Helpful summary
Overview: We have curated a list of the best SEO tools for SaaS in 2023, emphasizing the significance of organic growth strategies for SaaS businesses.
Why you can trust us: Our effective SEO strategies have supported the growth of companies like VEED and Riverside. We helped Cleanvoice in achieving a monthly SEO traffic increase of +30k, resulting in a 300% increase in MRR through SEO.
Why this is important: Effective SEO tactics enhance visibility, drive organic traffic, and boost revenue. Higher SERP rankings lead to increased user engagement and conversions, with an impressive ROI of $2.75 for every dollar spent on SEO.
Action points: We suggest that SaaS companies use SEO tools to enhance their website's performance in search results, thus increasing visibility, credibility, and revenue.
Further research: Explore various SEO tools and strategies specific to SaaS businesses to optimize your online presence and organic growth.
Want to find the perfect SaaS agency for you?
The success of companies like VEED, OnlyFans, Canva, and more showcase the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of investing in organic growth for SaaS businesses. In fact, data show organic traffic can account for more than 40% of a company’s revenue. As a result, the demand for SEO professionals and SEO tools has skyrocketed.
However, with an overwhelming number of options available, choosing the right tools can be a daunting task. To simplify the selection process, we at Embarque compiled a list of the most commonly used SEO tools by SaaS SEO experts, including our personal favorites.
There is no definitive right or wrong tool, as the key is finding what works best for you. So, let's dive into some of the top SEO tools used by professionals in the industry, empowering you to make an informed decision for your SaaS business.
Why listen to us about SEO tools for SaaS?
In the competitive SaaS sector, we've seen firsthand how strategic SEO can transform small businesses. Take our collaboration with Cleanvoice, an AI podcasting tool, as an example. Confronted with a saturated market, we implemented a content strategy focusing on emerging topics, resulting in over 1 million impressions and a 7.9% click-through rate. This approach not only enhanced their visibility but also played a crucial role in achieving a remarkable 300% growth in monthly recurring revenue.
Check out how we helped UXCam boost their organic traffic with high-conversion, commercial queries, going from 9,333 visitors in January to over 17,153 visitors per month about 6-7 months later.
What is SEO for SaaS?
SEO for SaaS involves optimizing a SaaS company's website to increase organic traffic by achieving high rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. While many SaaS companies initially rely on performance marketing methods like PPC and social ads for rapid customer acquisition, they are realizing the escalating costs and drawbacks of relying solely on paid acquisition.
One disadvantage of paid advertising is that when the campaigns are turned off or reduced, the traffic stops flowing. That's where a robust SaaS SEO strategy comes into play. By focusing on SEO, companies can drive consistent traffic and achieve exponential organic growth. Recognizing this, many SaaS businesses are increasing their investment in SEO to diversify their traffic sources and maintain sustainable customer acquisition costs.
SaaS SEO primarily revolves around improving a platform's organic search visibility to capture the attention of different types of potential customers. This includes:
- those who are actively searching for the specific software
- those seeking information about similar software options
- individuals ready to make a software purchase and researching pricing
- and even those seeking content related to the software's industry.
Why SEO Tools for SaaS are Important?
SEO tools are essential for SaaS businesses for several reasons:
Competitive advantages
The effectiveness of SEO tactics in surpassing competition and delivering a substantial return on investment (ROI) is well-documented. Numerous studies consistently demonstrate that SEO drives organic traffic, enhances visibility, and ultimately boosts revenue.
Notably, websites ranking in the top three positions on Google experience significantly higher click-through rates (CTR), leading to increased user engagement and conversions. In terms of ROI, companies that invest in SEO frequently report impressive returns. The average ROI for SEO campaigns is $2.75 for every dollar spent.
Improves user experience
SEO plays a crucial role in driving traffic to your website, but it's equally important to guide visitors to the right pages to avoid a high bounce rate. Search engines prioritize user experience, and if your website fails to meet user expectations, it can negatively impact your rankings.
Longer customer engagement with a website fosters a stronger connection to the brand. Search engines take notice of user behavior, and if they determine that your website or link doesn't provide relevant and valuable content, it can lead to a drop in rankings.
To enhance user engagement and improve your website's performance, there are various online audit tools available. These tools can help you identify areas for improvement, ensuring that your website is secure, and that it offers a user-friendly experience, particularly on mobile devices.
Boost your credibility through organic search
A website that performs well in search engine results pages not only attracts higher visibility but also enhances the credibility and reliability of your company in the eyes of search engines. The effectiveness of your website is heavily reliant on organic search, which is directly influenced by SEO strategies and quality content writing.
Approximately 75% of users do not venture beyond the first page of search results, emphasizing the importance of ranking prominently to capture user attention and drive organic traffic.
Criteria to Consider When Choosing SEO Tools for SaaS
When choosing SEO tools for SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses, it's important to consider the following criteria:
Competitive and keywords research
Look for SEO tools that offer robust competitive analysis features. These tools should allow you to analyze the SEO strategies of your competitors, including their keyword rankings, backlink profiles, content strategies, and overall online presence. Understanding your competitors' strengths and weaknesses can help you refine your own SEO strategy and gain a competitive edge.
Backlinking
Backlinks are links from one website to another. When your content is used as a source in a blog or article, the website generating the content creates a hyperlink to your website. Conversely, when you reference another website as a source, you are creating a backlink for that website
Search engines consider backlinks as a measure of credibility and authority. The more high-quality backlinks your website receives from reputable sources, the higher your content is likely to rank in search engine results. This indicates that the quality of your work directly influences the likelihood of being cited as a reliable source by others, which in turn helps you build a strong reputation in your industry.
Search Engine Submission
A search engine submission functionality offers a convenient and proactive way to ensure that your newly launched websites are indexed by major search engines like Google. By submitting your website to search engines, you are notifying them of your website's existence and providing them with the opportunity to crawl and analyze your webpages. This process allows search engine spiders or bots to rate and rank your webpages, ultimately influencing their visibility in search engine results.
Reporting
Reporting consolidates and summarizes the outcomes of your SEO strategies. These reports typically encompass crucial information such as the search ranking status of your targeted keywords, cost-per-click (CPC) data, and comparisons with competitors' websites.
Visual elements, such as graphs and charts, are often incorporated into the reports to facilitate easy comprehension of the data. By utilizing visual reports, businesses can effectively demonstrate the success of their SEO campaigns to clients.
Additionally, for comprehensive evaluation of long-term SEO projects, some reports may include historical ranking data, enabling you to track progress and make informed decisions based on past performance.
Best SEO Tools for SaaS
In a nutshell, here are the tools:
- Embarque
- Screaming Frog
- SurferSEO
- Keyword Insights
- SE Ranking
- Frase
- Google Search Console
- Keywords Everywhere
- Google Analytics
- Ahrefs
- Moz
- Optimizely
- SerpJoy
#1 Embarque for high-quality, product-led SEO content
Embarque offers product-led SEO content marketing services that have proven effective for fast-growing companies like VEED and Riverside. With Embarque, businesses can access native English SEO writers and specialists at a cost-effective price, enabling them to scale their growth by attracting more clients through well-crafted product-centric content and backlinks.
The flexibility of monthly payments, the ability to cancel anytime, and the money-back guarantee provided by Embarque further adds to its appeal as a valuable service for companies looking to take their growth to the next level.
Pricing
Embarque offers flexible content packages tailored to different needs and budgets. The pricing ranges from $899/month for the Startup package, which includes 2-4 posts and basic SEO services, to $1,399/month for the Steer package with 4-7 posts and more comprehensive SEO support.
Additionally, Embarque offers a Custom plan for those who require a personalized approach with discounted long-term rates. Contacting them directly can provide further details and potential bulk discounts
#2 Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO toolset designed to enhance search traffic and optimize websites. This tool crawls the web, collects vast amounts of data, and provides easy access to it through a user-friendly interface.
With Ahrefs, users can gain valuable insights, conduct in-depth analysis, and make informed decisions to improve their website's performance in search engine rankings.
Relevant Features
Pricing
Ahrefs offers different pricing plans to cater to various needs. Users can choose to pay monthly or annually, with the annual plan offering 2 months free.
The plans range from Lite for small businesses and hobby projects to Enterprise for agencies and enterprises, providing a suite of powerful SEO tools and features at different price points.
Source: https://ahrefs.com/pricing
Pros
- Comprehensive SEO insights tool with a wide array of features
- Offers information on rankings, keyword search volumes, and backlink profiles
- Easy to use and navigate
- Provides accurate organic search traffic data
- Helps with keyword research, backlink checking, and finding link building opportunities
- Generates reports quickly
- Contains a large number of features for website optimization and improving search engine results
Cons
- Some plan-determined limitations can be annoying at times
- Pricing can be considered rather expensive by some users
Reviews
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 36 reviews
#3 Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a complimentary service provided by Google, designed to assist you in overseeing, managing, and resolving issues related to your website's visibility in Google Search results. It offers a range of metrics and valuable information pertaining to your site's search performance, keyword rankings, and user engagement.
By utilizing this tool, you can enhance your website's optimization for increased traffic and enhance its visibility in search results. It serves as an upgraded edition of the previous Google Webmaster Tools.
Pricing
Free
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Provides accurate details of the current performance of your website.
- Helps identify and address SEO issues to improve your website’s ranking.
- Constantly tracks search results, allowing you to monitor your website’s visibility.
- Provides insightful data and suggestions for improving organic traffic.
- Monitors, maintains, and troubleshoots your site’s presence in Google search results.
- Offers easy-to-read graphs and reports, supporting multiple sites/domains.
- Provides ongoing monitoring of website performance in a convenient dashboard format.
- Provides keyword insights and click-through rate (CTR) data.
- Helps identify potential website issues that could impact SEO.
Cons
- Some users find it difficult to recrawl URLs using the inspection tool.
- Reports may contain a lot of data, making it hard to follow up during analysis.
- Data can be inconsistent compared to other tools like Google Trends and Analytics.
- Some features only work well when used in conjunction with other Google tools like Google Analytics, Google Trends, and Google Ads.
Reviews
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 160 reviews
#4 Frase
Frase automatically generates comprehensive content briefs and provides suggestions to optimize your posts, increasing your chances of ranking on the first page of search engine results. With Frase, users can benefit from an efficient and streamlined content creation process, leveraging AI capabilities to optimize their content for search engines.
Pricing
Frase offers three pricing plans: Solo, Basic, and Team. The Solo plan starts at $14.99 per month and allows 1 user to write and optimize 4 articles per month. The Team plan, priced at $114.99 per month, accommodates 3 user seats and provides unlimited article writing and optimization, with an additional cost of $25 per extra seat.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Exceptional platform for content optimization and customer engagement
- Easy to use with a user-friendly interface
- Powerful AI capabilities that analyze content and provide accurate suggestions for improvement
- Cutting-edge features that revolutionize content strategy
- Robust research module that saves time and provides valuable insights from reputable sources
- Helps create well-written and optimized articles, blog posts, and website copy
- Advanced SEO analysis for improved search engine rankings
- Great functionality for creating impactful, data-driven content
Cons
- A few users mention a learning curve when first using Frase.io
Reviews
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 329 reviews
#5 Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog’s tool serves as a website crawler that aids in enhancing onsite SEO by identifying and auditing common SEO issues. With its ability to crawl websites and gather comprehensive data, Screaming Frog provides valuable insights for optimizing and improving the overall performance of your website.
Pricing
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider offers a free version that allows crawling up to 500 URLs. However, if you need to crawl more than 500 URLs and access advanced features, you can purchase a license. The licenses are valid for one year and need to be renewed after that period.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Ease of use and speed
- Provides detailed technical SEO issues and their solutions
- Detects issues that other tools may miss
- Great value for money
- Powerful and easy-to-use tools for gaining insights into websites
- Comprehensive reporting with clear action items
- Helps identify SEO errors and improve revenue
- Provides great insights for backlinks, on-page SEO, and technical SEO
- Simple to install within the computer
- User-friendly interface with accessible issue titles
Cons
- It sometimes does not reflect website changes accurately, requiring multiple re-runs of the tool
- Lacks functionality for formal reporting, requiring users to create reports themselves from crawls
- Identifies all errors without urgency levels, making it overwhelming when there are many issues to address
- Slower crawl speed for larger websites, leading to slower report generation
- Outdated user interface (UI)
- Tool freezes occasionally due to heavy crawl logs
Reviews
Rating: 5 stars out of 109 reviews
#6 SurferSEO
Surfer SEO is a cloud-based on-page optimization tool that analyzes and compares your pages to top-ranking results, providing data-driven insights to improve your content and rankings.
Pricing
SurferSEO offers four main plans: Lite, Essential, Advanced, and Max. The prices range from $19 to $249 per month when billed annually. Each plan includes a certain number of Content Editor credits and organization seats, with additional credits and features available for purchase.
Additionally, SurferAI credits can be bought to enhance content workflow, and there are several add-ons available for customization purposes. For enterprise needs, customized plans can be created in collaboration with the sales team.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Simple and straightforward to use.
- Real-time content optimization tool.
- Supportive community and responsive customer support.
- Ability to connect Google Search Console for Content Planner.
- Easy navigation and striking interface.
- Detailed analysis of on-page factors and keyword research feature.
- Comprehensive content editor with suggestions for improvement.
- Clean and user-friendly UI.
Cons:
- Challenging to analyze keyword trends compared to SEMrush.
- Limited visual data/graphs in analytics.
- Lack of flexibility in payment options for specific features needed.
- Occasional glitches that erase written content during usage.
- Higher cost compared to some other SEO tools on the market.
- Occasional bugs impacting user experience.
- Difficulty in organizing projects by client.
Reviews
Rating: 4.9 stars out of 376 reviews
#7 Keyword Insights
Keyword Insights is an advanced tool that leverages cutting-edge natural language processing and search engine results page (SERP) data to categorize keywords based on their similarity and decipher the underlying intent.
By utilizing this tool, you can generate a comprehensive report that highlights specific keywords, enabling you to create tailored content that precisely aligns with your target audience's interests and needs.
Pricing
Keyword Insights offers a range of plans and pricing options to cater to different needs. They provide monthly and annual subscription options, as well as a pay-as-you-go option.
The plans vary in terms of credits, keywords, content briefs, searches, users, and additional features. Customers can also start with a trial or explore custom enterprise packages for larger credit requirements.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Annual plans with credits for the whole year
- Fast processing
- Great Sheets output
- Excellent clustering capabilities
Cons:
- No recommended word count column
- Hub/Spoke data could be better displayed for import into Airtable
- No individual clusters for keywords without clusters
Reviews
Rating: 4.9 stars out of 11 reviews
#8 SE Ranking
SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO software that provides a complete set of tools for keyword tracking, website audit, competitor analysis, and more. It’s perfect for small businesses, SEO pros, and agencies.
Source: https://seranking.com/
Relevant Features
Pricing
SE Ranking offers three pricing plans: Essential, Pro, and Business. The Essential plan is ideal for freelancers and newbies at $39 per month or $31.20 per month with an annual subscription.
The Pro plan, priced at $89 per month (or $71.20/month annually), is the most popular option for small agencies and teams, while the Business plan at $189 per month (or $151.20/month annually) caters to mid-size agencies and businesses.
Additionally, SE Ranking provides a 20% discount for annual plans and free migration services.
Source: https://seranking.com/subscription.html
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Comprehensive SEO tool for managing multiple websites
- Ability to generate combined/group or individual reports for easy client updates
- Archived SERP results to track progress over time
- Great customer support with live chat and quick issue resolution
- User-friendly interface and intuitive navigation
- Affordable pricing options for small businesses
Cons
- Occasionally inaccurate keyword popularity data
- Backlink checker may not catch everything, requiring additional tools for a more comprehensive view
- Limitations in tracking websites for the lowest plan
Reviews
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 1,175 reviews
Source: https://www.g2.com/products/se-ranking/reviews
#9 Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a browser addon that appends search volume, CPC & competition on websites used by Internet Marketers.
Source: https://keywordseverywhere.com/
Pricing
Keywords Everywhere offers three packages for purchasing credits: 15 credits for 15 cents, 50 credits for 50 cents, and 100 credits for $1.20. The prices per 1000 credits range from 15 cents to 8.3 cents depending on the package chosen.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The tool has been praised for its usefulness and good insights for SEO keyword research.
- Some users appreciated the specific features it offered, such as ChatGPT Prompt Templates, Instagram Hashtag Generator, and Pinterest Insights.
- It provided search volume data for keywords, which was helpful for content creation and targeting specific audiences.
Cons
- The tool switched all of its features to a paid model without prior notification, which upset many users.
- Some users found the tool's data to be inaccurate and unreliable, particularly regarding search volume on platforms like Amazon and YouTube.
- The shift to a paywall for most features led to a loss of functionality, rendering the free version useless for many users.
- The pay-per-keyword system resulted in unexpected charges for users, as they were charged for each keyword displayed.
- Several users felt deceived by false advertising and accused the developer of being deceptive.
- The drastic change in the tool's model and the elimination of features led to disappointment and frustration among users.
- The tool received negative feedback, with many users expressing their intention to uninstall it and not recommend it to others.
Reviews
Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5,414 reviews
#10 Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and also the mobile app traffic & events. It gives you the tools, free of charge, to understand the customer journey and improve marketing ROI.
Pricing
Free of charge
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Provides valuable insights into website and app performance, user behavior, and marketing effectiveness.
- Offers comprehensive data tracking and powerful reporting capabilities.
- Integrates well with other Google tools and services.
- Offers real-time visitor monitoring for accurate reports.
- Helps measure website performance and optimize it accordingly.
- User-friendly interface and easy implementation process.
- Allows for advanced segmentation and attribution modeling for marketing optimization.
- Provides actionable insights to improve business strategies.
Cons
- Can be overwhelming or complex to navigate for beginners.
- Requires a certain level of knowledge and practice to fully utilize its features.
- Some users may find the interface cluttered or difficult to interpret at first.
Reviews
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 1,547 reviews
#11 Moz
Moz Pro is a comprehensive SEO toolset that includes various features such as keyword research, link building, site audits, page optimization, rank tracking, and reporting. It also provides access to site tracking, research tools for competitor analysis and keyword research optimization, as well as resources for learning SEO and inbound marketing.
Pricing
Moz offers different pricing plans for SEO services. They have a range of plans, starting from the Standard plan at $99 per month, which is suitable for beginners or those needing basic SEO tools.
The prices increase as you move up to the Medium, Large, and Premium plans, offering more features and benefits for businesses and agencies that require more advanced SEO capabilities. By opting for yearly payments, customers can save 20% on their monthly subscription fees across all plans.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Comprehensive tool with a wide range of features
- Valuable backlink analysis for outreach campaigns
- User-friendly interface
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Expensive pricing
- Overwhelming number of functions
- Lack of frequent updates and innovation
Reviews
Rating: 4.4 stars out of 368 reviews
#12 Optimizely
Optimizely is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) that allows marketing teams and other users to manage and optimize their digital activities and customer experiences across various touchpoints.
It offers a range of features such as content management, commerce solutions, personalization, optimization, and experimentation tools to help businesses elevate their digital performance.
Relevant Features
Source: https://www.optimizely.com/
Pricing
Optimizely offers customized pricing based on the specific needs of each customer.
Source: https://www.optimizely.com/plans/
Pros and Cons
Source: https://www.g2.com/products/optimizely-web-experimentation/reviews
Pros
- Quick and easy tracking of custom attributes and data fields.
- Powerful funnel visualization for user journeys.
- Helpful troubleshooting tool with event inspector.
- Ability to run multiple tests and experiments to improve website experience.
- Intuitive user interface for testing applications.
Cons
- Usability issues, such as slow rendering and lack of filter field enhancements.
- Difficulty joining different event types in one report.
- Challenges in creating multiple wildcard exclusions and excluding internal employees.
- Complex documentation and occasional platform stability issues.
Reviews
Rating: 4.2 stars out of 329 reviews
#13 SerpJoy
SerpJoy is an SEO tool that helps businesses improve their website rankings and visibility.
Pricing
Serpjoy offers three pricing plans: Free, Personal, and Business. The Free plan allows users to create a website audit and receive SEO tips and keywords at no cost. The Personal plan, priced at $19 per month, focuses on improving search engine rankings to generate more website leads. The Business plan, priced at $57 per month, is designed for in-depth research on multiple websites, including competitor analysis.
Conclusion
Investing in SEO tools for SaaS businesses is crucial for driving organic traffic, enhancing user experience, and boosting credibility. The article highlights several key SEO tools, including Embarque, Ahrefs, Google Search Console, Frase, Screaming Frog, SurferSEO, and more.
Embarque stands out as a premium content marketing agency that offers product-led SEO services, providing businesses with access to native English SEO writers and specialists. By considering these tools and their features, SaaS businesses can make informed decisions to drive organic growth and achieve success in their industry.
For those seeking a reliable and effective SEO content marketing agency, Embarque is an ideal choice to scale their growth with well-crafted content and backlinks. Contact Embarque today by filling out this form to elevate your SaaS business with our premium SEO content marketing services. Scale your growth, attract more clients, and enhance your online presence through well-crafted product-centric content and backlinks.
