How SEO Agencies Help SaaS Companies Gain More Sign-Ups

The key question in every SaaS marketer’s mind is ‘how to improve sign-ups for SaaS.’ There are so many factors impacting a SaaS sign-up?which one should be prioritized?

In the SaaS domain, moving leads lower in the funnel is critical. From designing interactive demos to creating effective trial landing pages, SaaS marketers employ several tactics to engage leads and convince them to sign up actively.

Unlike traditional products, software solutions require users to realize the value before committing to them. This makes gaining sign-ups tough for these solutions.

Moreover, the cost of paid search advertising is draining. Nearly half of businesses spend up to $10,000 per month on digital advertising alone. And the competition in the SaaS domain is fierce, making it tough to see a clear ROI on this spending.

Improving organic search rankings to attract high-intent customers is a surefire way to scale SaaS user acquisition. SaaS SEO agencies specialize in helping businesses achieve sustainable growth, nurture leads, and drive sign-ups.

In this post, you will understand an SEO agency's crucial role in scaling customer acquisition and transforming your SaaS website into a conversion machine.

SaaS Customer Journey and the Role of SEO

The SaaS buyer journey primarily involves three stages, namely awareness, consideration, and decision-making.

Awareness: During this phase, a potential customer or lead recognizes the problem and researches online to find an effective solution. Research reveals that three-quarters of B2B SaaS customers will do an internet search for relevant informational content before making a purchase. This is primarily done on search engines.

In fact, 68% of all trackable SaaS website traffic is attributed to organic and paid searches. And SaaS companies generate 2X more revenue from organic search than any other channel.

Thus, investing in effective SEO strategies at this stage ensures that your content stands out during their research.

Consideration/ Evaluation: Here, the prospect evaluates the options available based on the features, benefits, reviews, and pricing. They narrow down their options, comparing tools that best suit their business needs.

Hence, how well your SaaS platform addresses their pain points determines whether or not you will make it to the next stage. Sharing optimized content like detailed posts, case studies, white papers, or comparison guides can position your tool as a top contender.

Decision: At this stage, the prospect is all set to commit. Hence, you need to focus on high-intent and bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) keywords to encourage them to sign up. These keywords are specific terms that indicate their readiness to purchase.

Regardless of the stage the buyer is in, investing in an effective content and SEO strategy can reduce the customer acquisition cost (CAC), effectively driving more sign-ups and conversions.

How a SaaS SEO Agency Can Boost Sign-Ups

SaaS SEO agencies add immense value with their expert insights, helping SaaS firms increase sign-ups for free trials or demos. They implement several techniques tailored to the business to boost visibility,  organic traffic, and revenue from searches.

Here are the top SEO techniques they use to boost SaaS sign-ups.

1. Keyword Strategy

SEO agencies have a team of keyword specialists who employ comprehensive strategies to enhance sign-ups. The team conducts in-depth research to identify relevant short-tail and long-tail keywords to match the search intent.

For instance, a short-tail keyword like ‘customer experience software’ is a broad and highly competitive term but can attract huge search volume. On the other hand, a long tail keyword like ‘best customer experience software for saas’ is more specific, faces lesser competition, and can lead to higher conversion rates.

SaaS SEO agencies specialize in doing competitive research to examine competitor keyword strategies. They uncover the gaps and opportunities in the rival’s strategy, allowing the SaaS business to target overlooked keywords. Thus, businesses can capture a market segment that their competitors are missing.

At the consideration and decision-making stages, BOFU keywords are critical. If we consider the same example as above, ‘buy customer experience software’ is one such high-intent keyword that indicates the intent and readiness to purchase.

2. Content Marketing

Effective SaaS content marketing educates and nurtures high-intent leads. SEO agencies are experts in strategically leveraging content in the form of blog posts, case studies, and comparison pages.

These content pieces address the industry trends and user challenges, offer valuable insights, showcase real-world applications, and offer the tangible evidence prospects need to learn about a product’s effectiveness. Similarly, a comparison page is critical at the evaluation stage as it highlights the unique features and benefits a platform offers versus the competition.

SaaS SEO agencies conduct in-depth research, understand user intent, and create content that not only informs prospects but also guides them lower in the sales funnel.

They share quality content that positions the business as a thought leader and builds trust with the audience. In the 2024 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report by Edelman and LinkedIn, 9 in 10 c-suite executives shared that they are more receptive to outreach from firms that consistently produce thought-leadership content.

SaaS SEO agencies can power your content marketing game, allowing you to consistently deliver insightful and authoritative content that enhances credibility and drives sign-up rates.

3. Link Building

A study by Backlinko proves that the #1 result on Google’s SERP has an average of 3.8 times more backlinks than the ones ranking #2 to #10.

Successful SEO agencies understand the significance of backlinks in enhancing search engine rankings and building domain authority. They often employ white-hat link-building tactics to improve their client’s authority and drive sign-ups.

For instance, Growfusely’s SaaS SEO services focus on link-building techniques like guest blogging and digital PR to contribute value-adding content to authoritative websites in the industry. The robust backlink profile bolsters credibility, enhances visibility, and attracts potential clients.

Moreover, not all backlinks are the same. Toxic backlinks could strangle the website's visibility, damage the firm’s reputation, and attract penalties from Google. These backlinks usually emerge from paying for links, link exchanges, content submissions to low-quality directories, or using link-building bots.

An expert SaaS SEO agency knows how to identify such links and employ strategies to get rid of them, thus improving your business’s backlink profile.

4. On-Page and Technical SEO

On-page optimization and technical SEO play a central role in improving a SaaS website’s visibility and conversions. Elements like meta tags, headers, and keyword usage are critical in website optimization and drive qualified leads to the website.

Factors like fast loading speed and an intuitive interface can boost experience. Similarly, a clear call to action (CTA) can effectively guide high-intent leads toward signing up.

SEO agencies can easily optimize these on-page and technical factors that affect user experience and conversions. They also perform regular site audits to actively identify technical problems such as bad mobile responsiveness, slow page load, and non-optimized metadata that are affecting the experience and sign-ups.

Apart from this, they utilize A/B testing on different page components, including headlines, images, and form locations, to see what works for your business. These and other conversion rate optimization (CRO) methods are used by agencies to increase user engagement and sign-ups for SaaS companies.

5. SEO for Retargeting Campaigns

SaaS SEO agencies specialize in leveraging SEO insights to enhance paid search and retargeting campaigns, thus allowing businesses to boost the ROI from these campaigns. They analyze organic search data and spot high-performing and high-intent keywords to inform the PPC and retargeting strategies. This cohesive approach ensures consistent brand messaging across channels.

A capable SEO agency understands the synergy between organic and paid campaigns and use it to maximize their client’s visibility and prepare quality leads for sign-ups.

6. Measuring SaaS Sign-Up Success

SEO agencies measure success by monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) like organic traffic, conversion rates, and keyword rankings. They have access to tools like Google Analytics, Search Console, and more to procure insights into SaaS buyer behavior and website performance.

Through such analysis, they demonstrate the ROI of various campaigns and refine strategies that aren’t performing well.

For instance, tracking how the organic blog traffic converts to sign up for a free trial. An SEO agency will analyze the user flow using Google Analytics to spot drop-off points and optimize the content, CTAs, and landing pages to improve conversions. 

Similarly, if a high-intent term like ‘best customer experience software’ leads to sign-ups, they will build a keyword cluster around this term to drive qualified leads.

Routine tracking and reporting ensures constant optimization, aligning the SEO efforts with the business’s conversion goals.

Concluding Thoughts: Partnering with an SEO Agency Makes Sense for SaaS Firms

Partnering with a capable SEO agency can be a game changer for SaaS businesses aiming to boost their sign-ups. SEO in SaaS is pretty complex, demanding expertise in technical optimization, content tactics, site audits, and link building.

SEO agencies have a dedicated team that does keyword research, conversion rate optimization, and competitor research using a strategic approach. Thus, it makes complete sense for a SaaS business to invest in SEO services to position itself for sustainable growth. Use the information shared in this post to partner with an expert SaaS SEO agency to maximize your digital presence and boost sign-up rates.