SEO Strategy & Planning

• SEO is not gaming Google — it's structuring content so it's findable and useful.
• Content quality and relevance determine rankings. Technical SEO is table stakes.
• Target intent, not just keywords. "Best CRM" and "CRM pricing" have completely different searchers.
• One page per intent. Cannibalizing your own rankings is the most common SaaS SEO mistake.
• Internal linking is your most underused lever.

Don't Do Yet

• Don't obsess over technical SEO before you have content. Schema markup on an empty blog is pointless.
• Don't buy backlinks. Google penalizes this. Earn them with good content.
• Don't write 50 blog posts at once. Start with 5 high-intent pages, measure, iterate.
• Don't hire an SEO agency before doing keyword research yourself. You understand your customers better than they do.

SEO Timeline: Set Realistic Expectations

Reality check: SEO takes 3-6 months to show results. If you need signups this week, use paid ads or outreach. SEO is the engine you build now so you're not paying for every click forever.

Content Architecture for SaaS

Build your site structure around search intent, not your org chart.

High-Priority Pages (Build First)

Content Pages (Build Over Time)

Tell AI:

Create a content architecture for our SaaS product [name]:
- Product solves [problem] for [audience]
- Main features: [list features]
- Top 3 competitors: [list competitors]
Generate a sitemap with URL patterns for: homepage, feature pages, comparison pages,
use case pages, and initial blog post ideas. Prioritize by search intent value.

Keyword Intent Mapping

Every keyword has an intent. Match your page type to the intent:

Keyword Research by Tool

Claude Code (has web access via Ahrefs MCP or web search):

Do keyword research for our product [name] in the [category] space:
- Find 20 keywords our ICP would search for
- Classify each by intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional)
- Estimate competition level (low, medium, high)
- Recommend which page type to create for each keyword
- Prioritize: low competition + high intent first

Lovable / Replit / Cursor (no web access — bring your own data):

1. Do keyword research first using a free tool: Google Search Console (what you already rank for), Google autocomplete (type your topic and note suggestions), or AnswerThePublic
2. Then paste results into your AI tool:

Here are my keyword research results: [paste keywords + volumes]
Classify each by intent, recommend a page type for each, and prioritize by
low competition + high intent.

Internal Linking Strategy

Internal links are free and high-impact. Use them intentionally.

Rules

• Every blog post links to at least 1 feature/product page
• Every feature page links to related features and relevant blog posts
• Use descriptive anchor text: "our workflow automation feature" not "click here"
• Create hub pages that link to all content in a topic cluster

Topic Clusters

Group content around themes. Each cluster has:

1. Pillar page — Comprehensive overview (e.g., "Complete Guide to [Topic]")
2. Cluster pages — Specific subtopics (e.g., "How to [specific action]")
3. Internal links — Every cluster page links to the pillar. Pillar links to all clusters.

Tell AI:

Build an internal linking plan for our site:
- Audit existing pages and identify linking opportunities
- For each blog post, suggest 2-3 internal links to product/feature pages
- For each feature page, suggest 2-3 links to related blog posts
- Identify gaps: pages with zero internal links pointing to them
- Use descriptive anchor text (not "click here" or "learn more")

Content Planning

Prioritization Framework

Write content in this order:

1. Bottom-of-funnel first: Comparison pages, pricing page, feature pages — these convert
2. Mid-funnel: How-to guides, use case pages — these build authority
3. Top-of-funnel: Glossary, broad guides — these drive volume (but lower conversion)

Content Calendar (Simple Version)

Claude Code:

Create a 3-month content calendar for our SaaS blog:
- Product: [name], solves [problem] for [audience]
- Goal: drive organic signups
- Mix: 2 bottom-funnel pieces, 2 mid-funnel pieces, 1 top-funnel piece per month
- For each piece: title, target keyword, intent, URL, and brief outline
- Use web search to validate keyword difficulty before finalizing

Lovable / Replit / Cursor: Use the same prompt above but remove the last line (these tools can't search the web). Instead, validate keywords yourself in Google Search Console or a free tool like Ubersuggest first, then paste your validated keyword list into the prompt.

Measuring SEO Results

Tell AI:

Set up SEO tracking:
- Connect Google Search Console to our site
- Add UTM parameters to track organic → signup conversion
- Create a monthly report: top 10 pages by organic traffic, top 10 keywords by impressions,
  click-through rate by page, and organic signup count

Common Mistakes