What good is a SaaS SEO strategy if you don’t have access to the right tools to make your campaign successful?
I’ve put together a list of SaaS SEO tools I use the most for all of my clients.
These tools can apply to any SEO strategy, but they seem to work best for B2B SaaS.
There is no right choice when it comes to these SEO tools, so a lot of it comes down to personal preference and your SEO budget.
So let’s jump into some of the best SaaS SEO tools on the market.
Best Tools to Use for a SaaS SEO Campaign
Google Search Console
When it comes to SaaS SEO, Google Search Console is the holy grail. GSC has everything you could need to guide your SEO strategy.
SEO starts with indexing, and no other tool besides Bing Webmasters, tells you when your page is indexed.
Outside of indexing, Google Search Console also allows you to see what queries your website ranks for, how many clicks they’re driving, and where they are ranking. Google Search Console is one of the best tools available for SaaS websites.
I recommend checking out this SEO checklist to see how many use cases it has.
Personally, it’s my favorite to find keywords relevant to your SaaS.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Auditing your website
- Monthly reporting
- Internal Linking
- Discovery, crawling, rendering, or indexing problems
- Quick Wins
- User experience issues (mobile usability, core web vitals)
- Technical SEO Audits
- Great for finding bottom of the funnel topics
- Keyword Research
- Schema issues
- Cannibalizing content
Price:
- It’s a free tool to use
Google Analytics (GA4)
With Universal Analytics now turning into GA4, Google Analytics is still a solid tool for SaaS SEOs to use.
It’s harder to find another reporting tool that allows you to track and measure your SaaS KPIs like traffic, conversions, channel revenue, and everything else that has to do with your website.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Track high or low-converting pages
- Track your sites conversion rate with SEO
- Organic traffic data (landing pages, sessions, engaged sessions, events)
- Tag management
Price:
- Google Analytics is a free tool, but they do offer GA 360 for enterprise (which is paid)
Free Version:
- Yes
Google Keyword Planner
Similar to Google Search Console, Google’s Keyword Planner is another great tool that can be used for SaaS SEO.
Not only is it free, but it comes with geo-specific filters that most SEO tools don’t have.
Unfortunately, you need to have an ad running to see specific keyword volumes, otherwise, they just appear as volume ranges.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Geo Specific keyword research
- CPC
- Related keywords
- Keyword competition
- Keyword Refining Filters
Price:
- Free to use if you’re not running ads
Free Version:
- Yes
Google SERPs
What better way to do SEO research than just checking Google’s SERPs?
Not only will Google’s SERPs tell you everything you need to know about ranking, but they even have great features for learning more about your topic.
Google’s Autocomplete and People Also Ask snippets are great ways to find unique information about your keyword that keyword research tools otherwise wouldn’t tell you.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- People also ask data
- Search intent
- Autocomplete queries
- Related Searches
Price:
- Completely free
Free Version:
- Yes
Google Trends
Another free keyword research tool Google has is Google Trends.
While it won’t give you specific data like the keyword planner, it shows you interest based on each keyword.
The reason this works as a SaaS SEO tool is that you can use it to gauge and find queries related to your product that might be trending. You can also filter your trend data to find specific geographical searches (city-level, county-level, state-level, etc)
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Great for finding related topics and queries
- Great for gauging search interest
- Finding interest by regions
- Finding new trending queries
Price:
- Google Trends is an entirely free tool
Free Version:
- Yes
Google PageSpeed Insights
While different from the other Google tools on this list, Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool is great for measuring technical SEO for SaaS Websites.
PageSpeed Insights allows you to diagnose and fix page speed-related issues that might be impacting your website’s SEO. This tool also measures both mobile and desktop performance.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Diagnosing performance issues for both mobile and desktop
- Opportunities for improving page speed
- Measures if your website is accessible
- Even grades your site’s SEO performance
Price:
- Completely free, you don’t even need a Google account for it
Free Version:
- Yes
Ahrefs
Personally my favorite in this keyword research stack, Ahrefs is a great all-around tool that works great for competitor analysis and keyword research.
Ahrefs is probably one of the most popular marketing tools in the SaaS SEO community and you can even use it for technical SEO, and it surprisingly works very well.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Track keyword rankings across different countries
- Easy to run a competitor analysis
- Reviewing your backlink profile and broken backlinks
- Find keywords relevant to your industry
- Find unique content topics
Price:
- The lowest tier they have is lite, which is $99 per month
- They then have a standard which is $200 per month
- Advanced $400 per month
- Enterprise, which starts at $999 per month
Free Version:
- Ahrefs unfortunately does not have a free version. They do however have a backlink checker tool that you can use to measure link profiles
SEMrush
Next up we have SEMrush. Outside of Ahrefs, SEMrush is probably the second most popular SEO tool in the industry.
It’s almost the same as Ahrefs, and personally, I prefer Ahrefs, but that’s not to say SEMrush doesn’t have any good features.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Keyword research
- Keyword and content gaps
- Backlink gaps
- Competitor analysis
- Technical SEO features
Price:
- $129 per Month for Pro
- $249 per Month for Guru
- $449.95 Per Month for Business
Free Version:
- SEMrush, unfortunately does not have a free version but does offer a 14-day free trial
Moz
Moz is one of the original SEO tools in the market and one that I haven’t had a ton of experience with.
However, there’s a reason Moz is regarded as one of the best in the industry. Arguably it is one of the best SEO tools for beginners or for those who need base-level SEO recommendations.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Moz Local to manage your business profiles
- Great for keyword research
- Backlink and keyword monitoring
- Website crawler
Price:
- Standard $99/month | $950 yearly ( $79/month)
- Medium: $179/month | $1,719 yearly ($143/month)
- Large: $299/month | $2,868 yearly ($239/month)
- Enterprise:$599/month | $5,750 yearly ($479/month)
Free Version:
Moz does not come with a free version, but they do have a free 30-day trial for Moz Pro
AlsoAsked
AlsoAsked is one of the newer tools on the market, that is a personal favorite of mine. Created by Mark-Williams Cook, this tool scrapes People Also Ask data to give you a bird’s eye view of all questions being featured.
So if your SaaS content marketing is focused on problem-solution content, then you can use AlsoAsked to find questions your audience is asking you haven’t thought of yet.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Find related keywords for your content
- Great for finding new topic ideas
- Finding long-tail keywords
Price:
- Basic: $15/month
- Lite: $29/month
- Pro: $59/month
Free Version:
- AlsoAsked does have a free version, but you’re limited to 3 searches per day
Answer the Public
Similar to AlsoAsk, Answer the Public is another tool that leverages Google SERP data (autocomplete) and generates different questions/phrases people are asking.
Answer the public is a great tool to use to get a whole visualization based on your keyword
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Monitor keyword trends
- Topic ideas
- Questions to include in your content
Price:
- Individual: $9/month
- Pro: $99/month
- Expert: $199/month
Free Version:
- Answer the public does have a free version where you receive 2 searches per day or 3 with a registered account.
While Reddit isn’t a keyword research tool in the slightest, it can be used as an audience research tool.
Especially for B2B SaaS companies, you can uncover some topics or ideas coming from your target audience that keyword research tools otherwise wouldn’t show you.
As an example, say your SaaS product is employee retention software, you can review the r/HR and r/work subreddits to find common reasons why employees are becoming frustrated or why HR professionals are struggling to retain employees.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Great for audience research
- API access to run Python scripts
- Potential to find new topics
- Great for making your content more personalized
Price:
- Reddit is an entirely free platform to use, even its API is free
Free Version:
- Reddit is entirely free to use
Keywords Everywhere
An SEO tool I use myself, Keywords Everywhere works as a browser extension that works with you as you search. For each query, the tool will pump out data along with it. Keywords Everywhere provide you with search volume, CPC, competition, and trend data, while right on the SERPs.
It’s one of the best free SEO tools I can recommend
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Search Trend data
- CPC data
- Competition
- Appears on the SERPs
- Uses Keyword Planner data to calculate this
Price:
- Free to use as a plugin
- Bronze: $1/month
- Silver: $4/month
- Gold: $20/month
- Platinum: $80/month
Free Version:
- Keywords Everywhere is a free tool, but they do have paid options
Hunter.io
Hunter.io is one of the best when it comes to email outreach. The tool can be used as a browser add-on to find relevant email addresses.
Hunter.io looks for emails across entire websites and stores each one found. If you’re looking for a journalist’s email, chances are they have it. While it won’t generate an email for you, it’s great for finding email addresses across entire domains.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Finding emails for outreach
- Browser add-on
- Can do bulk tasks like email verifying and domain searches
Price:
- Free: 25 searches/month
- Starter $49/month
- Growth $149/month
- Business $499/month
Free Version:
- Hunter.io does have a free version but it is limited to only 25 searches per month.
Pitchbox
We also have Pitchbox, which is also commonly used as an outreach tool for backlink outreach.
This is a tool I’ve used before and highly recommend, however, it is very expensive even for the base-level plan
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Streamlined Outreach Process
- Customized Email Sequences
- Performance Metrics Tracking
- Effective Link Building
- Influencer Networking Opportunities
Price:
- Professional: $495/month
- Enterprise: $1350/month
Free Version:
- They do not have a free version
RankMath
My personal favorite when it comes to SEO plugins, RankMath just has the most to offer compared to other SEO plugins.
Not that the other ones are bad, they just don’t have as many features (and user-friendliness) as RankMath.
With this tool, you can create schema for your website, control which pages are indexable, and even set directives for your robots.txt.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Set Schema
- Control Sitemap
- Set Robots.txt
- Change MetaTags
- Great Shortcodes to use in content
Price:
- Rankmath basic: free
- RankMath Pro: $59 per year
- Business: $199 per year
- Agency: $499 per year
Free Version:
- Free to install
Yoast
Yoast is one of the most popular SEO plugins and the most common one seen on SaaS websites.
While it’s not my personal favorite, some cool features allow it to earn its place as one of the best SEO plugins.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Optimize Keyword Usage
- Readability Analysis
- XML Sitemaps Creation
- Meta Descriptions Management
- Content & SEO Scoring
Price:
- Yoast Basic: free
- Yoast SEO Premium: $99 per year
Free Version:
- Free to install
HARO
HARO or Help a Reporter Out is a set of questions sent out by journalists 3 times per day.
HARO is a great opportunity to grow your brand and website by exchanging expertise in the form of a link.
However, HARO has been getting more competitive over the years, so getting a placement is very hard nowadays.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Access to Journalists
- High-Authority Backlinks
- Brand Exposure Increase
- Credibility and Trust
- Niche Market Penetration
Price:
- Basic: Free
- Standard: $19/month
- Advanced: $49/month
- Premium: $149/month
Free Version:
- Free to use
Terkel
Terkel is my personal favorite for building backlinks. I find Terkel to be much easier when it comes to filtering links and a lot of the opportunities there are relevant to SaaS and digital marketing.
It is less competitive than HARO so you have a pretty good chance at getting a placement.
Check out this article if you want to learn more about link building strategies for a SaaS.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- High-Quality Backlinks
- Increased Domain Authority
- Diverse Link Portfolio
- Expert Endorsement Connections
- Content-Based Link Strategy
Price:
- Starter: Free
- Pro: $99/month
- Team: $199/month
Free Version:
- They do have a free version
Help a B2B Writer
Like HARO and Terkel, Help a B2B Writer is very similar where you receive submissions each day looking for expertise on a variety of topics.
I find Help a B2B Writer Out is better at categorizing queries than the other tools, but one downside is that it is also competitive and hard to get a placement with.
Not as hard as HARO, but still difficult. If I had to rank them in terms of difficulty, I’d go: HARO < Help A B2B Writer < Terkel
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
Price:
- Free
Free Version:
- Free
Clearscope
Known as one of the best in the industry, Clearscope is a great optimization tool to have in your arsenal for improving how your content ranks.
I haven’t had too much personal experience with Clearscope but everyone I know who has used it loves it.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- AI Content Performance Grading
- Keyword Optimization Guidance
- Relevant Term Recommendations
- Competitive Content Analysis
- Google Docs Integration
Price:
- Essentials: $170/month
- Business: Custom
- Enterprise: Custom
Free Version:
- Clearscope does not have a free version
SurferSEO
Known as a direct competitor to Clearscope, SurferSEO is a great alternative to have for content optimizations.
I’ve had the most experience with Surfer and I’ve loved using it. The tool will compare the top-ranking results on the SERPs and gives you a list of keywords and NLP entities to use in your content.
Not only does Surfer optimize the content for you, but they also have features that include content and brief creation.
SurferSEO can even generate a full piece of content without any involvement on your part.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Real-Time SEO Corrections
- SERP Analyzer Insights
- Data-Driven Content Editor
- Keyword Surfer Extension
- Custom SEO Audit Reports
Price:
- Essential: $69/month
- Advanced: $149/month
- Max: $249/month
- Enterprise: Custom
Free Version:
- Surfer does not have a free version
Frase
Frase is another content optimization tool I haven’t had too much experience with, but most SEOs in the industry use this outside of Clearscope and Surfer.
This tool like Clearscope and Surfer, scans the top-ranking results and generates an optimized outline based on what would rank.
It looks like the tool doesn’t generate content for you, but it does have a question + answer feature that generates frequently asked questions using the People Also Ask section of Google.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- AI-Powered Content Optimization
- Topic Research Automation
- SERP Analysis Insights
- Answer Engine Optimization
- Content Performance Tracking
Price:
- Solo: $15/month
- Basic: $44.99/month
- Team: $114.99/month
Free Version:
- Frase does not have a free version
Screaming Frog
Personally, my favorite when it comes to technical issues, Screaming Frog allows you to do it all when it comes to technical SEO.
It’s not only regarded as one of the best technical SEO tools, but it’s also just regarded as one of the best in the industry. If you ask any SaaS SEO expert, there’s a 50% chance they use Screaming Frog.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- In-Depth URL Analysis
- Broken Link Identification
- Internal Link Audits
- Duplicate Content Detection
- Finding orphan pages
- Metadata and Robots.txt Analysis
- XML Sitemap Generation
Price:
- Free version
- Paid: $200 per year
Free Version:
- Free version for websites with less than 500 URLs
Sitebulb
Sitebulb is a very well-respected SEO tool within the industry. I personally haven’t had much experience with it, but this is a close second for any SEO expert that doesn’t have Screaming Frog in their stack.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Visual Crawl Mapping
- Prioritized SEO Issues
- Intuitive UX Reports
- Comprehensive Accessibility Audits
- PDF Export Functionality
Price:
- Lite Plan: Cost: $13.50 per month
- Pro Plan: $35 per month
Free Version:
- No free version
Lumar
Lumar is another technical SEO tool I’ve had the pleasure of using recently. While it’s very similar to Screaming Frog, I’ve found that their main benefit is user experience.
Not that Screaming Frog is confusing to use, but Lumar has an excellent product UX that makes it easy for anyone to use.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Comprehensive Website Audits
- Crawl Error Detection
- Improved Site Architecture
- Indexation Issue Resolution
- SEO Health Checkups
Price:
- Custom prices
Free Version:
- Lumar does not offer a free version
Ahrefs Toolbar
This is an often unknown tool of Ahrefs that I love and use on an almost daily basis. This SEO toolbar is a little pocket-sized Ahrefs that follows you wherever you go.
Anytime you search, Ahrefs is there to generate a keyword list for you.
You can also use the tool to review specific SEO aspects of any page you’re on. If you have an Ahrefs account, I highly recommend setting this up.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Keyword research
- Backlink research
- On-page analysis
- Competitor analysis
- Metadata information
Price:
- The lowest tier they have is lite, which is $99 per month
- They then have standard which is $200 per month
- Advanced $400 per month
- Enterprise, which starts at $999 per month
Free Version:
- The Ahrefs toolbar does have a free version but it is very limited compared to what it has to offer
UberSuggest
UberSuggest, now owned by Neil Patel Digital, is an SEO plugin that is great for automating the keyword research process.
Not only does it generate keyword volumes for you, but it also pumps out related keywords for each search.
I probably prefer the Ahrefs toolbar over this, but since the Ahrefs toolbar is a paid option, this is a great free alternative.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Keyword analysis
- SERP tracking
- Keyword research
Price:
- No price to pay for the UberSuggest plugin
Free Version:
- The keyword plugin is free
Jasper AI
With Jasper AI being one of the most well-known content creation tools on the market, it’s a no-brainer this would be the number-one spot for content writing tools.
Jasper is great for creating content that doesn’t just read as AI and passes for something useful. The great thing about Jasper is that you can customize the writing style based on your brand’s voice.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Text summarizers
- Blog post outlines
- Creative stories
- Sentence expanders
- Content improvers
- Blog post topic ideas
- Video descriptions
- Bullet points
Price:
- Creator: $39/month
- Teams: $99/month
Free Version:
- Jasper does not have a free version, but they do offer a 7-day free trial.
ChatGPT
This list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of ChatGPT.
While ChatGPT can fit in multiple lists here, I have it listed as an AI content creation tool.
And for good reason, with the right prompts, you can easily create 100s of optimized content pieces with just a click of a button.
Why it’s Great for SaaS SEO:
- Content creation
- Content reviews
- Content gaps
- Content updates
Price:
- Free version with an account
- $20/month for the paid version
Free Version:
- ChatGPT is a free-to-use tool, but they do have a free version
How do these SEO tools compare in terms of their specific functionalities and features?
Each SEO tool listed in the article offers unique functionalities: Google Search Console excels in indexing and site performance insights, Ahrefs is renowned for comprehensive competitor analysis and backlink tracking, while SEMrush offers extensive keyword research and site audit capabilities.
The choice depends on the specific needs of your SaaS SEO strategy.
Are these SEO tools cost-effective for small or startup SaaS companies?
Many of the SEO tools mentioned, like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Ubersuggest, offer free versions that are highly cost-effective for small or startup SaaS companies.
Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, while more expensive, provide extensive features that can justify their cost with the value they add to more advanced SEO strategies.
Choosing the Best SEO Tool For Your SaaS
So there you have it, some of the best SaaS SEO tools on the market.
While most of these come down to personal preference, each one is a solid option to use for your SEO efforts.
Feel like I missed any tools? Feel free to reach out to me to let me know your opinions.