Build a foundational SEO program

You need an agency partner that has the processes set up to run startup search optimization projects. Startup SEO is more fast-paced than enterprise search projects, which tend to be longer in timeframe and much bigger in budget. 

Your agency needs to understand that you’re running against the clock to display marketing ROI across all of your initiatives. They should also be ready to help you with executive reporting and program progress updates as well.

Yes. We specialize in technology startup projects where time is of the essence. We have built a system of best practices specifically to address the uniqueness of SaaS search optimization. If you’re an established enterprise, we can also help you get much better clarity and direction in what you should be doing instead of polarizing your organic inbound efforts.

Yes, but in order to run a successful search project at a startup you’ll need the following resources to run a very lean team: 

• x1 SEO strategist: 100% allocation and at least 4 years of experience in both strategy and technical SEO (do not hire freelancers). This person needs to have an agency background or demonstrated experience in a SaaS company. 
• x1 Web developer: 25% allocation and at least 5 years of experience in building websites, troubleshooting plugins, building custom fields and setting up repositories. This professional must also know how to work with APIs and CRM forms.
• x1.5 Copywriters: 100% allocation of at least 1.5 copywriters (1 full-time; the other .5 FTE will be sourced from your existing product marketing team as they have deep industry context that a new-hire copywriter will not be able to match).   
• x1 Web designer: at 50% allocation and at least 3 years of experience in designing websites. Your web designer needs to have a good grasp of low and high-fidelity wireframes, design principles, accessibility standards and user experience best practices.

Not at all. It just requires multidisciplinary knowledge and genuine interest in development, content creation and user experience optimization. You can start learning enterprise SEO at our resource center, written by top industry professionals who do it for a living on a daily basis. Also, academy resources from sites such as SemRush, Moz, Yoast and CopyBlogger are a great way to get your team to start learning.

Reliable and experienced search-focused companies or seasoned specialists charge a blended rate from $125  to $175 per hour for their services. Keep in mind that “SEO” is not just one person. In order to run a successful initiative, you’ll need copywriters, a designer, a developer, and an SEO strategist (not to mention the toolset it takes to run a project).

For a lean team that will be at least 50% allocated (on average) to your initiative, you’re looking to spend at the very least $250k per year. Experience plays a big part in search optimization, which is why you want to hire an agency to put you on rails, train and help you hire a team — so past the first 12 to 24-month point, you can hire themselves out, as you have an internal team sustaining the search practice.

No, it’s impossible to guarantee keyword positions as rankings may change on a daily basis depending on a wide variety of factors such as algorithmic updates, hosting, UX and accessibility, site speed, content output quality and frequency, internal link logic and shifting market demand.

It’s the quality — not the number of backlinks — that matters the most when building a B2B SaaS backlinking strategy. If you’re a new industry player, you’ll need to reach out to others actively in order to get backlinks to your site. However, if you do not have quality content,  the chances of you getting collaboration agreeance are slim. Conversely, if you’ve got great pieces of content (blog posts, white papers, webinars etc.), activating existing industry partners and PR channels is the best course of action.