SaaS link building involves securing backlinks from other sites to your SaaS website. In order to grow your SaaS business online, this is one of the most effective and sustainable methods. It can help you rank higher on search engines, attract your ideal customers, and generate more leads and sales.
This article emphasizes the significance of acquiring SaaS backlinks for achieving long-term business success. Our guide for SaaS companies provides insights and tips on how to enhance visibility and conversions by getting high-quality links.
The Importance of SaaS Link Building and Its Benefits for Business
Link building is crucial for any SaaS company. Why? Because quality links from authoritative sites are like recommendations for your service. They notify Google that your site is dependable.
In a competitive market, SaaS businesses face challenges in attracting and retaining customers. Besides improving organic search results, link building can drive referral traffic, build brand awareness and credibility, and ultimately convert leads.
Let’s take a closer look.
Basics of link building in the SaaS industry
There are three main points to consider when building SaaS links:
- Producing valuable, shareable content that attracts organic links from niche influencers and your target audience.
- Publishing guest posts on reputable blogs or websites with a similar audience to your own.
- Building relationships with other SaaS founders, marketers, and experts in your industry and asking for referrals or testimonials.
- Participating in online communities and social media platforms where your potential customers hang out and providing helpful answers, insights, and resources.
- Making use of existing partnerships with complementary SaaS companies.
The role of quality backlinks in SEO and organic visibility
Quality backlinks help your SaaS website rank higher for the target keywords, therefore driving more traffic and increasing conversions and sales. Having quality backlinks also helps establish your website as an authority, boosting your brand’s credibility and reputation. Additionally, backlinks help spread your content further, enabling you to reach a larger audience.
Dive into my comprehensive guide on PR link building to learn the tactics and techniques used by top marketers to secure high-quality backlinks.
Strategies for Effective SaaS Link Building
The world of link building is vast and rich in opportunities. It is important to form a specific strategy, define tangible goals, and make daily efforts to achieve them.
Check out our list of the top link building techniques for SaaS below:
Conducting competitor analysis
It involves identifying and evaluating the websites that rank highly for keywords or topics similar to your own SaaS website. By analyzing their backlink profiles, you can discover potential link sources that you can target. Use tools such as Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to conduct a competitor analysis and find link opportunities.
Guest posting
Publishing content on other relevant websites through guest posting is a popular link building strategy. The objectives are to demonstrate your expertise, provide value to readers, and build backlinks to your SaaS site, resulting in increased organic traffic and brand awareness.
“When you reach out to website owners, avoid approaching the interaction solely with the intention of obtaining a link. Show that you understand their website and tell them why your content is a great fit for their readers. Doing so helps you get valuable links and form solid partnerships that benefit both your current and future link building endeavors.” — Riva Jeane May E. Caburog, PR/Media Coordinator, Nadrich & Cohen
Discover the secrets of effective link exchanges in my insightful article.
Niche edits
Adding your link to an existing article on a relevant website is a niche edit. Unlike guest posts, you do not have to write a new article. You simply find a suitable one that already has some authority and traffic, ask the owner to edit it, and insert your link. This way, you can benefit from the existing relevance and trust of the article and boost your own website’s ranking and visibility.
Resource page link building
It is a technique for getting backlinks from web pages that curate and list helpful resources on a certain topic. The idea is to find niche-specific resource pages and promote your own content as a useful addition to those pages. Resource page link building requires some research, outreach, and follow-up, but it can be a very effective way to build your online reputation and authority.
Building linkable assets
Creating valuable and linkable content assets is a cornerstone strategy for obtaining SaaS links. This involves generating unique, informative, and action-oriented content that’s high in quality and keyword-optimized. When other websites find your content valuable, they’re more likely to link to it, which aids in improving your SaaS website’s visibility, domain authority, and rankings in search engine results.
Consider including these linkable content assets in your link building strategy:
Statistical articles
Statistical articles add credibility to your content. They are highly shareable, which increases the chance of getting backlinks from other authoritative websites. Stats provide your audience with insights and verified data, cementing your brand as an industry authority. Moreover, whenever other parties use data from your stats articles, they are likely to provide a link back to your original content, contributing further to enhancing your backlink profile and boosting your SEO performance.
Trend reports
Another great way to build brand trust and improve search engine rankings is to write trend reports. By identifying popular topics, keywords, and sources, you can educate your audience about current and future trends in your niche. Such educational content is an excellent opportunity for link building and outreach.
“A secret sauce I swear by is rolling out original research. Dive deep into a topic, churn out some unique findings, and before you know it, folks from all over are linking to you because you’ve got the freshest insights in town.” — Sudhir Khatwani, Founder, The Money Mongers
Thought leadership articles
Thought leadership articles are perfect for sharing your expertise, insights, and opinions on industry-related topics. For example, if you offer a SaaS solution for email marketing, you can write an article on how to optimize your email campaigns or share a case study of how your product helped a client achieve their goals. You are more likely to get links and shares from readers if you provide them with value.
Strategic content syndication
This is a technique for republishing your original content on other websites or platforms with a link back to your site. It can help you reach a wider audience, increase your brand awareness, and generate more traffic and backlinks for your site.
However, it is not as simple as copying and pasting your content. You need to follow some best practices to avoid duplicate content issues, such as choosing reputable and relevant syndication partners, adding canonical tags, and creating unique introductions or summaries for each syndicated piece.
Testimonials
Find out if your happiest clients are willing to provide feedback about your SaaS product. Since real customer testimonials increase trust and authority, they enhance your link building strategy.
Publish those reviews on a “Customer Stories” or “Case Studies” page on your website. This page will become a source for valuable backlinks as customers often want to link to or share their testimonials on social media and elsewhere.
Infographics
Create and promote infographics for SaaS link building by selecting a relevant topic, using credible data, designing a clear layout, including a catchy headline, and optimizing for search engines. Share the infographic on social media platforms and contact influencers, bloggers, and journalists in your niche to feature or link to it.
“Consider data-backed infographics as a highly effective and innovative way to earn valuable backlinks for a SaaS business. In this strategy, start by collecting and analyzing original, industry-specific data, such as through surveys, that applies to your SaaS product or services. This data could be gathered through surveys, user behavior analysis, or market research.
Once you have compiled the data, create informative, shareable infographics. Reach out to relevant industry websites and influencers, offering the infographic and key insights. Emphasize its value to its audience, increasing the likelihood of them referencing your SaaS as the source.” — Ajay Prasad, Founder and President, GMR Web Team
Image credit
Use tools such as Canva, Photoshop, or Illustrator to create original, high-quality images for your website that are worthy of sharing. Add a watermark or logo, optimize for SEO, and share them on social media platforms. Reach out to relevant websites or blogs and offer them free use in exchange for a link back to your site.
A-B-C link exchange
A-B-C link building is a strategic approach that involves three parties:
- your website (A)
- a highly relevant second website (B)
- another valuable website (C)
Your goal (A) is to secure a backlink from the website (B), but instead of directly asking for a link, you involve the third party (C), which already has a backlink from (B). You build a relationship with (C) and then ask (C) to introduce you to (B), increasing your chances of securing a backlink.
This strategy fosters organic relationships and value-driven linkages. Significant in the SaaS industry, A-B-C link building not only raises your chances of acquiring high-quality backlinks but also enhances your reputation in your industry niche.
Manual outreach
Manual outreach is a critical component of SaaS link building that involves reaching out to relevant websites and influencers within your niche. This strategy often includes sending personalized emails or messages requesting links to your content or products. The manual outreach link building communication should be tailored, showcase unique benefits, and include a clear call to action.
Follow-ups should be conducted if there is no response. Different subject lines, times of the day, or channels should be experimented with to enhance open and response rates. By building relationships with authoritative websites through manual outreach, you not only boost your organic traffic but also bolster your credibility and reputation in the eyes of potential customers.
Podcasting
Appearing in podcasts helps you position yourself as an expert and get your audience to know you and your SaaS product. By making such appearances, you can also generate high-quality backlinks to your website, which can drive more traffic.
Roundups
Roundups feature insights, opinions, or tips from different experts or influencers in your field. Ask these experts to contribute to your roundup post and link back to their websites afterward. This way, you can establish relationships with influential people and earn high-quality links and organic traffic for your SaaS website as they share the posts they’ve been featured in.
CEO interviews
Publishing interviews with CEOs of other SaaS companies can greatly enhance your link profile. It’s a captivating and shareable piece of content with high value for the readers. As you polish and promote your material, don’t forget to tag the CEOs you interviewed and ask them to share it with their networks as well.
Product reviews
Get in touch with relevant industry websites, blogs, and YouTube channels that review SaaS tools and ask them to review yours. In exchange, you can offer a free trial. Be sure to provide all the information and access the reviewer needs to thoroughly test your tool. Give them at least 2–3 weeks to explore all the features so they can provide comprehensive feedback to their followers.
Free tools
Another effective SaaS link building strategy involves creating free tools. This approach not only adds value to your customers but also attracts new prospects. Relevant, useful, and user-friendly tools are a fantastic way to gain high-quality backlinks, as other websites are likely to link to your free tool when recommending resources or referring to useful tools in your niche.
By ensuring that your tool solves a real problem for your target audience, you increase your chances of it being shared. Consequently, your SaaS website becomes more visible, and your rankings in search engine results improve. Additionally, offering free tools fosters goodwill among users, establishing a strong foundation for future interactions and potential conversions.
Unlinked brand mentions
Discover unlinked brand mentions by using tools such as Google Alerts, Mention, or Brand24, or by manually searching for your brand name on relevant sites. Then, reach out to the site owner with a polite and personalized email, explaining the benefits of linking to your site and asking them to do so.
Broken link building
Find and replace broken links on other relevant, high-authority websites as part of your link building strategy. By doing that, your SaaS website can earn a valuable backlink that previously led to a webpage that no longer exists. All you need to do is contact the linking website owner, notify them of the broken link, and offer a replacement URL leading to your site.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a free service that connects journalists with sources for their stories. HARO is a simple but impactful link building tactic for any SaaS business. The links and brand exposure from media mentions can make a real difference in building authority and ranking higher in search engines.
Have trouble writing a successful HARO pitch? Don’t worry—we’ll take it from here and help you gain media coverage. Contact us today!
Conferences
They are great opportunities to network with other professionals and generate buzz around your product or service. You can also leverage your conference presence to create valuable content, such as blog posts, podcasts, videos, or social media posts that link back to your website.
Q&A sites
Q&A sites such as Quora, Reddit, and Yahoo Answers are excellent platforms for building links for SaaS websites. Users can ask and answer questions on a variety of topics.
To create a successful Q&A post, follow these six steps:
- Choose the right site.
- Create a professional profile.
- Research potential customers’ questions.
- Write detailed answers.
- Include a link naturally.
- Engage with the community.
Leveraging social media platforms for link promotion
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are ideal for promoting SaaS links. By creating engaging content that showcases the product’s value, you can attract customers, drive website traffic, and build trust. These platforms also allow for interaction with your audience and feedback collection.
Staying updated with SEO trends and algorithm changes
Google frequently updates its algorithm, which can impact your rankings and links. Stay on top of SEO best practices and make changes as needed. Be aware of links that become low quality over time and look for opportunities to build new, high-value backlinks. With regular maintenance, you can adapt to changes and keep your link profile strong.
Measuring and Tracking Link Building Success
If you want to build successful links, you need to monitor your results regularly. Everything you should know about it is listed below.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for link building success
The metrics used to measure the effectiveness of a SaaS link building strategy are known as key performance indicators (KPIs).
The four most important SaaS SEO KPIs are:
- Domain authority: Domain authority indicates trustworthiness among search engines and users.
- Backlinks: Backlinks should come from relevant websites with a higher DR than yours.
- Referral traffic: Referral traffic is the number of visitors from other sources.
- Conversion rate: The conversion rate shows the percentage of visitors that take a desired action on your website, such as signing up for a free trial or purchasing a product.
Tools for monitoring link performance
Strategic link building improves a website’s ranking and traffic. Keeping track of your link performance is essential to achieving your SEO goals. Tools such as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Moz can help monitor your link performance, track growth, find new opportunities, and measure the authority and relevance of your links.
Analyzing the impact of link building on organic traffic and rankings
To analyze the impact of SaaS link building, you need to measure the following five key metrics:
- The number and quality of backlinks you have gained or lost over time
- The domain authority and trustworthiness of the sites linking to you
- The anchor text and context of the links pointing to your pages
- The traffic and conversions generated by the referral sources
- The ranking positions and visibility of your target keywords
Overcoming Challenges in Link Building for SaaS
Overcoming challenges is part of any successful link building campaign. Here are some of the main hurdles you’ll face and how to conquer them:
Acquiring relevant and authoritative backlinks
High-quality SaaS backlinks can be hard to come by since there are only so many relevant, authoritative sites. Be resourceful by guest posting on industry blogs, creating unique content, and developing partnerships. Look for link building opportunities beyond your typical competitors and in related verticals. With creativity, you can uncover new link sources. Link building outsourcing, for example, is a strategy you can try.
Dealing with link spam and low-quality link offers
You’ll receive lots of spammy link requests and low-quality offers. Learn to spot these and say no. Focus on relevant, authoritative sites in your niche. Don’t waste time on links that won’t help your rankings or traffic.
Adapting to algorithm updates and evolving SEO practices
The Google algorithm goes through frequent updates, and they can affect your rankings and links. That’s why you have to always be on alert for algorithm changes that may impact your SaaS site. Adapt your tactics and strategies accordingly, following the best search engine optimization practices for building authoritative backlinks.
Case Studies and Examples
SaaS link building is not an illusory concept. On the contrary, it gives real, lasting results. Read below to see for yourself.
Real-life examples of successful SaaS link building campaigns
SaaS link building is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to boost your website’s ranking and visibility on search engines. But how do you get high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites in your niche?
Let’s see what some experts have to say about it:
“Create a spin-off product that is free of charge but related to your core product. That can make it a lot more compelling to link to. An example of this is a product we created recently that helps anyone create a plan for their podcast and generate a name and a first episode script. These are three of the biggest barriers to starting a podcast, so solutions are always in demand, and we’ve built an AI-powered tool to help our audience.” — Colin Gray, Founder, Alitu
“Creating statistics articles and software/tool listicles can naturally prompt others to reach out for collaboration, allowing you to secure backlinks through negotiation and favors. For example, at Mailmodo, we receive 50+ collaboration opportunities per week as we have built 40+ statistics articles and 230+ software review pages.” — Sankit Javiya, SEO Manager, Mailmodo
“Strategic Content Syndication is a savvy move that’s been delivering solid results. It’s all about forming powerful partnerships with industry leaders and experts. We team up to create content packed with insights, blending their know-how with our recruitment expertise. The key? Crafting high-value guides, webinars, or interactive resources that speak to our audience. When these heavyweights share the spotlight with us, it’s a win-win. We tap into their audience, and they boost their authority. The magic happens when they naturally link to our co-crafted content. Plus, the engagement and buzz around these collaborations are through the roof.” — Madhurima Halder, Content Manager, Recruit CRM
“Connectively is a platform that has proven to be a goldmine for SaaS businesses looking to earn authoritative backlinks. By thoughtfully contributing your expertise to relevant queries, you’re not only providing value to the journalist but also positioning your SaaS brand as a credible source. It’s a win-win. This method has consistently allowed us to secure quality backlinks from reputable news sources, building both visibility and credibility.” — Jonathan Merry, Finance and Marketing Expert, Moneyzine
Learn more about the top HARO alternatives to get media exposure!
Demonstrating the impact of link building on business growth
Thanks to InBound Blogging’s PR efforts and continuous work on improving the link profile of a client, six months later, there was a significant improvement in the main SEO indicators.
✔ The number of referring domains increased from 1,945 to 2,630.
✔ This reflected the organic traffic generated by all targeted keywords. It went from to 16,648 to 32,467, which is a double increase.
✔ Not only that, the keywords from 1–3 positions have brought 200% more visits to the website, from 547 to 1,430.
InBound Blogging’s Link Building Services
A professional SaaS link building service can help you achieve your SEO goals faster, easier, and safer than doing it yourself.
Overview of InBound Blogging’s expertise in link building for SaaS
InBound Blogging is an SEO agency with extensive experience in SaaS link building. Our link services are designed to drive organic search traffic and improve your website’s ranking in the SERPs.
We can create an effective link building strategy tailored to your business needs. Our link builders are eager to help you achieve a stronger digital presence and keep your website up to date with the latest SEO trends. The best part is that as your backlinks grow over time, so will your business.
Highlighting our unique approach to SaaS businesses
At InBound Blogging, we understand the challenges and opportunities of link building for SaaS companies. That’s why we have developed a unique approach that combines:
✅ Data-driven research
✅ Vetting potential link partners
✅ Personalized outreach
✅ Quality content creation
Our goal is to help you build authority, trust, and traffic for your SaaS website. Whether you need guest posts, resource pages, or niche edits, we have the expertise and the network to deliver results.
Let us boost your link profile and grow your SaaS business!
Conclusion
So there you have it—actionable SaaS link building tips. By focusing on value-added partnerships, amazing content creation, and networking, you’ll be well on your way to earning powerful links and boosting your domain authority.
Don’t forget that SEO link building is a long game, so start implementing these strategies today and stick with them. Make the process smoother and hassle-free with InBound Blogging’s services.
Need a tool for internal link building? Here’s my Link Whisper review, showcasing how easy it can be.
FAQ
What is SaaS link building?
SaaS link building is the process of obtaining backlinks from other websites to your SaaS website. Backlinks are links that point from one website to another, and they can help improve your SaaS website’s authority, traffic, and conversions. Link building is an important part of SaaS marketing, as it can help you reach your target audience, build trust, and generate leads.
Why is link building important for SaaS businesses?
Link building is important for SaaS businesses because it can help them improve their online visibility, authority, and reputation. Link building can also drive relevant traffic to your website, increase conversions, and generate leads. Link building is a key component of SEO (search engine optimization), which is pivotal for SaaS businesses that want to rank higher on search engines and attract more customers.
What are some effective strategies for SaaS link building?
To increase your SaaS website’s visibility and traffic, you need to create and share content that appeals to your ideal customers. You can do this by:
– Guest posting on relevant blogs or publications
– Creating and promoting high-quality content
– Participating in Q&A sites or podcasts
– Leveraging your existing relationships with customers, partners, influencers, or industry experts
You also need to build a strong brand reputation and authority in your industry by showcasing your expertise, achievements, awards, case studies, reviews, etc. on your website and other platforms.
How can I measure the success of my SaaS link building efforts?
To measure the success of link building, you should keep tabs on:
– The number and quality of backlinks you have acquired from other sites
– The traffic and conversions you have generated from your backlinks
– The ranking and visibility of your SaaS website for your target keywords
– The reputation and authority of your SaaS brand in your industry
Make use of specific tools for monitoring your progress—Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Moz, for instance. Pay close attention to tracking essential key performance indicators (KPIs), such as your domain authority, backlinks, referral traffic, and conversion rates.
Are there any challenges in SaaS link building?
Link building, in general, is a time-consuming process. In addition, there might be certain obstacles, such as the need to deal with spammy or low-quality websites’ offers, finding the right methods to reach the link-worthy websites, and twisting your entire strategy to fit the latest Google requirements.
Can I outsource my SaaS link building activities?
If you are wondering whether you can outsource your link building activities, the answer is yes. Outsourcing link building can help you save time, access a wider network of opportunities, and leverage the expertise of professionals.
How long does it take to see results from SaaS link building?
A general rule of thumb is that it can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months or more to see significant results from link building, depending on the quality, relevance, competition, and outreach of your link building strategy.