SaaS SEO Report - State of SaaS // Common Ground

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SaaS SEO Report
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Meet the Experts
We asked 3 in-house SaaS experts 8 questions to further understand the changing landscape and how SEO is changing for them in their view.
Nick Liddle
Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Thomas International
Pedro Machado
Content Marketing Manager at Infraspeak
Shane O'hare
Our experts have had their say the 8 different questions that we posed to them. 
Select the question below to unveil their thoughts.
1. Has Covid-19 & the impending recession changed how organic search is valued in the business?
Nick Liddle
Funnily enough no it hasn't. We've always valued the importance of organic search and its vital role in our inbound lead generation strategy.
Clearly during a difficult macro-climate, having a foothold over your competition when it comes to organic search helps, espcially if budgets are being cut. We're fortunate this (organic search) has always been part of our strategy and not reactive to those outside events.
Pedro Machado
I would say no, because SEO has always been valued and seen as the long term solution for lead acquisition at Infraspeak.
Shane O'hare
For the most part, no. Our clients understand that organic search is a long term investment with compounding value. Taking their foot off the gas due to temporary market factors - even something as big as Covid - is detrimental to long term success. The results we’ve managed to achieve for our clients, both before and during Covid, have helped to make this an easier conversation.
2. How has the business performed throughout Covid-19 from an SEO perspective?
Nick Liddle
Looking purely at our SEO performance, it was largely unimpacted by Covid-19. Clearly the business as a whole was hit, like so many others, but organic search was relatively unimpacted. The only real tangible change was creating content around new keyword pillars which hadn't previously existed, including the likes of 'Remote Working' , 'Working from Home' etc...
Pedro Machado
Organic search performance improved throughout Covid-19, as we've also adapted the content to the new reality, addressing Covid-related topics that are relevant to our industry.
Shane O'hare
As an agency there was an initial period at the beginning of Covid where clients were naturally spooked by the news and the unknown of what was to come. After a couple of months we were back to normal and went on to have record growth in 2020, 2021, and soon to be 2022.
SEO performance for our SaaS clients was relatively unaffected by Covid, with all clients seeing continued growth. Our agile approach allowed us to quickly identify changes and trends in the search market, build these into existing client strategies, and capitalise on the insights ahead of competitors.
3. Has your SEO investment increased, stayed the same, or reduced during the last 12 months?
Nick Liddle
Our SEO investment has stayed the same.
Pedro Machado
It has increased.
Shane O'hare
We’re seeing many of our SaaS SEO clients continuing to invest more into SEO as results continue to grow, especially those who naturally want to increase investment in their highest revenue-driving channel.
4. Are you having to change your forecasted results within the business off the back of Covid-19 and due to the current economic climate?
Nick Liddle
Yes we are and I think it would be naive for any business (even one doing well) not to continually reforecast.
Thomas International sells psychometric assessments to support businesses with their recruitment and team development goals. Although this is a relatively evergreen proposition (businesses will always be recruiting for example), we're also not immune to the wider economic climate and how this may impact businesses.
Recruiting for new roles may be frozen and development budgets may be cut, even despite our continued investment into improving our platform and innovating our solutions. So yes, we are constantly reforecasting and anticipating trends.
Pedro Machado
We've done it in the peak of Covid, in 2020; not doing it at the moment, since we were able to get through Covid farily well in terms of performance.
Shane O'hare
Like almost all businesses, when Covid hit we naturally had to look at forecasting and anticipate any impact of this unprecedented event. Thankfully the impact we experienced was short lived and we went on to have record growth and have continued to do so since.
In terms of the current economic climate and the expected recession, much of exactly what to come is still unknown. As such, we’ll continually monitor and reforecast as the situation unfolds.
5. How are internal stakeholders viewing SEO as a marketing channel in light of Covid-19 and current economic climate?
Nick Liddle
Outside of Marketing, SEO is still quite misunderstood and viewed as a 'dark art'. But its contribution to our lead funnel can't be ignored as well as the quality of those inbound leads. But again, this is not linked in any way to Covid-19.
Pedro Machado
SEO is viewed as a critical and more sustainable channel for generating business opportunities in the long term, and I don't believe Covid and the current economic climate have had much impact on this vision.
Shane O'hare
For all of our SaaS clients, organic search has been, and continues to be, one of the largest drivers of revenue and growth. As such, organic search continues to be seen as a critical marketing channel, and the go-to option for the best long-term ROI.
6. What are the biggest SEO challenges that SaaS businesses face from your perspective?
Nick Liddle
My experience is that most SaaS businesses are relatively forward thinking and digital-minded. Therefore they understand the importance of SEO whilst continuing to invest in their platform/online solution.
I personally think the challenge is identifying the highest quality keywords to focus on, ones which drive both traffic but also conversions. This is where having a strong 'search' strategy is critical, where PPC informs SEO (and vice-versa).
The challenge in this particular climate, may be where budgets are being restricted and this vital test and learn process is being ignored/by-passed.
Pedro Machado
Software comparison websites taking most of the SERPs; Relatively static SERPs that make it harder to compete with older and more established websites; Understanding search intent and delivering the right content (in terms of awareness stage) for the right search terms.
Shane O'hare
Most SaaS businesses operate in incredibly competitive markets, with larger players investing heavily in both SEO and PPC, not to mention SaaS comparison sites dominating for many commercial terms.
In order to effectively compete, SaaS businesses need a data-driven organic search strategy which targets potential customers across every stage of the buying cycle, and a clear understanding of exactly what it will take to get there, in terms of required expertise, activity, budgets, and time.
7. Has your SEO activity changed over the past 12 months and how do you see it moving forward?
Nick Liddle
Our SEO activity hasn't really changed - we've continued to focus on the basics and doing them well. Some things don't change and good keyword research and well structured content goes a long way!
If anything we rely on our SEO partner to support us with search trends, insight and reporting more than we used to in the past. This helps support the investment and shows the added-value of the partnership.
Pedro Machado
The strategy is changing a bit to focus more on higher-intent keywords and integrate organic and paid channels, but the SEO activity itself should remain relatively constant.
Shane O'hare
The fundamentals of how we approach SEO have largely remained the same, as we have a proven framework which consistently delivers significant organic growth.
Our client strategies will always continue to evolve based on goals, performance, trends, and SERP developments.
8. What SEO metrics matter the most to your business?
Nick Liddle
Users and conversions. Very simple. Conversions ensure traffic is not for vanity. Traffic ensures our CRO strategy is not in vain.
Pedro Machado