Technical SEO elements have a major role to play in keeping your SaaS website user-friendly and easy to crawl.
Duplicate content issues or ineffective site structure are common SEO hurdles that can restrict your SaaS site’s organic visibility.
This SaaS technical SEO guide is great for startups and enterprises to diagnose performance bottlenecks and to fine-tune their content and internal linking strategy.
Let’s uncover the complete SaaS technical SEO audit checklist to significantly increase your SaaS website’s search visibility and conversions.
SaaS Technical SEO Checklist
I have broken down the major elements of SaaS tech SEO so that you can use this audit checklist to have a high-performing site.
| Issue | Priority |
| Google Search Console and Analytics Tracking | High |
| Not Having Responsive Website Design | High |
| Intent-Based Short and Long-Tail Keywords | High |
| Missing SEO-Friendly Website Structure | High |
| Incomplete or Unoptimized Meta Elements and Headings | High |
| Slow Page Load Times | High |
| Too Much Duplicate Content | High |
| Not Having E-E-A-T Friendly Content | High |
| Incorrect Schema Markup | Medium |
| Incomplete Sitemaps | Medium |
| User-Generated Spam | High |
| Broken Links or Redirect Chains | Medium |
| Google Core Web Vitals Optimization | Medium |
| Not Having Enough Backlinks | High |
Now, let’s understand these issues in detail to optimize your site for higher engagement and faster lead generation.
Also See: Best SaaS SEO Companies and Consultants List
SaaS Tech SEO Audit Process
Google Search Console and Analytics Tracking
Google Search Console and Google Analytics are two of the most important tools before you begin any SEO audits.
Both Search Console and GA are free to use.
If your site does not have tracking codes installed, you can quickly verify your site in Search Console by following these steps.
Similarly, you can set up analytics for your site using these steps.
Once you have these tools set up, login to Search Console and click on Pages under Indexing.
This report will display how many pages on your site are currently not indexed and the reason for no indexing.
You can click on the reason to find the exact number of pages affected by the issue.
After fixing the issue, you can click on Validate Fix to allow Google to reevaluate the problem. If the fixing is done accurately, the problem will be resolved.
However, many times you will see pages that have been correctly stopped from crawling. There is no need to take actions on such pages.
Also, you can use Google Analytics to find out how many users are finding your site through organic search and other channels. This will help you to decide your marketing strategy and budget.
Responsive Website Design
Responsive design auto adjusts based on the user’s screen sizes.
Google says that your site should have responsive page dimensions.
You can use a tool like BrowserStack to simultaneously test your website design on different viewports and screen sizes.
Checking your site design on different screen sizes will help you determine any issues with design rendering.
If you detect issues, you are lacking a responsive site.
To fix this, use the meta viewport tag. All you need to do is to add the following meta tag on all your web pages.
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0″>
Doing this will give the browser instructions to adjust the page’s dimensions based on the user’s device width or screen size.
Also See: The World’s Best SaaS Blogs Ranked
Intent-Based Keyword Research
Intent-based keywords reflect the search intention of the person.
When you target keywords in your SaaS SEO strategy where you know the search intent of the searcher, you can create intent-specific content.
Hence, determining your SaaS ICP is important.
WordStream has created a nice graphic representing the different search intent of buyers.
High-quality and original content catered to the specific needs of your audience have higher chances of ranking and generating clicks.
Moreover, they also help in reducing bounce rate and lead to more conversions.
To find intent-based keywords, you can use a tool like SEMrush.
For instance, here are some intent-based keyword ideas for a logo design software:
| Intent Type | Keywords |
| Informational | – What is logo design software? |
| – Best logo design tools for startups | |
| – SaaS logo design software features | |
| Navigational | – [Brand Name] logo design software |
| – [Brand Name] pricing | |
| – Download [Brand Name] logo designer | |
| Transactional | – Buy [Brand Name] logo design software |
| – [Brand Name] software subscription | |
| – [Brand Name] software free trial | |
| Commercial Investigation | – Compare logo design software |
| – [Brand Name] vs [Competitor Name] review | |
| – Best affordable logo design software |
Website Structure Optimization
Building your website architecture is important to keep your pages and information organized.
A well-structure and people-friendly website should follow the below hierarchy:
You should make sure your URLs are easy to read, short, without numbers, and with hyphens instead of underscores.
Also, each page should be just 1-3 clicks away.
The below table reflects the optimization area to focus along with the key strategies to follow:
| Optimization Area | Key Strategies |
| Simplify Site Hierarchy | – Limit levels to a few clicks from the homepage. |
| – Ensure balanced categories in main navigation. | |
| Optimize URL Structure | – Use readable URLs with keywords. |
| – Maintain consistent structure that reflects site hierarchy. | |
| Logical Navigation Layout | – Implement global navigation consistently across the site. |
| – Utilize breadcrumb navigation for better user orientation. | |
| Improve Internal Linking | – Use descriptive, relevant anchor texts. |
| – Link related pages to distribute page authority and enhance user engagement. |
Also See: Top-Rated B2B SaaS Growth Channels
Meta Elements and Headings Optimization
Meta elements like title and headers tags like H1 – H3 are important to improve the page relevance score.
Use a tool like Screaming Frog to identify all the pages on your SaaS website that are missing meta titles and descriptions. The tool also crawls your site to list meta tags that are above the character limit.
The SEO software also lets you analyze all the URLs in your domain that have missing or overlimit heading tags.
You should check all the pages on your website so that they have relevant and user-friendly meta tags.
Ensure to have your primary keywords in your heading tags to get the maximum SEO benefit.
Page Speed Improvement
Page speed refers to the time it takes for a web page to load fully.
Slow page loading times increase the bounce rate with the chances of bounce increasing to 32% when the time increases from one second to three seconds.
To check how fast your site loads, you can use tools like GTMetrix and Google Page Speed Insights.
Here are some of the best ways to improve your page load speed:
- Reduce HTTP requests by consolidating CSS and JavaScript files used in your SaaS application.
- Enable caching for static resources such as stylesheets, scripts, and images to reduce load times for returning users.
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to decrease file sizes and improve loading speed.
- Implement GZIP compression to further reduce the size of transmitted data, especially for text-based resources.
- Optimize server configurations and caching mechanisms to ensure quick response times for user requests.
- Load non-essential resources asynchronously to prevent them from blocking the rendering of critical content.
- Prioritize loading essential above-the-fold content first to ensure a fast initial user experience.
- Limit the use of third-party scripts and services to only those that are absolutely necessary to minimize external dependencies and improve loading speed.
Also See: How to Create a Vertical SaaS Marketing Plan
Identifying and Fixing Duplicate Content
29% of sites face duplicate content issues and Google has a special set of algorithms to identify duplicate content on a website.
Sometimes, unknowingly your site can generate lots of URLs having the same content. This might be the case due to CMS issues or a recent website redesign.
Siteliner is one of the top tools to check duplicate content on your domain. You can determine the percentage of copied content and see the exact URLs that have this issue.
E-E-A-T Friendly Content Creation
E-E-A-T stands for:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness, and
- Trustworthiness
Google considers pages with high E-E-A-T to be high-quality. Here are some tips for creating E-E-A-T friendly content:
Here are some top tips to prepare content following the E-E-A-T principles:
- Provide original information, research, or analysis.
- Offer substantial, comprehensive descriptions of topics.
- Include insightful analysis beyond the obvious.
- Add substantial value and originality when drawing on other sources.
- Ensure main headings or titles are descriptive and helpful.
- Avoid exaggeration or sensationalism in headings.
- Create content worth bookmarking, sharing, or recommending.
- Aim for content comparable to reputable print sources.
- Offer substantial value compared to other search results.
- Check for spelling and stylistic issues.
- Ensure content is well-produced and not hastily done.
- Avoid mass production or outsourcing to maintain quality and attention.
- Present clear sourcing and evidence of expertise.
- Convey trustworthiness through author and site background.
- Aim for content written or reviewed by knowledgeable experts.
- Minimize factual errors through thorough verification.
- Provide a clear and enjoyable page experience for users.
Schema Markup Correction
Structured data enables rich snippets in search engine results.
You can use the Schema Markup Validator to test different Schema markups on your website.
Implementing rich results markup can give you a competitive edge by making your listings stand out in search results compared to other SaaS competitors who haven’t implemented structured data.
Sitemap Creation and Submission
Creating and submitting a sitemap is crucial for ensuring that search engines can efficiently crawl and index your website’s pages.
You can create XML sitemaps using the Yoast SEO plugin. These sitemaps automatically update, ensuring efficient crawling of important pages.
By configuring settings, controlling included post types, and addressing any issues, you can improve SEO performance and drive more organic traffic.
Also See: SaaS Sales Acceleration Formula To Grow Your Business
Controlling User-Generated Spam
Google has become extremely clear on preventing user-generated spam on websites and platforms.
Spammers exploit open comment forms and content CMS to post promotional content.
You should use strategies such as identifying spammy accounts, using manual approval for suspicious interactions, and implementing blocklists.
Additionally, you should also utilize tools like reCAPTCHA for preventing automated account creation and monitoring services for detecting phishing and malware-infected pages.
Broken Links and Redirect Chains Fixing
Fixing broken links and redirect chains is crucial for providing users with a seamless browsing experience and maintaining the health of your website.
Broken links lead to frustrating dead ends for users, harming user experience and potentially driving visitors away from your site.
Similarly, redirect chains can slow down page loading times and confuse search engine crawlers, negatively impacting your site’s SEO performance.
You can use the Ahrefs broken link checker to check your site for broken inbound and outbound links.
By identifying and fixing broken links and redirect chains, you ensure that users can navigate your site effortlessly, improving user satisfaction and retention, while also enhancing your site’s visibility and performance in search engine rankings.
Also See: Top SaaS PR Agencies and Companies
Google Core Web Vitals Optimization
Optimizing Core Web Vitals is essential for enhancing user experience and improving search engine visibility. These metrics, including Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction To Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), directly impact how users perceive and interact with your website.
By measuring, monitoring, and optimizing these factors, site owners can ensure faster loading times, smoother interactivity, and greater visual stability, ultimately leading to a better overall user experience and higher rankings in Google Search results.
Link Building
Link acquisition for SaaS is crucial for increasing your domain reputation. High-authority, relevant, and editorial backlinks help your domain rank faster and higher.
Find out the current authority and reputation of your domain using tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMrush.
If you have DA and DR less than 30, then you must take steps to boost your domain reputation.
The higher your domain rating, the higher will be site impressions and clicks.
Some of the top SaaS link building tactics to use are:
- Develop informative content like blog posts and case studies relevant to your SaaS niche to attract organic backlinks.
- Contribute guest posts to authoritative tech blogs within your industry, including relevant backlinks to your SaaS platform.
- Collaborate with complementary SaaS companies to create co-branded content, expanding your reach and attracting backlinks.
- Create free tools or resources related to your SaaS product and promote them on relevant platforms to earn backlinks.
- Build relationships with influencers and collaborate on content projects, leading to valuable backlinks from their platforms.
- List your SaaS product on reputable directories and review sites to improve credibility and attract backlinks.
- Analyze competitor backlink profiles to identify high-quality opportunities and replicate successful link building strategies.
Also See: Top-Rated SaaS Community Management Agencies & Services
Conclusion
Performing technical audits on SaaS websites should be a regular process since new pages are added or removed from sites.
Follow the steps discussed in the SaaS tech audit checklist to keep your site error-free and to improve the overall UX of your domain.
With optimized site architecture, people-friendly content, and high-authority backlinks, you can easily defeat your SaaS competitors.