Struggling to grow your Software as a Service (SaaS) company?
You’re not alone.
It’s estimated that by 2024 the total value of all SaaS companies will reach a stunning $208 billion, according to Bloomberg. Most, if not all, SaaS companies operate under the same business model: selling their product or service via recurring weekly, monthly or yearly fees.
Luckily there’s a powerful SEO weapon that many SaaS businesses don’t use: link building.
Having a robust network of high-quality, relevant backlinks not only boosts your visibility in search engine results, it also positions your brand as an authority in your field.
As expert link builders, we’ve put together a list of the best SaaS link building services available to save yourself time and future heartache.
The 5 Best SaaS Link Building Services – Overview
Smash Digital: Best Overall SaaS Link Building Agency
Smash Digital is a B2B digital marketing agency that takes great pride on their fresh and original strategies to grow businesses and improve their SEO performance.
Besides offering a fully-managed SEO service, they are real experts in white hat link building strategies. And the case studies speak for themselves.
As we all know, setting up a powerful link building strategy is time consuming and can get expensive. However, Smash Digital team has optimized each step of the process so you can get relevant links at a reasonable price. They will also manage all the relationships on their side, from prospecting to closing. That way you won’t have to deviate your efforts from your true focus: running your business like a boss.
They have designed their whole link building process around guest-posting great content and outreaching to exchange value. They always focus on the niche relevancy, domain authority and organic traffic so you can get high-quality links that actually add up value to your site.
They’re not wizards (probably), but over the years they have built up a substantial expertise and reputation by placing tens of thousands of links with relevant, web pages, bloggers, marketers and social media influencers on a first-name basis.
Key Services
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- SEO Audit – keyword research, content optimization, competitor analysis, and website structure improvement. Here we form a strategic action plan tailored to your startup’s unique needs.
- Link Building – The most important SEO factor that most agencies struggle with is arguably Smash Digital’s greatest strength. They are the best SaaS backlinks agency that really move the needle. (I see it every day.)
- Fully Managed SEO – The whole shebang, including:
- In-depth analysis of your website and niche, and in-depth analysis of your competitors
- Technical analysis & Audit – Targeting important and meaningful keywords, page-level diagnostics, and boosting website speed
- Prospecting – Backlinking via white hat outreach
- Learning & Adapting – Closely monitoring competitors to learn from their mistakes and adopt a strategy based on gathered knowledge
- Scaling Up – Upon finalizing the analytical phase, we begin the link-building process.
HARO: Best White Hat Links (but not very scalable)
HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out. This is truly one of the most useful tools when it comes to get high-quality links.
It was created in 2008 to connect reporters with reliable sources across a variety of industries, hence giving you the perfect opportunity to get a high-authority link that pours nice link juice into your site.
The HARO Process
Starting with HARO is quite easy, although seeing your efforts published might take longer. You just need to create an account on the website, clearly outlining your expertise niche or categories.
The bright side? Registering is free, as it’s not a backlinks agency.
The not-so-bright side? Like I said, landing high-quality links does not happen overnight.
Once you have created your account, you may choose to receive separate emails specifics to your niche or a master email containing all the requests from different journalists that are looking for quality quotes to put on their articles.
Our advice is that you write clear replies, showing your own personality and style and letting the reporter know why you will be a good source to quote in their article. There’s no guarantee your response will be chosen and if they do, sometimes it takes a while to get a reply.
Even if it may be time-consuming and chances may be low, it’s a great opportunity to land white hat backlinks from very reputable media.
Bright Local: Best Local Citations
If your business is on page 2 of Google, it may as well not exist.
According to a Google consumer study, over 80% of users use search engines to find local businesses’ addresses, price range, product availability, and business hours.
Bright Local specializes in local citations – online mentions of your local business.
These mentions can be structured–that is, within directory listings such as Yelp. Or they can be unstructured, a simple mention of your business in a newspaper or high-authority blog. Unstructured local citations may be linkable or not, but either way, these are a powerful complement to your link building campaign.
Bright Local knows this very well. That’s why they are positioned as local SEO experts and trusted by reputable clients such as Ikea and The Home Depot. Also, on top of building local citations, they develop tools to help you improve your business ranking.
Building local citations for someone who does not have the necessary expertise might be a pain-in-the-ass task.
However, for Bright Local it’s a breeze with their dedicated team that delivers over 2000 citation campaigns every month. Their pricing is very reasonable, and guess what? They’ll even give you a 14-day free trial, no credit card required, so you can try out all their tools, from Local Rank Tracker Reports to Local SEO Audits Reports.
Why we recommend them:
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- Google Analytics, Facebook, and Twitter Integrations
- Local Search Grid
- Local Data Aggregators
- Online reviews management and generation
PRWeb: Best Placements for SaaS Outreach
PRWeb is a leading online press release distribution service that offers clients a platform to create, distribute, and track press releases. PRWeb is a part of the Cision Ltd group, a leading global provider of earned media software and services.
It has a significant reach, with its distribution network extending to over 1,200 websites. The company receives over 12 million visitors annually, illustrating its broad appeal and robust digital presence. The platform uses SEO principles to ensure the visibility of the press releases it hosts and offers targeted distribution to industry-specific journalists and bloggers.
What does this mean for SaaS companies? Creating press releases might take an initial time investment, but if even one catches wind and circulates within the news network, it can result in a huge number of quality backlinks.
PRWeb offers a range of services including:
- Press release distribution: National and hyper-targeted distribution is available.
- Same-day distribution: This is available at an additional price.
- SEO for press releases: The platform automatically applies SEO principles to releases to ensure they are picked up by popular search engines like Google.
- Targeting specific journalists and bloggers: Users can target their news releases to industry-specific journalists and bloggers.
- Multimedia enrichment: Users can enrich content using multimedia such as embedded videos or images.
- Reporting: PRWeb provides comprehensive reporting tools for users to track the performance of their press releases
PRWeb’s pricing starts from $105.00 per release. The platform also offers additional services and features at an extra cost, such as same-day distribution and specific add-ons to increase visibility like social media targeting, priority release, and targeted media emails.
The Publicity Works, a PR expert used PRWeb to efficiently increase its clients’ coverage on platforms such as Yahoo! and Google News.
iProspect: Best Large Scale SEO agency
iProspect is a global digital marketing agency that connects brands with their consumers by transforming clients’ businesses. It was founded by Jerome Spiral and Rahul Nambiar, all the way back in 1996. The company is now part of Dentsu Inc, offering services globally with more than 4,000 employees in 88 offices across 54 countries. They work with a diverse range of established, challenger, and emerging brands and have a strong presence in 93 countries.
Their portfolio boasts successful campaigns for big names like Budweiser and General Motors, illustrating their inventive and high-achieving approach. iProspect Canada improved campaign effectiveness for over 30 clients, saving 100 hours a month by using Adverity’s data integration and proactive analytics features.
iProspect’s strong global presence enables them to understand diverse local markets, providing invaluable insights for targeting international clients or expanding into new markets
So, what’s in it for your SaaS company?
iProspect’s experience with performance-driven brand building can support a robust link-building strategy. This includes identifying opportunities for high-quality backlinks, creating link-worthy content, and using influencer collaborations and guest posting. Best of all, with their vast resources, they’re able to take on even the largest clients.
As a highly-rated SEO firm, iProspect excels at crafting and fine-tuning search strategies across all platforms. They commit fully to ensure that your paid search strategies go beyond just meeting KPIs and focusing on common keywords. They effectively integrate your search efforts with online and offline media and use all available data sources, be it CRM data or third-party audience data.
The Importance of Link Building for SaaS Businesses
Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks, or backlinks, from other websites to your own, a key component of off-page SEO strategy.
In the SaaS world, where long-term customer relationships are essential for recurring revenue, building a robust link profile can make all the difference. If you’re looking for a list of companies that provide a more general selection of SEO services, check out the best SaaS seo agencies.
Improve Your Search Rankings
Backlinks are a signal to search engines that your site is a quality resource worth citation, thus influencing your ranking in search results. In other words, the more high-quality, relevant links pointing to your site, the more likely you are to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is particularly important for SaaS businesses, as a high ranking can lead to greater visibility, more organic traffic, and ultimately, more conversions.
Brand Authority and Credibility
Link building does more than just improve your search rankings. It helps establish your brand’s authority and credibility in your industry.
When reputable sites link to your SaaS product, they’re essentially vouching for your credibility, giving potential customers more confidence in your product.
Drive Referral Traffic
When a user is reading a blog post or an article that links to your site, they might click through to learn more about your product or service. This referral traffic is highly valuable as it’s usually from people who are already interested in your industry or what you have to offer, and therefore more likely to convert.
Some of you may be asking – you’re already using paid advertising to get similar benefits. Why bother with link building?
Which is Better, Paid Advertising or Link Building?
As a SaaS company, one of the key decisions you need to make is where to invest your marketing dollars.
Two common strategies often rise to the top of the list: paid advertising and link building. How do you decide between the two? Let’s break it down.
Paid Advertising – Instant But Temporary
Paid advertising, such as Google Ads or social media promotions, offers the potential of snappy results. You put money in, your ads get seen, and if all goes well, you start seeing a return on investment swiftly. It’s a controlled environment—you determine your budget, you select your target audience, and you craft your message.
However, the results are typically short-lived. Once the ad campaign ends, so does the traffic. Plus, in the SaaS industry, where competition is fierce, the cost per click can be quite high.
Link Building – Slow But Sustainable
On the other hand, link building is a more organic approach to driving traffic and improving your search engine rankings. When other reputable sites link to yours, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable, which can boost your visibility in search results.
SaaS backlink building services may not provide immediate results like paid advertising, but it tends to drive more sustainable, long-term growth.
The caveat? It can be time-consuming and requires a more strategic approach.
Which Is Better?
The answer is a balance of both. They’re different tools for different purposes. For launch campaigns, testing, and other immediate needs for temporary traffic, lean towards paid advertising. For long term goals and growing your SaaS business, link building is always the answer.
So how do you choose the best SaaS link building service?
How to Choose a High-Quality SaaS Link Building Service
Choosing a link building service for your SaaS business is a significant decision. The right service can enhance your online presence, improve your ranking on search engines, and ultimately drive more traffic to your site. However, not all link building services are created equal.
When evaluating potential services, keep an eye out for the following:
High-Quality Link Building Strategies
Quality of links is perhaps the most crucial aspect to consider. Not all links have the same value in the eyes of search engines. Links from high-authority, relevant sites are much more valuable than links from low-quality or unrelated sites.
Link building strategies to acquire high-quality links that we recommend are:
- Guest Posting – writing articles for reputable, relevant websites and including a link back to your site
- Influencer Outreach – getting reputable, relevant influencers to write about your product or service
- Resource Link Building – create a comprehensive guide or report that other websites want to link to
- Broken Link Building – find broken links on other websites that are relevant to your content and ask to replace them with your link
- PR and Content Promotion – promoting your content or your product to media outlets
- Building Partnerships With Other Businesses – co-hosting a webinar, co-writing a blog post, or otherwise co-creating with a business in your niche
So when choosing a company, keep an eye out for these strategies.
Experience Working With SaaS
Ensure the link building service has experience in SaaS or can demonstrate an understanding of it. Ask for case studies, testimonials, or any indication of success with similar companies to yours.
Only link building services that understand the unique needs of a SaaS business can help you create the suitable link building strategies to achieve your business goals.
Reporting and Transparency
A good link building service should provide regular, detailed reports on their activities and results. These reports should show the links they’ve acquired, where they’re from, and the impact they’re having on your SEO.
Transparency is key. You should know exactly what the service is doing and how it’s benefiting your business.
Process for Link Building
Learn about the service’s process for acquiring links. Do they use white-hat SEO techniques? These are SEO tactics that abide by the terms and conditions of search engines, ensuring long-term success.
Some services might use black-hat techniques, such as buying links or using automated programs, which can lead to penalties from search engines.
Customizable Packages
Every SaaS business is unique, and so are its SEO needs. The right link building service should offer customizable packages tailored to your specific goals, budget, and industry.
Client Reviews and Case Studies
Look for reviews and case studies from previous or current clients. These can provide valuable insights into the service’s effectiveness, customer service, and reliability.
Choosing a link building service is an investment in your SaaS business’s future. By keeping these key features in mind, you can ensure you’re making a choice that will drive results, improve your online presence, and help your business grow.
But be aware, there are also some pitfalls you should avoid in a link building service, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
What to Avoid in a Link Building Service
Just as there are key features to look for in a link building service, there are also several red flags that could indicate a service might not be the best fit for your SaaS business.
Here’s what to watch out for:
Black-hat Techniques
Black-hat techniques for link building refers to methods that are directly against search engine rules or guidelines, such as buying links or using automated programs. These techniques usually stop working after a search engine update or after they’re noticed and can lead to penalties from search engines.
That’s why we only recommend white-hat techniques: long-term methods that serve you, the search engine and the website hosting your link.
Promises of Quick Results
SEO is a long-term strategy, and link building is no different. Any service that promises you quick results or a certain number of links in a short period is likely not using sustainable, white-hat techniques.
Rapid increases in your backlink profile can alert search engines and lead to penalties.
Low-Quality Links
Not all links are created equal. Some cheap link building agencies resort to using private blog networks (PBNs) or black-hat methods to acquire backlinks. These practices go directly against search engine guidelines and will get your site penalized or completely de-ranked.
Lack of Transparency
If a link building service is not willing to explain their strategies, processes, or the links they’re building for you, it’s a red flag. A reputable service should be transparent about their methods and willing to provide regular, detailed reports on their activities.
One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Every SaaS business is unique, with different audiences, goals, and competitive landscapes. A service that offers the same link building strategy to all clients, regardless of their individual needs, is unlikely to deliver the best results. Look for a service that offers customizable strategies based on your specific needs and goals.
Unrealistically Low Prices
While budget is always a consideration, be wary of services offering incredibly low prices. Quality link building is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. If a service is offering prices that seem too good to be true, they may be cutting corners or using black-hat techniques.
Remember, the goal of link building is not just to acquire as many links as possible, but to build a strong, diverse link profile that enhances your site’s authority, improves your search rankings, and drives quality traffic to your site. By avoiding these pitfalls, you can ensure you’re choosing a link building service that will help you achieve these goals.
Your Turn
Now you know the best SaaS link building services out there today. The next steps are in your hands.
Check out the services we discussed, see what fits best for your business needs. Remember, a strong online presence can make a real difference.
Start today, improve your site’s ranking and visibility. Your online growth is worth the effort.
