SaaS SEO competitor analysis is one of the most critical steps in building an SEO strategy for your B2B SaaS business. There might be keywords that they should be focusing on but are high on commercial intent. And they might be doing many other things the right way from which you can take inspiration and do something even better to rank before them.
SEO competitor analysis helps you to formulate strategies that you can implement to outrank them. You can identify their weaknesses and overpower them in your unique way.
SaaS SEO Competitor Analysis systematically evaluates your competitors’ digital presence and strategies in the SaaS industry. It involves scrutinizing various aspects, including keyword usage, content strategy, backlink profiles, and more, to absorb valuable insights for optimizing your SEO efforts.
Understanding what works for your competitors can provide invaluable insights into practical strategies and industry trends. It helps you identify gaps in your approach and discover new opportunities. Additionally, it enables you to respond to changes in the competitive landscape preemptively.
This guide will walk you through an 8-step process to conduct an insightful SaaS SEO Competitor Analysis. Each step is designed to provide you with actionable insights that you can leverage to enhance your SaaS company’s digital presence and outshine the competition.
Before delving into the analysis, it’s essential to pinpoint who your competitors are. This step lays the foundation for a targeted and adequate assessment of your SaaS competitors.
Direct competitors are companies offering similar SaaS solutions targeting the same customer base. They provide similar features, cater to similar industries, and vie for the same market share. Begin by listing the names of these direct competitors.
The easiest way to find your direct competitors in terms of SEO is to just Google this: {Problem Your Business is Solving} + {Your ICP}. For instance, if you are selling a cybersecurity Saas to Fintech companies, you should Google the keyphrase “cybersecurity tool for Fintech company.” Try to think of multiple variations of this phrase and use different search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo for more refined results.
Indirect competitors may offer different SaaS solutions, but they address similar pain points or provide alternative solutions. Understanding their strategies can unveil alternative approaches and market trends that may apply to your SaaS offering.
Taking forward our previous example of a cybersecurity SaaS company, you could search for something along the lines of “cybersecurity tool,” “cybersecurity tool for IT companies,” “network security tools for tech companies,” etc.
Niche competitors specialize in specific areas within the SaaS industry. They might serve a particular industry, offer unique functionalities, or focus on a specific region. Identifying niche competitors allows you to tap into specialized markets and refine your strategies accordingly.
By meticulously defining your competitor set, you set the stage for a comprehensive analysis tailored to your competitive landscape. This clarity enables you to gather more accurate and relevant insights in the subsequent steps.
Keywords form the bedrock of any successful SEO strategy. Understanding which keywords your competitors are targeting provides valuable insights into their content strategy, audience focus, and potential gaps you can exploit.
We briefly covered this topic in the previous section. But here, we will take a deeper dive. The first five keywords should always sprout from your mind as the company’s marketing leader. Using those keywords as a starting point, you can do more keyword research and identify a cluster of other related keywords.
Utilize powerful keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs to identify the keywords your competitors are ranking for. These tools provide valuable data on search volume, competition, and related keywords.
Without these analytics, you’d be shooting in the dark as you might start investing your efforts in a keyword that is hard to rank but has very limited commercial intent. At the same time, you might be ignoring keywords with high intent and low traffic.
Compile a list of keywords that your identified competitors are targeting. Pay attention to high-volume, competitive, and long-tail keywords that may indicate specific audience interests.
Not all keywords are created equal. Focus on high-impact keywords that are relevant to your SaaS offering and have the potential to drive significant organic traffic. These keywords align with your business goals and resonate with your target audience.
By zeroing in on the keywords your competitors are leveraging, you gain valuable insights into their content strategy, target audience, and the competitive landscape. This information forms a crucial foundation for the subsequent steps in the SaaS SEO Competitor Analysis process.
Content is king in the world of SEO, and understanding your competitors’ content strategy can provide invaluable insights into what resonates with your shared audience.
Examine the types of content your competitors are producing. Are they primarily focused on blog posts, whitepapers, videos, or a mix? Understanding their content formats can help you tailor your content strategy to meet the preferences of your target audience.
Evaluate the quality of your competitors’ content. Does it provide valuable, actionable information? Is it well-researched and authoritative? Assessing content quality allows you to identify areas where you can offer even more value to your audience.
Consider how your competitors promote and distribute their content. Are they active on social media platforms, engaging with their audience and sharing their content? Do they have a strong email marketing strategy? Understanding their promotion tactics can inform your content distribution efforts.
Analyzing your competitors’ content strategy provides a roadmap for creating high-quality, relevant content that resonates with your target audience. It also allows you to identify opportunities to differentiate yourself in the market.
On-page SEO elements ensure that search engines quickly discover your website. Analyzing how your competitors optimize these elements can reveal strategies you may have yet to consider.
Inspect the title tags and meta descriptions of your competitors’ pages. Are they effectively using relevant keywords? Do they entice users to click through? This analysis can provide insights into crafting compelling titles and descriptions for your pages.
Examine the URL structure of your competitors’ pages. Are they clean, concise, and include relevant keywords? A well-structured URL can contribute to a positive user experience and improve search engine rankings.
Analyze how your competitors use header tags (H1, H2, etc.) within their content. Are they effectively incorporating keywords into their headers? This analysis can guide you in optimizing your content structure for improved SEO.
By evaluating these on-page elements, you better understand how your competitors are leveraging on-page SEO techniques to enhance their visibility in search results. This knowledge empowers you to refine your on-page optimization strategies for better search engine performance.
Backlinks are a crucial factor in search engine ranking algorithms. Analyzing your competitors’ backlink profiles can unveil valuable insights into their link-building strategies and potential opportunities for your SEO efforts.
You can use tools like SpyFu to evaluate your competitors’ backlink profiles and the following factors.
Examine the number of backlinks your competitors have acquired. Quality matters just as much as quantity. Evaluate the authority and relevance of the domains linking to their site. This analysis can help you identify high-value link-building opportunities.
Review the anchor text used in backlinks pointing to your competitor’s site. Are they utilizing a diverse range of anchor text? Are they incorporating relevant keywords? Understanding their anchor text strategy can inform your approach to building a natural and effective backlink profile.
Determine the tactics your competitors are employing to acquire backlinks. Are they guest posting, participating in industry forums, or leveraging content marketing campaigns?
This analysis can inspire your own link-building initiatives and highlight potential areas for improvement. Again, you can use SpyFu to evaluate your competitors’ link-building strategies. Easily the best content intelligence tool out there.
You gain valuable insights into their link-building strategies by assessing your competitors’ backlink profiles. This knowledge empowers you to develop a targeted approach to acquiring high-quality backlinks that can boost your search engine rankings.
Social media is pivotal in building brand visibility and engaging with potential customers. Understanding how competitors utilize these platforms can provide valuable insights into effective social media strategies.
You might think social media and SEO have no relation, but you couldn’t have been more wrong than this. Social media helps you increase web traffic, hence reputation. Plus, it also helps you get more backlinks.
This is what the marketing specialist Nicholas Bryant has to say about the connection between social media and SEO:
“The connection between social media and SEO is straightforward. Social media can impact SEO by increasing website traffic, improving brand awareness and reputation, and increasing the number of backlinks to a website.”
Identify the social media platforms where your competitors have a presence. Are they active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or other platforms? This analysis helps you prioritize your social media efforts based on where your target audience is most active.
Evaluate the engagement levels on your competitors’ social media profiles. How many likes, comments, and shares do their posts receive? Additionally, track the growth of their follower base over time. This information can guide your own content strategy and engagement efforts.
Analyze the type of content your competitors share on social media. Are they primarily sharing blog posts, infographics, videos, or a mix? Understanding their preferences can help you tailor your social media content to better resonate with your audience.
By studying your competitors’ social media presence, you gain valuable insights into the platforms and content strategies that are most effective in your industry. This knowledge empowers you to refine your social media approach for maximum impact.
User experience and site performance are critical factors in SEO and overall user satisfaction. Analyzing how your competitors optimize these aspects can uncover opportunities to enhance your own website’s performance.
Evaluate the loading speed of your competitors’ websites, especially on mobile devices. A fast-loading site improves user experience and can positively impact search engine rankings. Assess whether your competitors have implemented mobile optimization best practices.
Analyze the navigation structure and user interface of your competitors’ websites. Is it intuitive and easy to navigate? A well-designed website enhances user engagement and can lead to higher conversion rates. Take note of any innovative features or design elements.
Examine how your competitors optimize for conversions. Are they employing compelling calls to action, utilizing persuasive copy, or implementing effective forms? Understanding their conversion optimization strategies can inspire improvements on your own site.
After conducting a thorough SaaS SEO Competitor Analysis, it’s time to distill your insights and formulate a concrete action plan. This final step is crucial in turning observations into actionable strategies.
Organize your findings into a comprehensive report. Include key metrics, notable observations, and any trends you’ve identified. This report serves as a valuable reference point for future optimization efforts.
Based on your analysis, pinpoint the specific opportunities and threats presented by your competitors’ strategies. Highlight areas where you can leverage your strengths and address weaknesses.
You will find the keywords you can write for that your competitor is ignoring, publications that would be eager to give you a backlink, keywords for which you need to write more content, social media channels you need to focus on, and the content strategy for those channels.
Translate your insights into actionable SEO strategies. This could involve refining your keyword targeting, optimizing on-page elements, enhancing content quality, and more. Implement these strategies systematically and monitor their impact on your SaaS SEO performance.
By summarizing your findings and taking concrete actions, you’re able to leverage the insights gained from the analysis to strengthen your SaaS SEO efforts. Remember, SEO is an evolving process, so continue to monitor performance and adapt your strategies as needed.
In conclusion, conducting a SaaS SEO Competitor Analysis provides a powerful foundation for optimizing your digital presence. By carefully examining your competitors’ strategies, you gain valuable insights that can lead to enhanced visibility, increased traffic, and, ultimately, a stronger competitive edge in the SaaS industry. Remember to approach this process with a strategic mindset and be open to adapting your strategies based on your competitors’ valuable lessons.
Shivam Kumar
