We\u2019ve found most SaaS keyword strategies do one of two things: chasing search volume without real intent, or focusing too narrowly on brand terms and bottom-of-funnel pages. But to create content that brings in the right kind of traffic, people who are more likely to convert, not just browse, you need a smarter approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One that starts with how your buyers actually think and search. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One that listens closely to your sales calls and support chats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One that filters keywords not just by numbers on a dashboard, but by what they signal about readiness, relevance, and real-world context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because being in SaaS, you\u2019re not just ranking for clicks. You\u2019re building bridges for the researcher, the decision-maker, and the person who\u2019s going to use the product every day. That\u2019s the kind of keyword research that works, and the kind most teams are still missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keyword research for SaaS is more than just about finding what people search for. It\u2019s about finding what your best-fit customers search for when they\u2019re ready to solve a problem you can actually help with<\/em>. And that requires more nuance than the typical volume-first approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, you need to consider the SaaS sales cycles, which are longer and more sophisticated than other traditional industries. They often involve layered approval processes, and a decision-maker who might not even be the person using the product day to day. That alone changes how you think about keywords. You\u2019re not just mapping to a single user; you\u2019re aligning with the questions, needs, and hesitations of an entire buying team across different touchpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why keyword intent matters more than keyword volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You could chase 10,000 monthly searches for a broad query like best productivity tools<\/em>, or you could target 50 searches for project management software for remote engineering teams<\/em>, and walk away with 10x better leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good SaaS keyword research also accounts for your product\u2019s unique position in the market. What features stand out (USP)? What\u2019s your strongest use case (ICP)? What are they using your tool for? If those aren\u2019t reflected in the topics you target, you\u2019ll pull in the wrong kind of traffic, even if your rankings look impressive on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the goal here isn\u2019t to go \u201cviral\u201d on Google – you ideally want to build a library of content that brings in people with real potential to convert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re doing keyword research for SaaS, each term needs to be mapped to what part of the customer journey it\u2019s actually serving. Otherwise, you’re just writing content without knowing what job it\u2019s supposed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say someone searches \u201chow to improve team collaboration.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s them at top-of-the-funnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re problem-aware, but not anywhere close to comparing tools yet. They\u2019re just exploring ways to solve their problem, and your job at that stage is to meet them with something genuinely helpful. Like a credible guide (with no sneaky CTAs) that nudges them closer to realizing, \u201cOkay, maybe I do need a dedicated solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now imagine they\u2019re searching \u201cNotion vs Trello.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s MOFU, which means they\u2019ve done some homework, they\u2019re comparing options, maybe even building a shortlist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where a good SEO play gives context (instead of straight-up dropping a feature table)by showing who each tool is really for, what the tradeoffs are, and where you fit in. If your product is the better fit, this is where you earn the chance to prove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n And when they type \u201c[your product] pricing\u201d or \u201c[your product] demo,\u201d<\/em> they\u2019re at the BOFU stage, nearly there. At this point, they\u2019re trying to de-risk their decision. They want to know what they\u2019ll get, how onboarding works, if support is solid. That\u2019s where you have to give them clarity fast and make the next step frictionless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What we\u2019ve found most SaaS companies doing is unintentionally bunching all their keywords at one level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Either they chase traffic with big TOFU plays and wonder why it doesn\u2019t convert, or they go straight for bottom-funnel terms and find they\u2019re not building any pipeline over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You need ALL three layers working together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest way to bring structure to this is just to label your keywords before you start building content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n TOFU. MOFU. BOFU. Once you do that, it becomes clearer what the content needs to do at different points in their buying journey, what kind of CTA belongs there, and how to connect each piece to the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It also helps your team stop judging every page by the same KPIs, because a TOFU blog post isn\u2019t supposed to convert immediately. <\/em>And the success of a BOFU post can\u2019t be measured by the amount of traffic it pulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if you do this right, you’ll end up with a content funnel that mirrors your sales funnel. Which means every time your content shows up in SERPs, it’s solving a problem for your audience. And that kind of content strategy doesn\u2019t just attract people once; it helps pull them all the way through to the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Search volume doesn\u2019t always correlate with value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A keyword that gets searched 40 times a month by buyers who are ready to act can be way more valuable than one with 10,000 monthly searches and no real urgency behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is especially important for you, being in SaaS, because you’re not trying to win the internet, you\u2019re trying to get in front of the right person at the right moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone searching \u201c[your tool] onboarding tutorial\u201d<\/em> or \u201cbest billing software for SaaS startups\u201d<\/em> is already in a different headspace than someone Googling a broad topic like \u201chow to streamline operations.\u201d<\/em> One\u2019s browsing and the other\u2019s buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where intent comes in. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at what kind of intent their queries carry – informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional? And group them accordingly. You\u2019ll quickly start seeing which ones are worth building content around now, and which ones might support the journey later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also why long-tail keywords and niche terms shouldn\u2019t be ignored. Although these kinds of phrases don\u2019t look impressive from a volume perspective, they tend to convert better, face less competition, and speak to very specific use cases, especially if your SaaS product serves a particular segment or workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s AI search. <\/strong>It\u2019s already changing how people find information, and from what we\u2019ve seen to date, it\u2019s only going to speed up. We\u2019re moving toward a world where traditional keyword rankings won\u2019t be the only source of visibility. People will search using natural language, ask full questions, and expect direct, personalized answers. So while keyword volume still matters, chasing it blindly isn’t going to hold up in the long run. BUT, leading with intent always will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, look beyond what<\/em> they typed into Google and figure out why<\/em> they\u2019re searching it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Are they trying to solve a problem? Compare options? Make a decision? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you understand the why<\/em>, you can judge whether that keyword is actually leading someone toward your SaaS, whether it’s part of the buyer\u2019s journey or just random curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you have clarity on the user\u2019s goal and how it connects to your product, then you start looking for keywords that reflect it, especially the longer, more specific ones. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the core intent is \u201csomeone wants to switch from spreadsheets to a project management tool,\u201d then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you’re not starting with volume, you\u2019re starting with intent, and then finding smart ways to express that intent as targetable keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of the time, when building out a keyword SaaS content strategy, we go deep in tools – and that makes sense, it gives us a jumpstart. But we\u2019ve found that the best performing ones usually come from the people who talk to your customers every day..<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about it – your sales, support, and product teams are constantly fielding real questions from users. They’re hearing what\u2019s unclear, what\u2019s exciting, and what\u2019s frustrating. So when it comes to surfacing search-worthy topics, that insight is gold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why, before diving into any keyword tool, you should take a beat and ask around. What are customers struggling to understand during onboarding? What are they curious about on demos? What\u2019s the one thing they always ask before committing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These questions tell you so much about the kind of problems people are actually trying to solve, and the words they use to describe them. That\u2019s the stuff that makes your keyword list not just technically relevant, but human and practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also look through support tickets, chat transcripts, and onboarding calls to catch even more of that language in its raw, unfiltered form. These are the phrases you won\u2019t find in any SEO dashboard, but match how your users talk and search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there are feature-specific keywords, compatibility queries, and integration-related phrases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your product integrates with Slack, Notion, or Salesforce, there\u2019s probably a whole set of search queries out there like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These may not pull huge traffic, but they show up later in the funnel, and the people searching them are usually already halfway sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By starting your keyword research here, with the voices of your users and the people closest to them, you build a list that\u2019s more aligned with search intent and also grounded in the reality of how your product gets used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Conversion-focused keywords take experience. If you want help getting it right, let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n \n \n \n Aligning Keyword Research With the SaaS Funnel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Funnel Stage 1 – TOFU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Funnel Stage 2 – MOFU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Funnel Stage 3 – BOFU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Common Mistake You Need to Avoid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Prioritize Intent Over Volume<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Build a Seed List With Cross-Departmental Input<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Traffic is easy to chase<\/h3>\n \n