usability
/advocacy
/evangelism
/support
/leadership
/seo
/model
/visibility
/directories
/docs
/portal
/dx
GET /marketing

16. Assumptions
1) You have an API
2) The API is a Product
3) Public API (free or $)
4) web service
5) More = = =

17. Visibility
GET /api/marketing/visibility
/usability
/advocacy
/evangelism
/support
/leadership
/seo
/model
/visibility
/directories
/docs
/portal
/dx
GET /marketing

18. Improve SEO
● A public-facing developer home page has high value.
● To improve SEO, consider:
○ Words: Make human-readable descriptions of functionality.
○ Keyword Frequency: # of target keyword(s) matters!
○ Optimization: Consumer, location, partner.
○ Segmentation: Niche landing pages per service.
○ Tools: Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
○ Content: (more on this in /advocacy )
GET /api/marketing/visibility/seo

19. Search results for: "Sentiment Analysis API"
COMPANY “TEXT” “ANALYSIS” “API”
Aylien 19 (6%) 11 (3%) 13 (4%)
AlchemyAPI 2 (1%) 2 (1%) 3 (1%)
Text Razor 2 (1%) 2 (1%) 3 (1%)
Bitext 6 (2%) 6 (2%) 20 (6%)
Saplo 11 (3%) 7 (2%) 18 (5%)
GET /api/marketing/visibility/seo
Lessons:
Balance individual
keyword frequency with
keyword variance
Landing page content
matters!
Frequency & % of target keywords in top 5 search results for Sentiment Analysis API

20. Definition
● What is the Difference Between API
Documentation, Specification, and Definition?
Resources:
GET /api/marketing/visibility/model
● Open source tooling
● Generate client
libraries, SDKs
● Generate
documentation
● Improve
discoverability

21. Discovery Format
GET /api/marketing/visibility/model
● Like
sitemap.xml
● Include in root
of server
● 2015
● low adoption
● Swagger, API
Blueprint or
RAML can use
● Reads OpenAPI
specs
● Automatically
searches
● Has API
● "copyright free
sharing and
collaborative
design of API
specifications,
interfaces and
data models."
● APIs.io API
● schemas for
structured
data
● No schema for
API model!

22. APIs.guru
The Wikipedia of APIs
● https://apis.guru/openapi-directory/
Taken from:
Directory metadata

23. ● https://apis.guru/openapi-directory/
Taken from:
APIs.guru
The Wikipedia of APIs
● https://apis.guru/openapi-directory/
Taken from:
Directory metadata
Essentially, It's a REST API to learn
about REST APIs

24. API Directories
1. ProgrammableWeb
2. RapidAPI
3. APIs.guru (OpenAPI Collection)
4. Public-APIs (Github Repo)
5. API List
6. APIs.io
7. SDKS.io
8. 8. API For That
GET /api/marketing/visibility/directories
9. IBM API Harmony
10. Any-API.com
11. API Hound
12. Hitch hq
13. Product Hunt
14. API Katalogen
15. APInf.io
16. Intent.to
Profile your API with these sites!

25. ProgrammableWeb
programmableweb.com
#1
1700 APIs
Hand curated • SDKs & libraries too • news, blogging

26. RapidAPI
rapidapi.com
#2
Mashape merged • hand curated marketplace • karma rating • track updates
500 APIs

27. APIs.guru
apis.guru/openapi-directory/
#3
500 APIs
OpenAPI spec • open source • community generated • has API

28. PublicAPIs
https://github.com/abhishekbanthia/Public-APIs
#4
Github repo • open source • hand-curated of most used
≈ 70 APIs

29. API List
http://apilist.fun/
#5
≈ 100 APIs
Hand-curated • searchable • new, small directory

30. • experimental • has API • open source search engine (coming soon?)
APIs.io
http://apis.io
#6
1100 APIs

31. SDKs.io
http://sdks.io
#7
Pulls from Github, APIs.guru, Mashape, others
30,000+ APIs/SDKs
Definition translation
SDK generation

32. API For That
http://www.apiforthat.com/
#8
hand curated • niche categories • user-provided input
600 APIs

33. IBM API Harmony
https://apiharmony-open.mybluemix.net/public
#9
APIs.guru • web crawling • user-provided input
1900 APIs

34. Any API
https://any-api.com/
#10
APIs.guru • LucyBot • test consoles
≈ 300 APIs

35. API Hound
http://apihound.com/apifinder
#11
Web crawling • difficult to navigate • comprehensive • can't add API
manually
50,000 APIs

36. Hitch
https://www.hitchhq.com/apis
#12
docs • SDKs • changelogs • profiles require Hitch account
≈ 800 APIs

37. Product Hunt
https://www.producthunt.com/
#13
Startups • San Francisco •
manually added • karma ratings
≈ 200 APIs

38. API Katalogen
http://apikatalogen.se/
#14
In Swedish • civil, open data • APIs are submitted manually
300 APIs

39. APInf
https://apinf.io
#15
API Management platform • Telco • requires sign up
163 APIs

40. Intent.to
https://inten.to/
API COMPARISON SHOPPING#16
next gen API marketplace • niche AI / machine learning • curated

41. API Directories
1. ProgrammableWeb
2. RapidAPI
3. APIs.guru (OpenAPI Collection)
4. Public-APIs (Github Repo)
5. API List
6. APIs.io
7. SDKS.io
8. 8. API For That
GET /api/marketing/visibility/directories
9. IBM API Harmony
10. Any-API.com
11. API Hound
12. Hitch hq
13. Product Hunt
14. API Katalogen
15. APInf.io
16. Intent.to
Let me know if I missed any!

42. Usability
GET /api/marketing/usability
/usability
/advocacy
/evangelism
/support
/leadership
/seo
/model
/visibility
/directories
/docs
/portal
/dx
GET /marketing

43. Improve API Documentation
● API docs: public API's best tool
● Point of sale, ongoing support
● Site architecture: 3-Columned,
● Use Definition: Quickly
generate from API definition
○ 30 Doc Solutions (see Resources)
GET /api/marketing/usability/docs
● "3 Ways to Organize Your API Developer Docs"
○ Derric Gilling, Nordic APIs
Resource:

44. Example: Scale API
GET /api/marketing/usability/docs
https://docs.scaleapi.com/

45. But docs are only part of the picture...

46. 7 Ingredients for a Superb Dev Center
● 7 Ingredients That Make Up a Superb
Developer Center
Resources:
Getting Started Guide Authentication Guide
API Documentation Testing Console
Dev Resources
(code sample, SDK, libraries)
Support Channels
Platform Policy
GET /api/marketing/usability/portal

47. Cater to All Types of Visitors
● Best Practices in API Documentation,
Smartbear
Credit:
GET /api/marketing/usability/portal

48. Have good style: Industry best practices
● API Handyman’s API Stylebook
● Zapier Engineering - "API Geriatrics"
Resources:
Endpoints:
logically map to
data model
REST vs SOAP:
Almost always
REST….GraphQL
URIs: Readable
constructions
Optimization:
Pagination,
Filtering, Ranging.
Data Formats:
JSON over XML,
YAML
Error Handling:
Human readable
responses
CRUD: Correct
HTTP verb
mapping
Hypermedia:
Powerful but
optional
Changelog: All
edits documented
Security: OAuth &
OpenIDConnect
for identity
Versioning:
"Don't" - Roy
Fielding. if u have
to, use
deprecation
headers
Timestamp:
Always use
ISO8601 format
GET /api/marketing/usability/dx

49. "The effort required to design something is
inversely proportional to the simplicity of the
result. "
-Roy Fielding
Designer of Representational State Transfer (REST)
Inspiration:
GET /api/marketing/usability/dx

50. Advocacy
GET /api/marketing/advocacy
/usability
/advocacy
/evangelism
/support
/leadership
/seo
/model
/visibility
/directories
/docs
/portal
/dx
GET /marketing

51. The API Evangelist Playbook
1. Understand userbase
2. Communicate value of product
3. Ensure program is attractive
4. Always be observing, gathering
feedback
5. Host, attend, speak at events
6. Build & maintain an online knowledge
center
7. Translate tech trends
8. Build a community of heroes
● "Day in the Life of an API Evangelist"
○ Nordic APIs
Resources:
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/evangelism

52. The evangelist routine: Day in the Life
CUSTOMER RELATIONS EVENTS SUPPORT
Social media activity Travel Respond on Stack Overflow
Authoring blog content Host webinars Dev center maintenance
Weekly newsletter Speak at events Test the API
Recognize and award hero developers Research, gather feedback Work on Github helper libraries
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/evangelism

53. "To help customers and potential users see the
value and benefit in your API to such an extent
that they themselves become evangelists for
your company."
– Liz Rush, Evangelist, Algorithmia
Primary role of a dev evangelist:
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/evangelism

54. Promotion: Where?
• API Blogs
• PW.com, API Evangelist, Dev Weekly Digest, GET
PUT POST, Nordic APIs, dZone, API2Cart
• Social channels
• Hackernews, Product Hunt, Beta List, Stackshare.io,
SubReddits.
• Conferences
• IPAs & APIs, API Strat, REST Fest, API World,
APIdays, Nordic APIs Platform Summit
● http://webapi.events/
Resources:
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/evangelism

55. Success Story: Stack Overflow
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/support
● IPinfo.io
● 250 million daily
requests
● One
StackOverflow
response
● $0 budget.

56. Form a community: Developer Relations
• Random success is rare
• Dev outreach increases:
• Awareness
• Understanding
• Share vision
• Decrease 1-1 support
• Forum, Knowledge base, code
examples, demos, use cases
• Shopify
● DevRel: How to Offer Unparalleled
Developer Outreach
Resources:
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/support

57. Thought leadership: Evergreen Content
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/leadership
• Less GIFs please
• 18 months
• Extend
• Credible
• Readable

58. "Either you own the conversation around your APIs
or someone else will."
– Kin Lane
The API Evangelist
Own the Conversation!
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/leadership

59. Or else...
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/leadership
Public apps need to own a
fully-fledged public API
presence.
Otherwise, someone else
will own it.
● Either You Own The Conversation Around
Your APIs Or Someone Else Will
○ -Kin Lane, API Evangelist
Resource:

60. 1. The way we discover APIs is important
2. Improve SEO with target keyword copy in developer
home pages & docs
3. Create an API definition
4. Leverage API discovery formats to make your API
machine readable
5. Profile your API in the growing number of API
directories
6. Own the conversation!
IN SUMMARY
How to make your API more discoverable?

61. Thanks!
Signing off...

62. Keep in touch With Nordic APIs!
• Twitter: @NordicAPIs
• Follow our blog: nordicapis.com/blog
• Bi-weekly digest: nordicapis.com/newsletter

63. FEATURED BLOG OPPORTUNITY
Consider sharing your thoughts on our blog!
• 3,000 newsletter subscribers
• 90,000 monthly visitors
• copy editing & graphic design
• Social promo
If interested, email me:
bill@nordicapis.com

64. API Discovery: 15 Ways to Find an API, Nordic APIs
http://nordicapis.com/api-discovery-15-ways-to-find-apis/
4 Methods to Make Your API Truly Discoverable, Runscope
https://blog.runscope.com/posts/4-methods-to-make-your-api-truly-discoverable
Ultimate Guide to 30+ API Documentation Solutions, Slideshare
https://www.slideshare.net/BillConradDoerrfeld/ultimate-guide-to-25-api-documentation-solutions-slideshare-01-69651002
How to Market an API, Nordic APIs
http://nordicapis.com/api-ebooks/how-to-market-an-api/
A guide to RESTful API design: 35+ must-reads, Tech Beacon
https://techbeacon.com/guide-restful-api-design-35-must-reads
Helpful Resources

65. API Marketing:First Comes Usability, Then Discoverability
How do we increase developer onboarding?
PRESENTED BY:
BILL
DOERRFELD
@DoerrfeldBill
AT:
API Strategy
Conference
Nov 2, 2017
Thanks!

66. Slides are up:
@DoerrfeldBill
https://www.slideshare.net/BillConradDoerrfeld/….

67. Some other Hidden Truths
GET /api/marketing/extra_advice
/usability
/advocacy
/evangelism
/support
/leadership
/seo
/model
/visibility
/directories
/docs
/portal
/dx
GET /marketing
/extra_advice

68. • "Convincing the Architect"
• Disseminate best practices
• Foster internal culture
• Security
• Agility
• Consistency: Style Guide
GET /api/marketing/advocacy/leadership
Internal leadership: API Intrapreneur

69. Monetization: Free Trial
• Support
developers!
• Increase integration
ease
• Scalable
• Ex. Safety Culture
GET /api/marketing/extra_advice

70. Provisioning: Release in tiers
Private PublicPartner
GET /api/marketing/extra_advice

71. "Think of APIs as an evolution...You don’t have to
boil the ocean from day one”
-John Musser, ProgrammableWeb / API Science Founder
Inspiration:
GET /api/marketing/extra_advice

72. Why consider all this?: A Balanced Release
GET /api/marketing/extra_advice