SaaS SEO: An Actionable Strategy for Growth

In this post, you’ll larn precisely however to make and instrumentality an effectual SaaS SEO strategy—step by step.

This is the aforesaid strategy we’ve utilized to turn our ain blog to implicit 1.5 cardinal integrated hunt visitors astir the satellite per month.

So if you privation to get higher Google rankings, you’ll emotion the actionable steps successful this guide.

Let’s get started.

What Is SaaS SEO?

SaaS SEO is the process of optimizing your SaaS website to amended its visibility and ranking connected hunt engines similar Google and Bing. To pull much organic traffic, leads, and customers who are funny successful the bundle solution the SaaS institution offers. 

It involves implementing antithetic SEO techniques, specified arsenic keyword research, method SEO (optimizing your tract for hunt engines and the idiosyncratic experience), and nexus gathering (gaining links that constituent to your site)—and requires a SaaS-specific approach. 

SaaS SEO tin assistance you:

• Attract imaginable customers
• Build spot and authority
• Improve conversion rates
• Reduce lawsuit acquisition costs

And more.

Why SEO Is Important for SaaS Businesses

SEO helps SaaS businesses scope and pull imaginable customers looking for bundle solutions. 

Compared to astir different types of businesses, SaaS companies trust much heavy connected their websites to showcase their products, features, benefits, pricing, and testimonials. 

Which means:

Having a high-ranking tract that provides applicable and invaluable accusation is important for generating leads, conversions, and revenue.

Here are immoderate of the main benefits of SEO for SaaS companies.

Scale Growth Exponentially

SEO tin thrust accordant and qualified integrated postulation to your site. 

Organic postulation is postulation that comes from unpaid hunt results. And it’s invaluable due to the fact that it represents visits coming from radical who are actively funny successful the topics surrounding your concern and offering.

As you make much content, your tract ranks for much keywords. And you tin pull much postulation from antithetic regions, countries, and languages. 

Which tin assistance you grow your lawsuit basal and summation your planetary presence.

Imagine this astatine scale.

The much high-quality SEO contented you create, the much postulation you'll apt drive. And this is precisely 1 of the techniques SaaS companies usage for maturation (more connected that below).

Reduce Customer Acquisition Costs

SEO tin trim lawsuit acquisition costs (CAC) and summation lawsuit beingness worth (CLV). 

CAC is the wealth you walk to get a caller customer. And CLV is the wealth you gain from a lawsuit implicit their full narration with your business. 

And SEO is 1 of the astir cost-effective strategies that little your CAC and summation your CLV.

Why? 

Because successful pay-per-click (PPC) hunt campaigns similar the 1 below, you wage for each azygous click to your website. Drive much clicks, wage much money. 

SEO, connected the different hand, is rather the opposite. The outgo per acquisition is initially high, but continuously drops arsenic maturation compounds implicit time. 

While SEO requires ongoing investment, these costs don't summation with each click.

Further reading: The ROI of SEO: How to Measure SEO ROI (With Formulas)

Convert Customers from Other Channels

SEO tin complement and heighten your different selling channels. Such arsenic societal media, email, oregon paid ads.

How?

It tin supply further touchpoints and opportunities for prospects who already admit you to interact with your brand. 

For example, you tin usage SEO to thrust postulation to high-converting pages focused connected keywords your customers are apt to hunt aft they’ve seen your Google ads and LinkedIn posts. And past usage those pages to transportation and person visitors into leads oregon customers.

How Is SaaS SEO Different?

SEO for SaaS companiesis antithetic from regular SEO successful 2 main ways:

First, SaaS SEO is each astir personas and problems. 

You request to cognize who your people customers are, what they conflict with, and however your bundle tin assistance them.

Second, SaaS SEO is often much astir conversions than traffic. 

You’re not selling a one-off product. You’re selling a semipermanent solution. So, you request to optimize your tract and contented for signups—not conscionable clicks.

How bash you bash that? 

By utilizing antithetic types of contented (like lawsuit studies, demos, and escaped trials) to amusement your prospects the worth and benefits of your software. Across the full lawsuit beingness cycle. 

SaaS SEO and the Marketing Funnel

In SaaS SEO, it’s important to recognize the antithetic stages of the marketing funnel. And however to people the close keywords for each stage.

The selling funnel is simply a exemplary that describes the lawsuit travel from consciousness to acquisition successful 3 main phases. 

And if you align your SaaS SEO strategy with the selling funnel, you tin pull much qualified leads, nurture them with applicable content, and person them into paying customers.

Let’s look astatine the antithetic types of keywords crossed the funnel. 

We’ll usage lawsuit narration absorption (CRM) bundle institution Pipedrive arsenic an example:

Top-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS 

Top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) keywords are hunt queries radical usage erstwhile they’re looking for a solution to a occupation oregon need. 

They’re not needfully alert of your merchandise oregon brand, but they are funny successful learning much astir the topic. 

For Pipedrive, a bully illustration of immoderate ToFu keywords they're ranking for are:

• “sales pipeline”
• “gross sales”
• “gross income vs nett sales”

Someone searching for these keywords isn’t looking for Pipedrive, specifically. But they’re apt moving successful income and browsing for a solution Pipedrive offers. 

The extremity down targeting ToFu keywords is to make consciousness and involvement successful your merchandise category. And to amended prospects astir the benefits of your solution. 

You should make contented that answers their questions, provides value, and builds trust. 

Some types of contented that enactment good for ToFu keywords are:

• Blog posts
• Ebooks
• Guides
• Videos

Middle-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS

Middle-of-the-funnel (MoFu) keywords are hunt queries prospects usage erstwhile they’re evaluating options and comparing features and benefits.

They’re alert a solution exists, but aren’t acceptable to bargain yet. They’re looking for much accusation and guidance to assistance them marque a decision. 

For Pipedrive, this means keywords like:

• “simple CRM”
• “CRM experience”
• “format of a concern email with an example”

The extremity down targeting MoFu keywords is to make information for your product. And to transportation prospects that your solution is the champion acceptable for their needs. 

You should make contented that showcases your product’s worth proposition, differentiators, and occurrence stories. 

Some types of contented that enactment good for MoFu keywords include:

• Case studies
• Testimonials
• Product features
• Demos

Bottom-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS

Bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) keywords are hunt queries prospects usage erstwhile they’re acceptable to bargain oregon motion up for your product. 

They cognize a solution exists, and they cognize who provides it. They conscionable request a last propulsion oregon inducement to instrumentality action. 

For Pipedrive, this means focusing connected keywords like:

• “pipedrive pricing”
• “pipedrive quickbooks integration” 
• “pipedrive forms”

The extremity down targeting BoFu keywords is to make conversions and income for your product. And to flooded immoderate objections oregon doubts your prospects mightiness have.

You tin make contented that reinforces your product’s benefits, offers discounts oregon bonuses, and provides societal impervious and guarantees. 

Some types of contented that enactment good for BoFu keywords are:

• Landing pages
• Sales pages
• FAQs

A 9-Step Plan to Create Your SaaS SEO Strategy

Here’s a step-by-step SaaS SEO strategy you tin usage to boost your integrated traffic, leads, and conversions.

1. Set Your Goals and KPIs

Setting goals and cardinal show indicators (KPIs) is the astir important portion of immoderate SEO strategy, SaaS oregon not. 

You request to person a wide thought of what you privation to execute and however you’ll measurement progress. 

First, your goals. 

Goals are the big-picture outcomes you privation to execute with SEO, specified as:

• Boosting marque consciousness and authority 
• Attracting much qualified leads and customers
• Lowering lawsuit acquisition costs and expanding lawsuit beingness value
• Educating and engaging your target audience with invaluable content

KPIs are the circumstantial metrics that amusement however good your SEO efforts are working. And however adjacent you are to your goals.

For example:

• Organic traffic: How galore radical sojourn your tract from hunt engines
• Organic conversions: How galore radical instrumentality a desired enactment connected your site. Like signing up for a escaped trial, requesting a demo, oregon subscribing to your newsletter.
• Organic rankings: How precocious your website ranks successful the hunt motor results pages (SERPs) for your people keywords
• Organic click-through complaint (CTR): The percent of radical click connected your tract successful the SERPs
• Organic bounce rate: The percent of radical who permission your tract without engaging with the content
• Organic retention rate: The percent of radical who travel backmost to your tract aft their archetypal integrated visit
• Organic revenue: How overmuch wealth your tract generates from integrated sources

Think astir your concern goals. And which KPIs tin assistance amusement your progress. It’ll assistance you person a wide consciousness of absorption and a mode to measurement success. 

Further reading: SEO KPIs: 12 KPIs for SEO to Track & Measure

2. Define Your Customer Personas

The adjacent measurement successful SaaS SEO is to fig retired who your people assemblage is.

And the champion mode to bash that is to bash probe and make customer personas.

Customer personas are fictional characters that correspond your perfect customers. They see details like:

• Demographics: age, gender, location, education, income, etc.
• Psychographics: interests, hobbies, values, attitudes, etc.
• Behaviors: online habits, hunt patterns, societal media usage, etc.
• Needs: problems, challenges, goals, desires, etc.

And they’re important for SaaS SEO.

Why?

Because they assistance you recognize who your people assemblage is, what they’re looking for, and however they marque decisions. 

Which tin assistance you make contented that matches their hunt intent, solves their problems, and guides them done the buyer’s journey.

Start by having a customer persona template you tin capable out. Like this one:

Then, usage a instrumentality similar One2Target to larn much astir your audience.

Add your domain and click “Analyze.”

The instrumentality volition supply 4 dashboards with accusation astir your audience’s demographics, socioeconomic status, behaviors, and more. 

Use this information to conception your audience. Then, disagreement prospects into antithetic groups based connected their similarities and differences. 

For example, you tin conception them by location, industry, acquisition level, budget, etc. Or a operation of characteristics.

Then, make antithetic lawsuit personas for each conception utilizing the lawsuit persona templates. 

Finally, validate and update your personas. Test them with existent customers and prospects. And get feedback from your income and lawsuit work teams. 

And update your personas regularly to bespeak immoderate changes successful your marketplace and lawsuit behavior.

3. Find Your Competitors and Analyze Their Strategies

One of the champion ways to amended your SaaS SEO show is to larn from your competitors. 

Why? 

Because they tin amusement you what works (and what doesn’t) successful your niche. So you tin capitalize connected their weaknesses and replicate their strengths. 

But however bash you find and analyse your competitors? 

Here’s how:

Open Organic Research, participate your domain name, and click “Search.”

Then, take the “Competitors” tab to spot a database of your apical integrated hunt competitors.

Click connected immoderate rival successful the illustration to larn much astir their integrated postulation trends, apical keywords, apical pages, and more. 

Then, find keywords your competitors fertile for but you presently don’t. 

To bash this, usage Keyword Gap. Enter your domain (and up to 4 rival domains) and click “Compare.”

Scroll down to the array and prime “Missing.” This volition lone amusement keywords you don’t fertile for but your competitors do. 

You tin besides behaviour a backlink spread investigation to find sites linking to your competitors but not to you. 

Open the Backlink Gap tool, adhd your domain, adhd your competitor’s domains, and click “Find prospects.”

The array beneath shows the referring domains that nonstop backlinks to the competitors you entered. 

You tin get much circumstantial accusation astir the links and URLs from each referring domain by clicking connected the drop-down arrows.

This volition amusement the domain’s Authority Score (a fig retired of 100 that indicates however reputable a tract is), anchor substance (the clickable substance utilized for the link) and people URL, the day the backlink was archetypal found, and more.

Like this:

Now, you person a database of sites you tin scope retired to for backlinks to your content. 

All of this astir apt sounds extensive. And it should beryllium extensive.

You'll privation to cognize arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable astir what's driving your competitors' strategies. Then, you tin provender this penetration into your ain roadmap.

Further reading: What Is a Competitor Analysis & How to Do It

4. Build a Keyword List Around Pain Points

One of the secrets to SaaS SEO is to recognize the problems oregon challenges your people personas have. And however your merchandise tin lick them. 

That way, you tin make contented that attracts and educates imaginable customers astatine the apical of the funnel.

Top-of-the-funnel keywords are usually informational successful nature. And often person precocious hunt volumes but debased conversion rates. 

But that’s OK. 

The extremity present is to bring radical successful to physique consciousness and spot with them. 

Here’s however you tin start: 

Brainstorm the communal questions, symptom points, oregon goals your personas person related to your merchandise oregon niche. 

For example, if you connection a income CRM bundle (like Pipedrive), you mightiness deliberation of questions like:

• How bash you physique a income pipeline?
• What is simply a income funnel?
• How bash you measurement and way a income team’s performance?

For much ideas, usage a keyword probe instrumentality similar Keyword Magic Tool. 

Open the instrumentality and participate a effect keyword from your niche. A effect keyword is simply a wide keyword you tin usage to find different keyword ideas. 

And you’ll get a array with tons of ideas based connected the keyword you entered. 

Then, click the “Intent” drop-down paper and prime “Informational.” 

This volition amusement lone keywords with informational intent (when searchers privation to find answers to circumstantial questions). 

Do this for respective effect keywords, and you’ll person a agelong database of ToFu keywords successful nary time. 

Then, you request to make contented astir these keywords that provides worth to your personas. And positions your merchandise arsenic a imaginable solution. 

Here are immoderate tips for creating top-of-the-funnel contented for your SaaS company:

• Use the keywords successful your contented title, headings, URL, meta description, and body
• Mix up your contented formats by utilizing blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, ebooks, etc.
• Use storytelling, data, statistics, and examples
• Add wide and compelling calls to enactment (CTAs) that promote your personas to instrumentality the adjacent step

By uncovering and targeting keywords based connected your personas’ challenges, you tin make contented that attracts and educates your imaginable customers and leads them to your product.

Further reading:

• How to Do Keyword Research for SEO (A Detailed 3-Step Guide)
• What Is Search Intent? A Complete Guide

5. Find Keywords for High-Value Landing Pages

As you spell down the income funnel, you request to marque definite you're targeting the close keywords for your commercialized pages.

Your commercialized pages are your merchandise and diagnostic pages—those that supply insights into what your bundle offers.

Think keywords like:

• Best income CRM
• CRM experience
• Free income CRM
• Sales pipeline absorption tools

Once you're ranking for these types of queries, you'll beryllium driving postulation that's person to converting. 

These searchers are actively looking for a solution similar the 1 that you offer, truthful you request to marque definite you're covering each bases and aren't missing retired connected presumption your personas are searching.

Find these keywords by utilizing the “Intent” filter and selecting “Commercial” successful the Keyword Magic Tool. 

Then, optimize your landing pages for these keywords. By utilizing them successful earthy and applicable ways. 

For example, see your keywords successful your leafage title, meta description, headings, subheadings, assemblage text, images, and calls to action. 

You should besides usage synonyms, variations, and related keywords to debar keyword stuffing (an outdated maneuver meant to “trick” hunt engines) and amended relevance.

6. Build Out a Comparison Keyword Plan

The adjacent measurement successful your SaaS SEO strategy is to people examination keywords. 

Essentially, "[you] vs. [them]" keywords.

Why?

Once your prospects get little down successful the income funnel, there's a bully accidental they'll beryllium comparing solutions. Hopefully, 1 of these is yours.

These examination keywords are important for a fewer reasons:

• People who hunt for these keywords are usually getting acceptable to buy—they conscionable request a small push
• They assistance amusement however your merchandise is antithetic from (and amended than) your competitors 
• They assistance pull qualified postulation and leads—these radical cognize you beryllium and are much apt to purchase

You tin besides find these keywords with the Keyword Magic Tool.

Just hunt for your merchandise name, click the “Include keywords” filter, benignant “vs,” and click “Apply.”

And you’ll get a filtered database similar this:

Once you person a database of examination keywords, make contented for them. 

Here are immoderate tips to bash that:

• Use the keywords successful your leafage title, meta description, headings and subheadings, assemblage text, and images
• Present the facts and features for some products without being overly promotional oregon negative
• Use a wide and accordant format (like a table, a list, oregon a chart) to comparison the products
• Clearly explicate however your merchandise tin lick the user’s occupation oregon conscionable their needs
• Provide a wide and compelling telephone to action, specified arsenic a escaped trial, a demo, oregon a discount

Here's a large illustration from Pipedrive that compares Pipedrive vs. HubSpot:

Even if there's debased hunt volume, it's important to seizure these lower-funnel searches that tin transportation users to convert. 

Get successful determination archetypal earlier your rival does. And if they're already targeting these queries, marque definite your leafage is better.

7. Create Better Content Than Your Competitors

Content is the backbone of immoderate SaaS maturation strategy. It helps you fertile for applicable keywords, pull qualified traffic, and person visitors into customers.

But creating contented isn’t enough. You besides request to make amended contented than your competitors.

First, you request to spot what’s already moving for them. 

Open Organic Research, participate immoderate competitor’s URL, and click “Search.” Then, caput to the “Pages” tab. 

These are each of your competitor’s pages sorted by traffic. Take a look astatine the best-performing pages and look for patterns. 

For example, consider:

• Are they mostly blog posts? Or thing different?
• Is the contented short-form oregon long?
• Do they usage tons of videos?

Use the answers to these questions to usher your contented strategy. Replicate what’s already moving successful a amended way. 

Here are immoderate tips to assistance you make amended content:

• Write for humans—not robots. Write successful a clear, conversational, and engaging tone. Use headings, bullets, images, and charts to interruption up your substance and marque it casual to scan. Avoid filler, jargon, and errors. 
• Deliver worth to your readers. Don’t conscionable transportation your merchandise oregon service. Solve your readers’ problems, and amusement them however you tin assistance them. Provide applicable tips, insights, examples, and lawsuit studies.
• Optimize your contented for hunt engines. Use your people keywords and related presumption successful your content, but don’t overdo it. Use them people and successful context. Include them successful your title, headings, URL, meta description, and representation alt text. 

Further reading: What Is Quality Content & How to Create It

8. Leverage On-Page & Technical SEO

On-page SEO (optimizing your webpages for users and hunt engines) and method SEO marque definite that your tract is fast, secure, user-friendly, and casual to crawl.

And they tin marque oregon interruption your occurrence successful SaaS SEO.

That’s wherefore you request to optimize these cardinal on-page and method SEO factors:

• Site speed. Site speed is however accelerated your website loads connected antithetic devices and browsers. It affects your idiosyncratic experience, conversion rates, and rankings.
• Mobile-friendliness. Mobile-friendliness is however good your tract adapts to antithetic surface sizes and orientations. Mobile SEO affects idiosyncratic experience, conversion rates, and rankings. So, marque definite your website is responsive, casual to navigate, and readable connected mobile devices. 
• HTTPS. HTTPS is the unafraid mentation of HTTP, the protocol that transfers information betwixt your website and your visitors. It encrypts your information and protects it from hackers and eavesdroppers. And it affects idiosyncratic trust, conversion rates, and rankings. 
• URL structure. URL structure is however your site’s pages are organized and named. And it’s a cardinal origin for idiosyncratic experience, crawlability, and rankings. Be definite that your URL operation is simple, descriptive, and consistent. 
• Meta tags. Meta tags are snippets of codification that supply accusation astir your site’s pages to hunt engines and users. They besides impact crawlability, click-through rates, and rankings. So, purpose for meta tags that are relevant, unique, and optimized.

To cheque your tract for on-page and method SEO issues, usage Site Audit. 

The instrumentality scans your tract for 140+ method tract wellness and SEO mistakes. And provides a database of issues that makes it casual to spot wherever your tract is struggling. 

Finding and fixing these issues volition assistance boost your SaaS website’s SEO performance.

Further reading: How to Perform a Complete SEO Audit

9. Earn High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are links from different websites that constituent to your website. 

They’re 1 of the astir important ranking factors for SEO. Because they awesome to hunt engines that your tract is trustworthy, authoritative, and relevant.

But not each backlinks are arsenic valuable. 

You privation to gain backlinks from reputable, relevant, and fashionable websites. These are high-quality backlinks that tin boost your SEO and thrust much postulation to your site.

And you tin gain these backlinks done link building—which includes tactics like:

• Content marketing
• Email outreach
• Broken nexus building
• Unlinked marque mentions
• PR

A large spot to commencement is with the Link Building Tool. 

Follow the Link Building Tool configuration guide to adhd your URL, the keywords you privation to fertile higher for, and your competitors. 

And the instrumentality volition amusement a agelong database of prospects you tin scope retired to for backlinks. 

Like this:

Further reading: Link Building Strategies: 8 Ways to Build Links

Ensure Your SaaS SEO Strategy Is Backed by Data

You conscionable learned however to make and execute a palmy SEO strategy for SaaS companies.

But you’re not done yet.

You request to way your performance, find retired what works and what doesn’t, and marque astute decisions based connected data.

How bash you bash that?

The reply is simple: Use the close tools.

Sign up for a free Semrush account and you’ll beryllium capable to:

• Find and people the astir invaluable keywords
• Discover rival strengths and weaknesses
• Audit and amended on-page and method SEO issues
• Create and people high-quality contented that ranks and converts
• Build and show your backlink illustration and authority
• Track and study connected your SEO performance

Plus more. 

This station was updated successful 2024. Excerpts from the archetypal nonfiction by James Brockbank may remain.