Isn’t it amazing that around 40% of the entire world is connected to the internet today? One of the best perks of this is that location has become less of an obstacle for many companies worldwide, and SaaS businesses can definitely relate.
When compared to other types of businesses, SaaS companies don’t have to rely on physical locations almost at all because their product is software. However, that is why clients and prospects have to visit the company website. And for this reason, the website needs to meet the grade and secure new deals.
When you have a successful website, you can decide to grow the business as much as you like or simply earn money instantly by putting the SaaS business for sale.
But first, you need to build a successful SaaS website, and that is exactly what this article is about.
According to a study, more than 50% of web traffic to business websites comes from organic search. And we all know that high rankings on search engine results pages come from good SEO strategies.
The same study compared this figure to 5% coming from social media and 10% from paid ads. This alone is a strong reason for investing in SEO.
When a visitor googles your website or a product you sell, the first thing they see above your website’s address is a title and description. This is what forms the very first impression they have of you and what may convince them to visit your website.
Some marketers would say that writing the description and title is just like creating an ad. They help determine if a person will investigate the offer or company further.
But you need to be careful how you phrase your title and description, as they play an important role in determining if you will get traffic or not.
Here are a few tips to remember when writing meta titles and descriptions:
Consider what your rivals have done and try to write something better.
The fewer words the better (for the title).
Include your brand name.
Take advantage of a good knowledge base
You are probably wondering how a knowledge base can help your SaaS website be better.
First of all, having a knowledge base can help your business provide a better customer service experience for your audience. SaaS businesses get a lot of support questions each day about the software they make and sell.
In order to lower the volume of support tickets and make the life of your agents easier, you should take advantage of the knowledge base, as it will help your clients find the support answers they seek on their own.
Also, this is a great chance to create a self-service alternative that your millennial clients will surely enjoy, as they are much more likely to look for answers by themselves. However, this is not the only way a knowledge base can help your SaaS website.
A knowledge base can also:
Support your marketing efforts
Help you get valuable insights
Improve your SEO
Increase employee productivity
Now, quite a few websites have knowledge bases where they provide answers to the most frequently asked questions by their audiences. However, if you want to go a step further, consider building an open-source knowledge base. With it, you’ll have more control, spend less money, and have more freedom if you want to extend it.
Beautiful visuals are of great help
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay
When a visitor clicks on your website, they are greeted with various visuals. That is what we process first and only then switching to other, textual content.
One thing that can really have a negative impact on your website visitors is a poorly created image, graphic, or visual. Just try to remember how many times you have visited a website and you saw a weird-looking stock photo.
People are very visual beings, which means that we notice the structure, the contrast of colors, the quality of images, and so on. This means that we instantly recognize a bad photo and that might push us in the wrong direction.
The main visual needs to convey the same message as the page title, so always keep in mind that consistency is very important when it comes to your website’s graphics.
The chances are that, as a software company, your website does not have a photo as a main visual. Instead, it has some kind of graphic. This is why the graphic needs to be aligned with the brand name and it has to look amazing.
On top of that, it should clearly convey a message that is consistent with what your business stands for.
Because this is such an important element of your website, it’s crucial that it’s done right, which is why it’s a good idea to consult with a web designer who will be able to ensure that you’re bringing visitors in, not pushing them away.
Social proof
Many studies have proven that people are much more likely to trust the information they receive from trusted sources (i.e. other humans) than the information they get from advertising campaigns.
Social proof is the most effective way to lend your business some authority and trust in the marketplace. In other words, being credible and trustworthy are the most important things a SaaS company needs to achieve great success.
Social proof can come in many shapes. Various businesses prefer to add testimonials or social media posts as social proof, while others include the logos of authority publications they’ve appeared in or any big-name clients they’ve done business with.
Project management software websites that integrate multiple other platforms can benefit from including the logos of the platforms their software can help integrate. Video testimonials, statistics, and case studies can also be effective in helping you position yourself as an industry leader with smart solutions.
Bear in mind that many SaaS businesses have already taken advantage of social proof, as it is an easy method to gain credibility and convince your visitors that your business is trustworthy.
An especially effective form of establishing trustworthiness is the use of video testimonials which feature a variety of satisfied customers sharing their individual experiences. To maintain consistency from one testimonial to the next, without sounding scripted, or running too long, create a brief questionnaire as part of the video testimonial strategy.
Security and compliance
People are becoming increasingly aware of threats that lurk online, especially when they need to make a payment using a payment card.
Try to view things from your client’s perspective, since they are the ones placing their trust in your business and sharing their most sensitive information with you.
Customers expect that a business will follow all security measures needed to protect the sensitive data. That is why you should feature a section on how your product meets specific security protocols.
If you’re targeting highly-regulated industries, you should mention specific compliance standards (for instance, HIPAA for healthcare) to reassure prospects that their information will be safe with you.
Also, keep in mind that such content is often a bit dense, so do your best to organize it clearly and break it down into bite-sized chunks.
Final thoughts
Each element on your SaaS website has to add value. Everything you include across the pages of your website should be consistent, contributing to the overall message that you are trying to convey as a business.
Adding these elements to your website should help you become more trustworthy and an expert in the eyes of your customers. In turn, that should help you generate more leads and thus grow your business.