B2B SEO API: $20K in 6 Months

TL;DR

Launched enterprise API from scratch in under 2 months. Built self-service trials and POC-to-paid flow. Grew from $2K MRR at launch to $20K MRR in 6 months.

Context

SE Ranking had built massive web crawling infrastructure to power their SEO tools. The opportunity emerged to monetize this infrastructure through an API product—but there was no existing API offering.

Problem

• No existing API product offering
• Complex technical infrastructure that wasn't designed for external API access
• Needed to establish product-market fit quickly
• No self-service trial flow for developers

What I Did

1. Market Research: Analyzed API competitors and identified gaps in the market for real-time web data APIs
2. Customer Development: Conducted 30+ interviews with potential customers (AI startups, automation platforms, enterprise teams)
3. Product Strategy: Defined the API product roadmap prioritizing time-to-first-integration as the key metric
4. Technical Partnership: Collaborated closely with engineering to design API architecture for scale

Key Decisions

Self-Service First

Prioritized self-service trials over enterprise sales motions. This reduced time-to-value and let the product speak for itself.

Minimal Time-to-First-Integration

Every product decision was evaluated against this metric. Resulted in streamlined onboarding and comprehensive quickstart guides.

Technical Details

• API Architecture: RESTful APIs with rate limiting, API key authentication, and webhook callbacks
• Rate Limiting: Token bucket algorithm with tiered limits based on plan
• Authentication: API key-based with optional OAuth 2.0 for enterprise
• Webhook Design: Real-time notifications for async crawling results
• Integration Patterns: SDKs in Python, Node.js, and REST examples

Results

Lessons Learned

1. Developer experience is the product: For API products, DX determines adoption. Invested heavily in documentation and quickstart guides.
2. Self-service accelerates learning: Usage data from self-service trials provided faster feedback than enterprise pilots.