How do most SaaS websites appear on Google’s first page? It’s not a coincidence – it’s a compelling mix of on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
In fact, as a SaaS owner, you can open up a new acquisition channel for your business by focusing on organic SEO.
At Pulling Off Strategies, we have helped many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses scale using search engine optimization (SEO). Check out our case studies.
This article will discuss the importance of on-page optimization for SaaS and what SaaS businesses can do regarding on-page SEO.
Why On-Page SEO For SaaS?
Is it worth the effort?
According to us, most SaaS businesses, startups, or marketers are always interested in customer acquisition and often choose pay-per-click campaigns.
But at some point, when they realize they can’t invest everything in ads, they set aside a portion of their budget for SEO strategies, including on-page SEO strategies.
The number of reasons why, as a SaaS, you should prioritize on-page SEO is because of
1) Google Rankings
Whenever customers search for something related to your solution, you ideally want your product to be at the top. The first step to achieving this is to optimize your content.
This is a way of saying to Google, “Hey, we have what these searchers want!”
The increase in organic rankings can be the difference between a no-name SaaS company and becoming a brand.
2) Brand Recognition
On-page SEO is not just about making your content friendly to algorithms, it is also about making your content trustworthy to users.
When your SaaS ranks for multiple keywords in the search results, you are not only getting clicks, but you are also getting trust from both search engines and users.
The more people see you at the top, the more people tend to recall your brand. Thus, recognition for your SaaS product
3) Customer Acquisition from Relevant Searches
As you optimize your content for the right keywords, you attract the right audience/people searching for solutions like yours.
Remember that these are not just any visitors – they are your potential customers and are more likely to convert if you implement the right kind of CRO strategies (We’re going to discuss that in later sections)
4) Improved User Experience
SaaS On-page SEO goes hand in hand with a great website user experience.
By optimizing for elements like page speed, mobile friendliness, and navigation, you’re not just easing Google but also creating engaging content that your audience will like.
Keep in mind that Good UX = Satisfied Readers = Qualified Leads = Happy Customers
5) Cost-Effective Marketing
When you choose pay-per-click for SaaS marketing, it stops performing when you run out of budget. However, with on-page SEO, once your content ranks, you get consistent target audience exposure without spending much money on marketing every month.
Thus, SaaS SEO will be cost-effective compared to other marketing channels in the long run.
On-page SEO tips in 2024 that will help you improve your SaaS
Do SaaS Keyword Research
SaaS keyword research is a different game than keyword research for a niche blog.
The whole concept of keyword research for SaaS is to target the right audience at the right time (in their buyer’s journey).
At Pulling Off Strategies, while working with SaaS websites, we take this approach of choosing keywords/topics based on the customer stages of marketing funnels:
1) ToFu (Top of The Funnel) Keywords
ToFu keywords capture those just entering the topic (and have never heard about your product). These keywords include ‘What is content management software?’ or ‘Best content management tools in 2024.’
These searchers are in the discovery stage, which is ideal for informing them about your SaaS product as they develop their needs.
2) MoFu (Middle of The Funnel) Keywords
MoFu is where it gets interesting, as people here already know/heard about your brand. This type of keyword usually has more traffic than BoFu and less competition than ToFu audience sets.
Customers here search for options using terms such as “Content management software features” or “Content management tool pricing”.
In this stage, they are considering their options, and your content must explain why you are the better option.
3) BoFu (Bottom of The Funnel) Keywords
BoFu is the stage where people are familiar with your brand and type in keywords like ‘ ‘[Your SaaS Name] vs. Competitor’ ‘or ‘Buy [specific feature] software’.
These people are ready to buy and need a little push to become your customers. Your task is to use your content to convince them to purchase from you.
Create Helpful SaaS Content For Your Users
Your content goal should be to create valuable and interesting pieces that rank and satisfy the searcher’s intent on Google.
At Pulling Off Strategies, we follow dedicated SOPs to make your content appealing to search engines and your target audience.
Usually, for your content to stand, you have to focus on these things:
1) Write for SaaS users
Try to think from the user’s perspective. What problem do they want to solve? What challenges are they facing?
Your content should address these issues head-on. Avoid using technical jargon while writing, and ensure your content is written while considering the industry nuances.
The main goal here should be to write for people (aka your key audience segments) searching for information to solve their problems.
2) Use SaaS EAT to Build Authority
EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is one way to make Google love your content.
This can be done by demonstrating your/team’s experience in the About section, backing up your claims with data, and providing real-world examples of how your SaaS solves problems.
Keep sharing your product milestones, achievements, and awards to let Google and readers trust your content.
3) Offers Your Product as a Solution
After addressing your user’s pain points, smoothly pitch your SaaS as their solution. It shouldn’t sound like you’re pitching something to them.
The only way to do that is to keep your user’s problems above your product offerings.
Within the content and on your website, you can share use cases, case studies, and any particular feature-related examples with good CTAs. This way, you’re showing the product’s value.
Note: You can outsource content to a specialized b2b content writing services like ours who knows what to write for users and search engines.
Optimize Your Content with NLP Keywords
NLP keywords are essential for your on-page SEO. These are not your primary keywords, they are phrases and terms close to what people use when they speak and type in search engines.
These are usually the common phrases in websites that rank for a particular keyword. It is also advisable to consider them an intermediate between robotics and human language.
Instead of using these NLP keywords everywhere, you should sprinkle them naturally in your content without compromising the flow of your article.
Pro tip: We use tools like SurferSEO and Neuronwriter to create a set of NLP keywords for our content.
Optimize Headers, URLs, and Meta Tags
These three elements contribute heavily to your on-page SEO for SaaS.
The best thing about optimizing them is you need a little understanding of SEO and probably a platform well-suited to make these optimizations,
Headers can be viewed as the navigation map for your content. Your H1 should be the title of your page and contain your target keyword.
For the main sections of your content, use H2s, and for the subsections, use H3s.
Pro tip: It is important to sprinkle in those juicy NLP keywords that we discussed earlier in H2’s and H3’s
2) URL Optimization
Make it brief, to the point, and keyword-based.
Your URL should look something like “yoursite.com/best-content-management-software“.
This will inform users and search engines about the context of this page.
Do not use those lengthy URLs with numbers and symbols – they are a no-no for SEO.
3) Meta Titles & Meta Descriptions
These are the first things searchers see on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) before visiting your website.
Meta titles should be less than 60 characters and contain your primary keyword. An engaging page title with the keyword in it is good enough for clicks.
For meta descriptions, use 150-170 characters that engage the readers. And remember to add a call to action!
A well-optimized meta title and meta description can increase your click-through rates by a great deal.
Use Optimized Images & Do Internal Linking
1) Optimize Images
Images are essential for SEO and help improve your reader’s page experience. The first step to image optimization is to have relevant images on the webpage.
Later, we can compress and optimize those images for SEO. This includes
- Uploading images that will complement your content and the product (Ex: Screenshots of your product)
- Minimizing image size without losing quality (preferably below 100KB).
- Using keywords in your file captions (names), for example, project-management-dashboard.jpg
- Including descriptions for images by adding the Alt text (This is very good for SEO)
- Using lazy image loading to enhance the page speed
- Uploading images in formats like WebP for faster loading
2) Internal Linking
The linking of related pages in your website helps establish a Silo structure that allows both users and search engines to navigate your content.
You can link your blog posts to products, features, and other important landing pages. While internal linking, you have to use the right anchor texts (Predominantly your target keywords) to pass on the link juice and build authority.
Internal linking is a great way to tell Google which pages on your website are the most important.
Linking to the top pages of your business can appeal to your audience or give them compelling reasons to buy your product. So, you must ensure that internal links are updated regularly to boost your website’s SEO.
Focus on Mobile Responsiveness and Web Core Vitals
Mobile Responsiveness and Web Core Vitals have become relevant and vital in the last decade for SEO. These metrics measure your site’s loading speed, navigation, user experience, etc.
Why should you care? Because Google does, big time! A site that gets these right ranks higher and makes users happy and engaged.
1) Mobile Responsiveness
It is no longer a case of designing websites for desktops only. In 2024, it’s all about creating mobile-friendly websites.
To promote this, Google introduced mobile-first indexing, meaning mobile-friendly websites were indexed first and ranked higher in SERPs.
Here are some mobile-responsive best practices we suggest for our SaaS clients:
- Use a responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes.
- Optimize images and videos for mobile viewing.
- Implement touch-friendly navigation and clear CTA buttons.
- The text does not have to be zoomed to be read.
- Test your site on different mobile devices and browsers.
2) Web Core Vitals for SEO
Web core vitals is Google’s way of measuring your site’s user experience. It mainly focuses on your page loading speed, which falls into the technical SEO side.
Here’s what you need to focus on for web core vitals:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Aim for under 2.5 seconds
- First Input Delay (FID): Keep it below 100 milliseconds
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Strive for less than 0.1
To improve these metrics, you have to:
- Improve your server response time.
- Reduce the time taken to execute JavaScript.
- Do not use large CSS animations.
- Properly size and compress images.
Let us again remind you that improving Core Web Vitals is good for SEO and increases conversion rates for your SaaS due to enhanced UX.
Tackle Content Decay For Your Website
We’ve seen countless SaaS sites lose their hard-earned rankings because they neglected their existing content.
Content decay is not about dealing with old blog posts that are no longer relevant. It’s about lost chances, visitors, and targeted customers slipping away.
Recently, we ran a content audit on this b2b SaaS client and performed basic on-page optimizations to increase its traffic by 10k+ visitors per month.
To tackle the problem of content decay just like us, here is what you need to do
1) Update Outdated Content
Do not let your content sit alone (At least the ones that are ranking on Google search)
Return to your high-traffic pages quarterly (or monthly) and update the content. By updating, we mean adding some statistics and new insights and introducing your new SaaS features.
Pro tip: Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to determine which pages are the most valuable. Constantly target pages that rank on the first and second pages of Google Search.
2) Remove Thin, Irrelevant, or Duplicate Pages
Did you know that sometimes deleting content and de-indexing it from Google can be beneficial for your website’s SEO?
There are many reasons why your content needs to be removed, like
- It has been duplicated.
- It is irrelevant in today’s context.
- It is old, and no one is searching for it.
- You’ve targeted the wrong keyword, after all.
Deleting this content or redirecting such pages to new ones helps them stay fresh in Google’s eyes. Most importantly, you’re saving Google time by not allowing it to crawl and index such pages.
You must review your site without being sentimental about poorly performing content to do it effectively. If a page is not generating traffic or sales, it is best to let it go (or) you can group related keyword topics by deleting and combining new content to guide users toward more helpful content.
3) Implement a Content Refresh Schedule
Regular content audits can alone fix this issue of content decay. As we said earlier, you can use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to carry out an audit
Or
Check with Ahrefs, SEMrush, or any other rank-tracking tool to see which keywords lost positions over time or find pages that might need any on-page optimizations.
4) Look for on-page opportunities
Include FAQ sections to answer common user queries, add required schemas, add new internal links, or optimize for featured snippets.
There are numerous ways to look for on-page opportunities in your existing content, and you can continually optimize it to rank it higher on Google.
Use Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Techniques for Your SaaS Landing Pages
CRO is always part of Good UX and often correlates with good SEO. As search engines aim to provide users with the best possible results, prioritizing CRO has become more important.
Here are some proven conversion rate optimization tips to improve your SaaS landing page usability and help with SEO.
1) Headline Optimization
Your headline is your first impression – make it count!
Here is how you can make it count:
- Focus on clear, tangible benefits of your product
- Incorporate your primary keyword naturally
- Use powerful words that trigger the emotions of your users
For instance, instead of using “AI social media manager,” “Schedule all your social media posts in less than 30 minutes a month”. This not only grabs attention but also has keywords.
2) Clear Feature Descriptions
Keep in mind that vague descriptions are conversion killers.
You have to be specific:
- Write action-oriented adjectives to explain what your SaaS does
- Use actual numbers or percentages in a given context
- Highlight unique selling points
Instead of ‘We support all the major social media platforms, ‘ try to be specific and say, ‘We are compatible with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.’
This sort of descriptions will help users understand what your product is capable of.
3) Content Structure
A good flow is not only aesthetically pleasing – it is effective.
Here’s a structure that we’ve found that works wonders for SaaS landing pages:
- Benefits section (what’s in it for the user?)
- How your product works/features (the specifics)
- Testimonials (social proof)
- Pricing (be transparent)
- FAQ section (address common concerns)
- Good CTA (offer a free trial)
This landing page content structure guides users through your content and helps search engines understand it. It’s a win-win!
4) FAQ Section
FAQs are your secret weapon for both conversions and SEO.
Here’s how to nail it:
- Use long-tail keywords as your questions
- Be specific with the information for your audience
- Use schema markup to boost your chances of getting featured snippets
Pro tip: Ask questions that your real customers are asking. Use Google’s People Also Asked (PAA) section for product-related queries.
5) Visual Content
A picture is worth a thousand words – and maybe a thousand clicks! Here’s how to make your visuals work harder:
- Use screenshots that show actual outcomes, not just features
- Include infographics to break down complex information
- Add descriptive alt text to all images (Because Google can’t see the images) for SEO and user experience
Most of these CRO techniques focus on a SaaS business’s landing pages, product pages, and pricing pages.
Implementing these CRO techniques will improve conversions and make your website easy to navigate and friendly to search engines.
Wrap Up
On-page optimization for SaaS is something most SaaS startups and even sometimes established SaaS businesses need to pay more attention to. After reading our article, we hope you got a good hang of it and can implement it on your website.
However, please remember that Google rankings are a mix of on-page and off-page SEO. Depending on your competition, you might have to be good at both.
If you want to outsource your SEO to an agency that has worked with SaaS clients before, please book a call with us