Google organic search is an essential source of traffic and customers for any business, including SaaS products. However, that fact is not always evident to startup founders and top management personnel. That is why I decided to write this article.
To begin with, check some figures and facts below. They directly stress the magnitude of SEO for SaaS Businesses:
- SEO as a marketing channel drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media. — BrightEdge
- 63.41% of all US web traffic referrals come from Google. — SparkToro
- 81% of respondents believe SEO delivers better quality leads than PPC, and 70% say it’s more effective at driving sales. — Databox survey
- 49% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel. — SearchEngine Journal
- Effective use of SEO and content marketing can reduce customer acquisition costs by over 87%. — Powered by Search.
- Google makes for 93.87% of the mobile search engine market.
Now, let us briefly list the main advantages of an SEO marketing channel if your task is to scale your SaaS product.
Conditionally Free Traffic
Organic results traffic you receive to your website is free of charge. You do not have to pay for it, like you do with contextual advertising.
This is particularly true for SaaS projects because contextual advertising rates can be so high that most startup founders cannot afford to use this channel on the necessary scale.
Nevertheless, I write “conditionally free traffic” because you still need to invest in SEO specialist work, hire authors to create content, and pay for other related things.
The Accumulative Work Effect
If you do everything right, the SEO channel’s ROI will permanently rise over time. In the long run, this approach will result in a splendid accumulative effect of work. It is like your bank deposit interest capitalization.
Let us take an example of a website operating in a highly competitive b2b niche. System SEO work was done on it (a schedule for 16 months):
When you add a new page to your website, the previous ones do not stop bringing you traffic. The more new pages get search visibility in Google, the more visits to the website featuring your SaaS product you will receive daily from organic search results.
Stability of Achieved Results
Google algorithm updates can be relatively unpredictable. However, if you stick to the rules and constantly develop and improve your website, you will receive relatively stable traffic.
Sure, things like a seasonality factor, changing trends, specific demand from the target audience, and others can influence website traffic. Generally, these fluctuations will not be critical.
That is a significant advantage, especially when compared to the mentioned social networks, where you can get the viral effect and numerous visits to the website one day and then receive nothing for a good while.
If you stop posting on social networks, your audience coverage will decline to almost zero in a few weeks. If you suddenly stop publishing articles on your website, organic search traffic will practically remain unchanged.
B2B SaaS generates a 702% ROI from SEO, with thought leadership SEO content being the most valuable. — FirstPageSage
Check the example below. It is one of my websites where I posted only 18 articles during the last year:
Scaling Opportunities
New blog posts, new pages describing your product’s features or explaining how you can apply it practically, new links from other websites — you can constantly scale this all up, flexibly allocating resources depending on your current capabilities.
The more work you do in these areas, the better SEO results your SaaS startup will enjoy.
Even small players, even if they move on in tiny steps, have a real opportunity to become a leader in their niche thanks to organic search.
I think ideas listed in this article are sufficient to become reasonable arguments why you should consider SEO to be an organic growth channel for your SaaS business.
So, if you have questions, write to me, and I will try to give you comprehensive and informative answers.
Volodymyr Fedorychak
Search marketing consultant specializing in IT business and B2B SaaS. I help businesses and start-ups generate traffic, attract customers and build their brand online.
