You probably understand the significance of SEO or search engine optimization as a marketer or business owner.
This goes true if you own a SAAS or software as a service business. If you’re like most people, however, you may be confused. How do you utilize SEO for this particular niche?
Luckily, some simple tips for optimizing your website and content for better search visibility can help make the process easier and less daunting.
This article will explore some tips and provide practical advice on applying them to your SAAS business.
So whether you’re just getting started with SEO or looking for ways to improve your current efforts for your SAAS business, read on for some actionable tips that will help you get results.
What is SAAS?
First things first, what does SAAS stand for?
For non-SAAS readers, SAAS is an acronym for software as a service. It’s a type of subscription software that allows users to access and use the software from a remote location.
The newer software model delivers many benefits over traditional, on-premises software. For starters, it’s much more affordable since you don’t have to pay for the software upfront. It’s also much more convenient since you can access the software anywhere with an internet connection.
While SAAS businesses have many advantages, there are also some distinctive challenges regarding SEO and ranking in the SERPs.
The biggest hurdle is that SAAS products are often complex and difficult to explain in simple terms that search engines can understand.
Additionally, since SAAS businesses are typically cloud and subscription-based, they often don’t have a lot of content on their websites since much of the product is behind a paywall. A paywall is a technology that restricts access to certain online content unless users buy a subscription.
This factor can make it challenging to rank for relevant keywords and drive organic traffic to your website.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to overcome these challenges and optimize your website for better search visibility. Let’s take a look at some steps that will help.
Step #1: Run an SEO Site Audit
Conducting an SEO site audit is the first step in any SEO campaign. Yes, even with non-SAAS businesses and websites. This audit will help you identify any technical issues that may be holding back your website’s performance in search.
Common technical issues impacting your SEO include duplicate content, broken links, errors in your sitemaps, and missing title tags or meta descriptions. You can do this by using a tool like Screaming Frog.
You can quickly fix all of these issues with the help of an experienced SEO specialist. Once you’ve identified and resolved any technical problems, you’ll be well on your way to improving your website’s search visibility.
Step #2: Find 10 Informational Keywords to Target
Now that your website is technically sound, it’s time to start thinking about the keywords you want to target. When it comes to SEO for SAAS businesses, it’s necessary to focus on informational keywords.
These are keywords that people are searching for when they want to learn more about a particular topic.
For example, offer project management software. Some informational keywords you might want to target could be “project management tips,” “how to choose a project management software,” or “project management trends.”
To find these keywords, you can use a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest. You can create a simple Google sheet to track your target keywords. Just make sure to include the keyword, the monthly search volume, and the difficulty score.
Once you’ve identified ten informational keywords to target, it’s time to start creating content around them.
Step #3: Create In-Depth SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
One of the best ways to target informational keywords is to create in-depth blog posts that are SEO-friendly. What does this mean?
Your blog posts should be well-researched, well-written, and full of information.
It would be best if you also optimized them for the keywords you’re targeting but be mindful enough not to overstuff them as well to avoid Google penalizing your website or blog.
Additionally, this means including the keyword in the title, body of the post, meta description, and even URL if possible. Don’t forget to incorporate images, videos, or infographics to break up the text and make your blog posts more engaging.
If you’re unsure how to optimize your blog posts for SEO, you can check out this guide from our blog here.
Once you’ve created a few in-depth blog posts, share them on social media and other channels to help promote them and drive traffic back to your website.
You can also use Google’s Search Console to submit your new blog post and help them get indexed more quickly.
Step 4: Create a Power Post
In addition to blogging, another excellent way to drive traffic to your website is by creating what’s known as a power post.
A power post is an in-depth blog post that’s been heavily promoted and designed to generate a ton of traffic to your website. To do this, you’ll want to start by creating an epic piece of content that’s genuinely informative and valuable to your target audience.
Once your power post is created, it’s time to start promoting it like crazy. This means sharing it on social media, emailing it to your list, and even reaching out to influencers in your industry to see if they’ll share it with their audience.
The goal is to get as many eyes on your power post as possible and drive a ton of traffic back to your website. This move will help signal to Google that your content is popular and valuable, which will, in turn, help improve your website’s search ranking.
Step #5: Produce High-Quality Links
Finally, another important ranking factor for SEO is the number of high-quality links pointing back to your website. We have been teaching you about this forever, but we don’t want you to miss out on this crucial factor for SEO ranking.
To refresh your memories, backlinks are links from other websites that point back to your website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better. And high-quality links are more important than quantity when it comes to SEO.
A few links from high-quality websites can have a much more significant impact on your search engine rankings than a large number of links from lower-quality sites. So when analyzing the quality of a backlink, here are a few things to consider:
• The website’s PageRank
This metric measures the overall authority of a website and is one of the most crucial elements in evaluating link quality.
• The relevance of the site to your own
A link from a website that’s closely related to your own will carry more weight than a link from a less relevant site.
• The Anchor text
Do you know that blue word that links to another website? That is an anchor text. This is the text that links to your website, and it should be relevant and keyword-rich for maximum effect.
There are a few ways to go about building backlinks. One is creating great content that other people want to link to. This content could be an in-depth blog post, an infographic, or even a video.
Another way to build backlinks is by reaching out to other websites in your industry and asking them to link to your content. This is known as link building and can be a bit more time-consuming, but it’s worth it if you’re serious about ranking higher on Google.
If you need assistance getting started with link building, check out this article for some pointers.
Final Thoughts
SEO for SAAS businesses can be a tough niche to crack, but it’s not impossible.
With the right strategies in place, you can start to see your website climb the ranks and attract more organic traffic.
Remember to focus on finding the ideal set of keywords for your SAAS business, creating great content, driving traffic from other channels, and building high-quality backlinks.
Do all of the above, and you will notice impressive results with your website’s SEO.
Also, do not forget to evaluate your efforts using an analytical tool like Google Analytics to ensure that you are on the right track.
Best of luck!
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