The B2B SaaS industry is growing at an incredible speed, and the competition is getting fiercer by the day. To stay afloat in this industry, you’ll need to think outside the box to establish yourself.
Unfortunately, traditional marketing techniques don’t really apply to SaaS businesses. Many customers look at advertisements negatively if they don’t perceive your service as valuable. Hence, it is necessary for you to demonstrate how your services improve their business processes.
If you’re new to this space, executing an SEO strategy can be challenging. However, we’ve highlighted the top 10 tips you can use to master SaaS SEO. Stick around till the end of the article to learn more about how you can outrank your competitors and boost your business.
What is B2B SaaS SEO?
Search engine optimization has been around for a while now and has become a big part of every organization’s marketing strategy. SEO helps brands become more visible on search engines like Google and Bing. With billions of people passing through these search engines every day, brands need to optimize their content to stay relevant.
B2B SaaS SEO works in the same way; however, it will require a little more attention to detail. B2B SaaS SEO is the process of optimizing your SaaS website to reach new clients. With more visibility on search engines, you have a chance of redirecting more organic traffic to your website. This presents you with a unique opportunity to present your services and increase revenue.
Furthermore, SEO is a great way to generate new leads without having to have large marketing budgets. It levels the playing field for established SaaS companies and newcomers if enacted properly.
Here are some tips you can implement for your business that could help you in your SaaS SEO strategy.
Top 10 Tips for SEO for B2B SaaS Businesses
Implementing SEO strategies can be tricky, especially when you are in the B2B SaaS industry. We’ve compiled a small list of the top 10 tips you can follow to make this process a lot easier.
#1 Conduct Keyword Research
One of the first steps in creating the perfect SEO strategy for your B2B SaaS business is first to conduct keyword research. These keywords and phrases are what make it easier for search engines to rank your website higher on a search. Essentially, you’re trying to match what the user is searching for so that they can reach your website.
Conducting keyword research requires a lot of effort. For starters, you can’t load your website with random keywords you found on the internet. It requires a thorough process where you will choose the right keywords based on the search volume and competition.
You can use many tools to make your keyword research a lot easier. Websites like Semrush can help you identify some of the keywords your competitors are using. You could also use Google’s keyword planner to discover popular keywords.
While finding keywords isn’t that tricky, some of them could just be too competitive. Hence, many businesses can find themselves implementing SEO strategies that just don’t work for them. This is why it is crucial for you to use long-tail keywords, which are phrases with more than three words, to ensure you don’t get run over by your competitors.
Once you’ve found the right keywords, the next step will be to optimize your website around the words. For example, you will need to optimize your landing page with the keywords since it is the very first-page new traffic will see.
#2 Create High-Quality Content
There is more to SEO optimization than just adding keywords to your website. One of the most crucial factors of B2B SaaS SEO is having high-quality content on your website for viewers to go through. Here’s why creating the right content is essential for this marketing strategy.
Think about a physical store that isn’t built properly; would you really want to shop over there? The same idea goes for your B2B SaaS business. Your website is your store, and it needs to have high-quality content for your clients. Moreover, your clients should be able to see the value in your services when they skim through your website.
This leads us to the next part: what makes content good? Well, for starters, the content you have on your website should be informative. Providing valuable information to readers without unnecessary fluff could help you rank higher on search engines. Furthermore, you could also use compelling headlines to grab the viewers’ attention. Focus on your meta description to reel in traffic to your website.
Search engines often look for complete websites that have valuable content to rank higher on their searches. Thus, the content must be engaging and relevant, so the target audience appreciates it.
#3 Optimize Website Structure and Navigation
Imagine stumbling across a website that doesn’t have a user-friendly interface. You try to find what you’re looking for, except the navigation isn’t really helpful. We’ve all been there before, and this is something you need to work on to make your website more SEO-friendly.
Search engines rank websites based on their website structure and navigation. They do this by skimming through each component of your page, and this process is known as crawling. If your website is easy to navigate, search engines can crawl through them easier; thus, your page may rank higher than your competitors.
The easiest way to think about this process is by looking at a book. Each section is easy to navigate since the index mentions the exact page number of the contents. Similarly, your content should be easily accessible through the navigation tab, and you can do that by creating broad categories for your visitors to skim through.
Next, search engines will also consider your content structure while crawling through your website. Dividing your content into categories and further sub-categories will help you improve your ranking in the long run. Lastly, remember your target audience is businesses that don’t have much time to navigate through a scattered website.
#4 Build Backlinks
Backlinks are an important tool to any SEO strategy, and they’re a great way of diverting organic traffic toward your website. If you’ve skimmed through an article recently, you may have encountered a backlink, a link that is created when another website links to yours.
Backlinks are a great way to build trust in your business. If a lot of websites are vouching for your services, more people are likely to trust your offerings. Similarly, search engines rank websites they deem trustworthy higher. One of the major factors search engines will look at is the number of sites that link to yours.
However, one thing to remember is that not all backlinks hold the same weight. For example, earning a backlink from a spammy website isn’t desirable, which means you can’t rely on them. Furthermore, a backlink has to be placed properly for a search engine to consider it. You can receive a lot of traction on your page if it is featured on a high-quality website.
While backlinks require a lot of effort to earn, they can provide your business with a much-needed boost. There are various tools you can use to make your backlinks more competitive. Finally, have a look at your competitors’ websites to get a perspective of what works in your industry.
#5 Leverage Social Media
While social media and SEO aren’t directly linked, improving your social media presence can have a big impact on improving your website’s presence. Search engines won’t scroll through your social media to rank you higher; however, similar to backlinks, your posts may include links that enhance your exposure.
One of the best ways to establish yourself in the B2B SaaS industry is by creating top-quality content for your services. If you publish high-quality content, you’re more likely to be approached by businesses who are looking for your services. Your content helps build trust among the viewers; hence, you should consider refreshing your social media presence.
If your website is featured on social media posts and receives a lot of attention, there is a big chance this traffic will divert to you. This could help you get more backlinks, which could, in turn, influence your social media rankings.
The last thing you should consider is the platform you run your social media campaign on. Since you’re focusing on businesses, LinkedIn may be a great place to generate new leads. The platform has a large presence of professionals, which could help you reach businesses that require your services.
#6 Use KPIs to Measure Success
A major problem B2B SaaS companies face when they plan an SEO campaign is the inability to measure their performance. Since SEO doesn’t translate into sales immediately, it could be tough to tell whether your campaign is really effective. How can you be sure that your efforts will deliver the results you’re looking for?
Hence, the best way to track any SaaS SEO campaign’s effectiveness is by setting the right key performance indicators. KPIs are metrics that help you determine different parameters of your marketing campaign. For instance, you can measure a marketing campaign’s viewership by the number of impressions it receives.
Picking the right KPIs can be tricky. For example, if your metrics aren’t specific, there is a big chance your data will have a lot of noise, which means that random variables will influence it. You can avoid this by being clear about what each KPI is measuring.
Lastly, the best way to pick your KPIs is by making sure they’re SMART. Check out what that means below.
- Specific: clarify what the KPI is aiming to measure.
- Measurable: the factor you’re trying to study should be measurable.
- Attainable: be realistic with your targets; you should be able to deliver the KPI.
- Relevant: only count KPIs that matter and improve performance.
- Time-bound: the KPI should be achievable in a realistic timeframe.
#7 Keep Up-to-Date with SEO Trends
The most challenging part of implementing a SaaS SEO strategy is keeping up-to-date with the latest trends. The SEO space is ever-evolving, and marketers are researching countless ways to one-up each other. In this case, you can’t afford to be complacent, or you risk letting your resources go in vain.
Search engine operators constantly update their algorithms, which makes it harder for you to determine what factors influence ranking. When they upgrade their system, you’ll need to tweak your strategies so they remain compatible with the algorithms. Luckily, the tweaks are often minor and won’t require a lot of effort.
The best way you can ensure your B2B SaaS strategy is relevant is by staying updated with the latest updates. There are countless SEO blogs on the internet that scour search engines and notify users of any updates. Subscribing to their newsletters can help you stay updated if any changes occur.
#8 Hire an SEO Expert
If you’re looking for ways to improve your presence online, you may want to consider hiring an SEO expert. You see, sometimes it is better to leave complex tasks to the professionals. Search engine optimization requires you to make well-researched strategies, and for beginners, it’s easy to lose track.
In today’s digital age, you shouldn’t take SEO lightly. An SEO expert can help you develop in certain areas that you would not have been able to do on your own. Firstly, these experts know how to optimize your content to make it more friendly for search engines. As we mentioned earlier, having the right keywords and structure is crucial for a top ranking on search engines.
Furthermore, an SEO expert can help you create the necessary backlinks you need to build trust in your website. As stated earlier, this strategy requires a long time since obtaining these links can be challenging. However, an expert can reduce this time, helping you acquire links quickly.
Lastly, to rank higher on search engines, your website’s on-page SEO and navigation need to be appropriate. An SEO expert can help audit your website and find shortcomings. They can also resolve these issues in a timely manner, so you don’t have to face any penalties from search engines.
#9 Use Structured Data Markup
So, this may seem complicated, but it is a crucial tip for optimizing your B2B business. Structured data is any data that is organized. Search engines look for structured data to understand specific information about a website.
The phrase markup means optimizing your data code so that it is friendly for search engines to read. Essentially, it Is a computing language, like HTML, that you will need to use so that search engines can display your content attractively.
This information isn’t visible to your visitors; however, it can be seen by search engines and is a crucial part of any SEO strategy. Using structured data markup helps search engines understand what the content and images on your platform mean. This helps it display the content when a user searches for a phrase similar to it.
Lastly, while there are many types of structured data, Google prefers to use JSON-LD. You could try using other types of data; however, they could be complicated to understand and use. Developers can easily edit the script, and it can be placed anywhere in the code.
#10 Optimize for Local Search
The last tip we’d recommend is implementing local SEO for your business. It is one of the best SEO strategies for new businesses. While the B2B SaaS industry has the potential to provide services to clients across the world, most clients will prefer to work with local businesses to reach out in case of emergencies.
Hence, one of the best ways of reaching new clients is to optimize the content on your webpage to support local pages. There are multiple ways to do so, including conducting local keyword research to see what users near you are searching.
You could also identify geo-specific keywords. For example, if you run an online digital marketing agency in New York, you can find specific keywords that have the location attached to the word or phrase. An example of a geo-specific keyword is “Digital Marketing Agency Manhattan.” Also, since this keyword has more than three words, it also counts as a long tail. Remember, we talked about what long-tail keywords were earlier in this article!
In addition to that, you could also create a localized landing page to better suit visitors located in a specific area. Loading the landing page with geo-specific keywords and content that is relevant to your visitors could help you generate a ton of leads. Ensure your content is broken down into H1, H2, and H3 headings and has plenty of images for the perfect structure.
Why is B2B SaaS SEO Important?
If you’re operating in the B2B space, you know most businesses don’t have time to waste. Most businesses will not go out of their way to compare different SaaS providers if they can find the best ones on the front page of a search engine. Since businesses are likely to start their research from a search engine, your website has to be visible for it to be found.
If you truly believe in your product and know it provides value to your customers, the only thing you need to do is reach your customers. One of the best ways to do that is by implementing an SEO strategy to reach potential clients.
SaaS SEO goes further than just implementing the right keywords. You will need to make your website more attractive, the content relevant, and improve the navigation for a search engine to rank you higher.
Once you’ve implemented an effective strategy, you can expect your website to rank higher in searches, helping you generate leads. Furthermore, since the traffic is organic and is searching for the service you’re providing, you will have managed to reach your target audience.
Benefits of B2B SaaS SEO
A B2B SaaS SEO strategy is a cost-effective way of reaching potential customers. If someone searches for a service you provide on a search engine, an SEO strategy could help your webpage rank higher. Numerous sources have discovered that people are more likely to click on and trust websites that appear on the front page of a search.
Here are some of the benefits of implementing B2B SaaS SEO in your business:
Improve Visibility
B2B SaaS SEO can help improve your visibility by making you rank higher on search engine results. When you implement the right SEO strategy, your website becomes more attractive to search engines, helping your page reach top rankings. Remember, users are more likely to click on the front-page results than they are on any other page!
Drive Organic Traffic
SaaS SEO is one of the best ways to market to individuals who will need your product. Targeted marketing campaigns are difficult with traditional methods since your advertisements are seen by everyone.
Instead, an SEO campaign will help your website appear on searches that match your service’s description, which could help you drive more organic traffic to your website.
Build Credibility
When a user goes to a search engine, they usually trust the results that appear on the front page. If your website ranks higher on search engine results pages, there is a high chance your service will be viewed as more credible than those ranked below you.
Since your ranking is perceived as your credibility, there is a high chance this will translate into more sales!
Conclusion
Implementing the right SaaS SEO strategies can be difficult for newcomers. If you’re struggling to establish your SaaS business, don’t worry! The best way to fix this problem is by tweaking your strategy to ensure you’re following the best SEO practices.
This article covered the top 10 tips you can follow to improve your SEO strategies. Since this industry has a lot of competition, you’ll need to bring out your A-game and pursue a SEO strategy that can drive a lot of traffic to your webpage.
