Web3 SaaS growth strategies focused on marketing and SEO

Despite the crypto market's downturn back in 2022, successful and innovative SaaS companies pursued growth through SEO and marketing strategies. 

Those strategies included engaging in the best growth channels, testing various methods, and leveraging industry partnerships. This approach helped them effectively navigate through recessionary times.

This article was inspired by a podcast our CEO, Pavel Tseluyko, recently hosted with David Kemmerer, and numerous insights were shared regarding the growth of CoinLedger, a crypto SaaS product focusing on crypto tax calculation.

The crypto market is incredibly volatile. 

By focusing on both on-page and off-page SEO, including meticulous keyword optimization and robust link-building strategies, businesses have managed to enhance their visibility and attract high-intent prospects​​. 

Let’s look a bit closer at these strategies.

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Get ready for the bull market

As we gear up for the bull market, SEO and marketing techniques for crypto SaaS growth become even more crucial. Focusing on SEO will help you dominate crypto tax keywords and position your business to capitalize on the market upswing. 

For example, trust and credibility are important in the crypto market due to its dynamic and speculative nature, which means there should be a clear balance between SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing).  

SEO establishes long-term credibility and organic growth by consistently providing helpful, accurate information. 

On the other hand, SEM offers immediate visibility and targeting capabilities, though it comes with higher costs and provides short-term benefits compared to the sustainable growth achieved through SEO​​.

Content strategy and SEO optimization

First things first - assess whether SEO is a suitable channel for your business. 

Key to this is conducting a thorough competitive analysis, understanding keyword volumes, and mapping out the natural buyer journey. It's crucial to view SEO and content marketing as ongoing investments rather than one-off tasks. 

Next, you should focus on creating high-quality content customized to your target audience's search queries. 

For crypto and web3 SaaS, for example, it could be "how to calculate crypto taxes" or the taxation specifics in various countries. This way, you can rank higher on search engines and attract qualified traffic.

Don’t forget to continuously invest in SEO and content marketing, leveraging organic search as your highest-performing channel. 

Your content should build trust, answer potential customers' questions, and indirectly promote their services.

Backlinking and link acquisition

When it comes to boosting your crypto SaaS website's visibility through SEO and marketing, it's still a smart move to get those high-quality backlinks. However, not all backlinks are created equal. 

Rushing to get a bunch of links without checking their quality or relevance does more harm than good. So, our first tip is to focus on acquiring high domain authority backlinks to improve your site's SEO performance.

Next, before you even think about contacting agencies that promise you the moon with their link-building.Indiscriminately hiring those agencies without a solid understanding of SEO could lead to poor-quality backlinks that harm your domain's reputation. 

You need your in-house expertise before outsourcing to ensure quality control. Agencies should be used to augment capabilities, particularly for tasks requiring scale or specialized skills.

P.S. Despite the recent talk that backlinks are losing their mojo, they still have their place in the SEO toolkit. 

The trick is to focus on quality over quantity. 

Engaging content that naturally attracts links, peeking at where your competitors are getting their links from, and making the most of mentions without links is what strikes the right balance.

Improving the website’s UX for better conversion

A significant rebranding and website overhaul focused on improving UX and elevating the brand might also be a great idea. Work with professional design agencies to enhance the user experience, making your site more intuitive and user-friendly.

In your website redesign, focus on improving the user experience, the flow, and the overall design to better meet their users' needs. Aim to provide a simple, clean experience and engage users more regularly to help them build a stronger relationship with your product.

Next tip: Avoid focusing too heavily on conversion rate optimization. 

Instead, incorporate call-to-actions more naturally in your content to guide users toward your solutions. Prioritize creating value through content, which in turn fosters trust and encourages sign-ups.

Understanding your audience's journey on your site is another key aspect in making their experience better. Draw a map showing where visitors start, their paths, and what they're looking for. This is called customer journey mapping, and it will help you pinpoint precisely where to sprinkle in those helpful CTAs without making them feel forced.

Lastly, offering something valuable for free, like insightful guides or handy tools, can be a game-changer in collecting emails and nudging conversions upwards. It's the digital equivalent of offering a free sample at a store - people are more likely to stop by and check out what else you have to offer.

Struggling with high user churn rates and low retention?

Our UX team can help you.

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Communication and content focusing on delivering value

The best approach to content in crypto SaaS is to provide value first.

1. Adapt communication across channels. Your communication style should vary across channels but remain focused on efficiently answering user questions.
2. Avoid pushy narratives. Steer clear of forceful or overly persuasive language that might push potential customers away. 
3. Incorporate solution naturally. Your marketing should cleverly introduce your product as the answer to a problem, striking a careful balance between being informative and promotional. 
4. Prioritize helpful content. Provide valuable, relevant information that addresses the audience's needs and interests and naturally leads to your product. 

Email marketing and sales

The potency of email marketing as a growth lever cannot be overstated. 

For crypto SaaS, however, your strategy should not be overly sales-oriented. 

You’re not pushing sales pitches. 

Instead, send out emails that are more about solving problems and offering help, for example, automated sequences that address user issues. It's all about building a relationship where your audience sees you as a helpful resource, not just another company trying to sell something.

However, you can occasionally send sales-focused emails to remind users of your services. 

Thanks to the previous tactic, when you do sprinkle in those sales emails,  clients will be more receptive because you've already provided value.

Personalizing your emails makes a big difference too. It shows you're paying attention to what your audience is interested in and that you care about their needs. 

User acquisition in Web3

For startups, especially in the Web3 space, we advise focusing on understanding the specific problem your product solves. 

Having this clear understanding is your starting point. 

From there, you'll want to map out a solid plan on how to reach the people who need what you're offering. This might mean getting smart with SEO, exploring direct sales, or trying out other ways to get your product in front of the right eyes.

We would also like to emphasize the importance of equally considering product development and distribution strategies for effective user acquisition in the Web3 space. 

This balanced approach is key for attracting users in the Web3 space, where the competition is tough, and the audience is savvy. So, focus on both building something great and making sure it reaches the people who will benefit from it the most.

Struggling with high user churn rates and low retention?

Our UX team can help you.

Learn more

Wanna learn more?

Recently, Merge released a podcast with David Kemmerer, a co-founder of CoinLedger, a product designed for crypto tax calculation across exchanges and wallets, offering perfectly accurate data. CoinLedger has recently experienced significant growth, with SEO playing a crucial role. 

Their SEO ranks around 80,000 to 88,000, helping reach 2 million ARR. The business has doubled a couple of times since 2021, with growth continuing through the years.

The conversation itself highlighted the critical role of targeted content creation, strategic SEO optimization, and careful backlink acquisition in building a successful online presence. 

Their approach reflects a thoughtful balance between providing value, engaging users, and promoting their services, underpinned by a deep understanding of their market and customer needs. 

Head over to YouTube and watch the podcast for more insights on crypto SaaS.