Future-proofing Your Digital Presence: 6 Emerging SEO Trends in 2024 for SaaS

The digital landscape changes all the time, but one thing stays the same: the crucial importance of a robust SEO strategy. Algorithms are continually tweaked and new technologies come to the fore, with voice search and AI just two of the 2024 SEO trends we’ve identified in today’s article. In the sink-or-swim world of digital marketing, you need to adapt your SEO strategy to embrace these new developments, with the potential for a major impact on traffic flow from search engines and therefore on sales.

Keeping up with SEO trends is especially important for SaaS businesses given that, by their very nature, they’re selling digital products and services. With that in mind, what are some of the trends in SEO for SaaS that your business should be aware of in the year ahead?

Setting the foundation: crafting a future-proof SEO strategy

SEO has many strands to it, but creating a future-proof SEO strategy ultimately boils down to just two crucial words: quality content. Crafting useful content that people want or even need to read is a surefire way to keep traffic flowing into your SaaS site from search engines into 2024 and beyond. It’s a perennial trend, but it’s a trend nonetheless, and one that’s always worth starting the year with a refreshed focus on.

Creating quality content optimised for relevant keywords

Of course, it’s not quite as simple as going out and ‘creating quality content’. There has to be a strategy behind it, as the scattergun approach risks wasting valuable marketing budget. And the lynchpin of that strategy? Keywords. The content you create for your SaaS company in 2024 will need to be centred on the findings of thorough keyword research – and relevant keywords evolve as audience interests and trends change.

Beginning the year with an exploration of what are likely to be the big SaaS trends in the months ahead will help you craft a content campaign that’s relevant to what people are going to be searching for, and this will help direct your keyword research, too. As the industry shifts, your content needs to shift with it – so your keyword analysis will give shape to your content activities in 2024, both by informing the topics you create content around and by providing the structure of your content around primary and secondary keywords, as we’ll come onto shortly.

Relevant to this is the concept of ‘user intent’. When you understand what’s motivating people to make a particular search query, you can then precisely align your content with it and know that you’re meeting user needs. For example, there’s a big difference between someone simply looking for information about something and someone ready to buy. If you can identify which keywords are used at different stages of the buying cycle (‘best accounting software’ versus a branded search for reviews, for example), you can then create content tailored and optimised to each.

Once identified, there are several ways you can work primary and secondary keywords into your content. Let’s say you’re writing a blog post:

• The primary keyword informs the topic itself: the whole post addresses the broad topic identified in a primary keyword. In this post, that would be SEO trends.
• The primary keyword goes in the title: work the primary keyword naturally into the title, which should be an H1 in HTML code, as we’ve done with ‘6 emerging SEO trends in 2024’.
• Structure the article around secondary keywords: these are essentially ‘spin-off’ keywords that may be longer and more niche, but that are still related to the primary keyword topic—for example, local SEO in 2024.
• Secondary keywords go in the subheadings: subheadings, or H2s in HTML, should contain secondary keywords where these read naturally, as we’ve done with ‘Local SEO in 2024: strategies for SaaS businesses’.
• Working keywords into the body copy: the main body of content is also a place to weave in keywords if this can be done naturally and subtly. ‘Keyword stuffing’ – the practice of cramming in as many keywords as possible, to the detriment of writing quality – has long been a no-no in the SEO world. Remember, the reader always comes first, so write like a human!

On-page optimisation is another way you can optimise your content with keywords, so let’s look at that in a little more detail.

Mastering the art of content writing

While a full run-down of the art of content writing is beyond the scope of this article, it’s worth a brief look at some of the most crucial aspects to pay attention to for your SaaS SEO in 2024. In particular:

• Optimising title tags: these are the blue links people see in search engine results pages, and they’re a ranking factor. Including a keyword in them – along with your brand name – shows your page is relevant to what someone is searching for. Remember, metadata has a role in setting user expectations of what they’ll find on your website, so the keyword does need to be relevant to what’s on the page or you’ll find people click straight back to the search results.
• Crafting engaging meta descriptions: while they don’t have a direct influence on how high up your website appears in the search results, a compelling meta description with a call-to-action will help to boost click-through rates
• SEO-friendly headings and subheadings: as we’ve already mentioned, weaving keywords naturally into your headings and subheadings will help optimise the page for the topic you’re covering. They’ll also help the readability of your content by breaking it into manageable chunks that signpost different sections for those searching for something specific within the piece.
• Image and video alt tags: tagging visual elements with keywords helps algorithms understand non-written content such as images and videos, as well as making your site more accessible for those who use screen readers.
• A hierarchical content structure: if you’re planning to create lots of content, it’s important to consider how individual pieces relate to each other and how they’re structured together. For example, one strategy is to create a pillar page around a particular topic – such as AI – and then sub-pages that target related keywords, such as machine learning.

For more hints about creating great content, read our article on developing your SEO content strategy.

User first: prioritising user experience in SEO strategies

As a SaaS company, you know the importance of providing a great user experience with a digital product. But have you considered the user experience your website provides to potential customers? In 2024, we’ll see SEO strategies increasingly putting user experience centre stage.

Improving website navigation and accessibility

Good user experience isn’t just what visitors to your websites want: it’s important for your SEO. That’s because algorithms do their best to prioritise content that provides the great user experience people are looking for. 

In practice, that means intelligent site architecture and solid User Interface Design that results in a website people can easily find their way around to get to the information they’re looking for. A logical structure with clear navigation is a must. Calls-to-action can also help provide a seamless user journey, encouraging people to click around different parts of the site or take other actions you want them to take, from signing up for a newsletter to buying a product. Well-crafted calls-to-action can improve user satisfaction as well as boost conversions.

Good user experience also means ensuring your site is fully accessible. Mobile responsiveness matters, given that at least 60% of searches now come from mobile devices. Your website should be able to adapt itself automatically to optimise the viewing experience for people using smaller screens. That doesn’t mean completely abandoning a good desktop experience, of course – but it’s about finding a good balance and ensuring your website design works well for both.

The fusion of web design and SEO

Having already highlighted the importance of user experience and related aspects, such as mobile responsiveness, it follows that 2024 will see the continuation of something that’s already happening: the fusion of web design and SEO. It makes sense to build SEO considerations directly into web design from the outset, as it’s much easier to start SEO-friendly than to try to work around an inherently SEO-unfriendly site. Here are some of the ways this will happen.

Harmonising web design principles with SEO requirements

Web design principles are finally catching up with SEO best practices, and as we’ve already seen, a mobile-first design is right up there with the top requirements. Mobile responsiveness is a search engine ranking factor, so it’s vital to work it into your web design from the start for a potentially massive impact on your SEO. 

Another aspect of web design that often trips brands up is the need to balance aesthetics with SEO. Sometimes, a site that looks good to humans may not make much sense to algorithms – a common example being an image-heavy, ultra-minimalist look with very few words on the page. This visual style, while striking, gives search engines very little copy to analyse, making it hard for the algorithm to determine which searches the site is relevant to.

Not only that, but to a search engine, a site with no words on it doesn’t seem very helpful compared to a content-rich site packed with useful information, so it probably won’t get ranked as highly. By building SEO considerations into the design from the get-go, you can balance optimisation with visual appeal far more effectively.

Of course, while an image-heavy site with no words can be problematic from an SEO perspective, it’s also important not to go too far the other way. Visual content adds interest and enhances engagement, and an SEO-friendly web design means your site can incorporate visual elements – such as images, videos and infographics – without compromising its optimisation.

Speed matters: optimising technical aspects for SEO success

On the subject of both user experience and web design, there’s another technical aspect of your SEO that makes a huge difference here, and that’s page load speed. We’ve all experienced the frustration of visiting a website that’s slow to load – and how many times have we given up and gone back to the search results? That’s why it’s a search engine ranking factor and something to pay close attention to in 2024.

Enhancing page speed for better user experience

We touched on user experience and mobile responsiveness just now, and that’s relevant here too. Mobile-friendly design improves page speed and user experience, so it’s little wonder that Google is now emphasising mobile-first indexing. 

But this isn’t the only factor at play with page load speed; the images and videos that help create an engaging user experience can have a big impact on it, and overall page performance. It’s important to optimise multimedia content, compressing files so that they load more quickly without compromising on image quality or page speed.

Voice search: optimising websites for the audible future

If you have a virtual assistant such as Amazon’s Alexa in your home, or Siri on your phone, you’ll know how much we’ve come to rely on this technology for everything from playing music to finding answers to things. That’s why, in 2024, it’s important not to overlook the increasing prevalence of voice search and its impact on SEO.

The main thing to remember is that people tend to phrase things differently when they say them out loud from how they might write them into a search engine. In a search engine, you might type a minimal number of relevant words – “accounting software UK”, for example – whereas with a voice search, you’re likely to talk to the assistant as if it were a human being. “Alexa, tell me the best accounting software in the UK”, for example.

To optimise your site for voice search for 2024, you’ll want to think about aspects such as:

• Page load speed – this will benefit the rest of your SEO, too
• Mobile responsiveness – and so will this!
• Schema mark-up – this helps get ‘featured snippets’ of your website get pulled into search results as a preview, and these are often used as answers in voice search queries
• Voice search keywords – these are likely to be more detailed keywords (known as ‘long-tail’ keywords) and questions, and more conversationally phrased (they might start with something like ‘how do I…’, for example)

Play around with some searches on different search engines, as different voice assistants use different search engines, and see which sites are coming up for voice queries versus typed ones. This can be a good source of voice search keywords to aim for!

The power of AI and machine learning in SEO

You don’t need us to tell you that AI and machine learning are huge trends in SaaS, but you might not have realised that they’re having a big impact on SEO, too. And in 2024, its impact on SEO trends is something you can’t afford to ignore.

Generative AI and its effect on search

Generative AI has emerged as a powerful content-creation tool but has major limitations. First things first: don’t use AI-generated content on your website, unless you potentially want to destroy your SEO. It’s likely to harm your rankings and has some big ethical concerns – not least plagiarism and outright making things up. 

That said, even in its current iteration, generative AI still has its uses: you can use it to lighten your load as you put your SaaS SEO content strategy into practice. Ask it to generate content briefs, come up with drafts for you to (heavily) edit, and help with research, with the proviso that you’ll need to do some fact-checking and ensure sources are correctly attributed.

You’ll find lots more advice on using AI to support your content creation efforts in our bumper guide to unleashing the power of B2B content.

Local SEO in 2024: strategies for SaaS businesses

Local SEO has risen to the fore in recent years as algorithms have gotten better at serving users’ local businesses for the types of searches where locality matters – such as restaurant recommendations. It may not seem so relevant to a SaaS business selling digital products independent of location, but there are still ways to leverage the power of local SEO in 2024.

Navigating the landscape of local SEO

For starters, your Google My Business page is important for your local SEO, and optimising it will help you boost your profile. Make sure your page is filled out in its entirety with plenty of information on your business – your address, opening hours, contact information, business category and a summary of what your business does. Add in your products or services, and select any attributes that apply to your business. 

Monitoring and replying to incoming Google reviews will help with your Google My Business optimisation, but keep an eye on and reply to reviews on other sites, too. Reviews on platforms such as Trustpilot are factored into local SEO, so encouraging positive reviews from happy customers could make a big difference. Replying to thank them shows you’re on the ball, and in the unfortunate event, you receive a negative review, will help you turn it into a positive by demonstrating great customer service.

Finally, localised content is a great way to help your website rank when it comes to local SEO, but it’s admittedly a little harder for SaaS platforms selling products and services online, where location doesn’t matter. Without alienating audiences elsewhere, you can still use content to appeal to local audiences who may be keen to use a business near them. 

This could be something subtle, such as the presence of your business address on your website, or it could be blog posts or pages on your site with information on what your business does for the community or communities where you have offices. Remember, local SEO doesn’t necessarily have to mean the specific town or city you’re in – it could be regional, too.

There’s perhaps nothing too ground-breaking in this round-up of SaaS SEO trends for 2024 – it’s more about continued and increased focus on things a good SEO agency will already have been advocating and implementing. But as ever, the start of a new year is always a good time to take a look ahead at what’s changing in your industry and to adapt your SEO planning accordingly to ensure your business stays visible. A proactive approach to SEO strategies is the way to get ahead of the game, and with the aspects highlighted in this article – great content, great user experience and maybe a little help from AI – you’ll set your business on an upward trajectory for 2024.

With that in mind, you’ll find lots more advice on marketing your SaaS company in our piece on B2B SaaS marketing strategies. If you’d like us to help your SaaS company make the most of 2024’s top SEO trends, or you need help with any aspect of your SaaS content strategy planning and execution, we can help. We’re experienced in adapting SEO strategies for optimal performance in the face of evolving trends, so get in touch if you’d like to take your SaaS business to the next level in 2024.