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Goblin's Score

7.3

Out Of 10

"Goblin sees a portfolio that knows what it is and says it clearly, but the CTAs are ghosts and the testimonials are wallpaper—named and specific, yes, but repeated so many times they lose all weight."

ajaygupta.me

/

05 Aug, 2026

Full Report

7/10

Hero clarity

The headline 'I build products end to end, ship them, and own them long-term' is clear and different from generic freelancer copy — but 'embed with your product team OR build the whole thing solo' is two audiences, not one.

What You Got Right

  • 'Freelance engineer & product builder' paired with 9+ Years and 'Available for embedded / contract work' answers what and who quickly.

    • What's Wrong

  • The hero serves two distinct buyers (product teams and solo founders) without helping either feel directly addressed.
  • The subheadline is 35 words of good intent but buries the outcome — what does 'something real people reach for every day' actually mean for the buyer's problem?

    • 6/10

    CTA prominence

    There is one CTA in the nav ('Book a Discovery Call') but Goblin sees no CTA in the hero body itself — the fold ends with stats and no button asking you to act.

    What You Got Right

  • 'Book a Discovery Call' is specific and friction-friendly — no 'Learn more' nonsense here.

    • What's Wrong

  • The hero section has zero primary CTA button — the only above-fold CTA lives in the top nav, which is easy to miss.
  • The nav CTA competes with the logo link and two nav items, reducing its visual weight.

    • 5/10

    Value prop specificity

    The stat '9+ Years Building Products' is a credential, not an outcome — Goblin wants to know what shipping with Ajay gets you, not how long he has been doing it.

    What's Wrong

  • No concrete outcome is stated — 'something real people reach for every day' is evocative but quantifies nothing (users, revenue, time-to-ship).
  • 'AI-Assisted Design & Development' is listed as a stat badge but means nothing without a what-it-does-for-you sentence.

    • 5/10

    Trust signals

    The tech stack ticker is visible early but it signals tools, not trust — Goblin needs a client name or number above the fold, not a logo parade for libraries.

    What You Got Right

  • '9+ Years Building Products' and 'Available' status chips are honest, specific, and scannable.

    • What's Wrong

  • No client names, logos, or user counts appear above the fold or within the first scroll — Saddleback Church and Okood are buried in the work section.
  • The scrolling tech stack ticker (React, TypeScript, Supabase…) looks like trust but is just a tool list — any junior dev can use those.

    • 6/10

    Copy concreteness

    The 'About me' copy says 'non-profits to my own startups' but names neither until the work section — Goblin had to scroll to find out one of those non-profits has 8+ years of receipts.

    What You Got Right

  • '8+ years on one of the largest church apps in the US' is specific, falsifiable, and impressive — that sentence earns its place.

    • What's Wrong

  • Service descriptions ('Drop me into your codebase,' 'Bring me an idea') are evocative but contain no timelines, deliverables, or success metrics.
  • 'I care about the whole product, not just the code' is true of every competent freelancer's website — it needs a proof point, not just a declaration.

    • 8/10

    Social proof depth

    Nine named reviewers with titles and companies is legitimately good — Geoffrey Roberts, Rafi Ghazarian (Founder, Okood), Mason Doherty (Operations, The Teen Project) all check out.

    What You Got Right

  • Full name plus title plus company on every testimonial — Geoffrey Roberts, Rafi Ghazarian Founder Okood, Tomas Marin Product Manager — this is how it is done.

    • What's Wrong

  • Every testimonial praises character and quality in generic terms ('exceptional,' 'off the charts') — none states a shipped outcome or a measurable result.
  • The carousel duplicates testimonials (Geoffrey Roberts and Rafi Ghazarian appear twice each), which Goblin notices and finds suspicious even if it is a scroll loop.

    • 2/10

    Objection handling

    The page does not address a single buyer fear — no answer to 'what if you disappear mid-project,' 'what does this cost,' or 'how do I know you can handle my scale.'

    What's Wrong

  • Zero mention of contract terms, IP ownership, NDA availability, or how handoffs work if the engagement ends — these are real fears for anyone hiring a solo operator.
  • No answer to 'what if my project is more complex than you expected' — the promise to 'own it long-term' needs a what-if backstop.

    • 7/10

    Visual hierarchy

    The semantic structure is clean — h1, h2, h3 used properly, sections are distinct — but Goblin cannot verify whitespace or typographic scale without seeing the rendered page.

    What You Got Right

  • Logical heading hierarchy (h1 → h2 sections → h3 service cards) is correct and scannable in the HTML.

    • What's Wrong

  • The stats row (9+ Years, AI-Assisted, Available) sits below the hero copy with no visual anchor to a CTA — it reads like a footer for the hero, not a launchpad.
  • The tech ticker and 'About me' section follow immediately with no visual breathing room signalled in the markup — the pacing may feel rushed.

    • 6/10

    Mobile rendering

    Built in Astro with Tailwind — probably fine — but the dual-column testimonial carousels and scrolling tech ticker are the two most common mobile pain points and Goblin cannot verify them from HTML alone.

    What You Got Right

  • Astro and Tailwind as the stack strongly suggest responsive-first defaults were in play.

    • What's Wrong

  • Two parallel horizontal scrolling testimonial rows are a notorious mobile tap-target and readability failure — no evidence they collapse to single column.
  • The nav CTA ('Book a Discovery Call') at full text length may truncate or overflow on small viewports.

    • 7/10

    Page speed signals

    Astro is a genuinely fast framework with zero JS by default, and Goblin sees no bloated third-party script signals in the stripped HTML — this is probably fine.

    What You Got Right

  • Astro's static-first output and the absence of heavy JS framework signals (no React hydration markers visible) suggest a lean page.

    • What's Wrong

  • The dual scrolling testimonial carousels likely require JavaScript animation — if not deferred, they could block initial render.
  • Goblin cannot verify image optimisation (all images stripped), which is the most common speed killer on portfolio sites.

    • 7/10

    Form / CTA friction

    A direct 'Book a Discovery Call' link to an external scheduler is the lowest-friction conversion path possible — no form, no credit card, no email wall — Goblin approves of this.

    What You Got Right

  • No form, no gate, no email capture required — 'Book a Discovery Call' sends you directly to a scheduler, which is correct for a high-ticket service sale.

    • What's Wrong

  • The CTA appears in the nav and in the footer CTA section but is absent from the hero body — the moment of highest intent has no button.
  • The bottom CTA section ('Ship your product in weeks, not months') is the strongest framing on the page but is below six other sections — most visitors never reach it.

    • 1/10

    Pricing clarity

    There is no pricing, no rate range, no 'starting from,' no 'get a quote' framing — a serious buyer has zero signal about whether this is a $500 project or a $50,000 retainer.

    What's Wrong

  • No pricing page, no rate indication, no engagement model cost signal anywhere on the page — this forces every curious buyer into a discovery call just to qualify budget.
  • The three service types (Embed, Zero to One, AI Products) have no pricing tier attached — they are described identically in terms of cost commitment.

    • Priority Fixes

  • Add a primary CTA button directly inside the hero section body — the highest-intent moment on the page currently has no action to take.
  • Show pricing or at least an engagement range (e.g. 'Retainers from $X/mo, fixed-scope projects from $Y') — the complete absence of cost signals filters out no one and converts nobody.
  • Add one concrete outcome number to the hero or value prop — app downloads, users served, or a shipped timeline — so the claim of quality has a measurable anchor.

    • Things Goblin Respected

  • Nine testimonials with full name, title, and company — no anonymous 'Sarah M.' cowardice anywhere on this page.
  • 'Book a Discovery Call' is a specific, friction-free, honest CTA — Goblin did not have to suffer through a single 'Learn more.'
  • The Saddleback Church work entry ('8+ years on one of the largest church apps in the US') is the most credible single sentence on the page and earns its place.