Why are SaaS SEO statistics important?
If you’re to start a successful SaaS company, mastering SEO is important.
If you lack a proper understanding of the SaaS SEO marketing landscape, you can easily waste resources on strategies that don’t work for your startup.
A Roketto survey revealed that 68% of SaaS marketers get less than 25% return-on-investment from SEO. So most SEO campaigns basically fail.
In order to beat the odds, you need to have an excellent understanding of the prevailing SEO marketing trends. This is where SaaS SEO statistics come in, giving your startup a more accurate perception of what works and what doesn’t.
With this knowledge, you’ll direct your attention and resources on the most tried-and-tested SaaS SEO marketing tactics that are likely to yield success.
In this article, we’ll discuss the SaaS SEO marketing statistics & trends to inspire your startup growth in 2024 and help you secure high-quality leads.
Let’s get started.
I) SaaS comparison keyword statistics
What are comparison keywords?
These are keywords that essentially involve comparing one product or service to another. When you work with the best SaaS SEO agencies, you’ll get advanced keyword research tactics that can help you leverage the right comparison keywords.
That said, here are some interesting SaaS SEO statistics that can help you create a strong keyword research strategy:
1) 64.69% of high ranking organic search results with comparison keywords use a question mark in their title. So if you’d like to get your comparison post to rank really high, including questions in the title may help. (Source – Minuttia)
2) 2,484 words is the average word count for SaaS comparison pages. So if you’re creating these types of posts and want to rank high, you should aim to at the very least hit this word count. (Source – Minuttia)
3) 25.54% of title tags leverage the word “comparison”. This makes it the most frequently used word in a title tag, followed by “differences” and “pricing” so it’s important to include these keywords. (Source – Minuttia)
4) The average keyword, regardless of it being long-tail or otherwise, receives about 989 searches per month. Of course, this will naturally vary once you drill down into specific keywords, depending on several unique factors. (Source – Backlinko)
5) 91.8% of all SaaS search phrases incorporate long-tail keywords, encompassing between 3 to 5 words or more. By using these types of keywords, you can match search intent more closely. (Source – Backlinko)
5) 14.1% of all keyword search phrases today are usually in the form of a question. These types of keywords typically include words like “who, what, how, where, and why.” (Source – Backlinko)
6) 58.7% of comparison keywords feature a keyword difficulty (KD) of between 0 to 10 with less than 3% having a KD of above 40. Therefore, this means that comparison words are therefore easier for your startup to target. (Source – Minuttia)
7) 8.07% of all question-framed search phrases use the word “how” while 3.4% of such keywords include the word “what.” This makes these two words the top most frequently used terms in question keywords. (Source – Backlinko)
8) Over 50% of comparison keywords and posts omit dates, for example 2024, from title tags. While this may be done to make an article feel timeless, I recommend adding dates as they make your post appear updated. (Source – Minuttia)
9) Most successful brands, 23.57% of them to be exact, keep comparison pages within their blog section rather than create an entirely separate page for them. So you should keep such posts within your blog to easen creation. (Source – Minuttia)
10) Search results from affiliate and review sites such as The Digital Merchant, Capterra, and GetApp dominate the top 10 results for “alternative” keywords. Therefore, it’s wise to seek guest blogging opportunities on such platforms. (Source – Minuttia)
II) SaaS video marketing statistics
Your SaaS product can feel complex to new users.
However, with the right SaaS video marketing strategies, you can break down complex software functionalities using vivid illustrations to increase user adoption rates.
In this section, we’ll highlight important video marketing statistics and trends that you can borrow a leaf from:
11) 71% of the leading B2B SaaS brands use video marketing as part of their SEO marketing strategy. So if you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to follow suit as well. (Source – MotionGility)
12) 78% of marketers rate YouTube as the most effective video marketing channel, followed by Facebook with 71%. This proves that these two channels have to be part of your video marketing strategy. (Source – Statista)
13) 60% of marketers use SaaS interactive walkthrough videos to improve product understanding. This helps to create familiarity with complex features to smoothen your SaaS product’s learning curve. (Source – Statista)
14) 80% of SaaS startups plan to invest more in explainer videos to improve brand awareness. When done right, these videos can help you educate your audience and also build trust in your brand. (Source – Statista)
15) 80% of SaaS buyers displayed stronger interests in learning more about a product after watching an animated video. So it might be prudent to use more animated videos because they seem to convert better. (Source – MotionGility)
16) 61% of marketers say webinars are the most effective form of video marketing. This rings especially true in the SaaS industry, where webinars have proven to be one the most power lead generation tools. (Source – Statista)
17) 90% of video marketers say that they have gotten excellent ROI from their investment in video marketing. So if you are wondering whether it’s a worthwhile SEO strategy, the answer is a resounding yes. (Source – Wyzowl)
18) 40% of SaaS buyers felt the need to try a new product after watching an animated video. If you’ve been creating videos that aren’t converting well, creating more animated videos may be the answer. (Source – MitionGility)
19) 39% of marketers say that the best performing SaaS videos are usually between 30 seconds to one minute long. This is probably because viewers don’t have really long attention spans so you want to keep it short. (Source – Wyzowl)
20) 89% of consumers want to see more videos from your brand. So video marketing is an important SEO trend that’s first and foremost fueled by your audience’s preferences and it’s only fair to give your market what they want. (Source – Wyzowl)
III) SEO content marketing statistics
Do you have a blog for your SaaS brand?
A SaaS blog can be a great source of traffic in the highly competitive world of SaaS marketing. When you write great SaaS blog articles, you can also build awareness and trust with your audience.
In light of this, here are some important SaaS SEO statistics about content marketing:
21) 11% of the successful brands don’t have a blog. So most of the top players in the SaaS industry do have a blog, so at the very least, your SEO marketing strategy should revolve around having an active blog. (Source – Cobloom)
22) 68% of the biggest SaaS brands rely on WordPress as their blogging platform. This makes it the most popular content management system, which is largely fueled by its ease of use and rich ecosystem of plugins and themes. (Source – Cobloom)
23) 49% of SaaS marketers revealed that case studies were their most effective content strategy for generating software sales in 2024. This proves the power they hold and why you need to focus on creating more case studies. (Source – Upliftcontent)
24) SaaS businesses created an average of 14 case studies in 2023, although they plan to write 19 in 2024, representing a 39% increase. So these figures may hint at how many case studies you need to write annually to succeed. (Source – Upliftcontent)
25) Blogging nine times per month can improve organic traffic by 41.5% while blogging 1 to 4 times per month can increase traffic by 21.3%. This means that blogging more often is essential for making SEO work. (Source – Stratabeat)
26) Using custom graphics can improve traffic by 26.8% while using generic images only improves traffic by 13%. Consequently, this means that you can easily double your organic traffic by creating more custom images. (Source – Stratabeat)
27) The typical SaaS blog receives at least 573 organic visits every month. While I know this may feel like a low number, it can be more than enough if it is made up of very high quality traffic. (Source – Cobloom)
28) 87% of SaaS blog posts are credited to a named author rather than a faceless company. Your readers love to connect with you and the people behind your brand, which is why this trend is catching on. (Source – Cobloom)
29) Articles that hit at least 2,000 words tend to get 293.3% more traffic compared to blog posts with 1,000 or fewer words. In other words, you need to prioritize long-form over short-form content. (Source – Stratabeat)
30) 76% of bloggers create how-to articles while 55% say listicles are the most common content type. There’s no coincidence here because these articles are popular for a reason, which is why I advise prioritizing these content types. (Source – Statista)
IV) Backlink statistics
Backlinks are central to your SEO success.
You’ll benefit from the website traffic and domain authority of a more established and industry-relevant partner. So when choosing an SaaS SEO agency, you should ensure they have a proven track record in link building.
So it’s important to build high-quality backlinks and here are a few crucial SaaS backlink statistics that may help you get started:
31) 74.3% of SaaS brands pay for backlinks to their content. While many opt to take this route, I advise against it. This is because it’s easy to get low-quality backlinks that attract search engine penalties. (Source – Authority Hacker)
32) 92.3% of blog posts that rank fairly well have at least one, high-quality external backlink. But you shouldn’t just stop at one because SaaS SEO statistics indicate that the more the merrier. (Source – Semrush)
33) 89.1% of marketers say that no-follow links have a huge impact on search rankings. This is because they basically tell the search engine to avoid a link, therefore making you miss out on the benefits of backlinking. (Source – Authority Hacker)
34) 64.9% of brands use guest blogging, making it the most popular link building strategy among marketers. When you’re seeking guest blogging opportunities, I recommend that you prioritize highly-reputable and industry-relevant partners. (Source – Authority Hacker)
35) Marketers who use social media for outreach tend to generate 22% more links per month compared to those who don’t. So you can ill afford to overlook the power of social media channels. (Source – Authority Hacker)
36) 66.7% of marketers say link building will still be very important in the next 5 years. So this is definitely not a trend that’s not going anywhere anytime soon, so you need to embrace it. (Source – Authority Hacker)
37) 51.6% of brands are incorporating link exchange programs into their link building strategies. This is a partnership where you agree to post a link in each other’s content for the mutual benefit of both parties. (Source – Authority Hacker)
38) 92% of SaaS businesses are buying aged domains just to acquire links. However, while this strategy may pay off due to existing backlinks and search history, it can also just as easily blow up in your face. (Source – Editorial Link)
39) 46.3% of link builders rely on HARO to get featured in authoritative publications. HARO, short for Help a Reporter Out, is essentially a free platform that connects you to journalists, bloggers and reporters. (Source – Authority Hacker)
40) 55.1% of brands that don’t make it to the top 10 search results have no external backlinks. If you want to avoid the fate of these businesses, you want to include more external links in your content. (Source – Semrush)
V) Mobile-friendly SEO marketing statistics
Is your SaaS startup’s website mobile friendly?
Today, many of your leads are visiting your website via mobile to read up on case studies, white papers and other SaaS lead magnets you may offer. I bet you’re probably also viewing this page via mobile, which shows the popularity of mobile search.
So in this section, we shall discuss some key mobile SEO statistics:
41) 67% of SaaS buyers are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly website. So if your SaaS website is not mobile-friendly, then this might be the reason why you’re struggling to convert traffic into software signups. (Source – Google)
42) 80% of Gen Z consumers look up search queries on Google via mobile, with this figure reaching 66% for Gen X and 62% for millennials. So no matter your target market, your website has to be mobile-friendly. (Source – HubSpot)
43) 74% of users would return to your website if it delivered a great mobile experience. So if you want to keep leads coming back to your website to eventually make a purchase, you need to optimize for mobile. (Source – Google)
44) 48% of leads are completely frustrated if your website isn’t mobile-friendly. In fact, many of them leave your SaaS website with a tarnished image of your brand and they may never do business with you again. (Source – Google)
45) 52% of leads are less likely to engage your brand if the mobile experience is poor. This is largely because they may feel that you don’t care enough about their business to put in the effort. (Source – Google)
46) 54% of consumers look up products and services using their mobile phones. So, for the most part, most of the leads who are considering your SaaS product are doing so via a mobile device. (Source – HubSpot)
47) In this compilation of SaaS SEO statistics, I also discovered that mobile devices account for at least 50% of all SaaS website traffic. This means that half of your potential customers interact with you via mobile. (Source – Statista)
48) The amount of traffic that websites get from mobile devices increased by nearly 200% between 2015 and 2022. This reflects growing mobile penetration rates & means that mobile-friendliness will only increase in importance in the coming years. (Source – Statista)
49) 11% of websites that aren’t mobile friendly have a bounce rate of 60% or more. This is understandable because no one would want to stay on a website that’s a pain to navigate on their mobile device. (Source – HubSpot)
50) 96% of users have encountered websites that weren’t mobile-friendly. So it means that most of your competitors are desktop-centric, and this affords an opportunity for your SaaS startup to stand out. (Source – Google)
VI) Challenges in SaaS marketing statistics
SaaS marketing isn’t always smooth sailing.
From budgetary constraints to fast shifting trends, there are a number of challenges that you need to be aware of to conquer SEO and increase SaaS MRR for your startup.
So I’ll take you through a few important SaaS marketing challenge statistics to help you anticipate and prepare for various obstacles:
51) 52% of SaaS marketers cite budget constraints as their biggest challenge.This is largely because marketing projects lack a tangible price tag much in the same way physical products do and it sometimes overruns initial estimates. (Source – Databox)
52) 41.1% of software marketers have trouble meeting client outcomes. Some of the reasons for this are clients being too impatient and expecting results too fast. That said, it’s important to understand that SEO is a long-term game. (Source – Kortx)
53) 44% of SaaS brands say overcoming market saturation is their biggest challenge. This emphasizes the need to diversify your SaaS product and identify opportunities to provide more customer value than your competitors. (Source – Kortx)
54) 50% of marketing leaders rated the quality of their leads as average or below average, with only 11% saying they have high-quality leads. This shows just how much of a struggle lead generation can be. (Source – TSL Marketing)
55) 40.1% of software startups struggle to keep up with the latest digital marketing trends. That said, it’s important not to get caught up in the shiny object syndrome and abandon battle-tested SEO SaaS marketing strategies. (Source – Kortx)
56) 18% of marketers revealed that a lack of SEO marketing expertise is their biggest challenge to success. This is because SaaS SEO warrants calculated strategies and unique skill sets so it’s best to partner with proven marketing experts. (Source – TSL Marketing)
57) Over 21% of SaaS marketers struggle to hit their goals due to ineffective channels. While some popular channels may work for generic marketing, they may be ineffective for SaaS hence the need to be strategic about your platforms. (Source – TSL Marketing)
58) 13.8% of marketers struggle with technology and platform overloads. This is why it’s important to get your priorities right and start small with just a handful of channels so that you don’t stretch yourself too thin. (Source – Kortx)
59) 31% of brands are working with a growth marketing agency to overcome these challenges. A lack of expertise can hold back your startup from hitting its true SEO potential, so I advise working with proven professionals. (Source – Databox)
60) 65% of SaaS businesses say attracting marketing qualified leads is their top KPI challenge. From my experience, this usually stems from poor quality funnels and subpar engagement strategies that reel in low-quality leads. (Source – Databox)
VII) Meta description statistics
So what is a meta description in SEO?
Well, it refers to a snippet of text that reveals details regarding an article. While meta descriptions aren’t a ranking factor, even the top SaaS SEO agencies will agree that they can affect clickthrough rates.
To learn more about the value of metadata, I’ll share with you some interesting meta description statistics in this section:
61) 74.98% of top-ranking pages have an optimized meta description. Of course, meta descriptions aren’t a ranking signal, but if these SaaS SEO statistics are anything to go by, they seem to be positively influencing search results. (Source – Ahrefs)
62) Only 27.11% of number 1 ranked articles on Google lack a meta description. This again reinforces the point that including a meta description in your SaaS website pages may work to your advantage. (Source – Ahrefs)
63) 62.9% of searchers have clicked on a search result primarily because of the meta description attached to it. So if you’re not including meta descriptions in your pages, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. (Source – Ignite Visibility Marketing)
64) 13% of searchers, meanwhile, said the search results tiles had the biggest impact on their decision to click through, with the inclusion of brand names influencing 24.2% of them. So a well-worked title is also important. (Source – Ignite Visibility Marketing)
65) Your meta description is slightly less likely to be written (61.46%) if it’s too long and truncated compared to when within limits (63.69%). So a long meta description isn’t always a bad thing in SEO. (Source – Ahrefs)
66) 40.61% of SaaS website pages have meta descriptions that truncate. Typically, Google will automatically truncate your title if it exceeds 70 characters and your meta description if it exceeds 150 characters. (Source – Ahrefs)
67) Meta descriptions are shown only 37% of the time but they can influence clickthrough rates, making this one of the most important SaaS SEO statics to take note of. They may not always be displayed but their impact is significant. (Source – Ahrefs)
68) You can increase organic click through rates (CTR) by 5.8% with meta descriptions. This is because they give more description about your posts and help assure searchers that they’re in the right place. (Source – Backlinko)
69) Branded keywords in meta descriptions and home pages have a CTR of 60.4%. It’s always a great idea to include keywords in your meta description, and you should particularly focus on branded keywords. (Source – Backlinko)
70) 33.3% of the best performing title tags have between 40 and 60 characters. This once again goes to prove that more truly is less when it comes to SaaS SEO so keep your title tags short and sweet. (Source – Backlinko)
VIII) SaaS SEO marketing benchmarks
Setting the right benchmarks is also important.
It gives you a yardstick against which you compare the numbers you’re getting with industry standard SaaS SEO statistics. This enables you to assess marketing effectiveness and double down on SaaS blog post ideas that’re working for your startup.
In this section, I’ll go over common marketing benchmarks that can guide your SEO efforts:
71) B2B SaaS brands have an average user session duration of 4 minutes and 26 seconds. With Google rating the average at 1 to 2 minutes across industries, this is an aspect where SaaS brands are ticking all the right boxes. (Source – FirstPageSage)
72) 61% of SaaS brands track engagement rate when evaluating SEO success. This seems to be a common KPI, although you can also track software demos or sign-ups depending on your startup’s marketing goals. (Source – FirstPageSage)
73) 41% of SaaS marketers use annual change in traffic as a yardstick for measuring SEO performance. While there’s nothing wrong with setting yearly metrics, it’s also prudent to track monthly traffic to spot problems early enough. (Source – FirstPageSage)
74) 52.43% is the average engagement in the SaaS industry. By tracking engagement rates, it becomes easier to identify content and marketing tactics at large that resonate well with your target market. (Source – Databox)
75) B2B SaaS SEO campaigns have an average 1.1% visitor-to-lead conversation rate. However, this is far from ideal because you want this ratio to be somewhere between 2% and 5% if your software startup is to grow quickly. (Source – FirstPageSage)
76) The average click through rate of a SaaS blog on the first search results page on Google is at least 0.62%. While we can’t all earn first place on SERPs, the point here is to try to rank as high up as you can. (Source – TripleDart)
77) 30.34 is the average or median position for SaaS websites in terms of search results rankings on Google. But you shouldn’t be content with just making the average, and instead set your sights much higher up. (Source – Databox)
78) 53% of a SaaS website’s entire traffic volume originates exclusively from blogs. When you’re generating a good amount of your traffic from your blog, this means that you can source leads more cost-efficiently. (Source – TripleDart)
79) 112,020 is the approximate monthly median impressions in the SaaS industry. If you’re hitting or preferably surpassing these figures, then it means more people are paying attention to your brand and you’re on the right track. (Source – Databox)
80) The median cost of acquiring a marketing qualified SaaS lead is $428.94. While this may seem like it’s too high, the simple truth of SEO marketing is that you have to spend funds in order to make more of it. (Source – TripleDart)
IX) Technical SEO statistics
What is technical SEO?
This is the process of fine tuning and optimizing backend elements in order to improve your website’s performance on search engines. It can help make your website more user friendly and therefore increase software demo signups for your startup.
Technical optimization is a very important process that can make or break your website, and here are a few important SaaS SEO statistics to prove it:
81) 39% of SaaS brands use ScreamingFrog SEO Spider for technical SEO, making it the most popular followed by Google Console. This may mean these tools tend to get the job done although it’s important to diversify your toolset. (Source – Aira)
82) Bounce rates increase by 123% when it takes 10 or more seconds to load a page on mobile. So the stakes are really high for you to create a highly responsive website that loads quickly. (Source – Google)
83) 30% of in-house technical SEO teams say they optimize between 1,000 and 10,000 pages. So it’s easy to understand why you may prefer to outsource your technical SEO needs so you can focus on your SaaS product. (Source – Aira)
84) 69% of marketers note that the demand for technical SEO has increased. This shows that more SaaS brands are recognizing its value and so you cannot afford to overlook technical search engine optimization. (Source – Aira)
85) Conversation rates stand at 3.05% for a one-second page load time and 1.12% for a three-second page load time. That’s more than a 300% conversion difference and it proves that every second counts. (Source – Portent)
85) 44% of brands prioritize technical SEO because of the quick wins it helps them achieve. This is understandable given that you can greatly boost SEO performance with a few strategic tweaks to technical website elements. (Source – Aira)
86) 27% of marketers see insufficient resources as the biggest obstacle to technical SEO success. This made it the biggest threat to technical search optimization, followed closely by issues around technical debt. (Source – Aira)
87) 41% of brands that implement technical SEO changes see an improvement within three months. In some circumstances, it may even take up to six months or more so patience and persistence is key. (Source – Aira)
88) 71% of marketers view data analytics as the most important skills for successful technical SEO. When you have a great grasp of data analytics, it’s easier to understand the impact of technical SEO changes. (Source – Aira)
89) 90% of marketers say that Google Analytics search traffic is the most important KPI to measure for technical SEO. Of course, you should also track other important metrics like bounce rates, page loading speeds and more. (Source – Aira)
90) 80% of SaaS websites load in under 5 seconds. This is a good yardstick to aim for but I’m certain you can do much better. An experienced SEO agency with technical SEO prowess can help you with this. (Source – Portent)
X) SEO rankings statistics
Your SERP position naturally determines traffic.
The higher you rank in search engine results pages the more traffic you’ll attract. But to rank high, you need to write killer SaaS case studies, product roundup posts and generally get your content and SEO strategy spot on.
That said, here are some important SEO rankings statistics for your SaaS startup:
91) You can win 34% of organic traffic by claiming the top spot on SERPs. This is easier said than done, but you don’t need to be number 1 to get good traffic. You only need to outrank the competition. (Source – Poll the People)
92) Moving from position #1 to #2 can increase organic traffic by 200%. Of course, the ultimate goal is to rank high up on search engines, but this shows that even moving up one spot can make a big difference. (Source – Poll the People)
93) Jumping from the second to the first page of Google search results can increase traffic by 143%. But to make it to these coveted spots, you’ll need to put a lot of hard work and consistency into your SEO campaigns. (Source – Poll the People)
94) 46% of websites get between 1,000 and 15,000 visits per month compared to 19.3% who get between 15,000 and 50,000 visits. But you shouldn’t focus only on traffic but also consider conversions. (Source – HubSpot)
95) The highest ranking B2B SaaS websites typically dedicate up 40% of their budgets on marketing. When you’re just starting, it’s normal to spend half or more of your revenue on marketing but the returns are usually worth the investment. (Source – Kalungi)
96) 96.55% of all websites get no traffic at all from Google search in particular. So the scramble for organic search traffic isn’t easy but you can make it with strategic search engine optimization. (Source – Ahrefs)
97) You can increase monthly organic visits by 200,000 by offering a free SaaS tool. So if you don’t have a free trial offer for your software product, these SaaS SEO statistics are enough reason to create one. (Source – Ahrefs)
98) The number 1 ranked SaaS website typically gets 2,834,806 impressions. This is more than twice the impression of the 2nd place ranked search results, and nearly 14 times more than the 10th ranked post. (Source – Poll the People)
99) 60% of SaaS websites ranked on the second page of Google’s search results or beyond. So it’s quite clear that SEO is a challenge for many businesses, which once more emphasizes the need for professional marketing services. (Source – HubSpot)
100) 53% of SaaS businesses noted a drop or no improvement in their website traffic in 2023. That said, traffic drops can be down to several issues and you’ll need to perform through analytics to get to the bottom of it. (Source – HubSpot)
Conclusion
SaaS success and SEO are joined at the hip.
When you don’t get it right, you’ll struggle to generate revenue and grow.
This is because SEO helps to improve online visibility and catalyze lead generation, and if it’s ineffective, you’ll struggle to land new clients.
In fact, a Gartner survey predicts that 80% of all B2B SaaS sales will primarily occur online. So it’s important to harness search engine optimization to help your business get found in digital spaces.
Thanks to the SaaS SEO statistics we’ve discussed, you now have an idea of effective marketing strategies that can work best for your startup. That said, I also recommend partnering with an experienced SaaS marketing agency.
Click here to book your free discovery call with us to learn if we’re a great fit.
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