Did you know that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine?
For SaaS businesses, this means your potential customers are already searching—your job is to make sure they find your product first.
But, in a competitive world of SaaS, getting noticed online isn’t easy—especially when hundreds of other companies are fighting for your audience’s attention.
If you’ve ever wondered why some SaaS brands dominate Google’s first page while others struggle, the answer is often a robust SEO strategy.
Good news!
SaaS SEO isn’t a wizardry that you need to go to Hogwarts for.
It’s a practical, step-by-step approach that focuses on understanding your audience, creating content they genuinely care about, and optimizing your website in ways that search engines love.
And that, is what we’ll demystify today.
Key Takeaways:
- Invest in SaaS Keyword Research: Understand your audience’s pain points and use the data insights to target high-value keywords.
- Leverage SaaS SEO Tools: The right SaaS SEO tools help streamline your strategy through competitor analysis to technical audits.
- Audit Technical SEO Regularly: Conducting frequent SaaS SEO audits ensure your site remains fast, mobile-friendly, and error free for best user experience.
- Consider Expert Support: Partnering with a SaaS SEO consultant or a specialized SEO company can fast-track your results and uncover hidden growth opportunities.
- Optimize for the Entire Funnel: A winning SaaS marketing strategy includes creating content for every stage—attracting prospects, nurturing leads, and driving conversions.
- Build Authority with Backlinks: Collaborate with a reputable link building firm to secure quality backlinks for your SaaS product.
What Is SaaS SEO?
SaaS SEO is the process of optimizing your SaaS website to improve its visibility and rankings on search engines like Google and Bing.
It involves implementing different SEO techniques, such as keyword research, technical SEO (optimizing your site for search engines and the user experience), and link building (gaining links that point to your site)—and requires a SaaS-specific approach.
Why SEO is Important for SaaS Businesses
SEO helps you reach and attract potential customers looking for software solutions like yours. Whether you do it yourself or work with a SaaS SEO agency.
For both B2C and B2B SaaS, SEO efforts can help you:
- Attract potential customers
- Build trust and authority
- Improve conversion rates
- Reduce customer acquisition costs
Compared to most other types of businesses, SaaS companies rely more heavily on their websites to showcase their products, features, benefits, pricing, and testimonials.
When planning to craft the best SaaS marketing campaign, aligning your SaaS marketing strategies with a robust SEO foundation amplifies results.
A well-crafted SaaS product marketing strategy ensures your content resonates with your target audience and ranks high on search engines.
Here are some of the main benefits of SEO for SaaS companies:
- Long Sales Cycles: SaaS products typically involve longer decision-making processes. Effective B2B SaaS SEO ensures your content ranks high throughout every stage of the buyer’s journey.
- High Competition: The SaaS space is crowded. Ranking well helps you stay ahead of competitors vying for the same audience.
- Cost Efficiency: Compared to paid ads, organic traffic generated through SEO provides sustainable growth at a lower cost over time.
- Scale Growth Exponentially: SEO can drive consistent and qualified organic traffic to your site—traffic that comes from unpaid search results. For B2B SaaS SEO, this is a game-changer. The more high-quality, search-optimized content you publish, the more traffic—and qualified leads—you drive over time.
- Reduce Customer Acquisition Costs: SEO can reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC) and increase customer lifetime value (CLV). CAC is the money you spend to acquire a new customer. While CLV is the money you earn from a customer over their entire relationship with your business.
- Convert Customers from Other Channels: SEO can complement and enhance your other marketing channels. Such as social media, email, and paid ads.
How Is SaaS SEO Different from Traditional SEO?
SEO for SaaS companies is a bit different from regular SEO in two main ways:
First, SaaS SEO is all about personas and problems.
You need to know who your target customers are, what they struggle with, and how your software can help them.
Second, SaaS (particularly B2B SaaS) SEO is often more about conversions than traffic.
You’re not selling a one-off product. You’re selling a long-term solution. So, you need to optimize your site and content for sign-ups—not just clicks.
How do you do that?
By using different types of content (like case studies, demos, and free trials) to show your prospects your software’s value and benefits. Across the entire customer life cycle.
SaaS SEO and the Marketing Funnel
In SaaS SEO, it’s important to understand the different stages of the marketing funnel and how to target the right keywords for each stage.
The marketing funnel is a model that describes the customer journey from awareness to purchase in three main phases.
And if you align your SaaS SEO strategy with the marketing funnel, you can attract more qualified leads, nurture them with relevant content, and convert them into paying customers.
Let’s look at the different types of keywords across the funnel.
We’ll use customer relationship management (CRM) software company Pipedrive as an example:
Top-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS
Top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) keywords are search queries people use when they’re looking for a solution to a problem or need.
They’re not necessarily aware of your product or brand, but they are interested in learning more about the topic.
For Pipedrive, a good example of some ToFu keywords they’re ranking for are:
- “sales pipeline”
- “gross sales”
- “gross sales vs net sales”

Someone searching for these keywords isn’t looking for Pipedrive, specifically. But they’re likely working in sales and browsing for a solution Pipedrive offers.
The point of targeting ToFu keywords is to generate awareness and interest in your product category. And to educate prospects about the benefits of your solution.
You should create content that answers their questions, provides value, and builds trust.
Some types of content that work well for ToFu keywords are:
- Blog posts
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Videos
Middle-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS
Middle-of-the-funnel (MoFu) keywords are search queries prospects use when they’re evaluating options and comparing features and benefits.
They’re aware a solution exists, but they aren’t ready to buy yet. They’re looking for more information and guidance to help them make a decision.
For Pipedrive, this means keywords like:
- “simple crm”
- “crm experience”
- “format of a business emails with an example”

The point of targeting MoFu keywords is to generate consideration for your product. And to persuade prospects that your solution is the best fit for their needs.
You should create content that showcases your product’s value proposition, differentiators, and success stories.
Some types of content that work well for MoFu keywords include:
- Case studies
- Testimonials
- Product features
- Demos
Bottom-of-the-Funnel Keywords for SaaS
Bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) keywords are search queries prospects use when they’re ready to buy or sign up for your product.
They know a solution exists, and they know who provides it. They just need a final push or incentive to take action.
For Pipedrive, this means focusing on keywords like:
- “pipedrive pricing”
- “pipedrive quickbooks integration”
- “pipedrive forms”

The point of targeting BoFu keywords is to generate conversions and sales for your product. And to overcome any objections or doubts your prospects might have.
You can create content that reinforces your product’s benefits, offers discounts or bonuses, and provides social proof and guarantees.
Some types of content that work well for BoFu keywords are:
- Landing pages
- Sales pages
- FAQs
Piecing Together the Entire Marketing Funnel
Keep in mind that there will always be people at different stages of the customer journey. And the journey isn’t always linear.
Some prospects might be in the BoFu stage, but then go back to some of your ToFu content to learn more about a high-level topic. Or, be in the ToFu stage but ready to purchase soon after.
The key is creating content that connects these different stages. So prospects can move forward at their own pace.
For example, this article focused on “sales pipeline” covers the basics and establishes Pipedrive as an authority on the topic.

Within the article, they have internal links to other valuable content. And also include a form that allows users to download a guide in exchange for their contact information. To convert them into leads.

They also give a prominent spotlight to their own solution.

Finally, interested readers who want to rapidly move through the funnel are just a click away from signing up for a free trial.

By strategically connecting your content across the funnel, you’re better able to guide prospects toward becoming paying customers.
A 9-Step Plan to Create Your SaaS SEO Strategy
Here’s a step-by-step SaaS SEO strategy you can use to boost your organic traffic, leads, and conversions.
1. Set Your Goals and KPIs
Setting goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) is the most important part of any SEO strategy, SaaS or not.
You need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you’ll measure progress.
First, your goals.
Goals are the big-picture outcomes you want to achieve with SEO, such as:
- Boosting brand awareness and authority
- Attracting more qualified leads and customers
- Lowering customer acquisition costs and increasing customer lifetime value
- Educating and engaging your target audience with valuable content
Second are KPIs.
KPIs are the specific metrics that show how well your SEO efforts are working. And how close you are to your goals.
For example:
- Organic traffic: How many visits your site gets from search engines
- Organic conversions: How many people take a desired action on your site. Like signing up for a free trial, requesting a demo, or subscribing to your newsletter.
- Organic rankings: How high your website ranks in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for your target keywords
- Organic click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of clicks on your site in the SERPs
- Organic bounce rate: The percentage of visits that end without engaging with your content
- Organic retention rate: The percentage of people who come back to your site after their first organic visit
- Organic revenue: How much money your site generates from organic traffic
Think about your business goals. And which KPIs can help show your progress. It’ll help you have a clear sense of direction and a way to measure success.
2. Define Your Customer Personas
The next step in SaaS SEO is to figure out who your target audience is.
And the best way to do that is to run research and create customer personas.
Customer personas are fictional characters that represent your ideal customers. And include details like:
- Demographics: age, gender, location, education, income, etc.
- Psychographics: interests, hobbies, values, attitudes, etc.
- Behaviors: online habits, search patterns, social media usage, etc.
- Needs: problems, challenges, goals, desires, etc.
Why are these important for SaaS SEO?
Because they allow you to understand who your target audience is, what they’re looking for, and how they make decisions.
Which helps you create content that matches their search intent (the purpose behind their query), solves their problems, and guides them through the buyer’s journey.
Start by using a customer persona template to organize key details. You can download a free editable template here to get started.
Then, use a tool like One2Target, BuzzSumo, or Owler to learn more about your audience.
These tools will provide insights with information about your audience’s demographics, socioeconomic status, behaviors, and more.
Use the data to segment your audience.
Then, divide prospects into different groups based on their similarities and differences.
For example, create segments by location, industry, education level, budget, etc. Or a combination of characteristics.
Next, create a different customer persona for each segment using the templates.
Finally, validate your personas and test them with real customers and prospects. Do get feedback from your sales and customer service teams.
And update your personas regularly to reflect any changes in your market and target customer behavior.
3. Find Your Competitors and Analyze Their Strategies
One of the best ways to improve your SaaS SEO performance is to learn from your competitors.
They can show you what does and doesn’t work in your niche. So you can capitalize on their weaknesses and replicate their strengths.
Competitor research tools like Semrush or Ahrefs do this very well. These tools can find your competitors based on the keywords you want to target and reveal the contents, pages, keywords that are working for them (we used Semrush here).


You can even compare domains and find keywords and backlinks gaps to work on.

All of this probably sounds extensive.
And it should be extensive!
You’ll want to know as much as possible about what’s driving your competitors’ strategies, then feed this insight into your own roadmap.
4. Build a Keyword List Around Pain Points
One of the secrets to SaaS SEO is to understand the problems or challenges your target personas have. And how your product can solve them.
That way, you can create content that attracts and educates potential customers at the top of the funnel.
Top-of-the-funnel keywords are usually informational in nature. And often have high search volumes but low conversion rates.
But that’s OK.
The goal now is to bring people in to build awareness and trust with them.
Here’s how you can start:
Brainstorm the common questions, pain points, or goals your personas have related to your product or niche.
For example, if you offer a sales CRM software (like Pipedrive), you might think of questions like:
- How do you build a sales pipeline?
- What is a sales funnel?
- How do you measure and track a sales team’s performance?
For more ideas, use the Keyword Magic Tool.
Open the tool and enter a seed keyword from your niche. A seed keyword is a broad keyword you can use to find other keyword ideas.
And you’ll get a table with tons of ideas based on the keyword you entered.

Then, click the “Intent” drop-down menu and select “Informational.”
This will show only keywords with informational intent (when searchers want to find answers to questions).

Do this for several seed keywords, and you’ll have a long list of ToFu keywords in no time.
Then, you need to create content that provides value to your personas based on these keywords. And that positions your product as a potential solution.
Here are some tips for creating top-of-the-funnel content for your SaaS company:
- Use the keywords in your content title, headings, URL, meta description, and body
- Use storytelling, data, statistics, and examples
- Add clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) that encourage your personas to take the next step
To streamline your content creation process and ensure it’s optimized for both readers and search engines, use Semrush’s or Ahrefs SEO Writing Assistant tool.
Just write (or copy and paste) your text in the editor. And the tool will assess your content in real-time for SEO, tone of voice, readability, and originality.
If you get stuck, use the AI-powered Smart Writer features to help reword sections, generate new content, or come up with ideas.

Once you’re done, you can move the article forward in your editing process. Or publish it directly to your WordPress site.
By creating content focused on your personas’ challenges like this, you can educate your potential customers and lead them to your product.
5. Find Keywords for High-Value Landing Pages
As you go down the sales funnel, you need to make sure you’re targeting the right keywords for your commercial pages.
Your commercial pages are your product and feature pages—those that provide insights into what your software offers.
Think keywords like:
- “best sales crm”
- “crm experience”
- “free sales crm”
- “sales pipeline management tools”
Once you’re ranking for these types of queries, you’ll be able to drive more traffic that’s closer to converting.
These searchers are actively looking for a solution like the one you offer. So, you need to make sure you’re covering all bases and aren’t missing out on terms your personas are searching.
Find these keywords by using the “Intent” filter and selecting the box next to “Commercial” in the Keyword Magic Tool.
Then, optimize your landing pages for these keywords. By using them in natural and relevant ways.
For example, include your keywords in your page title, meta description, headings, subheadings, body text, images, and calls to action.
You should also use synonyms, variations, and related keywords to avoid keyword stuffing (an outdated tactic meant to “trick” search engines) and improve relevance.
This is all easy to do with Semrush’s, Ahrefs or SE ranking On-Page SEO Checker.
Follow the steps to configure the tool. And be sure to use the “Manually” tab on the “Add pages to optimize” screen. So you can make sure all your landing pages are included.
Click “Collect ideas” when you’re done.

Once you run the tool, it will evaluate your content against your top competitors and give you an overview of how much your organic traffic could increase by implementing the suggestions.
Scroll down to “TOP pages to optimize” and click “# ideas” next to the first landing page you want to address.

You’ll then see a list of recommendations that can help your page perform better.

For example, it can help you:
- Improve readability: To make your content easier to read and understand for both users and search engineS
- Enhance semantic relevance: To enrich your content with related keywords and topics to include that can make your content more discoverable
- Avoid keyword stuffing: To ensure you’re not overusing keywords, which can hurt your rankings and make your content less appealing to readers
- Optimize meta descriptions: To create meta descriptions that accurately reflect the content of your pages and entice searchers to click
6. Build Out a Comparison Keyword Plan
The next step in your SaaS SEO strategy is to target comparison keywords.
Essentially, “[you] vs. [them]” keywords.
Why?
Once your prospects get lower down in the sales funnel, there’s a good chance they’ll be comparing solutions. Hopefully, one of those solutions is yours.
These comparison keywords are important for a few reasons:
- People who search for these keywords are usually getting ready to buy—they just need a little push
- Writing content focused on them helps show how your product is different from (and better than) your competitors’ products
- These terms often attract qualified traffic and leads—people who know you exist and are more likely to purchase
Find these keywords with the Keyword Magic Tool.
Just search for your product name, click the “Include keywords” filter, type “vs,” and click “Apply.”

And you’ll get a filtered list like this:

Once you have a list of comparison keywords, create content for them.
Here are some tips to do that:
- Use the keywords in your page title, meta description, headings and subheadings, body text, and images
- Present the facts and features for both products without being overly promotional or negative
- Use a clear and consistent format (like a table, a list, or a chart) to compare the products
- Clearly explain how your product can solve the user’s problem or meet their needs
- Provide a clear and compelling call to action, such as a free trial, a demo, or a discount
Here’s a great example from Pipedrive that compares Pipedrive vs. HubSpot:

Even if these keywords have a low search volume, it’s important to capture them. Because content geared toward lower-funnel searches can persuade users to convert.
Get in there first before your competitors do. And if they’re already targeting these queries, make sure your page is better.
7. Create Better Content Than Your Competitors
Content is the backbone of any SaaS growth strategy. It helps you rank for relevant keywords, attract qualified traffic, and convert visitors into customers.
But creating content isn’t enough. You also need to create better content than your competitors.
First, you need to see what’s already working for them.
Open Organic Research, enter any competitor’s URL, and click “Search.”
Then, head to the “Pages” tab.

These are all of your competitor’s pages sorted by traffic. Review the best-performing pages and look for patterns.
For example, consider:
- Are they mostly blog posts? Or something different?
- Is the content short-form or long?
- Do they use lots of videos?
Use the answers to these questions to guide your content strategy. And replicate what’s already working in a better way.
Here are some tips to help you create better content:
- Write for humans. Write in a clear, conversational, and engaging tone. Use headings, bullets, images, and charts to break up your text and make it easy to scan. Avoid filler, jargon, and errors.
- Deliver value to your readers. Don’t just pitch your product. Solve your readers’ problems, and show them how you can help them. Provide practical tips, insights, examples, and case studies.
- Optimize your content for search engines. Use your target keywords and related terms in your content, but don’t overdo it. Use them naturally and in context. Include them in your title, headings, URL, meta description, and image alt text.
8. Leverage On-Page & Technical SEO
On-page SEO (optimizing your webpages for users and search engines) and technical SEO make sure that your site is fast, secure, user-friendly, and easy to crawl.
And they can make or break your success in SaaS SEO.
That’s why you need to optimize these key on-page and technical SEO factors:
- Site speed. Site speed is how fast your website loads on different devices and browsers. It affects your user experience, conversion rates, and rankings.
- Mobile-friendliness. Mobile-friendliness is how well your site adapts to different screen sizes and orientations. Mobile SEO affects the user experience, conversion rates, and rankings. So, make sure your website is responsive, easy to navigate, and readable on mobile devices.
- HTTPS. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol that transfers data between your website and your visitors. It encrypts your data and protects it from hackers and eavesdroppers. And it affects user trust, conversion rates, and rankings.
- URL structure. URL structure is how your site’s pages are organized and named. And it’s a key factor for the user experience, crawlability, and rankings. Be sure that your URL structure is simple, descriptive, and consistent.
- Meta tags. Meta tags are snippets of code that provide information about your site’s pages to search engines and users. They also affect crawlability, click-through rates, and rankings. So, aim for meta tags that are relevant, unique, and optimized.
To check your site for these types of issues, use Site Audit.
The tool scans your site for 140+ technical and on-page SEO mistakes. And provides a list of issues that makes it easy to see where your site is struggling.

Finding and fixing these issues will help boost your SaaS website’s SEO performance.
9. Earn High-Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website.
They’re one of the most important ranking factors for SEO. Because they signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative.
But not all backlinks are equally valuable.
You want to earn backlinks from reputable, relevant, and popular websites. These are high-quality backlinks that can boost your SEO and drive more traffic to your site.
And you can earn these backlinks through link building—which includes tactics like:
- Content marketing
- Email outreach
- Broken link building
- Unlinked brand mentions
- PR
A great place to start is with the Link Building Tool.
Follow the Link Building Tool configuration guide to add your URL, the keywords you want to rank higher for, and your competitors.
And the tool will show a long list of prospects you can reach out to for backlinks.
Like this:

Ensure Your SaaS SEO Strategy Is Backed by Data
You just learned how to create and execute a successful SEO strategy for your SaaS app.
But we’re not done yet.
You need to track your performance, find out what works and what doesn’t, and make smart decisions based on data.
Use a reputable SEO tool to,
- Find and target the most valuable keywords
- Discover competitor strengths and weaknesses
- Audit and improve on-page and technical SEO issues
- Create and publish high-quality content that ranks and converts
- Build and monitor your backlink profile and authority
- Track and report on your SEO performance
- Plus more…
Turn SEO Insights into SaaS Growth
SaaS SEO isn’t just about ticking boxes.
It’s about creating a sustainable system that drives long-term growth. From conducting thorough SaaS keyword research, competitor comparison to implementing advanced technical SEO fixes, every step matters.
With the right tools, you’ll be able to clearly see what’s driving traffic, what needs tweaking, and how your strategy compares against competitors.
Remember, SEO success doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s an ongoing process that relies on data-driven decisions, patience, and continuous optimization. Stay curious, remain flexible, and run experiments.
We hope this guide helped you get a good idea about preparing your SaaS SEO strategy. If you liked it, consider sharing it with your friends and network.