In 2010, Google made 516 algorithm changes, which increased to 1653 in 2016, and in 2018 it made 3234 algorithm changes. There isn't any data available for the past couple of years, but it is safe to bet that the number is continually going up.
So, do you think SEO is dead?
If you were to ask me, SEO isn't dying; it is transforming.
SaaS SEO strategy is the perfect balance of art and science. But how can you do it for a new website? There are specific strategies and tactics that work well with new websites, which this post will cover. So let's dive right in.
1. Focus on Keyword Research
Knowing what your customers are searching for will help you create the pages for queries that are right for your business. Many new brands make the mistake of not considering content creation important initially.
Keyword research tools like SEMRush, KWFinder, Ubersuggest, etc. can help identify a list of phrases that describe your SaaS product and its core features. You can even run keyword searches on Google and keep an eye out for automatic suggestions.
Some things you should consider in your keyword research are:
How often do people search for a particular word or phrase?
What visitors will come to your site because they searched for these keywords?
Are there multiple words and phrases that you can combine on one page (keyword optimization)?
Which phrases have higher conversion rates than others, so it's better to use them as long-tail keywords.
2. Analyze your competitors
To drive success, you need to understand your competitor's SEO strategy. For example, let's say that you've launched a platform that helps employees track their time. Think platforms like Teamwork, Zoho, Harvest, etc. as your competitors. You need to learn as much as you can about what's working for them and what's not and ultimately use this information into your roadmap.
Some of the things you can do to analyze your competitors are:
Analyze their content on social media and what type of engagement they get for it, find a correlation between engagement, post frequency, etc.
Find out which keywords each competitor ranks for in Google by going into search engine optimization tools like SEMrush or Moz (or any other tool provider). This will show you how well they rank for said keyword phrases across different SERP positions over time and recommended strategies that could help improve their ranking.
See what types of blog posts or articles they're regularly publishing to see if these align with yours and how often they publish them.
3. Build a comparison keyword strategy
Another important aspect that should be included in your keyword strategy is comparison queries. For example, Mailchimp vs. Active Campaign
Doing so will give you the opportunity to showcase yourself actively and get someone to signup to your platform. Use this strategy to persuade your customers why you are the best choice.
A few things that you should consider are:
Put together a list of your top competitors
Think about what terms and phrases our target audience would be typing into Google.
Include keywords that are specific to your industry such as " vs." or "" vs. , but also make sure you include more generic queries like "best SaaS for small businesses". Doing so will increase your chances of showing up in results pages with relevant content related to your industry
One of the best examples is that of the Pendrive page that compares their CRM with Hubspot
Image Source: Pendrive
4. Make the most of Structured Data
Usually, structured data is considered as a part of advanced SEO, but I would say that it is easy to implement and helps Google understand your website better. You can apply structured data markup to many types of page elements and it is an additional step that does not require a lot of technical knowledge.
In simple words, structured data helps search engines understand if your content is related to specific topics. This makes your website highly visible when someone searches with relevant queries. Explore the full database of structured data formats at schema.org
Here are some examples of structured data for your SaaS website:
Organization
Software App/Product
Review
News article / tech articles
FAQ/How-to
5. Promote your content to earn backlinks
Promoting your content is one of the best ways to earn backlinks. Social media, blog comments, and guest posts are all great for earning links sustainably. It also won’t jeopardize your reputation.
For SaaS businesses, some of the most effective tactics are:
Digital PR
Resource link building
Unlinked brand mentions
Broken link building
Guest posting
Being able to earn backlinks organically early-on can make all the difference between those new website owners that succeed and those who fail.
Conclusion
By using these simple strategies, you can position your brand as an authority in the industry and build trust with potential customers. SEO should be a key driver of growth for any SaaS business. The sooner you have an SEO strategy in place, the sooner you can see your organic traffic trend move upwards and increase sign-ups.