What a new B2B SaaS site should do with its first year of SEO

The SEO work group on narrow buyer searches, solution pages and when to scale.

Updated October 13, 2026

Spend the first year on a narrow set of searches close to a buying decision, and scale only after a small batch of pages shows rankings and qualified demand.

Pick searches the product can win. Kevin Indig starts with use cases where the product has a clear edge, such as “fast database” over “relational database.” Nate Turner puts mid- and bottom-of-funnel searches ahead of broad, high-volume topics.
Build pages from what buyers already ask. Nate, Eli Schwartz and Alex Halliday pull topics from sales calls, support tickets and customer interviews. Nate answers them on product, use-case, comparison and integration pages.
Size the opportunity before committing a year. Kevin estimates the revenue the few relevant buyer intents could bring and compares it with other channels. Some B2B markets have too little search demand for a large program.
Scale on evidence. Ethan Smith launches a small batch and watches for pages moving into roughly the top 20. If AI citations rise while qualified inquiries stay flat, Alex shifts the next batch toward comparison and implementation questions.

Group chat with Kevin, Eli, Ethan, Nate, Alex — the SEO work group

Question:

Where should a new B2B SaaS website focus its SEO in its first year?

Kevin IndigWrites Growth Memo. Former Director of SEO at Shopify and VP SEO and Content at G2

Start with the use cases where your product has a clear advantage and buyers already search for a solution. A new site will struggle to win broad category terms against established brands. If your advantage is a faster database, "fast database" is a more useful starting point than "relational database": it fits the product and faces less competition. Cover one narrow topic well before expanding.

growth-memo

Build specific solution pages for the use cases, teams, or industries you actually serve. Link them to the main product page and relevant case studies, and show how the product solves each problem. Young SaaS sites often put every buyer on one generic product page, which misses searches for specific applications.

growth-memo Track which pages bring qualified signups or pipeline so the next topic earns its place.

Nate TurnerCo-founder and CEO of Ten Speed. Former VP Demand Generation at Sprout Social

I’d spend the first year capturing the searches closest to a buying decision. Start with a site that loads quickly and lets search engines crawl and index the pages that matter. Then research the specific problems buyers search while evaluating a solution, and build useful product, use-case, comparison, and integration pages around those queries. At Ten Speed, our early-stage SaaS guidance puts MoFu and BoFu demand ahead of broad, high-volume topics because those searches tend to be more specific and closer to conversion.

tenspeed

Use what customers actually ask sales and support to choose topics. A practical how-to can earn its place if it shows the product solving that job. We’ve also seen a video on Webflow technical SEO bring Ten Speed multiple leads, a reminder that a narrow, product-adjacent problem can be more useful than another general industry post.

newsletter.tenspeed Track qualified inquiries and pipeline alongside rankings so the next set of pages reflects the searches that bring in potential customers.

Kevin IndigWrites Growth Memo. Former Director of SEO at Shopify and VP SEO and Content at G2

Set an investment ceiling before you commit to a year of content. Estimate the traffic and revenue available from the few buyer intents your product can serve over the next 6 to 36 months, then compare that opportunity with other acquisition channels. In my strategy framework, potential revenue impact comes first because some B2B markets have too little relevant search demand to support a large SEO program.

growth-memo

That estimate should decide the first-year pace: publish and learn within a small set of relevant intents, then expand only when the pages show a credible path to revenue.

Eli SchwartzAuthor of Product-Led SEO. Former Director of Growth at SurveyMonkey

A new B2B SaaS site should first prove that search can bring in buyers. Talk to customers about the problem they recognize, what they search for, and what happens after they find an answer. An enterprise tool that needs company-wide integration and a buying committee has a very different path from a freemium product someone can try immediately. At Mixpanel, we built keyword-targeted content and links, then found that search visitors still faced a long purchase process. At SurveyMonkey, people could search for a problem, use a free solution, and later pay.

Spotify

For year one, I'd build a small set of useful pages around the problems customers actually describe, with a clear next step into the product or sales process. If the product has a repeatable use case, make pages that demonstrate it. Zapier's pages for tool pairings, such as Salesforce and Gmail, grew out of that kind of product thinking. Validate the use case with customers before scaling the page template; keyword-tool volume alone cannot tell you what they need.

Apple Podcasts

Alex HallidayFounder and CEO of AirOps. Former Head of Product at MasterClass

The content advantage of a new SaaS site is the information sitting inside the business. Mine sales conversations and support tickets for the exact questions buyers ask about implementation, integrations, and trade-offs. Put the answers on focused pages with product facts and examples your team can verify. In my work at AirOps, the strongest content opportunities often come from information already inside the business that a generic model cannot supply.

Apple Podcasts

Make each answer readable in the page's HTML, then check whether buyers find it and whether AI search cites it. I would publish in small batches and revise against actual questions and qualified conversations. We have seen AI summaries absorb broad, easy-to-answer searches, which makes original product knowledge worth the editorial effort.

Apple Podcasts

Kevin IndigWrites Growth Memo. Former Director of SEO at Shopify and VP SEO and Content at G2

A new domain also needs a reason for people to reference its work. Once the core solution pages are live, publish a small number of original data stories or expert-led pieces tied to the same buyer problems, and get them in front of the people who write about that category. I’ve recommended mixing search-focused content with data stories and editorial work because the latter can build brand recognition and earn links that help the commercial pages compete.

growth-memo

Keep the topic narrow. A general industry report can attract attention without helping buyers understand the product.

Question:

Ethan, Eli recommends validating a use case with customers before scaling a page template. How would you decide when a new B2B SaaS site has enough evidence to build repeatable pages?

Ethan SmithCEO of Graphite. Teaches SEO at Reforge and IE Business School

Eli's right about validating the use case. For repeatable pages, I would also validate the page type and its search opportunity before building the template. Check whether buyers search for distinct use cases or integrations, whether Google shows pages of that type for those searches, and whether each page can contain useful, specific product information. If the same search results appear across several query variations, those queries may belong on one page rather than separate template pages.

YouTube

Then launch a small batch and watch indexation, impressions, rankings, and qualified actions. On a new site, early movement into roughly the top 20, followed by improving positions across several pages, is a useful leading signal even before meaningful traffic arrives. I would scale when that pattern repeats and the cost per page makes sense against expected conversions. A weak first batch calls for checking the topic, page type, content, and indexation before treating the whole use case as a failure.

YouTube

Question:

Alex, you suggest checking AI citations, while Nate and Ethan prioritize qualified inquiries. If citations rise but qualified inquiries stay flat, how would you adjust the first-year SEO plan?

Alex HallidayFounder and CEO of AirOps. Former Head of Product at MasterClass

If citations rise while qualified inquiries stay flat, I’d inspect the questions that produced those citations. Are we appearing in broad research prompts or in comparisons and implementation questions buyers ask before a purchase? I’d move the next batch of pages toward the latter, with specific product evidence and a clear route into a trial or sales conversation.

I would also check attribution before calling the work a failure. I’ve pointed out that direct referrals undercount AI’s impact; ask new customers how they heard about you and compare their answers with referral and pipeline data.

X If those signals also stay flat, stop scaling the cited topics. Keep the pages that answer buyer questions and use the next batch to test a different intent.

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SEO

3M+ insights

SEO leaders from Shopify, TripAdvisor, SurveyMonkey & 1 more

by Casey Winters

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a young B2B site choose keywords it can rank for?
Start from the problems buyers describe, size whole topics rather than single keywords, and skip searches incumbents already own. A low-volume query can still earn a page if one deal pays for it.
Is programmatic SEO worth it for a B2B company?
When each page answers a distinct buyer question with data the company has. Pilot one page pattern, check quality and indexing, and judge it on qualified pipeline.
When does early content marketing pay off?
Search traffic can appear three to six months after launch. Eli Schwartz budgets 12 to 18 months for SEO to become a dependable channel, while Kevin Indig and Nate Turner expect several quarters. Track sign-ups and sales conversations alongside rankings.
How do you get your brand cited in ChatGPT?
Answer the questions buyers ask before they choose, one clear page per question with evidence they can check, and earn mentions on the review sites, communities and media that AI answers cite.

All seo and ai search questions →

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a young B2B site choose keywords it can rank for?

Start from the problems buyers describe, size whole topics rather than single keywords, and skip searches incumbents already own. A low-volume query can still earn a page if one deal pays for it.

Is programmatic SEO worth it for a B2B company?

When each page answers a distinct buyer question with data the company has. Pilot one page pattern, check quality and indexing, and judge it on qualified pipeline.

When does early content marketing pay off?

Search traffic can appear three to six months after launch. Eli Schwartz budgets 12 to 18 months for SEO to become a dependable channel, while Kevin Indig and Nate Turner expect several quarters. Track sign-ups and sales conversations alongside rankings.

How do you get your brand cited in ChatGPT?

Answer the questions buyers ask before they choose, one clear page per question with evidence they can check, and earn mentions on the review sites, communities and media that AI answers cite.

What a new B2B SaaS site should do with its first year of SEO

SEO

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a young B2B site choose keywords it can rank for?

Is programmatic SEO worth it for a B2B company?

When does early content marketing pay off?

How do you get your brand cited in ChatGPT?

Your ideas, super powered.

What a new B2B SaaS site should do with its first year of SEO

SEO

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a young B2B site choose keywords it can rank for?

Is programmatic SEO worth it for a B2B company?

When does early content marketing pay off?

How do you get your brand cited in ChatGPT?

Your ideas, super powered.