SaaS SEO: How We Grew the MRR by 300% in a Hard Competitive Niche With SEO.

Helpful Summary

• Overview: We walk you through how we increased the Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) of Cleanvoice by 300% using a robust SaaS SEO strategy in a highly competitive niche.
• Why trust us: We've helped numerous businesses and high-growth tech startups like Cleanvoice and Instatus scale rapidly by providing comprehensive global SEO services, demonstrating significant traffic and revenue increases.
• Why it matters: Effective SaaS SEO can lead to substantial MRR growth, even with a limited budget, by targeting relevant keywords, understanding competitors, and leveraging content strategically.
• Action points: Implement a structured SEO strategy, including keyword research, content creation, competitor analysis, and regular performance tracking to boost your SaaS business's online presence and revenue.
• Further research: Explore detailed case studies and SEO resources on our website to deepen your understanding and application of successful SaaS SEO strategies.

Need Incredible MRR Growth With SaaS SEO? 

Most SaaS founders agree SaaS SEO is important—like, REALLY important. In fact, SEO software Hike found that over 90% of SaaS rank SEO a solid 7 out of 10. Shocker? Not for us. 

We've always held the opinion that only a few marketing strategies are as effective as SEO for SaaS. And our clients’ success stories have proven us right over and over again—from tripling their MRR to experiencing mind-blowing 10x+ growth, even on a shoestring budget. 

Case in point—Cleanvoice, an AI podcast production platform. 

In this Embarque article, we'll share the exact SaaS SEO strategy we used to boost Cleanvoice’s MRR by over 300% in just six months. This strategy kept them in business in a very competitive AI podcasting niche. By “competitive,” we mean, they were able to hold their own against VC-backed companies with marketing budgets that could buy a small island.

But first…

Why Listen to Us? 

If you want to understand SaaS SEO, wouldn’t it make sense to learn from those who've been there and have a good track record of success? This is what we bring to the table at Embarque. 

Before we started handling Cleanvoice’s SEO, their SEO strategy was a bit…well, let's just say it wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. But our SaaS SEO agency flipped the switch when we came into the picture. Just after six months of working with them, their traffic growth was ridiculously awesome.

Our service also boosted their MRR by over 3x in that time. What’s even more impressive is that we started with a modest budget. And as our strategies paid off, they had the resources to hunt down even bigger SEO wins.

We see results like this all the time. Instatus, another SaaS SEO bootstrapped client, saw an immense traffic surge after working with us. We’re talking over 833% revenue growth—also in a super competitive space!We have a whole portfolio of case studies showcasing these kinds of results and even more success stories that we’re yet to publish.

Alright, enough bragging (for now). Let's now walk you through the strategies we used to help Cleanvoice achieve such incredible results:  

1. Define Your Core Topics and Conduct Keyword Research

Core topics are the foundational themes that highlight your SaaS product's key functionalities and value proposition. Think of them as the central pillars that you’ll build your entire SEO content strategy upon.We have a simple heuristic for defining your core topics—a one-paragraph pitch:My SaaS is a ______________ platform that does the following things

• Core feature #1
• Core feature #2
• Core feature #3

So for Cleanvoice, this is:My SaaS is Cleanvoice, an AI noise removal podcast editing platform that:

• Removes filler noise in any language
• Eliminates background noise
• Removes stutter and breath noises
• Cuts out dead air
• Gets rid of mouth sounds"

…all of these are your core topics. After coming up with a list of your core topics, you should also do a bit of check and balance to make sure you’re not leaving any stone unturned: 

• Gather customer feedback about your most popular features.
• Analyze your competitors’ core topics (we'll cover this soon).
• Use Google Search Console insights to see which core topics you're already ranking for.

Once you've defined your core topics, they become the main basis for your keyword research. Plug each one into a keyword tool to find a list of relevant subtopics and long-tail keywords that your target audience is actively searching for. 

This leads us to our next section.

Keyword Research

To do effective keyword research, you'll need the right tools. Ahrefs is a fantastic all-in-one option for all your SEO research needs.

That said, there are other more affordable tools specifically for keyword research:

• Google Search Console: This free tool shows the keywords you're ranking for, opportunities you're missing, search clicks, and impressions.

• Keywords Everywhere: An affordable keyword research tool that overlays data onto Google SERP, providing insights into search volumes, related keywords, and cost-per-click data.
• Keyword Surfer: Similar to Keywords Everywhere, but it also suggests keywords for any query you search for on Google.

When you plug your core topics into these tools, focus on two types of keywords:

• Informational keywords 
• Commercial keywords 

Commercial keywords connect you to users who are further along in the buying journey. They're actively researching products or services and are potentially ready to make a purchase. A good example of such a keyword is “best podcast name generator.”

The only reason anyone would be searching for the query is because they’re actively looking for a tool to help them create podcast names. By positioning CleanVoice as one of the top tools for this, we've helped them attract a lot of customers, boosting their MRR.

Informational keywords, on the other hand, are search queries that connect you to users seeking information, trying to learn something, or understanding a concept. They're not necessarily in the buying mode yet. Here’s an example–what is the average cost of producing a podcast: 

Some of these informational queries have an obvious informational structure like “How to remove background noise from podcasts.”  But for some, it might not be so obvious. 

A good way to confirm the intent behind a keyword is to search for it on Google and see the types of content that come up. If you mostly see informational blog posts, it's an informational keyword. If you see landing pages or service pages, they have commercial intent.

Once you have a list of commercial and informational keywords, use them to create a content calendar.

Create a Content Calendar Based on Your Keywords

The key to creating a successful content calendar is balancing your keyword types. We often recommend that you start by targeting 70% informational keywords and 30% commercial keywords. 

That’s for a good reason…

‍Informational keywords often have high search volumes, so they can drive a lot of traffic and backlinks to your site. However, people searching for these terms are usually just looking for information, not ready to buy. That's why conversions from these keywords tend to be lower.

‍But we managed to find a way to squeeze the maximum conversion and revenue from even those low-conversion informational keywords. That’s the magic of product-led SEO content, but we’ll save that trick for later.

‍Commercial keywords target users who are closer to pulling out their wallets. They're actively searching for solutions, which is great news! But the search volume is usually lower. So, focusing on these keywords won’t get you much traffic. 

With the 70/30 rule, you can still enjoy steady traffic growth and earn ROI from your SEO. And when your traffic becomes steady, you may then switch things up a bit, maybe going 60/40 or 50/50 

But we have a third keyword category that we call the “golden tickets” or trending commercial topics… 

Double Down on Trending Commercial Topics 

Targeting trending commercial topics is an important part of our SEO strategy for Cleanvoice. It’s what helped us quickly boost their traffic and achieve massive revenue growth without breaking a sweat. 

So, what are trending commercial topics? 

They’re fresh, high-demand queries that most competitors haven’t tapped into yet. SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush might not even show traffic for these keywords because they’re just starting to gain traction. This lack of competition gives you a fantastic early-mover advantage. But you have to be proactive and fast about it. 

How do you find these trending commercial keywords? Just keep a close eye on market trends and your customer's interests. You can do this by: 

• Being active on social media in your niche
• Following relevant newsletters and publications
• Being active in relevant communities and forums

By doing this, you’ll be able to anticipate the next big thing in your niche and capitalize on it before your competitors do.

‍Here’s how we pulled it off for CleanVoice.

‍In 2023, almost no one was targeting AI podcasting queries, SEO-wise. However, because we were active on the three channels mentioned above, we spotted these queries gaining traction early on.

Once we identified these trending topics, we created short-form product listicles and dedicated landing pages to test the waters. The key was to start with a few pilot articles and see how they performed.

SEO tools didn't give us the full picture at this stage because these queries were still emerging. So, we relied on Google Search Console (GSC) to analyze and iterate on the results. This means if you want to apply this strategy, you should have GSC in your corner. 

Within a week or two, Search Console revealed the true underlying traffic for these topics, confirming we were on the right track. Then, we added more high-quality content to those pages to boost their rankings.

And guess what? This strategy still works.

We barely rely on traditional SEO tools for keyword research now, yet CleanVoice’s average CTR has been a solid 8.2% over three months.

Now that you know what kinds of keywords to target, you're almost there. But there's still more research to be done...

2. Know your Competitors Inside-Out

An important rule in any battle is to know your enemy’s tactics. The same goes for SaaS SEO too. Conducting a thorough competitor analysis helps you pinpoint your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in their strategies. This intel allows you to:

• Outdo them in their strengths,
• Exploit their weaknesses,
• Fill gaps or seize opportunities they've missed,
• And ultimately take over their SEO throne.

In practice, this might involve targeting high-performing keywords they’re overlooking, creating content that resonates better with your audience, or building superior backlinks.

First, let's talk about the tools you'll need. Most SEO tools support competitor analysis, but if you can swing it, Ahrefs is a goldmine for all the insights you’ll need.

Competitor analysis starts with knowing who you’re up against. Once you’ve listed your competitors, perform a preliminary analysis using your SEO tool to determine their:

• Domain rating,
• Traffic,
• Targeted keywords,
• Referring domains,
• Number of backlinks.

From this, categorize them into tiers:

• Tier 1: Big competitors,
• Tier 2: Medium competitors,
• Tier 3: Small-sized competitors.

You don’t need to analyze every competitor on your list because that would take forever. Instead, pick a representative from each tier for in-depth analysis. Ideally, these representatives should:

• Have a solid SEO strategy in place,
• Represent their tier well,
• And, if possible, be direct competitors to your business

After selecting your reps, proceed to analyze them, starting from: 

Website & Content Analysis

Here comes the fun part – dissecting your competitors' websites and content strategies. Pay close attention to: 

Homepage

• Hero Section: Note their value propositions, visuals, and calls to action. 
• Core Topics: Identify the primary themes and keywords they focus on. Are they addressing key pain points for your shared target audience? Compare these topics to the ones you defined earlier to ensure you're covering all crucial aspects.
• Social Proof: Look for testimonials, reviews, or case studies. If your competitors lack strong social proof, that's a weakness you can exploit.

Subfolder SEO

• Content Organization: How are their subfolders structured? Does it make sense for users to navigate?
• Subfolder Traffic and Backlinks: Are there specific subfolders attracting a significant number of backlinks or Traffic? You might want to replicate those successful folders too.

Content Strategy

• Content Formats: Check out the content formats that drive the most traffic for your competitors—blogs, articles, landing pages, white papers, infographics, glossaries, and even free tools. 
• Publishing Frequency, see how often they publish new content and the average word count for each format. Do they have a consistent schedule that works for them? 
• Topics: assess their content topics to see what they’re covering within each format. 
• Landing pages: take a look at their landing pages. What kind of landing pages are they creating to drive conversions? Are they using case studies, free tools, or something else? Keep these in mind for your strategy.
• Last but not least— Consider the SERP elements they feature in and try to replace them. The most important ones are featured snippets and, more recently, AI overviews. This might take some work, so it deserves a section of its own. We’ll get there in a minute. Can’t wait? See #5. 

 That said, the point is that you should gather as much information as you can about their content strategy. And when you do, plug the information about each competitor into a centralized location to analyze them. Here’s an example of a template we use.

Now, it’s time to dig into your competitors' strategies across the three tiers you’ve identified. Here’s what to look for:

• What’s Working: Check out their successful tactics. For instance, analyze the word count of their blog posts and the traffic results they’re getting. Assume competitors with 1000-1500 word blogs are drawing in good traffic. Then, you may consider upping your word count to 2000 to cover more ground and potentially outrank them.
• What’s Not Working: Identify their missteps. If their free tool landing pages are generating subpar traffic, it could indicate a low demand for such tools in your niche. Avoid wasting time and resources on similar efforts.
• Unexploited Opportunities: Look for gaps in their strategy. Maybe they’re not using social proof effectively, or they’re completely neglecting commercial keywords. These are your golden opportunities to stand out and capture the market they’re missing.

Backlink Profile Analysis 

After you’ve dissected their homepage and content, it’s time to dive into their backlink profiles.

Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites, and Google uses them as one of the factors to decide if your site deserves to rank for specific keywords. So, analyzing your competitors' backlinks is crucial.

‍Here’s what to do:

• Identify Their Sources: Look at which websites are linking to your competitors. Are these directories, roundup sites, or authoritative blogs in your niche? These are potential sources for you to target as well.
• Spot Dead Links: Check if any backlinks lead to dead pages. If you find any, you can reach out to the linking sites, inform them about the dead page, and suggest they link to your relevant content instead.
• Plan Your Strategy: Use the insights to think of ways to earn backlinks from high-authority sites in your niche. 

Let’s move on to the last part of our research process—conducting an SEO content audit.

3. Conduct SEO Content Audit

When we started working with Cleanvoice, one of the very first things we did was look inwards and evaluate their existing content strategies. This process helped us identify content that:

• Needed to go because it wasn’t delivering any SEO benefits.
• Needed improvement to stay relevant and effective.
• Could stay as is because it’s already generating optimal results.

This kept our SEO strategy streamlined and result-focused. How can you content audit yourself? Pretty simple

Inventory Your Content

First, take a comprehensive inventory of all your website's content. This includes:

• Blog posts
• Web pages
• Landing pages
• Visual content

An easy way to do this is via Google Search Console. Go to your performance page and click “export.” 

This will automatically create a spreadsheet that includes all your website content. 

Right off the bat, the sheet gets populated with data on clicks, impressions, CTR, and SERP positions. But if you have other important metrics, like backlinks or content quality, you’ll need to add those manually.

Evaluate Your Content

Next, evaluate your pages based on these metrics and categorize them into groups such as:

• Keep: High-performing content that aligns with your SEO goals and user needs.
• Update: Content with potential that needs improvements like updates, keyword optimization, or content expansion.
• Merge: Thin content pieces that can be combined to create a more comprehensive resource.
• Remove: Content that is outdated, irrelevant, or poorly performing.

From there, your subsequent SEO action plan becomes clearer. Basically, your priority now would be: 

• Content updates to re-optimize existing content 
• Creating new SEO pages to target new core topics and keywords your initial research revealed. 

Whether you’re creating new pages or optimizing existing ones, you should keep some basic things in mind. We’ll cover them in this next section… 

4. Create SEO pages

By now, you’ve nailed down the right keywords and have a solid grasp of the pages and content you need based on your competitor analysis. It’s time to put all that knowledge into action and create SEO pages. When creating these pages, your top priorities should be making the pages:

• Findable 
• Trustworthy 

What does that mean? 

‍A findable page is one that specifically targets one particular topic that your customers are searching for. 

And trustworthy simply means your page has to be well-written and showcase your expertise. 

But there’s more to findability and trustworthiness than just these two things. Your pages should also be:

• Packed with Relevant, In-Depth Content: Aim for content that’s at least 1,000+ words per page for thorough coverage.
• Inclusive of Related Keywords: Besides your core topic, include 3-5 related keywords. For example, if your core topic is "background noise removal," you might also target "removing background noise" and "remove noise from background."
• Supported by Social Proof: Add testimonials, certifications, case studies, and other forms of social proof to build credibility.

Let's see how this works with a real example from Cleanvoice. Here’s what we did for their blog on creating podcast summaries:

First, we optimized the page for one primary keyword—"podcast summary." This phrase appears about 22 times throughout the page. We also included related terms like "podcast description" and "podcast summarization" to enhance findability.

Word count? The page has over 2,000 words, providing comprehensive coverage of the topic.

And finally, social proof. The page also features a “Why Listen to Us” section, showcasing customer testimonials and social proof. Notice how we completely threw subtlety out of the window? Yes, the whole idea is to be very obvious that many people are using Cleanvoice and seeing real results.

This strategy isn’t just for blogs. If you browse Cleanvoice’s homepage and landing pages, you'll notice the same approach.

Now, let’s move forward. What pages should you create? For effective SEO in SaaS, you should generally create the following pages:

• Homepage: The central hub of your site.
• Features and Use Cases Pages: Highlight what your product can do and how it benefits users.
• Blog Subfolder: All your SEO blog articles.
• Social Proof and Case Studies: Showcase your success stories and customer testimonials.

These are your absolute must-haves, but don't stop there. Look at your competitors to see what other types of pages are driving results for them, like a free tool page or a dedicated podcast page. Adapt and expand your content strategy based on these insights.

5. Optimize Relevant Pages for SERP Elements

Remember those SERP elements we mentioned earlier—featured snippets and AI overviews? These are prime real estate for traffic and clicks. Optimizing your pages to appear in these spots can drive fantastic results, just like we did for Cleanvoice.

For instance, Cleanvoice has snagged a featured snippet for the search “who should use AI audio cleanups.” 

Funny enough, the content holding this snippet isn’t even in the top 10 for relevant queries on Google. However, the impressions and clicks are off the charts, with an average CTR of 6.5%.

If you check the content, Cleanvoice gets AI overview features for too, like this one…

… the traffic, clicks, and impressions have been very equally impressive. 

So, how do you get your content into these coveted positions? It all starts with competitor analysis, as we mentioned earlier.

‍Here’s a high-level overview of the strategy—First, you have to discover the queries your competitors target to secure the spots. Then, create better answers to those queries in relevant pages to potentially steal their spots. 

Let’s start with featured snippets.

You can use SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to see the queries your competitors are getting featured snippets for: 

Then, search for those queries on Google, and take note of your how your competitor answers them.  

As for AI overviews, here’s a simple step:

• Search for the keyword you want to appear for. 
• Check out the AI overview carousel to see the competitors’ websites cites in its AI overview carousel
• Click on the websites in the carousel to see the specific query and answer they’re getting featured for. 

Once you have your list of featured snippets and AI overview queries and answers, it's time to analyze how your competitors have addressed these queries. Pay attention to:

• Word Count: How long are their answers?
• Readability: Is the content easy to read and understand? You can use Hemmingway to get a readability score. 
• Format: Are they using lists, paragraphs, or tables?
• Validity: Are their claims accurate and well-supported?

Next, incorporate these target queries into relevant content on your site. For instance, if you're writing about podcast mixing strategies, you might include a query like “what is podcast mixing.”

Then, make sure your answers are better than your competitors and follow the same format they used. This approach increases your chances of securing a spot in both featured snippets and AI overviews.

6. Generate Word-of-Mouth Buzz

SEO and brand building are like peanut butter and jelly—they just go together. When you build a solid brand around your tool and core features, SEO success becomes a piece of cake.

Let’s break it down for you with Cleanvoice. 

We’re lucky to work with a founder who understands the importance of a buzz generation. When we started working on Cleanvoice’s strategy, the founder had done a great job of generating buzz on Twitter and LinkedIn with content like this.

The result? Loads of people started searching for “Cleanvoice” on Google and this has stayed pretty consistent for months. In fact, over the last three months alone, these searches racked up over 8k impressions. Google loves that kind of engagement—it tells them that your website has nurtured a real brand that people are willing to follow:

And Google's Helpful Content update actually rewards real brands with faster rankings in search results. So, it's no wonder Cleanvoice saw terrific business growth within just six months.

Plus, when people see a familiar brand in search results, they’re more likely to click. That's why brand-building efforts also gave Cleanvoice's Click Through Rate a nice boost.That’s not all though.

This same strategy has also helped us quickly organically acquire relevant high-quality links at scale. It’s like Digital PR, in a way.

So, how can you create an effective brand for your SaaS business? 

• Active Social Media Engagement: Take a page from Cleanvoice’s playbook and build a strong presence on social media platforms relevant to your audience. Share valuable content, engage with followers, and build relationships with influencers in your niche. You should also take advantage of social proofs on these channels including shoutouts from influential figures, sharing testimonials, and even leveraging UGC (user-generated content), when possible. 
• Strategic Public Relations: Develop a public relations strategy to secure mentions of your brand in reputable publications or industry blogs. This strengthens your brand image and potentially generates valuable backlinks.
• Engaging Online Communities: Participate in online communities like forums and industry groups. Provide insightful answers, share valuable resources, and establish yourself as a trusted expert in your field.
• Maintain Brand Consistency: Ensure consistent brand messaging across all touchpoints, including your website, social media profiles, marketing materials, and customer interactions.

7. Product-led content SEO

When we were discussing keyword research, remember we said we have a nice way to squeeze every last drop of conversion juice from your content? That’s where product-led SEO comes in. 

So, how does it work? It's simple: with every piece of content you create, seamlessly integrate your product's core features. And if you’re creating content based on the core topics you defined earlier, you're halfway there. 

After all, your core topics stem from your feature in the first place, so you shouldn’t have a hard time integrating your product. 

For example, we created an article on how to isolate voice from background noise. And the goal? To show users how to do it with Cleanvoice.

As you can see, this query itself is informational, right? But by cleverly weaving Cleanvoice into the mix, you're turning heads. Suddenly, readers simply researching this issue (with low buying intention) see Cleanvoice as the go-to solution, nudging them closer to making a purchase.

You can also amp up your reader's buying intent with social proof. Real-life success stories from happy customers can banish any lingering doubts and push readers even closer to hitting that buy button.

So, how do you create product-led content? 

• Identify Pain Points: Start by understanding what challenges your customers face. Map these pain points to your core features. Then, focus on addressing popular pain points that your tool can effectively solve. For example, at Cleanvoice, we tackled topics like podcast editing, summary generation, and title creation.
• Frame Content Around Solutions: Create content that demonstrates how your product features directly address those pain points and provide solutions.
• Integrate Product Features Seamlessly: Weave your product's core functionalities into the content narrative in a natural and informative way. Don't simply promote your product; showcase its value in solving real-world problems.
• Levarage Product-Specific Examples: Use concrete examples, walkthroughs, and case studies that demonstrate how your product has helped others achieve success. This adds credibility and showcases the power of your product features.

8. Track Progress Iterate Using Google Search Console

The greatest disservice you’d be doing to your strategy at this point is setting it in stone and leaving it. SEO is all about monitoring your performance and tweaking your strategies whenever that’s necessary. Without this, success is far from guaranteed. 

Google Search Console (GSC) is a tool you should have in your corner for monitoring your SEO performance and making necessary changes. 

Here’s how it can help. 

Track Your Progress Over Time

‍GSC shows you how your website traffic changes over time. You can see if specific keywords are gaining or losing traction, and identify seasonal trends that might impact your traffic patterns. 

It also helps you monitor the impact of your SEO efforts by observing how rankings and traffic fluctuate after you make changes.

So, if you see a keyword that used to be popular but is now declining, you might want to investigate why. Maybe your competitors have published better content, or perhaps the search term itself has evolved. 

Use this information to update your existing content or create new content that better addresses the current user search intent.

Page Level Performance

GSC lets you see which individual pages on your website are performing well for specific keywords. Basically, your top-performing pages. So, you can analyze these pages to see what makes them successful. 

Is it the content depth? Engaging visuals? User-friendly format? Use these insights to inform your content creation strategy for other pages.

Push Rankings Even Higher

‍You can also use GSC to identify pages that are ranking well (positions 2-20) for relevant keywords. These pages have the potential to climb even higher in search results with some extra effort.

For these pages, consider adding even more in-depth content, including relevant data, high-quality visuals, and internal links to other valuable resources on your website. You can also focus on building backlinks to those pages. This can often give those pages the extra push they need to reach the top spot within a short timeframe.

Uncover Keyword Opportunities

GSC can also give you an idea of specific keywords that you’d be very likely to rank for with the right content—but you’re not actively targeting them. Don’t worry, we’ll explain. 

For example, we had an article targeting “podcast editing” for Cleanvoice. After much analysis, we found out that the article was actually mostly ranking for queries related to “AI podcast editing.” This shows that we have topical authority on the query, and all we needed to do was flip the article to focus on “AI podcast editing.” And guess what? This became one of Cleanvoice’s top-performing pages.

Building a Revenue-Driven SaaS SEO Strategy

There you have it—eight highly effective strategies that contributed to Cleanvoice's MRR growth by over 300% in a fiercely competitive podcasting niche.

It's important to understand that results won't magically appear overnight. Sometimes, it takes months, or even longer. The key is consistency and continual refinement until you achieve your desired outcome.

Moreover, it's wise to entrust most of these strategies to experts who can manage them for you. You already have administrative tasks and business development eating into your time. 

The last thing you want is to throw in content creation, link building, and a million other things into the mix. Remember what they say about a jack of all trades? That's why the best strategy we can recommend is bringing in experts. 

And we (and our clients) believe Embarque is the best partner to leave the reins of your SEO efforts to. If you're ready to elevate your SEO game and experience significant revenue and traffic growth, we are yourideal partner.

Feel free to schedule a complimentary strategy call with us today!

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