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When to Start SEO for Your SaaS Startup
by @apoorvshrm,
byGoon
Feb 1, 2025 - 12:03
222

When to Start SEO for Your SaaS Startup

As a SaaS founder, you may be wondering when to start investing in SEO. The answer is not a simple one, as it depends on the growth stage of your startup. In this article, we will break down the exact timing to invest in SEO based on your SaaS growth stage.

Pre-Launch Stage

At the pre-launch stage, you may not need to rank for high-intent keywords like "best CRM for startups." Instead, focus on building authority early by writing blogs, creating resources, and getting your domain indexed by Google. This helps you rank faster when you scale. Collecting emails and SEO at this stage is not about customers, but about capturing early users and building a list of potential customers.

Pre-Launch Stage Pre-Launch Stage: Focus on building authority and collecting emails

Early-Stage (0-12 months)

At the early-stage, you should start taking SEO seriously after finding product-market fit. If you're getting paying users and consistent demand, here's what you need to do:

  1. Optimize your website for search.
  2. Fix your site structure so Google can crawl it properly.
  3. Improve your landing pages for high-intent searches.
  4. Ensure fast loading speeds and mobile friendliness.

Early-Stage SEO Early-Stage SEO: Optimize your website and improve landing pages

Scaling ($10K+ MRR)

When you're scaling, it's time to go all-in on SEO. The first thing you need to do is build a content engine. Create pillar content that dominates a topic and expand your blog categories to cover different pain points. Hire writers or an SEO agency to scale content production.

Scaling SEO Scaling SEO: Build a content engine and expand your blog categories

The second thing is to invest in backlinks and authority building. Get featured in guest blogs, SAS directories, and PR publications. Publish original research and free tools to naturally earn backlinks.

Backlinks and Authority Building Backlinks and Authority Building: Invest in guest blogs and original research

The third thing is to optimize for conversions, not just traffic. Improve your CTAs on blogs, guide users to free trials or demos, and use retargeting ads on blog visitors to convert them later.

Conversions and Retargeting Conversions and Retargeting: Optimize for conversions and use retargeting ads

Biggest SEO Mistakes

The biggest SEO mistakes SaaS founders make include:

  1. Starting too late.
  2. Focusing on traffic over conversions.
  3. Ignoring technical SEO and slow websites.
  4. Not repurposing content.

SEO Mistakes SEO Mistakes: Avoid starting too late and focusing on traffic over conversions

Conclusion

In conclusion, the best time to start SEO for your SaaS startup is during the pre-launch stage, but with limits. Focus on building authority and collecting emails. At the early-stage, start taking SEO seriously after finding product-market fit. When scaling, go all-in on SEO by building a content engine, investing in backlinks and authority building, and optimizing for conversions.

Conclusion Conclusion: Start SEO during pre-launch and scale when necessary

By following these tips and avoiding common SEO mistakes, you can create a successful SEO strategy for your SaaS startup. Remember to start early, focus on conversions, and optimize for technical SEO to achieve long-term growth and success.