When marketing B2B software as a service (SaaS), many of the “rules” for B2B marketing still apply — but there are some specific factors to consider if you want to reach the right target audience.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a huge part of getting the word out about your incredible product and organically growing your user base. Whether you’re brand new to SEO or simply looking to beef up your existing strategy, these tips can take your SEO content from okay to out of this world. Read ahead for a complete guide to SEO marketing for B2B SaaS.
Mastering the basics for an unbeatable user experience
The whole point of SEO is to make it easier for your audience to find you. When your target customers’ search leads them to your website or blog content, you want to make sure they stay there. These key factors not only make it more likely you’ll retain a user’s attention, but can also impact your overall SEO health.
Great design
A sleek and accessible user interface (UI) that’s easy to navigate is essential to a positive user experience (UX). If potential customers are searching for information about your SaaS product and its many benefits, it shouldn’t take them more than a minute (or less) to find the information they need. And they should be able to do this from any device.
Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly, responsive websites with strong visual content. A site that users can intuitively navigate is also a site that can be easily reviewed by search engines. The more attractive your website is to your target audience, the higher it will rank on a search engine results page (SERP).
Fast load times
In addition to smooth navigation, your website’s load time needs to be lightning-fast. It’s not just about keeping users on the page, either — although you don’t want to test your audience’s patience when they’re eager to see your content. A website that takes longer than two seconds to load will also ultimately hurt your SEO. Load time is a high-impact factor that search engines such as Google use to determine SERP rankings.
If your website load time is lagging, it may be time to conduct a website audit to see what’s causing the holdup. The best-designed visuals won’t make any difference if your files are too big and take forever to load.
Awesome content
Well-crafted content helps to establish credibility for your SaaS business in the B2B space. Relevant blog content shows that you’re truly an expert in the B2B SaaS realm. Posting regularly keeps potential customers coming back for more while signaling your relevance to search engines.
Why SEO is essential for B2B SaaS companies
While strong SEO is key for all business models, it offers some specific advantages to B2B SaaS organizations.
Increase organic traffic
If one of your ultimate goals is to scale your business, a strong SEO strategy is critical to attracting a larger audience. With a B2B SaaS company, there’s typically no brick-and-mortar storefront for potential customers to walk by. A high SERP ranking acts as that storefront, helping your company to catch the right eyes at the right time — all without paying extra ad dollars.
Assert your authority
Your expertise is part of your currency in the B2B SaaS space. SEO-friendly content helps you rise above the competition, proving that your software is truly the best solution for the pain points your audience is trying to solve. The more often you publish content that generates a lot of buzz, the more likely you are to be linked in other organizations’ content, as well, which is also a key factor in boosting your overall SEO health.
Boost conversions
It’s great when you start seeing more web traffic, but the objective is to turn those users into customers. The more often your authoritative SEO content turns up in search results, the more website visitors start to see your brand as one they can trust. B2B professionals are known for doing their due diligence, so the more frequently they see your company’s name in their research, the better chance you’ve got at moving them from awareness to consideration.
Understanding the marketing funnel for B2B SaaS and SEO’s role in it
On that note, SEO is pivotal to moving users from one stage of the consumer journey to the next. Here’s how SEO plays a role in each part of the marketing funnel.
Top of funnel
Users at the top of the funnel (or TOFU) are essentially a clean slate. Those still in the awareness phase know nothing about your product, or even that it exists at all. They’ve just got a problem they need to solve that prompted their original search.
Let’s look at a real-life example to better understand this concept. Stellastra Effect client Fellow offers solutions so that businesses can run more efficient meetings. Their AI assistant tool takes notes so that users can direct their focus entirely on being present and contributing to the discussion.
A user who’s never heard of Fellow, but wants to streamline their note-taking might be searching for keywords such as “tips for better meeting notes” or “note-taking strategies.” Stellastra Managing Editor Natalie Hamingson’s blog 7 Note-Taking Strategies for Improved Productivity delivers that information while introducing the user to Fellow’s product.
Middle of funnel
At the middle of the consumer funnel (MOFU), you find users who are shopping around but not yet ready to buy. Users in the consideration stage have a problem that needs to be fixed or a process that needs to be improved and they’re researching the best solution.
With middle of funnel content, you can get a little more in-depth than you would when targeting TOFU users. Case studies, customer testimonials, and product guides are tailored well to this type of user. Product experience platform Sprig offers a great example with their Guide to Session Replays. This detailed look at one of their products gives the reader a deep dive into the features they’ll get access to after purchasing. It’s perfect for pitching to an audience that you already know is going to be receptive to your type of product or service.
Bottom of funnel
Users at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) are ready to make a purchase. This is a good group to target with long-tail keywords, which are longer, more specific phrases, such as “how much do AI scheduling assistants cost,” or “best AI scheduling assistants.” Long-tail keywords tend to be less competitive as well, so you’ve got a better chance at ranking higher on SERPs.
Let’s look at Fellow again for an example. This piece on the best AI for scheduling tools and apps targets users who are seeking out software solutions that can automate the task of scheduling meetings. The blog details all the pros and cons of using an AI scheduling assistant, while offering an in-depth look at the features offered in the top AI scheduling tools. This way, the reader has all the information needed to make an informed purchasing decision — and Fellow just might be top of mind.
Important SEO areas that B2B SaaS companies should focus on
When creating your SEO strategy, these are a few of the topics you should target for content that draws a crowd.
Solving customer pain points
If most users are turning to search engines with problems to solve, that’s a prime opportunity to reach potential customers. Researching relevant keywords that relate to your B2B SaaS is a great way to see exactly what’s ailing your target audience while giving you the information you need to appropriately plan your content.
Product demos and illustrations
Unlike other businesses utilizing SEO best practices, B2B SaaS organizations are particularly focused on successful conversions. Content that gives an in-depth look at your product features helps users move along to the next stage in the funnel. You can show them exactly how your product works — and why you stand out above your competitors.
Diversifying content
Your target audience isn’t a monolith and you shouldn’t plan your content as if every user fits the same target persona. Create content that caters to a wide range of users. This doesn’t mean you should try to boil the ocean and write about everything B2B related. Instead, focus on different kinds of content.
For those who prefer to learn visually or audibly rather than through written blogs, videos are highly effective. You can repurpose existing content so you don’t have to go back to the drawing board every time. Turn that long-form product guide into a digestible infographic. Now you can reach even more users — and you have content that makes for a great social media post, too.
Showcasing customer successes
Building trust with your audience is essential and there’s no better person to tell the world how great your B2B SaaS product is than your existing customers. Case studies allow you to explore highly detailed customer success stories, while shorter content like testimonials on your website offers a quick rundown of how great your product works.
Does SEO for SaaS differ from traditional SEO?
In many ways, B2B SaaS SEO strategies aren’t all that different from traditional SEO. You’ll focus on crafting great content that includes a good balance of SEO-friendly headings and relevant, high-ranking keywords. The key is tailoring your approach to your particular audience.
Keywords that get more granular are going to be your best friend if you want folks to find your product’s specific features. For instance, rather than simply looking for “accounting software,” your target customer might be searching for “expense tracking software” or “bill management solutions.” Optimize your website so those features are front and center. Remember who exactly you’re marketing to when creating SEO content and you’ll be able to better broaden your reach.
Special considerations for a B2B SaaS content strategy
Ready to start drafting an SEO plan of your own? Here are some things to keep in mind:
Tie your strategy to specific goals and measure your progress
Improving SEO isn’t a goal in and of itself. Boosting SEO should be connected to specific, measurable KPIs. Are you looking to increase sales on one specific product or simply increase awareness about your total offerings? Are you trying to get more users to sign up for a free trial or demo? The answers to these questions can be verified with concrete data, so make sure you’re tracking everything along the way. At the end of a sales cycle, you can evaluate what did and didn’t work and adjust for the next phase in your SEO content calendar.
Improve technical SEO as well as content marketing
SEO audits are crucial to enhancing your search engine rankings. For instance, you want to ensure your site has a fast load time and that you’ve added relevant metadata and structure on the back end, so search engines can crawl through your existing content easier.
Working with an external SEO auditor is a great way to shine a light on which pages rank high and which are falling through the cracks. A robust SEO audit will also tell you where you currently rank in relation to the relevant keywords that are already on your website. You might be surprised to learn that your CRM software is getting a lot of traffic for “sales lead tracking features,” opening a new sales opportunity for your team.
Analyze user behavior
In addition to checking all of the technical SEO boxes, it helps to see how your existing customers are currently interacting with your website content. This can be done as part of an SEO audit as well. Learn what exactly brought a user to your page, whether it was a keyword or a backlink on another blog. When they arrive on your site, see exactly what pages caught their attention and where they’re abandoning ship. This kind of insight tells you which of your current strategies should remain intact and which approaches need an overhaul.
SEO for B2B SaaS: Craft a winning strategy
Brushing up on these tips can go a long way in your SEO endeavors — but you don’t have to go it alone. The Stellastra Effect is here to help your SaaS for B2B platform create an SEO strategy that works. We’re here to help you conduct an SEO audit and produce a content plan that increases your traffic, improves your rankings, and most importantly, gets you more customers. A strong SEO game plan, shaped by the experts at The Stellastra Effect, is essential to growing your business and we’re here to help you score your next big win.
