SaaS companies are missing out on mountains of targeted organic traffic by neglecting SEO. Just ask Semrush, the #1 SEO SaaS tool that banks $125 million per year. This article explains what SaaS SEO is, why it’s important for growth, and proven strategies SaaS brands can implement.
We’ll cover specialized SaaS SEO tactics like technical audits, targeted content creation, backlink building, and leveraging data tools.
Let’s get started!
What is SaaS SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) for software as a service (SaaS) companies, also known as SaaS SEO, refers to the practices and strategies used to improve the organic visibility and ranking of SaaS websites and landing pages in search engines like Google.
Unlike traditional SEO, SaaS SEO comes with its unique challenges and opportunities that require specialized knowledge and tactics:
- SaaS products tend to be more complex and technical, making content creation and topic targeting more difficult. Identifying the right keywords that prospective users are searching for is key.
- The dynamic, ever-changing nature of SaaS platforms means URLs and site architecture need to be optimized for crawling and indexing.
- Marketing highly-targeted landing pages and leveraging product usage data can help drive more relevant organic traffic.
- Building high authority backlinks and citations specifically around SaaS keywords helps increase domain authority and boost rankings.
- Comprehensive technical SEO audits are crucial to maximizing page speed and site performance.
The goal of SaaS SEO is to help companies stand out in crowded markets, attract more qualified website visitors, reduce cost per lead/acquisition, and ultimately drive new customer conversion and revenue growth.
With the right SaaS SEO strategy and execution, companies can tap into organic search to fuel scalable and sustainable growth over the long term. The key is partnering with an agency that understands the nuances of SaaS SEO and can provide ongoing optimization based on product changes and algorithm updates.
Benefits of SaaS SEO Strategy
Implementing an effective SEO strategy provides a range of benefits that can significantly impact SaaS business growth:
Attracting Potential Customers
SEO helps drive targeted, organic traffic to your site from people already searching for your products or services. According to Optinmonster, 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. Good SEO ensures you’re visible and capturing that demand.
Building Trust and Authority
High rankings boost brand visibility and reinforce your authority in the market. 72% of customers say positive ratings and reviews increase their trust in a business. SEO builds authority signals that inspire user confidence.
Improving Conversion Rates
SEO-generated traffic converts up to 14.6% better because it consists of highly motivated users specifically searching for your offerings. Good SEO provides a steady influx of these high-quality leads.
Reducing Customer Acquisition Costs
Paid search and other lead gen tactics can be costly. SEO allows you to generate inbound leads more affordably. One study found the average cost to generate a lead through SEO was 62% lower than other methods.
SaaS SEO Agencies
A SaaS SEO agency is a company that specializes in optimizing SaaS websites and products for organic search performance. Their role is to conduct comprehensive audits, research strategic keywords, optimize content, build backlinks, and provide ongoing optimization as algorithms change.
The benefits of hiring a dedicated SaaS SEO agency include:
- Access to specialized expertise in complex SaaS SEO
- Ability to focus internal resources on core products
- An integrated SEO strategy tied to business goals
- Dedicated resources for continual optimization
- Higher ROI than attempting SEO in-house
Our Agency ticks all these boxes, NSP Global Services invests heavily in staying ahead of Google’s algorithm and leveraging the latest techniques to drive results. Look for proven experience specifically optimizing SaaS when selecting an agency.
B2B SaaS SEO
B2B SaaS SEO refers specifically to optimizing for a business rather than a consumer audience. It requires an understanding of long sales cycles, extensive research, niche keywords, and tailored content.
B2B SaaS SEO is critical because 93% of B2B purchases start with internet research. SEO generates sales-ready leads 67% more cheaply than outbound marketing. Optimized SEO also builds brand visibility and drives repeat business.
Our Agency, NSP Global Services specializes in B2B SaaS SEO ensuring your brand ranks for the niche terms business buyers are searching. NSP develops customized targeting strategies based on your ideal customer profiles.
With expertise in aligning SEO to your sales funnel, NSP can help you rank for informational keywords at the top, middle-of-funnel keywords in the middle, and highly targeted commercial keywords at the bottom. This comprehensive approach is tailored specifically to B2B SaaS SEO best practices.
SaaS SEO Checklist
A comprehensive SaaS SEO checklist contains key elements like:
- Site Audit – A technical review assessing site speed, mobile optimization, indexing issues, etc. This identifies problems impacting performance.
- Informational Keywords – Researching topic keywords potential customers use early in the buyer’s journey. Targeting these drives awareness.
- Optimized Content – Creating blogs, guides, and pages optimized for ranking key phrases. This provides value and attracts searchers.
- Power Post – An authoritative, comprehensive post targeting multiple related keywords. This helps establish your brand as an industry leader.
- Quality Backlinks – Securing links from relevant industry websites, ideally with anchor text keywords. This signals authority to search engines.
Other checklist items include on-page optimization, schema markup, competitive analysis, and conversion tracking. A comprehensive approach is key for SaaS SEO success.
SEO SaaS Tools
SEO tools are critical for SaaS companies to analyze their site’s search presence and identify areas to improve. Common professional SEO tools include:
- Ahrefs – Tracks backlinks and provides keyword research and rank tracking.
- Semrush – Features comprehensive SEO audits, competitive intelligence, and keyword research.
- Moz – Well-known for keyword research, backlink analysis, and site crawling.
- Screaming Frog – On-page analysis and crawl tool to identify technical SEO issues.
These tools play an important role in evaluating your ranking positioning, discovering keyword opportunities, tracking SEO progress, and benchmarking against competitors. They provide data to inform an effective SEO strategy.
The right tools in the hands of a professional SEO agency help maximize organic search visibility and traffic for SaaS businesses. They allow for in-depth analysis difficult to achieve manually.
SaaS SEO Statistics
SEO is critical for SaaS companies’ success. Consider these statistics:
- 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (Hubspot)
- 49.76% of all Google searches in 2020 resulted in no clicks, meaning that users either found the answer on the search engine results page (SERP) or abandoned the search. (https://searchengineland.com/49-of-all-google-searches-are-no-click-study-finds-318426)
- 70% of marketers believe that SEO is more effective than any other marketing channel for SaaS companies.
Top SaaS companies like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack invest heavily in SEO. For SaaS, organic search should be a core channel.
Wrap up
SaaS companies simply can’t thrive today without leveraging SEO. Implementing the right SEO strategy is the key to driving targeted traffic, capturing demand, and boosting brand authority.
At NSP Global Services, we live and breathe SaaS SEO. Our team of industry experts will dive deep into your business, identify your highest potential keywords, create kickass content, build high-quality links, and execute the technical optimizations needed to outrank your competitors.
Stop leaving organic search opportunities on the table. Partner with NSP to start driving rapid growth by dominating the first page of Google. Our SaaS SEO solutions get results.
FAQs
Why SaaS is the best business model?
SaaS has emerged as one of the most popular and profitable business models for several reasons. The subscription revenue model provides predictable recurring income streams. SaaS businesses can scale rapidly to serve many customers since the software is delivered through the cloud. This on-demand delivery also allows faster time to market and easier deployments. SaaS provides more flexibility for customers to access software on any device. Companies get valuable usage data to personalize and optimize the product. The pay-as-you-go pricing aligns costs to value. Overall, the recurring revenue, scalability, and data insights make SaaS a highly efficient and lucrative model.
What is the SEO strategy for SaaS website?
An effective SEO strategy for a SaaS website focuses on optimizing the site for target keywords, speed, and technical factors. It involves creating useful, keyword-optimized content and guides centered around customer pain points. Promoting content through email, social media, PR, and earning high-quality backlinks are key.
Why SaaS SEO is successful?
SEO can be highly successful for SaaS companies for several reasons. It’s effective for generating qualified, low-cost leads compared to paid ads. SEO delivers sustainable long term results as rankings and traffic keep increasing over time. It helps reinforce brand authority and thought leadership. Most competitors ignore SEO, so those who leverage it can dominate. SEO assists at both top and mid-funnel. The detailed analytics help track and optimize efforts.