The Importance of Backlinks for Accounting SaaS Success

Why does an expert accounting SaaS marketing agency strive for backlinks? The reasons are simple: good inbound links boost search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing. They also indirectly influence revenue and returns.

This article delves deeper into the purpose of backlinks for this niche:

• Definition of backlinks and why they matter for accounting SaaS businesses
• Challenges of generating inbound links
• Factors that affect quality backlinks
• Metrics to help you know if you have quality inbound links

SaaS silent killers are pervasive. Start your business's growth and dominance with backlinks. Read below to learn more about it. 

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What Are Backlinks?

Also known as inbound links, backlinks are hyperlinks from one website to another. Suppose you have a blog post about the new tax guidelines. An ecommerce business uses it as a reference in its newsletter by creating a hypertext, creating a backlink. You also create backlinks when you share other people’s content on your site. 

Backlinks offer many benefits to accounting SaaS firms:

• Improved search engine rankings. An inbound link’s SEO value will decrease over time as Google shifts to helpful content. Until then, it remains a vital ranking factor.
• Enhanced credibility and trust. Users and search engines perceive these links as votes of confidence. Backlinks suggest that your content is relevant, practical information that people deserve to see. A higher level of trust and credibility often translates to a shorter buyer’s journey and quicker revenue recognition.  
• Referral traffic. Backlinks increase organic traffic. It potentially boosts sales-ready leads and returns while lowering acquisition costs.
• Brand awareness. Links from authoritative sites expose your brand and content to new target audiences.
• Support for paid ads. Backlinks improve SaaS SEO strategies and outcomes. It decreases your reliance on search ads and marketing costs.

     Challenges of Getting Backlinks

Despite their benefits, backlinks are challenging to get. One reason is competition. 

The market is moving faster than ever and the barriers to entry are low. Your content competes with thousands of other companies. Meanwhile, established brands are large-scale enterprises with enough resources to invest in SEO. 

The challenges also come from factors such as the following:

• Poor optimization. People cannot link to you if your site is missing or buried deep in the search results. Similarly, if the indexed page is a dead or broken link or delivers an unsatisfying user experience, you will not be seen.
• Target audience overlap. Many SaaS businesses offer similar products and services, leading to shared target audiences. Accounting apps likely have features found in data analytics, taxation, and bookkeeping platforms. 
• No-follow backlinks. No-follow is an attribute some websites attach to your links. It still provides free traffic and engagement but contributes less to your search engine ranking. 
• Algorithm changes. Search engine updates make specific link-building strategies outdated and harmful. For example, paid guest posts without qualifiers are now against Google’s spam policies. 
• Demand for high-quality backlinks. Marketers want to link to trustworthy, credible sites with plenty of inbound links. This is an asset accounting SaaS startups lack. 
• Overoptimization. The saying, “Anything excessive is bad,” also applies to backlinks. Attempting to use sneaky tactics, such as creating microsites to purposely create these URLs, can lead to a manual action or a penalty from search engines.  

SaaS companies need to be creative, strategic, and persistent to succeed in earning backlinks. The following section reveals five effective link-building strategies. 

5 Ways to Earn Quality Inbound Links for Your Accounting SaaS Website

The best SaaS marketing agency uses out-of-the-box ideas to create backlinks for accounting startups. For example, it works with developers to create a mobile app, widget, or tool such as a calculator. These are engaging devices the audience might find worth sharing. 

Others seed links whenever they can, such as in their social media accounts. They also join groups to comment and answer questions, using their sites as references. 

Some cleverly combine offline and online methods. A SaaS accounting firm organizes a small conference for small business owners and invites the press to cover it. The publication then uploads a news article with the firm’s backlink.

Your business can also follow these tried-and-tested link-building techniques:

     1. Guest Post with Care

Guest posts still work, but use caution to avoid being accused of spamming or manipulating the search results. The first step is to focus on quality content and third-party sites. 

Follow industry and search engine guidelines, especially if promoting a “your money, your life” page, including pages on tax advice, financial planning, investments, and debt. These are subject to greater scrutiny because the information you share might affect a person’s financial well-being. 

Consider getting links from authoritative websites, such as associations, governments, and educational institutions. Backlinks from well-known publications, such as recognized press release sites, newspapers, and magazines, also count. 

These websites maintain higher backlink standards. They are less likely to accept posts from newly created pages or SaaS startups. However, gaining one inbound link from them is still better than peppering niche blogs.

Other tips include: 

• Study their website content. Can you expound on a particular subject? Do you have updated information you can share? Can you offer exclusive data and insights? Write a unique post for every site.

• Include only one or two relevant inbound links, and avoid linking to your target keyword to avoid overoptimization and blatant self-promotion.
• Some sites publish bylines. Disclose guest authorship to help build trust and follow Google’s E-E-A-T principles. 
• Avoid sites that ask for compensation in exchange for a guest post. 
• Provide genuinely helpful, informative content. At the same time, open your site for other people’s posts. 

Guest posting can be a sustainable link-building technique when you focus on content quality and build long-term relationships with authoritative sites. 

     2. Diversify the Content

Content diversification provides many advantages for SaaS accounting firms. It widens its reach by appealing to more formats and audiences. 

It also supports both demand- and lead-generation activities. For example, long-form content works well for those in the awareness stage. White papers, such as case studies, are ideal for potential customers to compare options. 

Some types of content are more engaging than lengthy blog posts and infographics. YouTube Shorts increased Les Mills’s clickthrough rate by 52%. It also reduced spending by 10% for acquisition and by 16% for impression. 

Lastly, diversifying content builds authority and credibility. People perceive you as more knowledgeable when you can explain complex topics with ease. Interactive content, such as webinars and podcasts, transforms you into a subject-matter expert. 

Any content works as long as you modify it to suit your audience. Here are some examples:

     3. Perform Technical SEO

Technical optimization is the “behind the scenes” work on a page. It mainly involves improving the site’s speed, accessibility, security, and navigation. It is also responsible for crawlability and indexability. 

Technical SEO strengthens your backlink strategies in the following ways:

• Fast-loading and mobile-friendly sites get more links because of good user experience.
• Good security and infrastructure mean the page is reliable and safe to use. It is also less likely to experience downtime. Using HTTPS is even a ranking factor. 
• Clean, valid HTML code and URL structures allow search engines to crawl, index, and understand pages better. These boost your search position because you rank for the targeted keywords, and the content is more relevant to the audiences.

• It resolves common SEO issues such as duplicate content, multiple redirects, and broken links. These problems often result in losing or diluting link equity because users cannot access the page.

Digital Authority Partners (DAP) shares nine technical optimization best practices that apply to SaaS businesses.

     4. Use the Broken-Link Tactic

John runs an accounting blog that provides tips and advice to small business owners. He wrote a popular article called “Choosing Small Business Accounting Software” last year. The post linked to AppX as his top small business accounting platform. However, the platform discontinued offering services to this market and deleted the page. 

Sarah has an accounting SaaS app that helps small business owners manage their finances online. It automates invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting.  

Sarah finds John’s article and notices it recommends AppX, but the link is dead. She emails John about the broken link and offers to replace it with a link to her site instead. He agrees to swap it for an affiliate link to Sarah’s accounting SaaS.

The updated article now has a working recommendation link. Sarah’s site also earns a quality backlink from John’s viral post. 

The scenario is an example of the broken-link strategy. It involves finding broken links on other relevant websites and offering yours as alternatives. 

This method is tedious. It takes hours to find broken links on authoritative websites. It takes days before website owners respond. Negotiations require more time, and sometimes the deal dies. 

However, the technique is worth pursuing for these reasons:

• The earned links are often more reputable.
• You benefit from the website’s or the copy’s established reach. 
• The chances of your link being removed are low because it increases the content’s value. 
• Older sites often have more trust and authority to pass on through backlinks.
• A SaaS marketing agency automates finding broken links to save time. 

     5. Track the Incoming Links

Not all backlinks are worth keeping. Those from sites with irrelevant and thin content hurt search engine rankings and the user experience. 

The best way to know the backlinks’ real value and optimize your link-building strategy is by tracking them. This does the following:

• Tells you the content that is earning links.
• Checks whether new links come from relevant sites to improve search performance.
• Identifies toxic backlinks to disavow to protect the site’s reputation and rank.
• Sees link anchor text used to optimize phrases people link for.
• Sets alerts on new links.
• Analyzes backlink trends to spot increasing authority and keyword-specific links.

How do you track these backlinks? You have many choices.

• Manually search Google for links pointing to your domain. Set alerts for new results.
• Use site-explorer features in popular SEO web tools. Enter your website and export link data periodically to a spreadsheet. 
• Regularly check the website’s server logs.
• Set a Google Analytics goal for outbound link clicks. 

Maximize the gathered data by relating it to other metrics, such as keyword ranking and organic traffic sources. Newer backlinks usually increase a term’s search position and the number of leads. 

Additionally, compare the links’ quality to that of your competitors to see where you stand. Dig deeper into the backlink sources to see what trends are driving your market. Sort them by categories, regions, or industry verticals to determine growing market trends.

Summing Up

In the digital realm, where trust means everything, could a robust backlink approach unlock your accounting SaaS platform’s full market potential? The answer is a resounding yes.

Earning quality backlinks significantly enhances site visibility and ranking. This is crucial in attracting potential customers who rely on search engines to find trustworthy solutions. A strong backlink profile also elevates the brand’s reputation, influencing the bottom line. 

This article provides the reasons to start getting backlinks for your site. It also lists effective strategies that even an experienced SaaS marketing agency uses. 

If you want to receive more ideas or customize your link-building technique, contact DAP today and schedule a free consultation with award-winning experts.