SaaS founders and marketers are looking for a solution to increase web traffic, search engine rankings, and conversions.
In this post, we cover the options founders have for implementing SEO content marketing⏤in-house, freelancers, and agencies.
Plus, we’ve outlined the steps you should take before investing in content writing services so that you can generate the most effective, reliable ROI possible.
Let’s dive in . . .
What are SEO content writing services?
SEO Content writing is the most effective way to create articles, web copy, case studies, and other materials that help businesses rank in search engines (SERPs).
Given the ROI SaaS ⏤ especially B2B SaaS businesses ⏤ can generate from SEO content marketing, it’s no surprise that 88% of marketers will continue or increase investments in this area.
There are several ways you can create content or have it created: In-house, work with freelancers, or agencies. We explore these options in this article.
How to calculate an ROI from SEO content writing services?
SEO is a huge industry. According to Forbes, $80 billion is being spent each year in the US on SEO, link building, blogger outreach, and content writing services.
Almost every type of business invests in SEO, from the largest enterprise organization to pre-seed SaaS.
Every business has a different expectation when it comes to generating an ROI from content marketing.
It depends on a number of factors:
- How much web traffic your site is bringing in?
- How many of those visitors convert (e.g., free trial signup, downloads, demos)?
- How much revenue do you generate from every conversion?
- How much are you being talked about on LinkedIn and other social networks?“
Let’s say you’re product/tool is B2B SaaS, and the average monthly subscriber pays $150/monthly.
At the moment, your website is bringing in 500 visitors per month.
You’ve got an organic conversion rate of 5%. So, that’s $3750.00 new MRR from organic search.
Not bad, but you’ve got targets to hit, and you want more of an ROI from organic web traffic and conversions.
How to source the most effective content-writing services for my business?
In this section, we’ll review the steps you need to take before investing in SEO content marketing, and the different options, such as:
- In-house (DIY) content writing:
- Outsourcing to freelancers;
- SEO agencies that only create briefs for in-house writers/freelancers;
- Done-for-you content writing services.
- Understand your goals before investing in content writing
Marketing is a growth-based investment. And with any investment like that, founders, marketing, and growth leads are looking for an ROI.
Before investing in SEO/content marketing, make sure you’re clear on:
- Web traffic goals: Where are we now vs. where do we want/need to be?
- SERPs goals: How many keywords are we currently ranking for vs. what/how many do we want/need to rank for?
- Conversion rate goals: What’s our current conversion rate from organic traffic vs. what’s our target?
- Timescale to achieve targets: How soon do we need to see an uptick in traffic, SERPs rankings, and conversion rates?
- Know your audience, customers, and purchase intent.
Something else to consider before investing in content:
- Have you already achieved product-market fit (PMF)?
- Do you have traction, customers, and recurring revenue?
In our experience, SaaS companies that don’t have clear PMF, and sufficient traction (e.g., MRR, ARR) aren’t always ready to invest in SEO content marketing.
Providing you know why customers buy, and you’ve got a scalable process for conversions and onboarding, then you’ll have all of the knowledge content writers or agencies need to create content that converts.
Let’s dive into how to create content that converts . . .
Have you tried DIY (in-house) content writing?
Most early-stage, seed, or bootstrapped SaaS businesses attempt in-house (DIY) content writing at some point.
It makes sense. Founders know the value of content marketing. You’ve got the knowledge. It shouldn’t be too hard to assign this work to marketers, right?
Pros
- Keeps the process in-house;
- Saves money (you’re already paying salaries, so there are no additional costs);
- Knowledge transfer can flow straight from founders and developers to marketers.
Cons
- Time. Everyone’s busy. Does your team have the time to produce 4+ high-quality and engaging articles every month consistently?
- Expertise: Are your marketer’s content writers and SEO experts, or are they generalists? You might be asking more from them than they can deliver.
- Processes: Creating content that converts is a process. Do you have processes to manage the end-to-end content lifecycle consistently, from keyword research and brief writing through to publishing?
Have you tried working with freelancers?
For those who’ve tried it in-house and found there’s simply not enough time, the next step is to source freelancers to create content.
There are loads of ways to do this:
- Put out an advert on freelancer jobs boards or LinkedIn;
- Ask around in your network;
- Source freelancers from numerous platforms (e.g., Fivver, Upwork, People Per Hour, etc.)
Pros
- Quick and easy (in theory): place an ad, source talent, assign briefs;
- Cost-effective: Most freelancers, especially on platforms, are competing on price, so you’re likely to get a bargain.
Cons
- You get what you pay for;
- Especially if you’ve not really got the time to create detailed SEO-backed briefs.
In most cases, working with freelancers for 3 to 6 months leaves founders wondering:
- Why does our blog suck?
- Why are these articles either unhelpful, unreadable, unconnected to the product, or unranked?
- Why aren’t we getting any traffic or sales from SEO/content?
. . . And then they give up.
No founder wants or can afford wasted effort and resources, especially when a strategy is burning money and generating no results.
Have you tried working with an SEO agency to create briefs?
that creates briefs, and you assign them in-house or to freelancers?
Another approach is to work with an SEO agency that creates detailed briefs for freelancers or in-house writers supported by keyword research.
Pros
- An effective mid-way approach. All of the support of an SEO agency, and keyword research while keeping content writing costs (relatively) low if you’ve got in-house or freelance writers.
- It’s a great way for those who need a strategist to help them figure out how to execute content marketing.
- With the right agency support, you should get high-quality briefs for your writers to turn into blog posts that rank, with all headers, talking points, links, and images—for the writer, it’s just a “paint by numbers” game!
Cons
- This approach still means having in-house or freelance talent that can deliver upon those briefs;
- A product owner or founder’s insights are still important too. Make sure you’ve got the time/processes to provide these valuable insights.
- Content only generates an ROI once it’s published, so ensure there’s a smooth workflow from briefs being delivered through to editing and publishing.
Have a budget/in-house resources to manage the process to ensure you can achieve your goals
Let’s say you’ve tried in-house and freelancers, and you’re still no further forward.
You’ve come to realize that you need:
- To outsource content marketing to a DFY (done-for-you) SaaS-focused SEO agency with a track record of getting results;
- Outsource content marketing to an agency that will create helpful content that will actually convert;
- Outsource content marketing to an agency that always keeps the founder’s and brand’s tone of voice, audience, customers, and product in mind when creating content.
Before you start searching for an SEO content marketing agency, make sure you’ve got:
- Internal resources aligned. Content marketing is a collaborative process. Set aside time, especially in the first month, for onboarding so that you can get the best out of your agency.
- A workflow for getting articles published. It should only take one of the marketing team an hour or so every week, but it’s a worthwhile investment as articles sitting in Google Docs don’t rank.
- A budget. In most cases, DFY content writing services cost around $2000/monthly (for 4 high-value, long-form articles, including brief writing, Q&A calls with founders and other team members, and editing).
- SEO is even more effective when you can combine this with link building, and blogger outreach, to secure high-quality backlinks consistently.
Contact OutreachMama for a high-ROI DFY SEO content marketing and link building service for SaaS
Talk to us today about SEO services you can depend on. OutreachMama is trusted by over 300 companies worldwide to generate high-impact organic growth from Google. OutreachMama can deliver every SEO service you need to improve your rankings and drive more traffic, sales leads, and customers to your website.
