If you're here, you're probably asking yourself does my SaaS business really need an SEO strategy to scale? The answer: absolutely. SEO is one of the best and most effective marketing strategies for achieving sustainable growth and boosting conversion rates.
But SEO isn't simple, and incorporating a few keywords here and there won't do the trick. Effective SEO requires a huge, well-thought-out strategy with lots of moving parts. It needs precision, expertise, and continuous refinement - which is where so many businesses go wrong.
How do we know this?
Here at DTC SEO Agency, we have 18 years of SEO experience, generating over $74M in revenue through organic search with investments ranging from $5K to $10K per month. It's safe to say we know our stuff. Our ultimate guide will give you the tools and the know-how to master a fantastic SaaS SEO strategy and bring in that organic revenue.
Unlock your SaaS company’s SEO potential — book a private consultation today and see what we can do for your SaaS business.
We've already outlined how important a fantastic SEO strategy is for your business. But why? The answer is simple. SEO, otherwise known as search engine optimization, is what convinces search engines like Google to connect your content with people who need it. They put your content directly in front of your target audience's eyes. When they're looking for the right software to fix their problem, a good strategy means you're the business that will come up.
Here's what an effective SEO strategy can do for your B2B SaaS Business:
Yes, B2B SaaS SEO is slightly different from traditional SEO. This is because it requires a more specialized approach. Traditional SEO will focus on e-commerce and consumer products, whereas B2B SaaS SEO needs to address the complexities of marketing software solutions.
B2B SaaS companies must deliver targeted, extremely high-value content that addresses complex problems.
You may be asking, is there a difference between B2C and B2B SEO? The answer is yes; B2B (business to business) SEO is slightly trickier to master than B2C (business to customer) SEO. This is because B2C focuses on one person: the customer. In comparison, B2B SEO will likely need to target a team of people to make the same sale.
So, how does this translate to SEO? When it comes to working out your SEO strategy, you need to target an entire audience – not just one specific customer demographic.
Furthermore, as a B2B SaaS company, you have a narrow target market. It's likely your product will only appeal to a specific type of company need. Since there is only a limited number of customers, your competition is fierce. You need a strong SEO strategy to stand out from the rest.
You know that your software is the one to beat. It has all the right features that your target audience needs. But here's the thing: without a good SEO strategy, no one knows you exist. It doesn't matter if you've created the best software in the entire world. Without the right strategy in place, your website or platform won't show up on the 1st page of Google. It likely won't show up on the second or third, either.
Your perfect customer will have no choice but to go with a competitor instead. And that's not because they offer a better product than you - it's because they're actually visible.
This is where SEO comes to the rescue. An effective B2B SEO strategy will mean:
Looking to scale your SaaS business? Let’s build an SEO strategy that delivers real ROSI. Work with us today.
Any business knows the importance of tracking your Return on Investment (ROI). But have you heard of ROSI? Return on SEO Investment (ROSI) is essential.
You're probably already familiar with ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) for paid campaigns. ROSI applies the same principle when it comes to SEO — helping you quantify the value of your SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions about your growth strategy.
SEO isn’t just about rankings; it’s about the measurable impact it makes — driving qualified traffic, increasing conversions, and reducing customer acquisition costs over time.
Want to see how your SEO efforts translate into revenue? Use our SEO ROI calculator to determine your true ROSI.
Many companies choose to use paid advertising to drive traffic to their website. And although they can help you make sales, over-reliance on paid ads can actually hinder your business more than help it in the long run.
Although paid ads are great in small amounts, you need a longer-term solution that puts your target audience directly in front of your business.
If you want to make your B2B SaaS take off, there's no way around it - you need a successful SaaS SEO strategy. It's the only way to improve your search engine rankings, outperform the competition, drive organic traffic, and increase conversions. But SEO can be complicated. If you don't know where to start, it can feel overwhelming. This is why so many businesses are unable to master it.
But don't worry – we've got you covered. Our step-by-step guide will help you optimize your B2B SaaS website for SEO so you never have to over-rely on ads ever again. Here's how.
An important part of any SEO strategy is identifying your competitors. There are many reasons for this, including:
If you've dipped into the world of SEO in the past, you'll have likely heard about target keywords and backlinks. (If not, don't worry – we'll get to that later.) But before you even start thinking about creating content and reaching out to bloggers, you need to nail technical SEO. A hundred fantastically written blog posts or a master keyword research plan won't even make a dent if you haven't laid the groundwork.
A full-scale audit of your website will give you an indication of which problems might be affecting your ability to rank and what you need to fix. Here are some common themes we tend to notice with low-ranking websites.
A lot of the time, businesses assume their e-commerce platform (whether that's Shopify or WordPress) handles all that side of things for them. However, a lot of the time, the themes you use for your website aren't optimized for SEO. They might be missing elements that help search engines understand what your website is about. It's a vicious cycle; without a solid foundation in place, more and more errors can pop up - especially with third-party integrations, developer changes, and frequent updates.
A full technical SEO audit can help identify common issues that might have been slipping under the radar. Once you address these issues, you'll be on your way to higher rankings, more organic traffic, and even better conversions.
Tackling the following problems can do wonders for your website's SEO, improving your search engine rankings and user experience, which will ultimately lead to better conversion rates.
Make sure your Google Search Console is configured correctly, as this will help you identify problems Google is flagging up about your website. Google Analytics is also another great tool for providing insights into problems on your website.
All your URLs need to be SEO-friendly. If your URLs are too long, search engines like Google will struggle to understand what the page is about, which can be detrimental to your website. Your web pages might even end up ranking for the wrong keyword and bring in the wrong audience entirely.
To avoid this, use short and clear URLs to help search engines understand what the page is about. Avoid using duplicate URLs, as incorrect URL structures can actually cause Google to index the same service under multiple URLs.
Internal links are essential when it comes to on-page SEO. They power up specific pages, which, in turn, helps them perform much better. However, if your website pages are littered with broken links, this can cause a lot of harm to your SEO strategy. An audit will help you find and fix broken links.
Title tags or meta titles are important because they include relevant keywords and tell Google what your page is about. Meta descriptions do a similar job and persuade others to click on your page. It's important to ensure they're compelling and straight to the point.
When you delete a service page, this creates what is known as a "dead page" - a 404 error. These pages don't just negatively impact SEO - they also lead to a poor user experience. However, you can prevent these errors by creating a 301 redirect page, which will send them to another page.
When you're carrying out a technical audit, make sure to test the speed of your site. Slow load times can have an effect, leading to higher bound rates and, you guessed it, lower rankings. The quicker people leave your website, the more suspicious Google will become.
Even something as simple as large images and file sizes can slow down your website.
Google learns how to read and understand your page through the words on your website. If your content isn't ranking, you're probably in desperate need of a huge content overall. (We'll show you how to get that done later.)
Avoid duplicate content, as Google can penalize your website for it and stop you from ranking entirely.
After completing a full audit of their website, many SaaS companies are left with hundreds of issues. If this is the case, it's important not to get overwhelmed. Address bigger issues that are causing the most harm first, and then work your way through the rest.
Once you've mastered the technical SEO side of things, it's time to get started on your keyword research. Coming up with a keyword strategy is so important for SEO, as it:
A good keyword research strategy will help you come up with targeted content that's valuable and directly addresses what businesses are looking for. An effective keyword strategy can also help you rewrite old content, encouraging it to rank and skyrocket above your competitors.
SEO isn't just about finding high-ranking keywords - it's about finding the best keywords for your business. You may very well be tempted to go for keywords with a high search volume, but this isn't always the best choice. This is because keywords with a high search volume are so competitive that they're much harder to rank for.
Instead of going for those big keywords, we actually recommend choosing long-tail keywords of 3 - 5 words instead. These keywords double as direct search queries that businesses are searching for. And since they're not nearly as competitive as short-tail keywords, they're much easier to rank for. This means Google is quicker to recognize you as an authority in your niche. From then on, you can start to tackle those more competitive keywords your competitors will be going for.
Not sure where to start? We don't blame you - keyword research can be a mammoth task. Luckily, there are lots of tools you can use to help you find the keywords that businesses are searching for. They include:
Some keyword research tools, including the ones we mentioned above, have basic or free plans you can use to help you find a few keywords to start off. However, for a deeper dive into keyword research and user search intent, we recommend going for a paid option, as it will give you a more in-depth and comprehensive breakdown.
Creating an effective content strategy is so important to mastering SEO. It doesn't matter what type of business you own. Whether you're in the B2B SaaS space, wanting to rank for your construction company, or are looking at SEO for plastic surgeons, you need to be regularly posting content to your website – or updating existing web pages. This will remind Google that you know what you're talking about and bring new searchers directly to your website.
A blog is one of the best ways you can create high-quality content that ranks. Google wants to know how well you know your topic. By showing off your expertise through blog content, you'll be able to rank much better.
Google loves websites that are frequently updated with new and fresh content. Using keywords from your research will help you target specific search traffic and bring businesses directly to you, turning them into paying clients or customers.
In-depth information, how-to guides, and comparison articles are all fantastic examples of blog content that you can create for the B2B SaaS space. You can also use your blog to share important updates on your service and link to it from your home page.
From an audience point of view, this will show businesses you know what you're talking about, which will convince them to trust you.
With any type of business, it's important that the content you're creating is of high quality and value. However, this becomes even more important if you're a B2B SaaS company. Businesses know their stuff - they recognize value and quality when they see it. They only want to invest in the best software for their company. Creating high-quality content that aligns with the search terms your clients are looking for will show them that they can trust you.
If you post consistently, you can:
Every share, like, and comment should be music to your ears - it will show Google that people are engaging with your content and they like what they see. For example, if you're a B2B SaaS business that specializes in time and project management software, you might choose to write articles on the following topics:
Blog articles are excellent ways to link internally to your software product pages. This will send potential customers directly to your services and power up key pages, making them easier to rank in Google.
You can post a hundred blog posts but if they're not in alignment with your keyword strategy and don't provide value for the reader, then they're not going to rank or bring traffic to your website. Furthermore, higher quality and in-depth content will show Google and your readers that you're an authority in your niche - you know exactly what you're talking about. So, why wouldn't they invest in your services?
Like we mentioned earlier, SEO for B2B SaaS is complex. Most of this is because your client's problems are complex, too. They might be struggling with time management and organization within their team, or they might be looking for a way to speed up their processes.
Ideally, the solution to their problem should be your software. For instance, if you're writing an in-depth guide on "How to Improve Organization With Your Remote Team," you can also showcase your task management software.
A clear structure will improve user experience. Readers will be able to navigate your content so much easier. Use headings to break your content into manageable chunks.
For example, the title of the page should always be formatted as a Heading 1. From then, you can split the rest of the page into Headings 2, 3, and 4s. Big, long paragraphs and sections spanning thousands of words might scare your readers off.
We've mentioned the importance of internal links above, but since they're super important, here's a reminder. You can link to other blog posts, feature pages, and service pages where it makes sense within your content.
You might have heard of "keyword stuffing" before. This is exactly what it sounds like - stuffing as many keywords into your content as possible to try and make it rank.
This used to be a common practice for people trying to master SEO, but over-optimizing for keywords can actually have the opposite effect of what you want. It will send alarm bells to Google, which means your content won't rank.
To avoid keyword stuffing, only add keywords that make sense to the article. The keywords should read naturally within the content. If it sounds odd, don't put it in.
Visual elements are an essential part of your blog post, no matter how big or small it is. Visuals are so important for improving user experience and reducing bounce rates. They break up big amounts of content, which makes it easier for the reader to digest. They can also provide context to the content, highlighting key points and important statistics.
Visual elements include images, infographics, videos, and charts.
However, always remember to choose visuals that make sense within the context of the content.
You may want to write big 6000 thousand word guides that go in-depth on a certain topic. This is fantastic content for your blog, but it's important not to incorporate fluff to increase the word count - otherwise, this can bore readers and give a poor user experience.
Whether you're writing a 500-word article or a 5,000 one, always ensure the content is direct, valuable, and easy to follow.
It's so important to ensure your content is completely free from errors. Common errors include typos, grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and punctuation issues. Once again, this will improve the reader experience. Readers are less likely to trust content that's littered with errors.
"Call To Action" sections or "CTAs" are a way to encourage readers to purchase your software. Add links to your software naturally within the content. You could also include a CTA section at the end of your blog article or guide to drive revenue.
Common examples include:
One of the best ways to create high-quality content that drives value is by analyzing what your competitors are doing. Whether you're creating completely new content or updating existing blog pages, check out your competitors. Comb through their content and see what headings they're using, what sub-topics they're covering within their parent topics, and how the content is structured on the page.
However, it's important not just to copy what they're doing. The main goal with this is to make a note of what they're doing, apply it to your own content, and make it better. Ask yourself what's missing from their content. Are they over-explaining in places, or is there any way you can expand on what they're saying? Are there any key sections missing, and would including them in your own content be helpful for the reader?
By adding this step to your content strategy, you can create content that's high quality, provides value, and outperforms your competitors.
Blog posts aren't the only pages that can bring in traffic if you have a B2B SaaS company. Web pages, such as landing pages and feature pages, will also need optimization to reach their fullest potential and draw in your target audience.
Well-optimized feature pages and landing pages drive growth. Ideally, they should showcase all the different features of your software and why they stand out.
Feature pages are great because:
They sell your software to your potential customers. You can incorporate an eye-catching theme and snappy, persuasive copy that drives sales.
They're more in-depth than traditional product pages. Where product pages may have a description and features, these pages allow you to talk about the functions of your software in more detail, which means you can successfully optimize the page for Google.
When it comes to optimizing your landing or feature page content for SEO, there are still specific areas you should target in order to rank:
Link building is one of the most important parts of SEO. A good, effective link-building strategy will get other websites to link back to yours. Think of bank links as votes of confidence from trusted websites - the more websites that are linking out to you, the quicker you'll reach the top page of the search results and claim that number-one spot.
This will:
Backlinks should link to pages you want to rank. So, if you have software landing pages you want to boost the rankings of, ensure to link to these pages when you acquire your backlinks.
Before you jump straight into trying to acquire backlinks for your website, it's important to know that not all backlinks are created equal. In fact, some backlinks will be unsuitable for your website and will do more harm than good. Here are some things to consider before you start mapping out your backlink strategy:
Make sure to consider the DR or DA. Otherwise known as the Domain Rating or Domain Authority of a website, this metric is essential for gauging how high-quality the backlink is. Look for scores between 50 and 60 before you try and obtain a backlink from specific websites for your guest post.
It's always important to consider website relevance. Each of the links you manage to obtain should be relevant to your own website and software. You won’t want to target websites within the fashion niche if you provide time management software for businesses.
Good niches and areas to target for the B2B SaaS niche include:
Anchor text is the clickable text that takes the reader to your website or product page. Although the anchor text may be small (a few words at most), it's essential to help Google work out whether your link is relevant. If it isn't relevant, Google won't like it.
If you're writing a guest post on how remote teams can improve productivity in the workplace, and you include a link to your software, potential anchor text examples could be "productivity management software."
It really is that simple.
However, when it comes to mapping our anchor text, avoid over-optimization – otherwise, Google may penalize you, which won't do your rankings any favors. When writing guest posts, include a nice mix of general, branded, and targeted anchor text to be safe.
We understand that you may want to get as many backlinks as possible. However, investing in spam links or low-quality backlinks won't just drain your money - they'll ruin your rankings, too. They're a wasted link and can tank the authority you have in your niche, which can make it so much harder to rank. You need high-quality links that will contribute to the trustworthiness of your website.
It's also important to prioritize quality over quantity. Take it from us - if your website only has a few high-quality backlinks, it's much more likely to be more successful than a competitor with hundreds (or even thousands) of low-quality links.
But where do spam links come from? Once you know what you're looking for, you'll be able to identify them - and then avoid them completely. You'll likely find them from websites like Fiverr or from unsolicited emails flooding your inbox. When you find yourself facing a potential spam link, and you're not sure whether you can trust the website, ask yourself the following questions:
Not sure where to start? Here's how to acquire high-quality backlinks that will help you rank:
Foundational Links: Examples of this type of link include business and industry-specific directories and social media profiles. This type of link is basic, easy to obtain, and a great way to show Google that it can trust you.
Through Guest Posts and Niche Edits: This is a fantastic, organic way to get backlinks. Write guest articles for other websites within your area of expertise. For example, if your product is your own web hosting platform, write content for websites in the e-commerce and technology niche. Include a link that goes directly to your target page.
Linkable Assets: This type of link happens organically and naturally. Once you create high-quality content that provides value, other media outlets may choose to share it. To obtain this type of backlink, consider focusing on writing in-depth guides, reports, and studies when it comes to content. Infographics are great too, as they're very easy to share.
Callout Services: This is where you share your expertise in return for a backlink. Journalists request insights and quotes for articles from experts.
This is the goldmine of backlinks. Digital PR is where you obtain backlinks from big, well-known, and trusted publications. Think huge websites like Wired, Digital Trends, TechRadar, and other big, popular publications.
These big brands are game changers when you're trying to improve your rankings, as they:
Although these can be hard to secure, the main way to earn a backlink from a big company like this is by pitching newsworthy stories and press releases.
SEO is complex, and if you don't know where to start, it can be hugely overwhelming.
A fantastic SEO strategy comes down to having the right SEO tools and the right know-how. Luckily, you don't have to tackle SEO all on your own.
Here at DTC SEO Agency, we specialize in SEO for B2B SaaS businesses. We understand that SEO is about change and refinement. Unlike other agencies, we work in sprints, which means we can adjust your strategy to help you get the highest return on your SEO investment. Some of the services we provide include:
Optimizing Your Website - This means fixing any technical errors and ensuring your website runs smoothly.
Creating a Content Plan - We design our content plans based on thorough keyword research.
Optimizing Content - Whether we're working with existing content or coming up with entirely new content, we'll help you outrank your competitors.
Mastering Digital PR Link Building - Want backlinks from those high-quality publications we mentioned earlier? We'll secure them for you, placing you as the authority in your niche.
What works for one client might not work for another. That's why we always tailor our SEO strategies to your business. Our SEO plans are designed to drive organic traffic directly to your website and help your revenue soar.
Ready to boost your practice visibility? Book your 1-on-1 consultation (Limited spots).
B2B may be different from other types of products and services, but that doesn't mean these types of businesses don't need SEO. In fact, as we've mentioned above, SEO is crucial for a SaaS (Software as a Service) business. This is because it improves visibility, drives organic traffic, and increases conversions.
SaaS relies heavily on visibility to generate leads and reel in potential customers. By optimizing for the right keywords, SaaS businesses can generate leads who are actively searching for solutions similar to what they offer.
When you're selling to other businesses, trust is the most important thing. Businesses need to believe you're going to deliver solutions to their problems. They need software they can rely on. This is why SEO is particularly important for SaaS businesses - unlike other marketing strategies, SEO places you as an authority within your niche, building trust and credibility.
Although a fantastic SEO strategy can take your B2B SaaS business to the next level, there are still some things you need to avoid when you're optimizing a website for search engines. The following practices may actually result in penalties from Google, which can harm your rankings hugely. This is known as "black hat SEO" - which is basically where websites try to manipulate search engines to try and rank higher.
Here are a few things you should be avoiding:
Not sure what errors you're making? Book a call with us and see how we can help.