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Essential SEO Guide

How You Can Do SEO for Your SaaS, Web apps, Websites (Even with a 9-to-5 Job)

Author

George
February 22, 2025

This is how I go about doing SEO for my web apps. For speed, I use AI to write my blog posts and edit them manually. This post consists of 3 parts:

  1. SEO Checklist

  2. How to do Keyword Research only with free tools

  3. How to prompt an AI to write you a post like this

I work a 9 to 5 while trying to build a business, so time is of essence here. Everything will be right to the point.

SEO Checklist

1. Keyword Research

  • Use Google Keyword Planner to find keywords

  • Google Trends to see if people are looking up the keywords

  • Identify primary keywords (main focus) and secondary/long-tail keywords (supporting phrases).

  • For 1 product, target:

    • 1 primary keyword for the landing page.

    • 3-5 secondary/long-tail keywords across blog posts or subpages.

2. On-Page SEO

  • Title Tags: Include your primary keyword near the start (60 characters max).

  • Meta Descriptions: Write compelling descriptions with the keyword (155 characters max).

  • Header Tags (H1, H2, H3): Use H1 for the main title, H2/H3 for subheadings. Include keywords naturally.

  • URL Structure: Keep it short, descriptive, and keyword-rich (e.g., yourdomain.com/keyword).

  • Image Alt Text: Add descriptive alt tags with keywords for all images.

  • Internal Linking: Link to other relevant pages on your site using keyword-rich anchor text.

3. Content Creation

  • Landing Page: Focus on the primary keyword. Highlight benefits, features, and a clear CTA.

  • Blog Posts: Create one post per secondary/long-tail keyword. Aim for 800-1,500 words per post. I would aim to create 5 to 10 blog posts depending on how much time you have. Of course, the more time you have the more posts you can create.

  • Content Automation:

    • Use AI to generate drafts based on keywords.

    • Follow this structure for each article:

      1. Introduction: Hook + keyword.

      2. Problem Statement: Explain the issue your product solves.

      3. Solution: Describe how your product helps.

      4. Benefits: List key advantages.

      5. Conclusion: Summarize + CTA.

4. Technical SEO

  • Site Speed: Use .webp files for images and minified version of javascript, use caching, and enable compression (aim for <3 seconds load time). I use https://pagespeed.web.dev/ to check my site speed.

  • Mobile-Friendliness: Ensure responsive design.

  • SSL Certificate: Use HTTPS.

  • XML Sitemap: Submit to Google Search Console.

  • Robots.txt: Allow crawling of important pages.

  • Schema Markup: Add structured data for better SERP visibility.

5. Off-Page SEO

  • Backlinks: Post your links to as many places as you - Reddit, Medium, Indiehacker, your social media platforms, guest blog.

2. Keyword Research: The Foundation of SEO

Why Keywords Matter

Keywords are the bridge between what people are searching for and the content you create. Without the right keywords, your content won’t reach the right audience.

How to Find Keywords

  1. Start with Seed Keywords: Think about terms related to your product. For Problem Bank (a web app that helps you find SaaS ideas from Reddit), seed keywords might include:

    • "startup idea generator"

    • "find problems to solve online"

    • "product idea generator reddit"

  2. Use Tools Like Google Keyword Planner:

    • Enter your seed keywords.

    • Look for low-competition, high-relevance keywords with decent search volume.

  3. Identify Primary and Secondary Keywords:

    • Primary Keyword: The main focus of your page. Example: "startup idea generator."

    • Secondary Keywords: Include these in your landing page, or in a separate blog post. Examples:

      • "find problems to solve online"

      • "problem-solving tools for startups"

      • "Reddit for entrepreneurs"

3. AI Prompt to Writing a Detailed SEO Blog Post

If you’re short on time, AI can be your best friend when it comes to writing SEO-optimized content. Here’s how to craft a prompt that gets you the results you need:

Example Prompt

"Write an informative blog post about how solopreneurs can use Reddit to find startup ideas. The target audience is aspiring solopreneurs who struggle to come up with product ideas. They are tech-savvy but may not have deep knowledge of entrepreneurship.
Primary keyword: 'product idea generator reddit'
Secondary keywords: 'startup ideas from Reddit,' 'Reddit for entrepreneurs,' 'find problems to solve online'
Word count: 800–1,000 words.

Structure:

  1. Introduction: Hook + keyword.

  2. Problem Statement: Explain the issue your product solves.

  3. Solution: Describe how your product helps.

  4. Benefits: List key advantages.

  5. Conclusion: Summarize + CTA.
    Tone: Conversational but professional. Avoid overly promotional language."

Using this template ensures consistency and saves you hours of editing.

That’s it!

Whether you are doing SEO yourself, or hiring someone else to do it, it’s best to know some basics yourself.

Hi, my name is George. My goal is to build a business, make money and then quit my job. I am sharing tools and knowledge that help me get there. Hopefully, these will help you too!