Nick Brown is the Founder and CEO of accelerate agency, a SaaS SEO & content agency. Working with enterprise and scale-up brands.
getty
We have a common expression in the office at my SEO agency: “SEO is not rocket science.” Recently, I’ve started using a longer version of this statement: “SEO is not rocket science, but it is rocket fuel.”
This is because I recently learned a bit about how rockets launch, and there are some surprising similarities to our SEO process. But first, let’s talk about why SEO for SaaS isn’t rocket science.
SEO for SaaS isn’t complicated
The reason we say that “SEO is not rocket science” is because the key concepts for successful SEO are not as complicated as you might think. Google serves up the results it thinks its users will most likely want to see, and it does this by judging which results are best.
This determination is based on the words in the content, the authority of the author and the authority and relevance of other websites that link to this content. This calculation is complicated, but (thankfully) you don’t need to understand it precisely to run a good SEO campaign. As a marketer, all you need to do is create well-written, highly relevant content that lots of important websites link to.
Do this repeatedly, and eventually, your sales team will be overwhelmed with leads for your SaaS product.
SEO can also be compared to running a marathon. The strategy is simple (just keep putting one foot in front of the other). The execution (putting one foot in front of the other for 26 miles) is the hard part.
How difficult the execution is depends on how competitive the SEO environment is for your product. But in most SaaS niches, the competition is pretty fierce. To rank in the top three in competitive keyword searches, you’ll need to produce hundreds of well-written articles and thought pieces and place them on high-authority domains with links that point back to your landing pages. It is usually more cost-effective to employ an agency for this work, as building this level of expertise in-house is expensive and time-consuming.
However, after telling people that SEO isn’t rocket science for many years, I learned more about how rocket science actually works. Much to my surprise, there’s actually a lot in common between the process of launching a rocket and a well-executed SEO campaign. Who knew?
Rockets are momentum machines
Now that I’ve learned a bit about it, I can confirm that rocket science is, indeed, as complicated as you probably think it is. However, I have noticed some striking similarities between SEO and how rockets initially get into orbit.
According to NASA’s website, “rockets are momentum machines.” This means that when a rocket’s engines first fire up (when it’s on the ground and has zero momentum) it has to expel a lot of energy just to get those first few inches off the ground. The start of the process is the hardest.
By the time a rocket reaches the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, it’s relying heavily on the momentum it has built up as it has progressed. Making further progress gets easier and easier as you go.
Could there be a more perfect metaphor for SEO?
The best SEO campaigns appear to accomplish nothing in the beginning. Even with an agency’s help to place hundreds of thought leadership pieces full of backlinks to your site, there is often no sign of progress for weeks and weeks. A new campaign is very much like one of those rockets just after blasting off, shooting out big clouds of fiery smoke for several seconds but appearing to go nowhere.
Then, as a campaign starts to show results, it also gains momentum. Getting your website to the top result for a key search term is very difficult, but maintaining that position once you’re there takes a lot less energy. A good SEO campaign, like a rocket, is a momentum machine.
Tips for SEO momentum machine owners
SEO is a great way to build demand for your SaaS product, but be aware that (like a rocket) the progress of your SEO campaign relies on momentum.
• Expect to put in a lot of work at the very start and for there to be no sign of immediate progress.
• When your campaign starts getting traction, celebrate! The amount of initial progress will seem small at first, but this is the most difficult part of the process. Don’t be discouraged.
• As momentum builds, the cost of acquisition of each sales lead will go down. This is all the hard work you put in at the start paying off.
Because so much of the effort is front-loaded, getting agency support at the start of a campaign is often worth the investment. In addition to choosing the right agency, you’ll also need to decide when to start building your SEO momentum machine.
The obvious next question is, can I ever have too much SEO? It might surprise you to hear the answer is sometimes (but not very often) “yes.” I haven’t written about this topic yet, but I have one planned, so stay tuned!
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
