A CEO Ponders How “SaaS SEO Is In a Different Landscape”

StartupRise: Saleh, you had operated an SEO agency strictly based on supporting SaaS-focused clients for over six years at this point. Why did you select the SaaS industry instead of offering services within others?

It was genuinely an accidental decision that has since become purposeful. As I look back to my first three clients, they all happened to be SaaS companies. In a very short period of time, I realized that the manner in which a SaaS company operates/businesses significantly differs from the operational ways of all other business types (ecommerce, local businesses, etc.). A SaaS company does not have the quantifiable product but rather operates on delivering a guarantee to the buyer — a change in process for providing a transformation via the company's workflows. 

Due to the length of the buyer's journey (often involved multiple decision-makers) and amount of effort required to research before making a purchase decision, you will see an enormous amount of specific types of keywords being utilized in the development of the necessary architecture for your content and keyword strategy. Because most generalist consultants/agencies do not possess the understanding of the SaaS sales model, they tend to create campaigns based upon their more general knowledge and are, therefore, unable to provide successful results/achievements. When I began to see this myself, I chose to focus entirely on the SaaS sector of the market.

StartupRise: What is the main misstep that you encounter most frequently when it comes to SaaS founders and their SEO approach? 

Focusing on volume instead of intent. Founders fixate on keywords with volume of 50K or greater per month and ask themselves why their free trial signups are not increasing. The reality is that a keyword with an average monthly search volume of 300 and has commercial intent (i.e. someone who has decided they need to find a solution and comparing solutions) is worth ten times more than a broad informational keyword. SaaS SEO is about being in front of the right person, at the right point of their journey - it is NOT just about generating enough raw traffic that looks impressive on a board presentation deck. 

"A keyword with an average monthly search volume of 300 and represents commercial intent is worth ten times as much as a broad informational keyword. Traffic does not convert to vanity."

StartupRise: The amount of data tools used by your firm in their process is overwhelming, and how have they transformed your approach to SEO?

Immense. When I began to work at an agency, a lot of other agencies were still doing SEO using just Google Analytics and Excel spreadsheets, which gave us very limited insights. Then, especially in Western Europe now, we are experiencing a huge rise of data analytics startups creating really advanced tools to support companies that we have been working with, who are now creating much more sophisticated companies due to the use of Business Intelligence tools that allow them to connect their SEO data to revenue attribution. 

We have also teamed up with multiple clients who are working with a Microsoft power BI consulting company to build custom dashboards that combine numerous data points in one view; i.e., data from organic traffic, SQL pipeline, and product usage metrics. As you can imagine, this has changed the way we report on SEO. Instead of reporting on how a site ranks, we are now reporting how a site influences pipelines. Chief Marketing Officers absolutely love the connection that this provides between SEO expenses and revenue discussions in the boardroom!

StartupRise: Let’s discuss content strategy. SaaS businesses are typically built around complex products, so how can you ensure that your longer, more technical content ranks well on search engines but still maintains an engaging and readable nature?

The answer lies in understanding how advanced Google’s algorithm is when it comes to creating quality content that adds real value to readers searching for that content. Instead of thinking about “how do I rank this piece of content?” you need to think “what exactly does my target audience need to know about this?” To do this effectively, I recommend developing three layers of supporting content: the first layer is bottom of funnel types, ( Comparison pages, Alternative pages, and Integration specific landing pages ) and will provide information to people who are already aware of and looking for a solution; The second layer is middle of funnel types of content (Guides answering workflow related questions that your product provides solutions for); and Finally, the third layer is educational/top of funnel types (content meant to establish your authority and credibility in your field/niche). Many SaaS companies only create content for only one of these three layers (the blog), and then they wonder why their content isn’t converting.

StartupRise: How do you ensure that your output from the sea of AI generated content stands out?

This will be the biggest challenge over the next 2 years! AI has knocked down the entry level for content quality, so that paradoxically, the exit level has increased enormously. Google is moving strongly toward signals of ‘experience’ and ‘expertise’, such as original data, first hand knowledge, original research. We focus on leading with our own original primary research, such as surveys from existing customers in all cases where possible, or pulling data from your customers to analyze the full scope of their use of your product/service, or utilizing research from our own 3rd party retailers. Original data provides the opportunity to naturally create backlinks for your content, as well as create original content that no one else can publish on the internet. If your content is just a different version of what is already on Page 1 of search, then you are providing no value to the internet and Google recognizes this fact.

StartupRise: What advice would you give a SaaS startup that's pre-revenue and considering whether to invest in SEO at all?

Be realistic about your timing when investing in SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is a compounding investment with initial slow growth and then rapid growth thereafter. If you are 12 months away from running out of runway, then SEO is not a viable option at this point; rather, using paid acquisition is your best bet. On the other hand, if you have at least 18 months of runway and if you are operating in an industry that has significant volumes of search traffic for products/services like yours, then you should begin your SEO strategy today. Also, be mindful of where you currently sit in your fundraising lifecycle. As an example, founders planning to raise a Series A (or beyond) will often find that their maturing organic channels provide potential investors with valuable evidence of product/market fit. In general, the founders who succeed at generating revenue through their SEO efforts are the same ones who started laying the groundwork for success with their SEO initiatives while they were “scrappy” (i.e., prior to scaling their paid acquisition channels). It is always better to get started well before you think you need to.

StartupRise: And last of all what is the one key metric every SaaS entrepreneur needs to track in their SEO program?

Organic-sourced demo/ trial signups, not sessions or impressions or keyword rankings; because those metrics are inputs instead of producing output (a qualified pipeline). Without an assigned revenue adjacent metric there will always be less accountability for budget cuts when an organization has financial challenges or pulls back on spending for whatever reason and when things tighten it should not be long term. Thus an SEO program should have the same level of commitment for so far as KPI's as what is expected from your sales organization.  In other words you will invest much more in your SEO program if treated the same way as you would for your sales group.

In conclusion, prioritizing your SEO efforts with respect to recognized benchmarks and perceived value will greatly improve overall performance from your SEO efforts. 

With those things in mind, Saleh Ahmed is the CEO of an SEO agency known as Rank Wizards, which specializes in helping B2B SaaS companies. The interview was done by and edited by StartupRises editorial staff, and shows the connection between the two types of startups.