The Role of SaaS SEO KPIs in Scaling Your Software Business

So, why exactly is SEO a big deal for your SaaS business? Well, to put it simply, SEO is the secret sauce that can take your SaaS from a hidden gem to a shining star on the vast expanse of the internet. Through thorough SEO technical implementation and great content writing, your SaaS website could see its organic growth go from zero to hero.

Here’s how:

1. Boosts visibility

When your website ranks high on search engine results pages (SERPs), more potential customers can find you. This is especially important for SaaS businesses, as the competition is fierce, and the potential clients are often spread out globally. Showing up at the top of their search results can make all the difference in attracting new business.

2. Attracts high-quality traffic

People who find you via search engines are usually looking for a solution you provide. They’re not just casually browsing — they’re in need of what you’re offering. That means they’re more likely to convert into customers, which is a big win for any SaaS business.

3. Provides long-term results

Unlike paid advertising that only lasts as long as your budget, the benefits of SEO can continue to pay dividends over time. Once you’ve earned a high ranking, you can continue to reap the benefits for months, or even years, to come.

Tools to Track the Organic Success of Your SaaS

Alright, we’ve established that SEO is crucial for your SaaS business. But how exactly do you keep tabs on your SEO efforts? How do you know if you’re making progress? That’s where the right SEO tools come in — and it’s important that you use the right ones!

Let’s go through some of the big players in the game:

Google Analytics

Let’s start with the giant — Google Analytics. It’s like the Swiss Army knife of SEO tools, offering a range of features to help you understand your website traffic.

Want to know where your visitors are coming from, what content they’re engaging with, or how long they’re spending on your site? Google Analytics has got you covered. It’s an invaluable tool that can provide rich insights into user behaviour, helping you tweak your SEO strategy for better results.

Google Search Console

This free tool from Google allows you to monitor and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google Search results. It shows you which keywords your site is ranking for, the click-through rates for those keywords, and any crawl errors that might be hindering your site’s performance.

Think of it as your control room for managing how Google sees your site!

Rank Tracker

As the name suggests, this tool is all about tracking your website’s ranking for specific keywords. It provides you with real-time updates on where you’re ranking in the SERPs, helping you see if your SEO efforts are paying off.

Plus, it can also show you how your SaaS competitors are doing, giving you valuable insights to stay one step ahead. And that’s always nice!

Ahrefs

This comprehensive SEO toolset is a powerhouse when it comes to looking at how well your site is ranking for keywords, and it’s a great tool for backlink analysis (when other websites link to yours). It helps you see who’s linking to your competitors, find high-ranking keywords in your niche, and detect any SEO issues on your site. It’s like having a personal SEO detective at your fingertips!

Let’s be real — not every single KPI is actually crucial for your SaaS company’s SEO efforts. You need to focus on the KPIs that give you the most valuable insights into your performance. So, which are the right KPIs to look at, then? We’ve got you covered.

The KPIs we’re about to discuss are chosen because they directly impact your bottom line. They’re connected to the things that matter most — attracting quality traffic, driving conversions, and ultimately, boosting revenue. They can help you understand where you’re excelling, where you’re falling short, and where there are opportunities for improvement. But remember, the most important thing is not just tracking these KPIs but using the insights to inform your SEO strategy.

With that said, let’s take a look at the main SaaS SEO KPIs that actually matter:

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, isn’t that a financial metric? What’s it doing in an article about SEO KPIs?” Good question!

You see, MRR isn’t just about the money flowing into your business. It’s also a fantastic indicator of how well your SEO efforts are paying off.

As we know, SEO is all about driving organic traffic to your site and converting that traffic into customers. And the more customers you have paying for your SaaS on a recurring basis, the higher your MRR.

So, how do you use MRR as an SEO KPI? It’s simple. You track your MRR over time and see if it’s growing. If your MRR is increasing, that’s a good sign that your SEO efforts are attracting more customers and driving revenue. If it’s not, you might need to adjust your SEO strategy to better target potential customers.

Remember, growing your MRR isn’t just about acquiring new customers. It’s also about retaining existing ones. So, make sure your SEO strategy also focuses on customer retention through things like helpful content, user-friendly website design, and excellent customer service.

Conversions are the heart and soul of any successful SEO strategy. In a nutshell, a conversion occurs when a user completes a desired action on your website. It’s basically a clear sign that a user has found value on your website, and it’s what ultimately drives revenue for your SaaS business.

Let’s break down conversions into two types: micro and macro.

Micro conversions

Micro conversions are the small steps that users take on the path to a larger conversion. These types of conversions might not directly bring in revenue, but they’re essential for building relationships with potential customers. They show that users are engaging with your site and finding value in your content, which can pave the way for bigger conversions down the line.

Some micro-conversions include:

• Subscribing to a newsletter

• Downloading a free ebook or PDF

• Creating an account or signing up for a free trial

• Their retention rate on your website

Macro conversions

Onto the big guns — macro conversions. These are essentially the major actions that directly impact your bottom line. Macro conversions show that users are not only finding value in your content but are also willing to invest in your SaaS solution. Tracking macro conversions can help you understand which SEO strategies are directly driving revenue and which ones might need a bit of tweaking.

The most common SaaS macro-conversions are:

• Making a purchase or buying an add-on

• Buying a subscription

• Upgrading their monthly subscription to a yearly one

This is a classic SEO KPI, and for good reason. Your ranking for specific keywords in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) has a direct impact on the visibility of your SaaS business online. The higher you rank, the more likely users are to click on your site and the more traffic you’re likely to get.

Think about your own online habits for a moment. When you use a search engine, how often do you go past the first page of results? If you’re like most people, the answer is probably “rarely”. That’s why appearing on the first page of the SERPs — ideally in the top few spots — is so crucial.

So, ultimately, it’s not just about any keywords. It’s about the right keywords. The ones that your target audience is actually using when they’re looking for the services you offer. That’s why keyword research is such a crucial part of SEO. It helps you understand what your potential customers are searching for so you can create content that meets their needs.

This refers to the users who land on your website as a result of unpaid search results. If a user types a query into a search engine, sees your website in the results, and clicks on your link, that’s organic traffic. Simple as that.

But why should you be interested in the organic traffic from the past 12 months?

Looking at your organic traffic over a 12-month period can provide valuable insights into the success of your SEO efforts. Are more users finding your site through search engines? That’s a good sign your SEO is working. Seeing a decline in organic traffic? That might indicate you need to revisit your keywords or create more relevant content.

A year’s worth of data also helps you spot trends and seasonal changes. Maybe you get more traffic during a certain time of year, or perhaps there was a spike in visits when you published a particularly popular blog post. These insights can help you understand what’s resonating with your audience and inform your future SEO strategy.

Return on Investment is a vital KPI to understand the financial efficiency of your SEO efforts. It measures the profit made from your organic search efforts compared to the amount of money you’ve invested into SEO. Naturally, a positive ROI means you’re getting more from your SEO efforts than what you’re putting in. A negative ROI? That’s a sign something needs to change.

It’s one thing to attract loads of organic traffic, but if those visitors aren’t converting into paying customers, your SEO efforts might not be as successful as you think. ROI helps you understand whether your investment in SEO is actually contributing to your bottom line.

But remember: SEO is a long-term game — it doesn’t give you quick wins like PPC or any other type of ad. It might take time to see a return on your investment, but don’t let that discourage you! Stay the course, keep refining your strategies, and the results will come.

Next up, we’ve got a double whammy: ACV and CLTV.

ACV, or Average Contract Value, measures the average revenue per customer contract. It’s especially useful for SaaS companies with various pricing tiers or custom pricing models. It helps you gauge the value you’re getting from each customer contract over a specific time period. Overall, a pretty powerful SEO KPI to keep in mind!

Then there’s CLTV, or Customer Lifetime Value. This KPI represents the total revenue a customer is expected to generate throughout their relationship with your company. It’s a biggie because it gives you insights into how much you can afford to invest in acquiring new customers while still maintaining profitability.

Why are these two KPIs essential for your SaaS SEO strategy? Well, they’re all about maximising the value of each customer. SEO plays a crucial role in this by attracting high-quality traffic — potential customers who are likely to subscribe to your service and stick around for a long time.

Bounce rate is a metric that tells you the percentage of people who land on your website and leave without clicking on anything else. It’s like going into a shop, looking around for a few seconds, and walking out without buying anything. Not ideal, right?

A high bounce rate might indicate that users aren’t finding what they’re looking for when they land on your site. Maybe your content isn’t relevant to their search query, or your website isn’t user-friendly. Either way, it’s a clear signal that you need to improve your user experience or revisit your keyword targeting.

If you notice that certain pages have a high bounce rate, you might need to reassess the keywords those pages are targeting — you might not be targeting the right ones! Ask yourself: Are those keywords truly relevant to the content on your page? If not, it might be time to optimise your content to better match user search intent.

Last but certainly not least, we have CTR, or Click-Through Rate. CTR is different from conversion rate as it measures the percentage of people who click on your website’s link after seeing it in the search results. It’s a direct indicator of how enticing your SEO metadata is to potential visitors.

For example, if you get 100 impressions (people viewing your link in the search results) and 10 clicks, your CTR would be 10%.

As you might imagine, a high CTR means that your website’s listing is attractive and relevant to searchers. Essentially, they saw your link, read its meta description and thought, “Yes, this looks like it could answer my question or solve my problem”. A low CTR, on the other hand, could suggest that your titles and descriptions need a bit of a spruce-up.

But remember, while a high CTR is a good sign, it’s not the be-all and end-all. You also need to ensure that once people click through, they’re finding valuable, relevant content that keeps them on your site and, ultimately, leads to conversions. That’s why all the SEO KPIs we’ve listed should work in tandem with each other and be utilised for a comprehensive look at how your SaaS SEO efforts are paying off (or not!).

Not to sound like a broken record, but remember: SEO isn’t a quick fix. It takes time, patience, and consistent effort. And to make sure you’re headed in the right direction, you need the right compass — that’s your KPIs.

So, how do you use KPIs to inform and update your SEO strategy?

1. Establish benchmarks

First and foremost, you need to establish your benchmarks. These are your starting points, the numbers you’ll compare all future metrics to. They’ll help you understand what’s normal for your business, what’s not, and what needs to be changed.

2. Regularly track your KPIs

Keep an eye on your organic traffic, your conversions, your bounce rate, and all the other KPIs we’ve discussed. If you notice significant changes — good or bad — you’ll know it’s time to dive deeper!

For example, if you see a sudden drop in organic traffic, it might mean that you’ve been hit by a Google penalty or that a competitor has outranked you for some of your key keywords. On the flip side, a sudden spike in conversions might indicate that a new piece of content or a website update is really resonating with your audience.

3. Keep your SEO strategy flexible

Always, always stay flexible with your SEO strategy. Don’t be afraid to test new things and make changes based on what your KPIs are telling you. SEO is a constantly evolving field, and what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. So keep learning, keep adapting and keep pushing towards your goals.

We’ve covered a lot of ground today, haven’t we? From understanding the importance of SEO for your SaaS business to identifying the SEO KPIs that really matter and how to use them to inform your strategy, it’s clear that SEO is a key driver for SaaS growth.

Remember, it’s all about attracting the right kind of attention from the right kind of customers. And to do that, you need to keep your finger on the pulse of your SEO efforts, constantly adapting and evolving to stay ahead of the game.

But hey, we get it. SEO can seem like a big, hairy beast to tame — especially when you’re trying to run a business at the same time. That’s why it can be a huge advantage to work with the experts who eat, sleep, and breathe SEO.

If you’re serious about scaling your SaaS business organically, why not consider working with our results-crazy SEO agency for SaaS? We’ve got the knowledge, the skills, and the experience to help you unlock the growth you’re aiming for.

Sound like a plan? Then book a discovery call with us today and find out how we can help you boost your SaaS company’s organic growth to new heights!