At Optimize, we specialize in delivering low cost strategies to pre seed and seed stage B2B SaaS companies.

So it should be no surprise that we would recommend search engine optimization strategies to our SaaS clients. (hint: SEO is basically the free-est way to rank higher in Google)

But before we get started, why should you listen to us?

Meet me, Ian Binek, digital lead and founder of Optimize

With over a decade of experience in the digital marketing world - you are in good hands.

And to keep you rest assured that we are the guys you should listen too, just check out my LinkedIn or Clutch to see verified reviews from my B2B SaaS clients I have helped over the past few years.

I love helping B2B software companies and it's always a pleasure when I get a chance to help them grow from pre seed all the way to product market fit.

But enough gloating! There are strategies to be learned!

Why focus on SEO as a B2B SaaS startup?

In most cases, you are a first mover or a disruptor in your industry.

This comes with A TON of advantages - but one that many founders forget is that there is so many free keywords to target and start ranking for virtually overnight.

Just think - if you're product is truly new and you don't have many true competitors, then that means no one is talking about your solution.

Jump on the SEO train quick and rank first for all your relevant keywords!

But wait, how much does SEO usually cost for a B2B SaaS company?

In short, a couple hundred bucks a month will go a very long way with your rankings.

Your biggest tradeoff will be time, which is why we recommend working with an agency to optimize your content so that your hard work doesn't go to waste!

Who knows, maybe after reading you will decide to work with us? ;)

Strategy 1: Start a Podcast

Unknown to most of your network that sees a post on podcasts, there is more to gain from podcasting than just saying "We have a podcast."

Below are the 3 major reasons why starting a podcast for your B2B SaaS is a must in 2024

1. The most obvious - you get a rich piece of content that can be repurposed into blogs, videos, social media content, and potentially a sales enablement tool.
2. You usually get a free backlink from your guest's domain that links back to your site. Nowadays, this is perhaps the cheapest way to acquire backlinks from referring domains. (backlinks cost $100s if not $1000s on today's market).
3. You are building a relationship with a potential customer or partner. If you are able to meet with someone on a weekly basis, the podcast is an amazing way to plug your brand and get an internal champion at your target accounts. This works especially well for my B2B SaaS clients that have entreprise or middle market ICPs.

What tools do you need to start a podcast?

Not much actually! We highly recommend the following:

1. A podcast streaming platform like StreamYard
2. and
3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator to find guest prospects.

All that you need to do is reach out to your first degree connections that are in your ICP and ask if they want to join you for a 30 minute podcast.

If they agree, be sure to send them some questions so they have time to prepare their answers. (Hint: that'll make editing way easier later if your guest is prepared).

Then simply meet with them on StreamYard or another platform.

How to turn B2B SaaS podcasts into blog posts on your website?

We usually recommend a CMS called Webflow to build out a podcast directory on your site.

Essentially we can use a tool like PodCastle to transcribe the podcast and export it to our Webflow CMS collection for podcasts.

We built one of these for our former client TruckerCloud - you can check it the podcast page here!

Strategy 2: Use Semrush to identify easy to rank for keywords

This is a simple strategy, but here are two simple ways to overdrive the content you create.

How to create topic clusters for your B2B SaaS

Choose a keyword that you want to rank for.

Then develop a bunch of topics that are related to it and write on each of those topics once a week.

It takes time, but once 5-10 of these related topics are written, then we can then create an “Ultimate Guide” blog for the keyword you really want to rank for.

The key here is to internally link all of your related blogs to that ultimate guide to really give it a boost!

If you are interested in learning more about the process we use to create content - check out this amazing ultimate guide created by the team at Backlinko.

Enrich your blogs with Video SEO

Enrich your blogs by embedding a YouTube video on them.

Google prefers to rank blogs with more forms of rich content, not just writing.

The video SEO play is one of the best ways to show up higher for that particular term in Google.

How to write blogs that incorporate keywords?

We like to use tools like Surfer or ScaleNut.

These tools help with recommending keywords, headings, paragraphs, and image placements.

If you write all of your blogs in these tools, then you will start to see a boost in your SEO.

How to film YouTube videos as a SaaS company?

We recommend using your blog that you write as sort of like a script for your video.

If you are able to film talking head portions and walkthrough portions of your video, then you will have pretty compelling and dynamic videos.

We recommend using a video editing company or outsourced video editor when you are starting.

For 10-15 minute videos you can expect to pay $100 - which sounds expensive but as an end result, you should have a pretty quality piece of content that people will actually watch.

How to increase the number of readers for your SaaS blog?

We recommend posting on social media about your piece of content when it is published - as well as pushing it in a weekly newsletter.

We even recommend sharing it with prospects to help build good will with them.

And obviously as your market matures and your content starts ranking higher in Google then people will find it organically.

Strategy 3: Use PSEO tools to mass create pages for your B2B SaaS website

As mentioned in our low cost B2B SaaS digital campaigns blog published earlier last week, this strategy is one that we recommend for companies that have a lot of competitors or can serve a lot of different industries.

We use tools like Airtable, Whalesync, and Webflow to build 100s of pages quickly.

This process requires a good bit of content to help differentiate the pages from each other - but once completed, it looks as if all the pages are indeed unique - when in reality a lot of them are based on the same template.

A client of ours, TruckerCloud, did this and saw a 28% increase in clicks in just 30 days. Check out the PSEO case study here!

How much does PSEO cost?

We always recommend working with an agency to do your PSEO.

This is because of the inherent risks associated with published 100s of pages to your website.

Our PSEO falls in our Diamond plan - however if you aren’t interested in running ads and only want to focus on SEO then we can discuss doing a custom plan.

Having trouble calculating SEO's ROI?

The key metrics you need to know for SEO are these:

Clicks ⇒ Conversion Rate ⇒ Leads → Qualification Rate → Revenue → Avg Lifetime Value

Simplifying this, if you spend $5000 on SEO monthly services and you created 4-5 new pieces of Content a month that included YouTube videos.

Then you could start showing up number 1-3 for 5 new terms per month.

If each of these terms on average gets 20-50 monthly searches then you will be getting roughly 100-250 visits to your site per month.

If you have a conversion rate of 3%, then 3-7 of these people will turn into MQLs per month.

After qualification rates, let’s say 30%, then you are left with 1-2 new clients a month from your SEO efforts.

If you average order value in maybe $100 and the lifetime value is $2500 then you are making up your investment over the long run per month.

And as your SEO efforts build, you can expect to start to see higher ROAS calculations over the months of doing this.

When to start doing SEO as a B2B SaaS company?

The best day to have started was 20 years ago.

The next best day is today.

We recommend blocking 1 hour everyday to conduct your research and writing content.

When this is done, you always are making time to move the needle for your B2B SaaS.

Wrapping up

So there you have it, 3 low cost digital marketing campaigns you can start using today to get more traction in your market.

Again, some of these are more time consuming then others.

As an agency friend once told me

"...there is only two ways this works - with time, or money."

And Jay couldn't be further from the truth.

If you have any questions, always feel free to reach out, we are more than happy to help you strategize!

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