Is SEO Overrated?

“SEO doesn’t work.”

That was what a SaaS founder posted on a Facebook group I belong to in 2022. 

According to him, he worked with an SEO agency that didn't deliver as promised, failing to improve his website's ranking or increase organic traffic despite a significant investment.

From that single post, he received many recommendations from fellow founders and other SaaS marketers on what to do.

I advised him and offered a free SEO audit for his website.

He took me up on the offer, and we connected via DM.

After the audit, I discovered that his website was performing poorly because he was doing the wrong things.

Although I won’t dwell on these common SEO issues now, I will probably write about them in the future (let me know if you’d be interested in reading this).

In today’s email, I want to share why most SaaS founders like him think that SEO is a waste of time, and why it's actually a valuable investment for your startup.

Before we continue, here’s a message from this week’s sponsor.

Now, back to the email.

So, what are this founder's concerns, and what should you focus on to drive better results from your SEO efforts?

1) Everybody in our niche is doing SEO

According to the founder, getting results from SEO will be tough since everyone else invests in it.

You see…

SEO works. 

And that’s why a lot of companies invest heavily in it.

Take, for instance...

If you created a content asset on your website about 5-10 years ago, which still ranks high on Google today.

Despite creating this content a long time ago, what would happen?

You’d still be getting traffic and leads from it.

That’s not all…

All things being equal, you’d most likely continue getting free traffic and leads from that content for the next 5-10 years.

Now let me ask you this:

Is there any other marketing channel that guarantees consistent results like this?

If you try paid Ads, you must continue paying for an Ads placement to get consistent results.

If you leverage social media, you’ll most likely stop getting traffic after a week of a post going viral. 

That rarely happens, by the way.

This is why every founder wants to leverage SEO to grow their startup.

Unlike paid acquisition and other channels, your SEO investment lasts forever.  

Does this mean that SEO is now more competitive? Absolutely, Yes.

Does this mean that you can no longer get results from SEO? Absolutely, No.

Truth is...

There’s always an SEO opportunity for companies ready to do the work. It might take time to get results, but the long-term benefits are worth the effort.

It might take time to get results, but it’s worth it.

2) Our top competitors doing SEO have 100X more budget than us

If you think of any niche in the world, the top players in that industry already dominate the SERPs for the top keywords.

Take email marketing as an example.

You’ll most likely see companies like Mailchimp, GetResponse, Aweber, Active Campaign, Convertkit, and so on occupying the top spots for the coveted keywords in that niche.

If you’re just starting with SEO in that industry, competing with them would most likely be futile.

This is because they’ve spent time, resources, and expertise to get there.

Does this mean your SaaS startup won’t get any results from SEO because of the competition? Absolutely No!

Does this mean that you can go head-to-head with them for the same keywords they’re targeting and still outrank them? That’s unlikely!

So, what should you do in this case?

Simple...

Identify the low-hanging fruits your top competitors aren’t ranking for and go after those.

In some cases, they might rank for those keywords with a generic page that doesn’t nail the search intent.

If you can go deeper with your content, you’ll likely rank high for those keywords quickly.

For example, if you’re new in the email marketing niche, it’ll be challenging to rank for the keyword “email marketing.”

The search volume for that keyword is around 22,000 per month.

Going after that keyword means you want to outrank the likes of Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, Neil Patel, Brevo, Optinmonster, Wikipedia, etc.

For context, here’s the current Domain Authority (a score developed by Moz, which predicts how likely a website is to rank in the SERPs) for the top websites ranking high on Google for this query.

It’d be pretty tough to outrank these websites on Google as a startup, isn’t it?

Now, if you go a step further and target “email marketing strategy,” what changes?

The search volume for this keyword is around 260 per month.

Even though the big guys are still ranking high in the SERPs, new websites like Superoffice, MailMunch, and MailModo are also present.

Here’s a breakdown of the Domain Authority (DA) of the top-ranking pages in this case.

What does this show?

The keyword isn’t as difficult as the previous one.

If you target the keyword “B2B email marketing strategy,” you’ll see that the monthly search volume is around 110.

Websites like Engagebay, Moosend, Xperincify, and MailerLite occupy the top spots in this case.

To compare it with the previous keywords, here’s the DA of the websites occupying the top spots on Google.

And guess what?

You can still go deeper than that.

So, what do you observe?

The deeper you go, the lower the search volume.

And the lower the search volume, the lower the competition. However, that’s not always the case!

So, if you’re starting, these low-hanging fruits should be your top priority. 

As time goes on, you can take it a step further.

3) If we can’t get to page 1 now, what’s the point of investing in SEO

If you’re a startup founder, you want to see ROI fast.

That way, you can grow MRR and recoup your investment as soon as possible.

This is why you want immediate results from SEO.

Here is a fact…

Results from SEO take time. 

I understand that seems like a cliche that startup founders don’t want to hear.

After all, what’s the point of investing in something you aren’t assured of getting results from to grow your business?

Well, that isn't the case with SEO.

And here are a couple of reasons why this is so.

1. If you’re a new website, Google doesn't trust you. Hence, it takes time before they start ranking you for some keywords.

2. Existing websites worked their way up to be on the SERPs. You can’t outrank them overnight and occupy the top spots as soon as you publish that new article.

3. Your new website most likely has less domain authority than the ranking ones. And without backlinks, it would be tough to outrank the competitors. 

That said, here is the good news.

Investment in SEO reaps tons of benefits in the long run.

Even if you don’t rank for that keyword today, what happens if you occupy the top spot 6-12 months after?

Or even two years after.

Of course, it’s difficult to wait to get results.

But if you trust the process and stay true to it, it'll be worth it.

And your SaaS startup will never remain the same.

4) Can we get customers from investing in SEO?

Most SaaS founders make this common SEO mistake.

Which is focusing only on traffic-generating keywords.

These “top of the funnel” keywords have low or zero impact on your conversions and revenue.

In most cases, these ToFu keywords are highly competitive. 

But here is the bitter truth...

To get customers from SEO, you must target the right keywords. 

Of course, getting more eyeballs to see your content is good. 

That said, what’s the essence of investing in SEO, if not to grow your business?

So, what should you do as a startup?

Target middle or bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.

For example…

If you’re in the email marketing niche, targeting keywords like:

• email marketing

• email marketing strategy

• email marketing examples might not be ideal for driving user signups and demos.

This is because someone searching for these keywords most likely wants to know more about email marketing rather than sign up for your software.

But if you take it a step further and go after keywords like:

• email marketing software for agencies

• email marketing software for nonprofits

• email marketing software for ecommerce

• best email marketing software for affiliate marketing

• best email marketing software for Shopify,” etc., you’re more likely to drive conversions.

Do you know why?

Most people searching for these keywords are likely in the mood to buy or actively looking for options to consider.

The point here is…

If you want to drive revenue with SEO, be strategic with the keywords you go after.

To recap…

If you’re a SaaS startup, don’t sleep on SEO.

Of course, it takes time, and the competition is huge, but it’s definitely worth it.

If you’re still unsure about how to go about it all.

Never to worry…

I’m putting together a weekly SEO workshop for SaaS startups. The goal is to help you rethink your SEO strategy and show you how to unlock growth for your startup from organic search.

And I’m launching it next month.

Please reply to this email if you believe this will help your company.

That way, I’ll send you the details once they are ready.

Please note that seats are limited and will only be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

And if you have any other questions or concerns? Do not hesitate to let me know.

To your startup success,

Shehu AbdulGaniy 

Founder, Your Content Mart

P.S: If you learned something new from this week’s email, do not hesitate to invite your colleagues and friends to join The SaaS SEO Insights today through this link. Counting on your support 🤝.