If you’re at the head of a SaaS company and trying to generate more free trials using organic content:
Don’t use this common SEO strategy!
Below, I’ll explain what SaaS founders get wrong about SEO content — and what to focus on instead.
What SaaS startups get wrong about SEO content strategy
Smart SaaS startup founders know that great content drives traffic.
And so they’ll start doing topic research to see what content to start with (or hire someone to do it).
Here’s where most of them go wrong:
Going after top-of-funnel (TOFU) topics FIRST.
What are some examples of TOFU topics?
To illustrate, let’s take a look at a wildly successful SaaS blog, ClickUp. This company bootstrapped itself to $20M ARR using mostly organic marketing methods, so it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing with their content.
Below is an example of a TOFU blog post from the ClickUp blog:
Most “how-to” topics are TOFU.
Why?
Because they’re targeting people who are searching with the intent of doing topical research.
For instance, someone who’s researching how to write a design brief isn’t yet at the stage where they’re considering different vendors for design services.
While TOFU keywords and topics will definitely get you traffic if you rank for them…
They won’t generate revenue right away. At least, not as efficiently as Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU) content.
Unlike TOFU posts, a BOFU post targets people with an intent to choose a vendor.
At this point in the buyer’s journey, these people already know they have a problem to solve.
And now they’re considering which options to buy.
If they land on a post you’ve published that’s high-quality, informative, and convincing…
They’ll be much more likely to buy — or sign up for a free trial — than they would on a TOFU post.
Again, let’s go back to the ClickUp blog to see what this can look like:
People searching for “Todoist Alternatives” will usually fit one of the following scenarios:
- They’re using Todoist and want something better
- They’re considering Todoist but want to know if something will better suit their needs
- They’re comparing several project management tools to find the best, including Todoist
Either way, these people are primed to buy or sign up for free trials.
So, what’s the point?
Some SEO strategists will tell SaaS companies to focus on TOFU topics first and move on to BOFU later.
Why?
Typically, TOFU topics get more search volume than BOFU topics. On the surface, this means more traffic!
But if you’re operating on a tight budget, getting an ROI from your content is crucial.
The more revenue you generate from your content, the more you can reinvest back into the strategy to scale your efforts (and results!).
A BOFU-first SEO strategy will generate trials and sales faster
When in doubt, invest in BOFU topics first.
These are topics that people search when they’re close to purchasing, such as:
- Alternatives to [your competitor]
- Product pages
- Case studies
- Product comparison posts
Sure, you may not get as much traffic on your SaaS website…
But you’ll get free trials and sales.
With the revenue you generate, you can go all out with your TOFU strategy afterward.
Not sure what BOFU topics to start with?
Join my newsletter below and hit reply to the first email you get from me.
In your response, include:
- Your SaaS website
- Who your SaaS helps and how
- 2-5 competitors
… and I’ll run a FREE BOFU content analysis with the first 10 topics you need to kickstart your traffic and generate free trials.
Sounds good?
Join the newsletter below for free to get started:
