Wanting to grow your SaaS with SEO but don’t know what keywords to go with?
Here’s my complete list of keywords you can use to drive traffic and leads for SaaS companies.
Types of keywords for SaaS Companies
There are primarily three types of keywords:
- BOFU (Bottom-of-the-Funnel): these are keywords that only people who REALLY want to buy your product are searching. For example, a BOFU keyword for Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, would be “best Facebook post scheduling tools”. BOFU keyword is exactly what you should go after if you want to see actual results in terms of revenue.
- MOFU (Middle-of-the-Funnel): these are keywords that solve a pain point that users have. A MOFU keyword for Buffer would be “bulk schedule facebook posts”. You can write a step-by-step article guiding users to bulk schedule Facebook posts the traditional way, then seamlessly mention your product as the ultimate tool to do that (the modern way).
- TOFU (Top-of-the-Funnel): these are the informational keywords like “What is an API?”. You don’t really want to target these keywords. They are too broad, have low business value, and ultra-competitive, since usually only the big players are ranking for these terms. If you’re new to the industry, I highly recommend not going after these TOFU keywords.
With that said, here’s the list of BOFU and MOFU keywords you can use:
BOFU keywords for SaaS companies
Here’s my advice:
- Really prioritize BOFU keywords if you’re just starting to invest into SEO. They are the keywords that can truly bring in revenue. Furthermore, they also signal to Google what your software is doing. Ranking for articles about “best workflow automation tools” means Google see you as one of the leading source of information about workflow automation tools. That’s super beneficial when you decide to expand to broader topics later down the road.
- Invest into high-quality writing. With BOFU keywords, you’re essentially convincing people to buy your product. Be a little bit salesy at this stage if needed.
- These BOFU keywords are ideal for PPC campaigns too. If you’re considering investing into Google Ads, they’re a good starting point.
| Category | Keyword Pattern | Examples | Typical Volume (mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Product-Specific (Direct Intent) |
[product] pricing |
CRM pricing | 500–10K |
[product] demo |
marketing automation demo | 300–5K | |
[product] free trial |
project management free trial | 300–8K | |
[product] reviews |
accounting software reviews | 200–6K | |
[product] vs [competitor] |
HubSpot vs Marketo | 200–5K | |
[product] alternatives |
Jira alternatives | 1K–20K | |
|
Category + Buyer Modifiers |
best [category] software |
best CRM software | 2K–50K |
top [category] tools |
top BI tools | 1K–20K | |
[category] software for [role] |
CRM for sales teams | 200–3K | |
[category] software for [industry] |
ERP for manufacturing | 200–5K | |
[category] platform for [use case] |
analytics platform for SaaS | 100–2K | |
|
Comparison / Shortlist |
[category] software comparison |
CRM software comparison | 500–10K |
[product] vs [product] pricing |
Asana vs Monday pricing | 100–2K | |
[category] tools comparison chart |
HR tools comparison | 300–5K | |
best alternative to [competitor] |
alternative to Salesforce | 500–15K | |
|
Trust / Final Decision |
[product] case study |
marketing automation case study | 100–3K |
[product] customer stories |
HR SaaS customer stories | 50–1K | |
[product] ROI calculator |
CRM ROI calculator | 100–2K | |
[product] security compliance |
SOC 2 compliant CRM | 100–2K |
MOFU keywords for SaaS companies
Here’s my advice:
- You should try to build your MOFU keywords simultaneously with the BOFU keywords. They support each other.
- Be short and sweet with your tutorial. Don’t push for the product too much at this stage. Rather, just try to be helpful and answer the user’s question to the best of your ability.
| Category | Keyword Pattern | Examples | Typical Volume (mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pain Point (Problem Aware) |
how to fix [problem] |
how to fix low conversion rate | 1K–20K |
why is [problem] happening |
why is churn increasing | 500–10K | |
[metric] is too high/low |
CAC too high, MRR growth slow | 300–8K | |
[process] is inefficient |
manual reporting is inefficient | 200–5K | |
struggling with [problem] |
struggling with onboarding users | 200–5K | |
|
Solution Exploration |
how to [achieve outcome] |
how to reduce churn | 1K–30K |
best way to [solve problem] |
best way to automate reporting | 500–10K | |
tools to help with [problem] |
tools to help with lead scoring | 300–6K | |
software to improve [metric] |
software to improve retention | 300–5K | |
platform for managing [process] |
platform for managing customer data | 200–4K | |
|
Process / Workflow Education |
[process] best practices |
CRM implementation best practices | 500–10K |
how to set up [process] |
how to set up lead scoring | 300–6K | |
[process] framework |
product onboarding framework | 200–4K | |
[process] checklist |
sales handoff checklist | 200–5K | |
|
Tool-Aware (Pre-Brand) |
[category] tools for [problem] |
analytics tools for SaaS | 500–10K |
types of [category] software |
types of CRM software | 300–6K | |
[category] software features |
marketing automation features | 300–8K |
TOFU keywords for SaaS Companies
Here’s my advice:
- Only move to TOFU keywords after you have exhausted your MOFU and BOFU keywords. In fact, when working with clients who are just starting out, I don’t even recommend TOFU keywords unless it’s a low-competition niche, or it’s a field full of jargons.
- For “What is” articles, I write a lot of short-form content. I answer the question as succinctly and concisely as possible. Do some internal linking to more in-depth questions if the users want more.
| Category | Keyword Pattern | Examples | Typical Volume (mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Education | what is [concept] |
what is customer churn | 5K–100K |
how does [process] work |
how does lead scoring work | 2K–50K | |
[concept] explained |
product analytics explained | 1K–20K | |
examples of [concept] |
examples of SaaS metrics | 1K–15K | |
| Problem Awareness | why [problem] happens |
why churn happens | 2K–30K |
signs of [problem] |
signs of poor onboarding | 1K–10K | |
causes of [problem] |
causes of low conversion rates | 2K–25K | |
common [problem] mistakes |
common CRM mistakes | 1K–15K | |
| Beginner Guides | [concept] guide |
CRM guide | 2K–40K |
[concept] for beginners |
product analytics for beginners | 1K–20K | |
introduction to [concept] |
introduction to RevOps | 1K–15K | |
beginner mistakes in [concept] |
beginner mistakes in SEO | 800–10K | |
| Trends / Industry Learning | [industry] trends |
SaaS marketing trends | 1K–25K |
future of [industry] |
future of customer support | 1K–20K | |
[industry] statistics |
SaaS churn statistics | 2K–30K | |
|
Definitions / Terminology |
[term] definition |
LTV definition | 3K–50K |
[term] meaning |
MRR meaning | 3K–40K | |
[term] vs [term] |
LTV vs CAC | 2K–30K |
How to find keywords for my SaaS company?
There are two ways:
- Use your own product knowledge: this is especially true for BOFU keywords. You need to answer the question of : “How do I want my product to be known for?”, then use that answer as the starting point to choose your BOFU keywords.
- Use Reddit: Reddit is the goldmine of questions. Just type “site:reddit.com [your query]” into Google and browse around to see what people are asking. Those questions are exactly what you should try to create content for.
- Use keyword research tools: Ahrefs and SEMRush are currently the industry leaders. They provide plenty of information about keyword search volume, keyword difficulty, competitor analysis, and so much more.
Partner with an SEO agency for SaaS companies
Now that you’re here, I’d love to take this opportunity to share with you about Perceptric.
Perceptric is an SEO/content marketing agency that’s helping many SaaS companies shine and thrive, just with good SEO and content marketing.
- Perceptric practices what we preach. The BOFU-first approach to SEO and content marketing is pretty effective to drive signups and revenue for virtually any software niche imaginable, as I share above. If you’re a software company, chances are that methodology works for you.
- Our writers come from real technical backgrounds, through training, experience, or both, so we can produce content that advanced users actually trust.
- We take time to understand your product by talking to your team and customers, watching demos, reading docs, and trying the product ourselves.
- We bring your technical stakeholders into the process just enough to keep them comfortable and confident in the content, without taking too much of their time.
- You get a team that can scale smoothly, adjust to changes on either side, and keep the work moving without interruptions.
- You can start quickly because our team is already set up, aligned, and ready to deliver real results within the first month.
