SaaS
SEO.

Software searches fall into a handful of jobs, and each needs a different page. Mixing them up is the most common reason SaaS sites get traffic that never signs up.

Paste the searches from Search Console's Performance report, or your Google Ads search terms report. The sorter groups them by the page they need and counts how many pages that really is.

People searching 'alternatives to' the software they use are unhappy with it. That's about as close to buying as a search gets. Most SaaS companies leave these searches to review sites, then wonder why the review sites rank.

Write one honest alternatives page for your category, and 'you vs them' pages only for the competitors buyers really compare you with. Date them, keep the facts current, and say plainly where the competitor is the better fit. A comparison that is inaccurate or unfair can mislead under the Australian Consumer Law, and a one-sided page doesn't convince anyone anyway.

Integration searches come from people who already use a tool you connect with. An Australian bookkeeper searching 'job management software MYOB integration' has told you a lot about themselves. Give each integration that matters its own page: what syncs, which way, how often, what doesn't, and how long setup takes. That last part is where most integration pages fall short, and it's exactly what the buyer wants to know.

Here's where SaaS companies get into trouble. It's tempting to generate 300 integration pages, or a template page for every job title, from one script with the name swapped. Google's spam policies define scaled content abuse as many pages generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users, and list using generative AI tools to generate many pages without adding value as an example. Twenty integration pages with real setup detail will beat 300 shells, and won't put the rest of the site at risk.

Many SaaS marketing sites are built in the same JavaScript framework as the product. That's fine, with a few catches. Google processes JavaScript sites in three phases: crawling, rendering and indexing, and rendering happens later, when resources allow. Google can only find links that are <a> elements with an href attribute, so menus built from click handlers can hide whole sections. And if a page starts with a noindex tag, Google may skip rendering it, so removing noindex with JavaScript may not work.

Your help centre is often your best SEO asset. Help articles answer specific how-to questions in plain language, and buyers read them during a trial to check whether the product can do what they need. Keep them public, keep them current, and link from each one to the relevant feature page.

Keep the app itself out of search. Login screens, dashboards and account pages don't belong in Google's index, and they shouldn't be what someone sees when they search your brand.

Plenty of Australian SaaS companies write for an American buyer by default, because that's who the playbooks are written for. Australian buyers search with Australian words: 'award interpretation', 'STP', 'GST', 'NSW public holidays', 'hosted in Australia'. A page that answers those directly is competing with far fewer global sites.

Use Australian spelling, show prices in AUD, and on consumer plans show one total price including GST. Say where data is stored and when support is open in Australian time. Security or compliance issues troubled 33% of disappointed Australian buyers; a plain security page answers that before they ask.

For many category searches, G2, Capterra and other comparison sites own the first page. You won't outrank them all, so be visible on them. Successful Australian buyers relied on review and comparison sites (49%), so a complete, current profile in the right category is part of your SEO, not separate from it.