SaaS SEO: A Complete Guide for 2024 and Beyond

SaaS is evolving rapidly!

The old ways of SEO just don’t cut it anymore!

It’s time to bid bye to traditional methods like Keyword-Led SEO and embrace Content-Led SEO to thrive in the SaaS world.

In this post, we’ll explore what works and what doesn’t in SaaS SEO. Plus, learn how to craft the right SaaS SEO strategy for 2023 and beyond.

Let’s get started!

Why Traditional SEO Techniques Don’t Work for SaaS?

The world runs on a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) model catering to a wide audience. However, Business-to-Business (B2B), a subset of B2C, narrows down this audience.

For your SaaS, this audience is further narrowed down to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

Conventional SEO methods like low keyword difficulty, long-tail keywords, and off-page SEO only reach a fraction of your ICP. They fail to fully engage with the entirety of your ICP.

This makes traditional SEO techniques not the best fit for the SaaS sector.

Why SEO Is Important for SaaS Businesses?

According to our research, a typical SaaS company generates 50% of its business through Organic Search.

But remember, organic search is not a quick win! You need to establish your site’s authority and rank for relevant keywords.

Once you do, you can expect a steady stream of traffic and consequently, revenue from search engines.

Take Buffer, for example. Initially, they started off their blog on a different domain. But later, they ditched the old blog and brought everything under one roof—their main domain.

This move was all about building their domain authority.

Plus, they published top-notch content consistently with the best SEO practices.

The result? Buffer doubled their organic traffic!

More benefits of SEO in SaaS:

• It’s organic, so the customer acquisition cost is reduced.
• It helps you understand how your audiences search for your product.
• It helps you craft the right content strategy based on the user search.

Some Benchmark Metrics for SaaS SEO

The key metrics for SaaS SEO include

1. Traffic-to-Lead Conversion Rate (Traffic to Lead%): This is the percentage of website visitors who decide to give you their contact information or show interest in what you're offering.
2. Lead-to-Marketing Qualified Lead Conversion Rate (Lead to MQL%): This tells you how many of the interested people are likely good fits for your product.
3. Marketing Qualified Lead-to-Sales Qualified Lead Conversion Rate (MQL to SQL%): This is about how many of those good-fit leads are actually ready for a sales conversation.
4. Sales Qualified Lead-to-Opportunity Conversion Rate (SQL to Opp%): This measures how many of the leads ready for sales talks actually turn into real chances for making a sale.
5. Opportunity-to-Customer Conversion Rate (Opp to Customer%): This shows how many of those real chances to sell actually end up buying your product.

These metrics are crucial in understanding the effectiveness of different stages in your marketing and sales funnel—from initial interest to final purchase.

They help in pinpointing areas for improvement in the process of converting a visitor to a customer.

How to build the right SaaS SEO strategy for 2023 and beyond?

To craft an effective SaaS SEO strategy, you need 3 things:

• Deep understanding of your audience
• A keen eye on the evolving SEO trends
• A commitment to continuous improvement

With these pointers in mind, let’s dive into the step-by-step process of building a SaaS SEO strategy that’s future-proof and results-oriented.

STEP 1: Know Your Audience and Product

Find out who your ideal customer is! Then, get into your ICP’s shoes and figure out what they need, their pain points, preferences, and how they search online.

You can use research methods like surveys, interviews, data analysis, etc.

For instance, if you're offering a project management tool, understand the pain points of project managers. Use surveys, focus groups, and tools like Google Analytics to gather insights.

Once you know your audience, make sure your product meets their needs. Plus, pinpoint what makes your product stand out.

Consider these questions to better understand your audience and product:

If you need any help, Tripledart has got your back! Fill out this discovery survey and let’s talk!

Step 2: Develop the Job-to-be-Done (JTBD) Framework

Break down your customer’s journey into stages—awareness, consideration, decision, and loyalty.

At each stage, customers have different “jobs” they need to accomplish.

The JTBD framework helps us understand these jobs. It's based on the idea that customers choose products because they effectively help them complete specific tasks.

For example, with a project management tool, a manager uses it to organize tasks, track progress, and coordinate with the team. The tool is chosen because it effectively helps complete these jobs.

Other benefits of the JTBD framework:

1. It guides you in creating the right content for each stage of the customer journey.
2. It shows you what customers are looking for at each stage of their purchase.
3. It helps you create relevant theme/topic clusters and the messages to convey.

Step 3: Develop Thematic Content Strategy

Based on your JTBD analysis, identify core themes that resonate with your target audience.

Make sure the themes are closely related to your product and industry.

Plus, create content clusters around each theme.

If your product is a CRM tool, themes could include sales automation, customer data management, and user-friendly interfaces.

Clusters could be a series of blog posts on sales automation tips, how-to guides, and case studies.

This approach helps in establishing topical authority and improves your site’s internal linking structure.

Step 4: Competitive Analysis and Differentiation

What you do matters but it’s also important to know what others are up to.

Keep an eye on your competitors’ SEO moves. Look at their keyword targeting, content approach, and link-building tactics.

Find gaps in your competitors' strategies and capitalize on them.

For instance, if your competitor isn’t covering “CRM integration with social media”, that’s your opportunity.

Step 5: Keyword Research and Content Planning

In step 3, you have identified the themes for your content strategy. Now, create a keyword list for each theme.

Then, create a detailed content calendar that aligns with your themes and keyword research.

Remember, consistency is key! Regularly publishing quality content keeps your audience engaged and helps SEO.

Ahrefs.com received 11.58M visits in November 2023. Thanks to its consistency in publishing quality content.

Step 6: Assembling the Right Team

Before jumping into the team structure, let’s figure out the different elements of jobs associated with the SEO success for SaaS.

There are 4 main elements,

1. Product marketing
2. SEO (Technical, On-page & Off-page)
3. Content
4. Design & development

If you plan to produce 12 pieces of content per month, then you will need 2 writers, and each can contribute 6 pieces per month. As per our experience, the quality will be depleted if you assign more than 6 articles to a writer. 

You will need one at least 1 SEO specialist to handle the SEO side of things like Technical SEO and on-page and Off-page SEO activities. You can outsource or hire full-time developers with relevant experience related to your CMS. 

One designer to create creatives, banners and page templates to fit in the content that you gonna produce. 

Total 5 people = 1x Product marketer + 1x SEO specialist + 2x Content writer + 1x Designer + 1x Developer

Step 7: Empower Content Writers with the Right SEO Briefs

Equipping your content writers with detailed, SEO-focused briefs is crucial.

Your brief should include easy-to-follow instructions, keywords to use, and a clear idea of who the content is for and what it should achieve.

To provide more clarity, attach a Loom video link explaining the content brief. Also, encourage content writers to get on a call in case of doubts.

This way, your writers can create content that’s not only interesting to read but also ranks well in search engine results.

Step 8: Execute the Strategy with the 70/20/10 Rule

Prioritization is key for any plan to work.

But how do you prioritize your SEO efforts?

Follow the 70/20/10 rule:

70% - On-page optimization and content strategy generate 70% of results.

20% - Solid internal linking architecture, error/broken link/page load speed fixes & improvements contribute the additional 20%.

10% - The last 10% comes from quality backlinks and social media efforts.

Finally, keep monitoring, testing, and refining your SEO strategies. This continuous adaption not only helps you survive but thrive in the SaaS market.

Ready, Set, SEO!

So, there you have it! We’ve explored the ins and outs of building a strong SEO strategy for SaaS businesses.

Remember, the landscape is changing, and so are the rules. The shift from traditional keyword-led SEO to a more content-led approach is vital for staying ahead in the SaaS industry.

The key takeaways?

• Understand your audience deeply, keep a finger on the pulse of evolving SEO trends, and commit to ongoing refinement of your strategies.
  
• Whether it's through crafting content that resonates with your ideal customer or optimizing every aspect of your site, each step is a leap towards solidifying your online presence.
  
• Don't forget the 70/20/10 rule of SEO execution. Most of your efforts should focus on on-page optimization and content, supported by robust internal linking and technical fixes, topped off with backlink building and social media efforts.
  

Remember, SEO isn’t just a strategy; it’s a continuous journey of adaptation and learning. So, gear up, get your team on board, and start making your mark in the SaaS world.

Need a hand getting started? Reach out to us at Tripledart—let's collaborate to craft an SEO strategy that's not just effective but also future-proof.