Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the backbone behind a solid digital presence. And for software as a service (SaaS) firms, SEO is a multi-functional guide. It helps them gain organic traffic and rank high to become leaders in their niches. Even assists them in converting potential prospects into loyal clients. However, navigating the dynamic SEO features requires an effective SaaS SEO checklist. A customized strategic roadmap to boost online visibility, and reach the target audience.

In this blog, we will highlight the need for such a checklist or outline within your content strategy and its crucial components.

Importance Of A Checklist For SaaS SEO

A strong SaaS SEO checklist helps maintain a structured approach to the optimization of any high-quality content. Given the tough competition between SaaS companies, this can prove to be a game changer in the technical aspect. Here’s how:

The best SEO practices can help a firm stand out among its rivals. Even in situations when their product is similar to that of other players.
The company can target the pain points of the customers and gain their trust with their in-depth pieces of content. This is crucial to generate new leads.
Educating the users about the products and general business interests can boost subscriptions. Something that is achievable with well-planned SEO-optimized blog posts.
A checklist of SEO efforts helps maintain consistency which in turn fosters long-term relationships with customers.
A strong search engine optimization plan streamlines the efforts needed for growth by helping in:

High-quality evergreen content written to target the search intent or search queries of potential customers
Improved discoverability with the help of informational keywords sneaked within valuable content creation.
Better user experience with fast load speed (page speed insights), responsive design, visual stability, and more.

What should your SaaS SEO checklist include?

The SEO checklist for SaaS should cover all the areas needed for a competent and potent SEO strategy. Here are 9 crucial elements that deserve maximum attention.

Keyword Research

The base work of any SaaS firm to optimize SEO for its site and product starts with keyword research. Strategic usage of keywords can significantly boost brand awareness. It makes the firm more competitive. Thereby allowing them to fight for the top spots in the search engine results.

The plan is to stay balanced when using keywords in the content to ensure the highest return. This means harmony between keywords with low search volume but high purchase intent and those with high volume but low intent.

Talking about keywords, they can be divided into 4 categories:

Informational (people use them to learn about a given topic)
Transactional (they need results where users can take immediate action like buying.)
Commercial (this type of keyword requires reviews, comparison, and ‘how-to’ articles)
Navigational (in this the user wants to get to a particular site or product. Mostly before a purchase)
Funnel Marketing Strategy

An effective funnel strategy includes all the aspects of the SEO pyramid. In other words, your content should cater to the needs of the buyers through every stage of their journey. If you do that, the potential clients will stay hooked to your product until they decide to use your service. Funnel Marketing is all about perfecting a plan to turn leads into sales.

Stages of B2B sales funnel

Step 1- Awareness
Step 2- Interest
Step 3 – Consideration
Step 4- Intent
Step 5- Evaluation
Step 6 – Buy

Stages of B2C sales funnel

Step 1 – Awareness
Step 2- Interest
Step 3- Desire
Step 4 – Action
E-E-A-T Content

For SaaS firms, the ranking factor heavily relies on the E-E-A-T quotient of the content. It refers to the firm’s ‘experience’, ‘expertise’, ‘authority’, and ‘trustworthy’ status. The higher the score, the more the company will be considered an industry leader.

Here are a few parameters that can up the E-E-A-T rating:

Bring more clarity to the bio and the brand profile. Be thorough while explaining why you are a specialist in your field. Fix poor user experience like low loading speed.
Display customer feedback and endorsements in your content and website.
Guest appearances are key in adding to the company’s authority and credibility. So, attend interviews, podcasts or webinars. Increase guest posting.
Include links to popular trustworthy sources in the content.
Center the content around humans instead of search engines.
Backlinks

Link building is an important component of any SaaS SEO checklist. If you link your brand content with sites that have high authority, it makes you more relevant in the eyes of Google. The reward is even greater if those sources also link you back. Hence strategies that present opportunities to build such connections are always welcome. They include:

Create well-researched content worthy of sharing. Stay consistent and up-to-date to encourage more reader engagement. The more they share your content, the higher the backlink volume will grow.
Write guest posts with in-depth content on popular sites.
Collaborate with the influencers in your field and look for more link-building opportunities.
Find broken links on other web pages. Then get in touch with the creators and propose your site link as a viable replacement.
A fast website

For their marketing efforts to pay off, Saas firms must aim for excellent user experience (UX) to boost search engine ranking. This keeps the existing clientele happy as well as encourages fresh leads.

Boosting UX is only possible if you have a quick website to back you. Users demand fast results online. So if any website takes more than a few seconds to load, it leaves them frustrated. This will raise the bounce rate and be a signal for the search engines to know that your site is off-putting. Thereby resulting in losing a couple of ranks in the process. A slow clumsy site is also damaging to your brand image and lowers conversion rates.

Tip: Google Analytics is a great tool to keep track of the site load time on various devices.

Internal linking

Internal linking is connecting one page of your site with another relevant one. This aids visitors in navigating through your entire website. Proper internal links also help web spiders access all the links. They use them to realize the relation between the pages and the topics and decide their value. You can even improve the performance of any page by linking it to one that holds an authoritative place. But make sure to remove the hyperlinks of non-existing sites from your page.

Landing pages that convert

Given the goal of a landing page is to build customer trust in the company, it is a crucial element in SaaS SEO. After all, it is the main face of your company. Or the stop that the visitors are directed to upon clicking an ad. An optimized landing page helps in organic traffic and assures more lead conversions. It should contain enough relevant transactional keywords to target the audience. Use those long-tail keywords as primary keywords to speak directly to your user. Don’t forget to monitor those PageSpeed insights and other fundamental aspects to boost user experience.

High-Value Lead Magnets

Most customers prefer to do their bit of research before approaching any company. However, a SaaS firm can build a connection with them in advance with the help of high-value lead magnets.

Lead magnets are content that the company provides to the customers. In return, the former receive their contact info, which they can use later to forge relations. However, the magnets should be high-value content to leave the audience craving for more.

Here are some powerful lead magnets that work:

PDF checklist- It helps in better management of difficult problems.
Demo videos- They supply vital how-to info and help people have a visual connection. Both with the products and the individuals associated with your business.
Ebooks/whitepapers – They reflect the expertise of your company on specific subjects.
Write SEO-Optimized Blog Content

Last but not least, a SaaS checklist should contain company blogs that are optimized with SEO. This enhances overall brand value and influences web spiders to rank the blogs high.

Here are a few dos and don’ts to make a blog SEO-friendly:

Create rich content with sufficient research, examples, and statistics.
Include visual content and target image search in your search terms
Avoid duplicate content and those that are automatically generated
Improve readability with proper mobile-first indexing and font type and size.
Do not overstuff your blogs with keywords for hollow SEO success
Avoid useless doorway pages and other technical issues

Final Thoughts

A detailed SaaS SEO checklist is not a choice but a necessity for a SaaS company to succeed. Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and SEMrush are major saviors in their SaaS SEO journey. However, there is no straightforward rule to this. Your checklist should evolve as per the industry’s needs.

FAQs

What is the most basic component of a Saas SEO strategy?

Target keywords, in tune with user intent, are the base of a strong SEO-optimized strategy. Use them on the body, title, headings, and URLs for web crawlers to easily detect them.

How is SEO for SaaS different?

SEO in Saas takes the help of online marketing to increase the visibility of the company sites. This helps users locate them and become their consumers.

How to generate more leads in SaaS?

A strong SEO plan paves the way for SaaS websites to rank high. But you can use other safe methods too: