An effective SaaS website can be a game-changer for a growing company.
Your website is often the first impression for potential customers, investors, and partners. This is your opportunity to tell your story: who you are, how you can help customers, and why you’re the best person for the job.
It’s also an important business tool. Almost 75% of Internet users judge a company’s trustworthiness by its website presentation. And people are making those decisions quickly. Really Quickly. It takes about 50 milliseconds (aka 0.05 seconds) for a user to form an opinion about her website.
That’s why it’s so important to follow SaaS website best practices when creating a site for your business.
The SaaS world is notoriously competitive. Customers often have a choice. Additionally, if you decide to entrust your software needs to you, you should first see if you can develop a user-friendly website for her.
So what’s the best way to make a first impression in this high-stakes game?
At York IE, my team helps clients answer this question every day. We are poised to help growing technology companies and their SaaS companies develop highly effective websites. That includes everything from attractive copy, eye-catching design, and sophisticated features.
Take a look at seven SaaS website best practices we implement with our clients.
How do you create a great SaaS website?
Follow these seven best practices to create a great SaaS website.
- Plan your preference before building.
- Focus on high priority pages.
- Answer your prospect’s questions before they ask.
- Write clear and concise copy.
- Include your CTAs above the fold.
- Make sure your website is user-friendly.
- Optimize high-value pages for SEO.
1. Plan your configuration before you build.
You cannot start driving unless you turn on GPS. Also, you can’t prepare for a trip without an itinerary. Pick your favorite cliché. This probably applies to building SaaS websites.
It’s important to plan your expectations for the entire site before you start building. Let’s put ourselves in the user’s shoes. What matters most to your users? How can you take them on an engaging journey through your site?
You can build a website from scratch or use a templated website from a service like WordPress to speed up the process. You need to decide on the color scheme, top-level navigation settings, and any integrations you want.
We always recommend reviewing some of your favorite websites: competitors, comparable companies, and aspiring companies. What specific elements or features do you want to emulate?
2. Focus on high priority pages.
When building the foundation of your website, we recommend focusing on a few page types.
home page
In many ways, your homepage is your “first impression of first impressions.” Take care of it!
The first word that appears on your page (also known as the H1) should provide a clear value proposition for the value you bring to your target audience. Include success metrics and customer testimonials at the top of the page. A single strong hero image (ideally a screenshot/animation/video of your product) helps readers imagine working with you.
Include a clear call to action for your visitors (such as “Try a Demo,” “Contact Us,” or “Download Now”). More details are provided further below.
Product page
Depending on how many products you have, this can be one page or multiple pages. If you sell multiple products, consider a product overview page with subpages for each product.
Include videos, screenshots, and other visuals that showcase your product as best as possible. Let’s spread the word with the power of our products. Focus on how it benefits your customers and highlight your product’s features. If you have quotes or testimonials from your customers, this is important social proof.
Pricing
Many subscription-based companies (i.e. many SaaS companies) create dedicated pages for pricing options for product tiers based on users, usage, or product features. You can also add prices to your product pages.
resource
Our resources section allows you to highlight industry expertise, thought leadership, and more. It’s also a great way to build domain authority. This means that your website will be seen by search engines as relevant and trustworthy. Landing pages help you establish domain authority on important topics, while blogs help you test new keyword pillars and learn what search behaviors are driving relevant visitors to your site. Helpful. This will help you know which topics are worth building richer content on.
It’s important to keep it updated by adding new content at least a few times a month. It’s great to start with a consistent blog, but as you expand, consider diversifying your content so your audience can consume your blog the way they want. Ultimately, you can place e-books, one-pagers, webinars, and more on your resource page.
About us
At baseline, you should create an About Us page that describes your company, mission/history, and leadership. (Building a messaging hierarchy is a good first step in this process.)
Many early-stage companies use their company profile to link to important news and awards. Once you’re writing press releases at a healthy pace, it’s a good idea to create a dedicated press release section for potential customers and investors to check out.
Please enjoy the self-introduction page. Do your company have core values? A mascot? A rallying cry? There are all sorts of great things to add to your About page to give your company some personality.
SEO pillar page
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps you get more new visitors to your site. Building SEO pillar pages is one way to drive your strategy.
A website should be approached like a garden. Instead of plants, we are strategically growing ICP. To grow your digital reach in the right direction, you need to develop content that is a.) useful to your visitors, and b.) targets valuable keywords that will help build domain authority.
SEO pillar pages focus on important use cases and technology keywords. We dig into specific topics to provide valuable information about those keywords and showcase how the platform adds value in that context.
SEO pillar pages that support funnel content from top to bottom are highly valuable to visitors and search engines because they drive awareness, ratings, and conversions.
Comprehensive SEO keyword research can help you identify relevant terms and topics that resonate with your target audience.
3. Answer questions before your prospects ask them.
An engaging website anticipates the questions your visitors will ask. When a potential customer visits your girlfriend’s website, you need to be able to immediately answer the following questions:
- What is your occupation?
- Who are you doing this for?
- How does the product work?
- How can I learn more?
4. Write clear and concise copy.
This tip can also be translated as, “Don’t feel the need to cram everything onto one page.”
When it comes to copy, less is often more. On average, a user spends only 54 seconds on a web page. Focus on the most important things to absorb in that short amount of time.
Instead of saying, “We use machine learning to help car companies reduce marketing costs,” try saying something a little more concise.
“Reducing automotive marketing costs using ML” says the same thing in half a sentence and is written in a way that encourages the reader to take action.
Also, be sure to use white space effectively. If your screen is full of text and images, your customers won’t be able to concentrate.
5. Be intentional with your CTAs.
Your website needs to educate visitors about your activities. Also, inspire They take action.
Decide what that action will be: Request a Demo, Try It Now, Contact Us, etc. Next, try to get site visitors to consent as quickly as possible.
Include headers and include CTAs above the fold (at the top of your website) whenever possible. Your footer can include links to your social media profiles and a CTA for visitors to sign up for your newsletter (if you have one).
6. Make sure your website is user-friendly.
A website’s user experience (UX) determines the first impression. Develop your website with UX in mind.
Whether you use a template or build from scratch, focus on responsive design. Your website should respond to user actions and run smoothly no matter how users access your site. Remember, 60% of online traffic comes from mobile devices. Your website should be optimized for both desktop and mobile use.
Brands also need to consider accessibility. Ensuring that your web content is ADA compliant ensures that people with disabilities have equal access to information and promotes inclusivity and accessibility.
7. Optimize high-value pages for SEO.
Tools like Moz can help you find high-value SEO keywords that your audience is searching for. Carefully sprinkle these words throughout your website copy early and often to rank higher in search results.
Here are some additional technical SEO best practices.
- H1/title tags should only be 50-70 characters long. Include only one H1 tag on each web page.
- Meta descriptions must be 160 characters or less.
- The shorter the URL, the better. The website hierarchy must be reflected in the URL parameters. If possible, use exact keyword phrases.
- H2/subheadings should include targeted keyword phrases.
Create a business website with York IE
By following these SaaS website best practices, you’ll end up with a website that educates, entertains, and inspires your site visitors.
If all of this seems overwhelming, fear not. York IE helps growing SaaS and technology brands build effective websites at prices that fit the budgets of high-growth companies.
Chat with our team today to learn how to turn your website into an engine of conversion and business growth.