ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a SaaS SEO onboarding, I’d use Ahrefs + Semrush + Google Keyword Planner, with SERP review as the final filter.

• Ahrefs: filter keywords by commercial/transactional intent, SERP features, CPC, and competitors’ ranking terms. Ahrefs Help Center Ahrefs
• Semrush: excellent for bulk filtering by intent, CPC, KD, and keyword modifiers. Semrush
• Google Keyword Planner: validate search demand and commercial value using volume, competition, and bid ranges. Google Google Help

Workflow: seed terms → competitor keyword gaps → filter commercial/transactional → prioritize pricing/comparison/alternative/demo/software/category terms → exclude obvious “what is/how to/guide/tutorial” queries → manually inspect SERPs before mapping.

For a SaaS SEO onboarding, I’d use a stack rather than one keyword tool. The key is to separate keyword discovery from intent qualification.

Recommended SaaS keyword-research stack

• ahrefs.com — my choice for the core research workflow. Use Keywords Explorer for seed expansion, competitor Organic Keywords/Content Gap for discovery, and its intent filters to isolate commercial and transactional queries. Ahrefs explicitly supports filtering keywords by informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional intent. Ahrefs Help Center Ahrefs Help Center
• semrush.com — particularly useful if the agency wants a broader all-in-one workflow. Keyword Magic Tool supports intent, CPC, KD, include/exclude, SERP-feature and other filters, while Keyword Gap is useful for finding competitor terms you're missing. Semrush Semrush
• ads.google.com — use as a commercial-value sanity check, rather than your primary SEO database. CPC, advertiser competition and bid data can help distinguish commercially valuable queries from enormous-but-low-value informational terms. Semrush Semrush
• Google Search Console — essential once you have access to the SaaS client's property. Mine existing queries, especially pages sitting around positions 4–20, and look for queries already producing impressions/clicks. It gives you actual client-specific search behavior rather than modeled keyword data. Ahrefs

How I'd filter out the informational fluff

Don't simply do:

informational = bad
commercial = good

Instead, create an intent score based on the business model.

For a typical SaaS product, I'd prioritize:

The important thing is SERP validation. Intent classifiers are estimates; Ahrefs itself notes that intent can be mixed and that intent can change based on what Google is currently showing. Ahrefs Help Center

A practical agency workflow

1. Start with the client's money pages

Get the exact terminology from:

• Product/category
• Core use cases
• Features
• Integrations
• Industries/personas
• Pricing
• Competitors
• Alternatives
• Switching/migration terms

Then build seeds around those rather than starting with generic topic ideas.

2. Pull competitor keyword gaps

Run the client's domain against 3–5 genuine organic competitors.

Look specifically for:

• best [category]
• [competitor] alternative
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [category] pricing
• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] for [ICP]
• [feature] software
• [use case] software

This tends to produce much more commercially useful opportunities than starting with broad topical keywords. Semrush's Keyword Gap, for example, supports identifying keywords competitors rank for that the client doesn't. Semrush

3. Apply hard exclusions

Depending on the SaaS, build an exclusion list such as:

what is
definition
meaning
examples
template
tutorial
course
certification
jobs
salary
free
pdf
statistics
research
history

But don't blindly exclude them. For example, crm template could be a fantastic acquisition query for a freemium SaaS whose product includes templates.

4. Use CPC as a secondary commercial-intent signal

A keyword with meaningful CPC is often evidence that advertisers perceive commercial value. It isn't proof of purchase intent, though, so I'd use it as a supporting signal, not a filter by itself. Google Keyword Planner provides competition and bid information specifically useful for this type of analysis. Semrush

5. Manually inspect the SERP for the final shortlist

This is the step I'd insist on before presenting the client with a keyword map.

For each candidate, ask:

Who is Google currently rewarding for this query, and what kind of page are they ranking?

If the SERP is dominated by:

• product pages
• SaaS landing pages
• comparison pages
• review sites
• pricing pages
• alternatives pages

→ strong commercial evidence.

If it's dominated by:

• Wikipedia
• dictionaries
• educational articles
• forums
• how-to guides
• academic resources

→ probably informational, even if the keyword tool labels it commercial.

One useful addition: client-specific conversion data

Once you have GSC + GA4/CRM data, I'd build a keyword → landing page → conversion dataset.

Then you can distinguish:

Traffic opportunity

from

buyer opportunity

That's particularly valuable for SaaS because a 500-volume query that consistently produces demo requests can be substantially more strategically useful than a 20,000-volume informational query that produces zero pipeline.

So, if you're standardizing this for your agency, I'd make the workflow:

Ahrefs/Semrush → competitor gaps → intent filters → exclusion rules → CPC/business-value signals → SERP validation → GSC/GA4/CRM validation → final keyword map.

That gives you a defensible reason for why a keyword made the strategy rather than simply saying "the tool says it has commercial intent."

For a SaaS SEO client, I’d use a two-stage stack: broad discovery → aggressive commercial-intent filtering. The key is not to equate “high volume” with “valuable.” A 500-volume “what is X?” query can be worth far less than a 30-volume “X software for [use case]” query.

Recommended tool stack

1. Start with Semrush or Ahrefs

Both now have explicit intent classification.

Ahrefs lets you filter keyword sets by informational, navigational, commercial and transactional intent. Ahrefs Help Center Ahrefs

Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool similarly provides intent, CPC, volume, difficulty and inclusion/exclusion filters. Semrush Semrush

For a SaaS client, I'd initially pull:

• commercial
• transactional
• some commercial + informational mixed terms if they're strategically relevant
• competitor/product alternatives
• use-case terms
• category terms
• “[product] software”
• “[product] platform”
• “[product] tool”
• “[use case] software”
• “[use case] platform”
• “software for [ICP]”
• “[competitor] alternatives”
• “[competitor] vs [competitor]”
• “[category] pricing”
• “[category] demo”
• “[category] free trial”

Don't automatically throw away informational keywords, though. Some are excellent mid-funnel acquisition terms. The question should be “Can this query plausibly introduce or advance a buyer?”, not simply “Is this informational?”

2. Build a "fluff filter"

I'd put every keyword through something like this:

Keep / prioritize

• [category] software
• best [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• [category] pricing
• [category] alternatives
• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] vs [client]
• software for [specific industry/use case]
• [use case] automation software
• [use case] management platform
• how to automate [problem] — only if the SaaS directly solves it

Usually deprioritize

• what is [category]
• [category] definition
• [category] meaning
• history of [category]
• [category] examples
• [category] statistics
• how does [technology] work
• [category] certification
• [category] salary
• [category] jobs
• [category] course
• [category] pdf
• [category] template — unless the template is an intentional acquisition strategy
• free [generic concept] — unless the SaaS has a genuinely compelling free product/tool

This can be automated surprisingly well with regex/exclusion lists in your keyword-processing workflow.

3. Use CPC as a proxy, not proof

Google Keyword Planner gives you search volume plus metrics such as top-of-page bid and competition, which makes it useful as a second signal for commercial value. Google Help

For example:

customer onboarding — 5,000 searches, low CPC
customer onboarding software — 500 searches, high CPC

I'd generally investigate the second one first.

But CPC ≠ SEO conversion value. Advertisers may bid heavily for reasons unrelated to your organic strategy, so use CPC as one input alongside intent and SERP analysis.

4. The most important step: inspect the SERP

This is where I'd prevent most bad keywords from getting into the client's roadmap.

Suppose Semrush says:

project management software for architects
Intent: Commercial

Search it manually.

If the SERP contains:

• G2
• Capterra
• software comparison pages
• vendor landing pages
• product pages
• “best X software” articles

…that's strong evidence that Google interprets the query as commercially oriented.

If instead you get:

• Wikipedia
• academic articles
• government resources
• Reddit discussions
• definition pages
• educational guides

…I'd probably downgrade it.

SERP composition is often more useful than the tool's intent label.

Ahrefs explicitly notes that intent is inferred from the search results, and that keywords can have mixed intent. Ahrefs Help Center

5. Use GSC to find actual buyer intent

Once the SaaS has some organic visibility, Search Console becomes extremely valuable.

Pull:

• query
• impressions
• clicks
• CTR
• position
• landing page

Then filter/group the queries and look for commercially meaningful terms you're already appearing for.

Google specifically supports query filtering and multiple filters in the Performance report. Google Help Google Help

I'd particularly hunt for:

Position 4–20 + commercial query + relevant landing page

Those are often much more actionable than discovering another 10,000-keyword universe from scratch.

6. Give the client a simple scoring model

For agency workflows, I'd create a Buyer Intent Score rather than handing the client a giant keyword dump.

For example:

Then classify:

• 12+ = BOFU / priority
• 8–11 = commercial opportunity
• 4–7 = mid-funnel
• ≤3 = likely content/awareness or discard

I'd keep that scoring internal to your agency, rather than presenting it as an objective measure of keyword value.

My ideal SaaS workflow

Semrush/Ahrefs → competitor keywords → GSC → Keyword Planner → SERP validation → intent scoring → clustering → content map

And one important agency-level rule:

Don't filter informational keywords simply because they're informational. Filter keywords based on whether their search intent maps to a commercially useful customer journey.

For SaaS, terms like “how to reduce churn” can be much more valuable than their label suggests if the client's product directly solves churn. Conversely, a huge-volume keyword like “what is churn” may bring enormous traffic but very little qualified demand.

That distinction is where I'd expect the biggest improvement in the quality of your client's keyword roadmap.

I'd keep that scoring internal to your agency, rather than presenting it as an objective measure of keyword value.

My ideal SaaS workflow

Semrush/Ahrefs → competitor keywords → GSC → Keyword Planner → SERP validation → intent scoring → clustering → content map

And one important agency-level rule:

Don't filter informational keywords simply because they're informational. Filter keywords based on whether their search intent maps to a commercially useful customer journey.

For SaaS, terms like “how to reduce churn” can be much more valuable than their label suggests if the client's product directly solves churn. Conversely, a huge-volume keyword like “what is churn” may bring enormous traffic but very little qualified demand.

That distinction is where I'd expect the biggest improvement in the quality of your client's keyword roadmap.

For a SaaS client, I’d use a stack rather than relying on a single keyword tool. The key is to distinguish search volume from commercial relevance.

Recommended SaaS keyword-research stack

Ahrefs explicitly supports filtering keywords by informational, navigational, commercial and transactional intent. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush similarly combines intent, volume, competition and SERP/competitor data. Semrush

1. Start with Ahrefs/Semrush, but don't trust the intent label blindly

For SaaS, I'd build seed groups around:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• best [category] software
• [category] software comparison
• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [category] pricing
• [category] cost
• [product category] for [industry/use case]
• [product category] for [job role]
• [product] demo
• [product] free trial

Then filter toward commercial + transactional intent.

The important distinction is that "commercial" doesn't necessarily mean "ready to buy." Someone searching best project management software is valuable, but someone searching [brand] pricing or [brand] alternatives is usually much further down the funnel.

2. Use GSC as your "reality check"

This is one of the most valuable tools once you have access to the client's account.

search.google.com

Export queries and look for:

• High impressions + low CTR
• Positions ~4–20
• Queries containing product/category terms
• Queries generating conversions or landing on money pages
• Long-tail queries that your keyword tool doesn't surface
• Existing pages ranking for commercially relevant terms

GSC lets you filter queries, pages, countries, devices and other dimensions, including regex filters. Google Help Google Help

This is especially useful because you're analyzing actual searches that have already triggered the client's site, rather than estimated keyword-tool demand.

3. Use SERP analysis to kill "informational fluff"

This is the step I'd make mandatory.

For every prospective keyword, ask:

"If our SaaS ranked #1 here, would a meaningful percentage of these searchers plausibly become pipeline?"

Then inspect the SERP.

For example:

what is CRM

Probably informational fluff for a mature CRM SaaS.

CRM software for small business

Much more commercially relevant.

best CRM for SaaS startups

Strong commercial investigation.

HubSpot alternatives

Very strong competitive/commercial intent.

HubSpot pricing

Extremely strong product intent.

The SERP itself is your best intent classifier. If the results are dominated by Wikipedia, educational guides, definitions and beginner articles, don't automatically create a page just because volume looks attractive.

If the SERP contains SaaS product pages, comparison pages, pricing pages, review sites and vendors, that's a much stronger signal.

4. Use CPC as a signal, not a ranking factor

Google Keyword Planner can help here because it exposes metrics such as average monthly searches and top-of-page bid ranges. Google Help

A useful heuristic is:

High CPC + relevant SaaS query + commercial SERP = investigate

But don't automatically discard a $0-CPC keyword or prioritize a high-CPC keyword. CPC reflects advertising economics, not necessarily organic conversion propensity.

5. Build an agency-specific intent score

I'd actually put every keyword into a spreadsheet/database with something like:

Buyer Intent Score =

• +3 transactional
• +2 commercial investigation
• +2 contains product/category
• +2 comparison/alternative intent
• +2 pricing/cost intent
• +1 "for [industry/use case]"
• +1 competitor term
• +1 strong commercial SERP
• −3 definition/question intent
• −2 educational/how-to SERP
• −2 unrelated audience/use case

Then classify:

• 8+ → BOFU / money-page candidate
• 5–7 → commercial content
• 2–4 → supporting content
• ≤1 → probably informational / deprioritize

You can adjust the weights based on the SaaS's actual conversion data.

The bigger trick: don't filter out all informational keywords

For SaaS SEO, I'd separate the keyword universe into:

Tier 1 — Revenue

• pricing
• alternatives
• comparisons
• best tools
• software/platform/tool terms
• product/category + use case
• competitor searches
• demo/trial/signup terms

Tier 2 — Problem-aware

• [problem] software
• how to solve [business problem]
• [workflow] automation
• [process] tools
• [use case] platform

Tier 3 — Educational

• definitions
• how-to guides
• broad educational questions
• templates
• terminology

Tier 3 isn't useless—it can build topical authority and introduce prospects earlier in the funnel. But don't let Tier 3 dominate the editorial calendar simply because it has 10× the search volume.

My preferred workflow

Ahrefs/Semrush → competitor gap → intent filtering → GSC → SERP validation → conversion data → keyword prioritization

That gives you three independent signals:

1. Does anyone search for it?
2. Does the SERP indicate commercial intent?
3. Does this audience actually matter to the SaaS business?

That third question is where many SEO agencies go wrong.

I'd also tie the final keyword list to ICP + use case + funnel stage + target URL + estimated business value, rather than delivering the client a giant 10,000-keyword export.

1. Does anyone search for it?
2. Does the SERP indicate commercial intent?
3. Does this audience actually matter to the SaaS business?

That third question is where many SEO agencies go wrong.

I'd also tie the final keyword list to ICP + use case + funnel stage + target URL + estimated business value, rather than delivering the client a giant 10,000-keyword export.

If the SERP contains SaaS product pages, comparison pages, pricing pages, review sites and vendors, that's a much stronger signal.

4. Use CPC as a signal, not a ranking factor

Google Keyword Planner can help here because it exposes metrics such as average monthly searches and top-of-page bid ranges.

A useful heuristic is:

High CPC + relevant SaaS query + commercial SERP = investigate

For a SaaS client, I’d avoid treating keyword research as “find high-volume keywords.” The goal is find queries where the searcher is plausibly evaluating, adopting, switching to, or buying software—then use SERP evidence to eliminate informational traffic.

The stack I’d use

• ahrefs.com — primary research tool.

Use Keywords Explorer for seed expansion, competitor keywords, CPC, SERP features, traffic potential, intent, and clustering. Ahrefs specifically supports intent filtering and SERP analysis, which is useful for separating commercial queries from educational ones. Ahrefs Ahrefs

• semrush.com — excellent alternative/complement.

Keyword Magic + Keyword Gap are particularly useful for SaaS because you can find keywords competitors rank for and filter by intent, CPC, difficulty, etc. Semrush's current tooling explicitly exposes search intent and CPC alongside volume and difficulty. Semrush Semrush

• Google Search Console — mandatory for an existing SaaS site.

This gives you the actual queries already producing impressions/clicks, which is extremely valuable for finding commercial terms Google already associates with the client's pages. It doesn't provide the competitive metrics that Ahrefs/Semrush do, so use it alongside them. Ahrefs

• Google Keyword Planner — validation layer.

Particularly useful for CPC/commercial-value signals and Google-derived demand data. I wouldn't use it as your primary discovery database.

• Google SERPs themselves — the final arbiter.

This is the part agencies often skip. If you're unsure whether crm software or crm reporting is actually buyer intent, inspect the top 10. If most results are product pages, comparison pages, review sites, demos, pricing pages, etc., that's much stronger evidence of commercial intent than an algorithmic “commercial” label.

How I'd filter the keyword export

I'd build a scoring model rather than simply filtering Intent = Commercial.

1. Start with buyer-intent modifiers

For SaaS, heavily prioritize terms containing things like:

• software
• platform
• tool
• solution
• app
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• trial
• buy
• alternative
• alternatives
• vs
• comparison
• review
• best
• for [industry]
• for [use case]
• enterprise
• integration
• implementation

For example:

Very strong:

• project management software
• best project management software for agencies
• asana alternatives
• project management software pricing
• enterprise project management platform

Potentially useful but needs SERP validation:

• project management workflow
• project management automation
• project management dashboard

Usually informational:

• what is project management
• how to manage a project
• project management tips
• project management examples

Ahrefs similarly recommends modifiers such as buy, order, sale, best price, best, top, review, and alternatives, while emphasizing that SERP inspection is the stronger validation step. Ahrefs

2. Use CPC as a signal, not a filter

For SaaS, CPC can be surprisingly useful.

If someone is paying meaningful money to advertise against:

employee scheduling software

that's evidence that the query has commercial value.

But don't say “CPC > $X = buyer intent.” Some informational keywords have expensive CPCs, and some highly valuable SaaS queries have relatively little paid competition.

I'd give CPC a weighted score instead.

3. Use SERP composition as your strongest intent filter

This is the filter I'd put into your agency process.

Score each keyword based on what's ranking:

So if you have:

“employee onboarding software”

and the SERP is primarily SaaS vendors and comparison sites → high priority.

But:

“employee onboarding process”

with guides, templates, HR blogs and PDFs dominating → probably informational.

That's much more reliable than blindly trusting keyword-tool intent labels.

4. Steal the competitors' money keywords

For a SaaS onboarding, I'd make this one of the first deliverables.

Take 5–10 competitors into Ahrefs/Semrush and export:

Competitor → Organic keywords → position 1–20 → commercial modifiers/intents → relevant landing pages

Then look for patterns such as:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• best [category] software
• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [category] pricing
• [category] for [vertical]
• [category] for [job role]
• [category] integration
• [category] automation

This often produces a much better SaaS keyword universe than starting with generic topic brainstorming.

5. Don't automatically throw away informational keywords

I'd separate them into three buckets, rather than “good/bad”:

Tier 1 — BOFU

pricing, demo, software, platform, alternatives, comparison, vendor/product terms

These should generally map to money pages.

Tier 2 — MOFU

best, reviews, comparisons, use cases, “[category] for [industry]”

These can generate excellent commercial traffic and comparison content.

Tier 3 — TOFU

what is, how to, guide, examples, definition, tips

Keep only the TOFU terms that have a credible path toward the SaaS product. Otherwise, they're often the “informational fluff” you're trying to avoid.

My recommended agency workflow

I'd actually build the onboarding spreadsheet like this:

Ahrefs/Semrush discovery → competitor gap → GSC enrichment → automated filtering → manual SERP validation → keyword clustering → page mapping

For every keyword, retain:

Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC | Intent | SERP type | Competitor ranking | Current client URL | Funnel stage | Business relevance | Priority

Then give each keyword a Buyer Intent Score / 100.

A simple version:

Business relevance 30% + SERP intent 30% + CPC 15% + commercial modifiers 15% + competitor evidence 10%

That prevents the classic agency mistake of delivering 5,000 “relevant” keywords where 4,200 are people looking for definitions and how-to articles.

If I were setting up the stack from scratch for a SaaS agency, I'd use Ahrefs + GSC as the core, Semrush if you want stronger competitor/PPC research, and a spreadsheet/script for the actual buyer-intent scoring. The tools discover the keywords; your scoring framework decides whether they're worth pursuing. Semrush Ahrefs

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• best [category] software
• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [category] pricing
• [category] for [vertical]
• [category] for [job role]
• [category] integration
• [category] automation

This often produces a much better SaaS keyword universe than starting with generic topic brainstorming.

5. Don't automatically throw away informational keywords

I'd separate them into three buckets, rather than “good/bad”:

Tier 1 — BOFU

pricing, demo, software, platform, alternatives, comparison, vendor/product terms

These should generally map to money pages.

Tier 2 — MOFU

best, reviews, comparisons, use cases, “[category] for [industry]”

These can generate excellent commercial traffic and comparison content.

Tier 3 — TOFU

what is, how to, guide, examples, definition, tips

Keep only the TOFU terms that have a credible path toward the SaaS product. Otherwise, they're often the “informational fluff” you're trying to avoid.

My recommended agency workflow

I'd actually build the onboarding spreadsheet like this:

Ahrefs/Semrush discovery → competitor gap → GSC enrichment → automated filtering → manual SERP validation → keyword clustering → page mapping

For every keyword, retain:

Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC | Intent | SERP type | Competitor ranking | Current client URL | Funnel stage | Business relevance | Priority

Then give each keyword a Buyer Intent Score / 100.

A simple version:

Business relevance 30% + SERP intent 30% + CPC 15% + commercial modifiers 15% + competitor evidence 10%

That prevents the classic agency mistake of delivering 5,000 “relevant” keywords where 4,200 are people looking for definitions and how-to articles.

If I were setting up the stack from scratch for a SaaS agency, I'd use Ahrefs + GSC as the core, Semrush if you want stronger competitor/PPC research, and a spreadsheet/script for the actual buyer-intent scoring. The tools discover the keywords; your scoring framework decides whether they're worth pursuing. Semrush Ahrefs

For a SaaS client, I’d build the stack around intent + SERP evidence + business fit, rather than just search volume. The biggest mistake is letting a keyword tool’s “commercial” label become the definition of buyer intent.

My recommended SaaS keyword stack

1. ahrefs.com — primary research tool

If you want one tool to anchor the process, I’d use Ahrefs.

Use it for:

• Competitor keyword gap analysis
• Matching/related keyword discovery
• Commercial + transactional intent filtering
• SERP inspection
• CPC and SERP-feature signals
• Finding keywords competitors rank for that your client doesn't
• Assessing whether the SERP is actually relevant to the product

Ahrefs now provides intent filtering and AI-assisted SERP intent analysis, which is useful for separating obvious informational terms from commercial opportunities. Ahrefs Help Center Ahrefs

Particularly useful SaaS patterns:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• [category] pricing
• [category] software pricing
• best [category] software
• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [use case] software
• [use case] platform
• [category] for [industry]
• [category] for [company size]
• [product] integration
• [product] API
• [product] demo
• [product] free trial

Don't automatically discard informational keywords, though. An informational query is worthwhile if it attracts the client's ICP and has a credible product-led path to conversion. Ahrefs

2. semrush.com — excellent second opinion

Semrush is particularly good for large-scale discovery and intent filtering.

Its Keyword Magic Tool lets you filter by commercial/transactional intent, while Keyword Gap is useful for finding opportunities across several competitors. Semrush Semrush

I'd use:

Semrush → Keyword Gap → competitors → missing/weak keywords → Commercial + Transactional → export

Then run the resulting list through your own qualification model rather than accepting every “transactional” keyword.

3. Google Search Console — reality check

Once the SaaS site has meaningful organic visibility, GSC becomes extremely valuable.

Look for:

• Queries already generating impressions
• Queries ranking positions 4–20
• Commercial queries where the wrong page is ranking
• High-impression/low-CTR queries
• Queries driving traffic to product/pricing/use-case pages
• Unexpected language customers are actually using

This is especially valuable during onboarding because your client's existing search data beats generic keyword-tool estimates.

4. Google Keyword Planner — commercial validation

Use ads.google.com Keyword Planner primarily as a commercial-demand signal, not your main SEO keyword database.

If a term has meaningful advertiser activity/CPC, that's useful evidence that businesses value the traffic. But don't assume high CPC automatically means high organic conversion potential.

5. The client's own data — arguably the most important “tool”

Before generating 100k keywords, mine:

• CRM opportunity/lost-deal notes
• Sales-call transcripts
• Demo-request forms
• Support tickets
• Site search
• Customer interviews
• Product onboarding questions
• Paid-search query reports
• Competitor mentions from sales
• “How did you hear about us?” responses

For SaaS, this can uncover language that keyword databases don't capture particularly well.

How I'd filter out the fluff

I wouldn't simply do:

Intent = Transactional

Instead, I'd score every keyword on five dimensions:

Then classify:

Tier 1 — money keywords

Examples:

• project management software
• project management software for agencies
• asana alternatives
• project management software pricing
• best project management software
• project management platform

These deserve serious attention.

Tier 2 — high-value commercial education

Examples:

• project management software comparison
• asana vs monday
• how much does project management software cost
• project management tools for remote teams

Still valuable because the searcher is evaluating solutions.

Tier 3 — problem-aware

Examples:

• how to manage projects across multiple teams
• how to track project deadlines
• how to automate project reporting

These can be excellent if the ICP and product fit are strong.

Tier 4 — informational fluff

Examples:

• what is project management
• project management definition
• project management history
• types of project management
• project management examples

Not necessarily bad keywords—but they shouldn't automatically make it into the SaaS content roadmap simply because they have 10,000 searches/month.

Ahrefs makes essentially the same strategic point: informational volume isn't enough; the topic should have audience fit, traffic potential, and a credible product angle. Ahrefs

The SERP is your final filter

This is the part I'd emphasize to your agency team.

For every potentially valuable keyword, look at Google itself.

If the SERP contains:

• SaaS landing pages
• Product pages
• Pricing pages
• Comparison pages
• Review sites
• “Best software” lists
• Competitor pages
• Free-trial/demo pages
• Ads from SaaS companies

…I would increase the commercial-intent score.

If it's dominated by:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• PDFs
• academic material
• definitions
• government sites
• educational resources
• “how to” articles
• YouTube tutorials

…I'd be much more skeptical about its value for a SaaS landing-page/content program.

SERP features such as ads can also be useful buyer-intent signals because advertisers are effectively putting money behind those searches. Ahrefs

The agency workflow I'd actually use

Client/product research

→ ICP + use cases + competitors + product capabilities

Ahrefs/Semrush

→ competitor keywords + seed expansion + keyword gaps

Initial filters

→ commercial/transactional + relevant modifiers + sensible volume/KD

Custom intent scoring

→ ICP fit + product fit + buying proximity + business value

SERP validation

→ manually inspect the top 10 for your priority terms

GSC/Ads/CRM validation

→ confirm that actual customers use/convert around these themes

Final output

→ Keyword → Intent → Funnel stage → ICP → SERP type → Target URL → Business value → Priority

That last column is important. Don't give the client a giant keyword list. Give them a prioritized opportunity map.

For a SaaS onboarding, I'd generally prioritize “category + software,” alternatives, comparisons, pricing, use-case, industry, integrations, and competitor terms before building a huge informational blog program. Semrush specifically highlights commercial/transactional filtering and competitor keyword gaps as ways to get to these opportunities efficiently. Semrush Semrush

If you tell me what type of SaaS the client sells + their ICP + 3–5 competitors, I can also lay out a concrete keyword-research workflow and scoring model your agency could reuse for every SaaS onboarding.

For a SaaS client, I’d avoid treating keyword volume + difficulty as the primary qualification. The better workflow is to combine intent classification, SERP evidence, competitor data, and business value.

Recommended stack

1. ahrefs.com — primary SEO research

Probably my first choice if the goal is specifically to separate buyer intent from informational noise.

Use Keywords Explorer to:

• Filter directly by Commercial and Transactional intent.
• Filter out informational queries.
• Look at SERPs, CPC, traffic potential, difficulty and SERP features.
• Use Content Gap/Competitive Analysis to find terms competitors rank for that the SaaS doesn't.
• Inspect the actual SERP rather than trusting the intent label blindly. Ahrefs explicitly notes that intent is inferred from what Google shows, and a keyword can have multiple intents. Help Center Help Center

Its SERP-feature approach is particularly useful: ads, shopping results, product/comparison pages, etc. are strong clues that Google sees commercial value in the query. Ahrefs

2. semrush.com — excellent alternative / competitor layer

Semrush is especially good for SaaS because you can combine Keyword Magic Tool + Organic Research + Keyword Gap + Position Tracking.

The important bit for your use case is the ability to filter toward commercial/transactional terms and then investigate which competitors actually capture them. Semrush specifically positions these tools around finding keywords used by buyers at the evaluation/decision stage. Semrush Semrush

I'd pick Ahrefs OR Semrush as the core platform rather than paying for both unless your agency has enough clients to justify the overlap.

3. ads.google.com — intent validation

Don't use Keyword Planner as your main SEO discovery engine. Use it as a commerciality signal.

Useful columns include:

• Top-of-page bid
• Competition
• Average monthly searches
• Organic impression share
• Ad impression share

Google explicitly allows these filters in Keyword Planner. Google Help

A SaaS keyword with meaningful advertiser bids is often more commercially interesting than an equally popular keyword with essentially no advertising activity.

4. search.google.com — mine existing demand

This is essential once you have access to the client's site.

Look for queries where the client is already getting impressions/ranking around positions 4–30, particularly:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• [competitor] alternative
• [competitor] vs [competitor]
• [category] pricing
• [category] software pricing
• best [category] software
• best [category] tools
• [use case] software
• [use case] platform

GSC won't give you search volume or difficulty, so pair it with Ahrefs/Semrush. Ahrefs

The filtering system I'd use for an agency

Don't simply say:

Commercial/transactional = keep; informational = delete.

That's too crude for SaaS.

I'd create a Buyer Intent Score.

Then add SERP validation.

A keyword becomes a priority when:

Intent + SERP + business relevance all agree.

For example:

project management software for construction

Likely high priority.

Whereas:

what is project management

Probably low priority, even if it has 10× the search volume.

And:

project management methodology

May be useful for topical authority, but I'd classify it as supporting content, not a revenue-first keyword.

The biggest trick: look at the SERP, not just the keyword

For every serious candidate, inspect the first page.

I'd ask:

1. Are SaaS/product pages ranking?
2. Are competitors' pricing/product pages ranking?
3. Are comparison/review sites ranking?
4. Are there ads?
5. Does Google show "best software" type results?
6. Are the ranking pages commercial landing pages or educational articles?
7. Does the SERP appear to be dominated by definitions, guides, Reddit, Wikipedia, etc.?

If the SERP is dominated by product/category/comparison/pricing pages, that's strong evidence of commercial intent.

If it's dominated by Wikipedia, educational guides, forums and "what is/how to" pages, treat it as informational—even if your keyword tool labels it commercial.

For SaaS specifically, I'd build these keyword buckets

Tier 1 — money keywords

Highest priority:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• best [category] software
• [category] pricing
• [category] demo
• [category] free trial
• [category] software for [ICP]

Tier 2 — competitor capture

Extremely valuable for SaaS:

• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] alternative
• [competitor] vs [client]
• [competitor A] vs [competitor B]
• [competitor] pricing
• [competitor] reviews

These can be some of your highest-converting SEO pages despite relatively modest volume.

Tier 3 — use-case keywords

Often overlooked:

• [problem] software
• [problem] platform
• software for [job/function]
• automate [process]
• [process] automation software
• [industry] [category] software

These are particularly valuable because the searcher may not know the client's category terminology yet.

Tier 4 — informational

Keep selectively:

• how to...
• what is...
• why does...
• examples of...
• guide to...

Don't automatically throw these away. They can build topical authority and introduce prospects earlier in the funnel. But don't let them consume the same priority bucket as pages designed to generate demos/trials.

My ideal agency workflow

Ahrefs/Semrush → keyword universe → intent filter → SERP review → business-value scoring → GSC validation → final content map

I'd give each keyword these fields in your master sheet:

Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC | Intent | SERP Type | Business Relevance | Funnel Stage | Current Position | Competitor Ranking | Conversion Potential | Priority

Then have the strategist manually review the top ~100–300 opportunities, rather than trying to automate intent classification perfectly.

The important distinction is:

Search intent tells you what the user wants. SERP composition tells you what Google believes they want. Business relevance tells you whether you should care.

That combination is much better at stripping out SEO "fluff" than simply filtering out keywords containing what, how, or guide. Help Center Ahrefs

If you're onboarding a B2B SaaS, I can also give you a concrete keyword-scoring spreadsheet framework (with formulas and thresholds) that an SEO team can reuse across every SaaS client.

1. Are SaaS/product pages ranking?
2. Are competitors' pricing/product pages ranking?
3. Are comparison/review sites ranking?
4. Are there ads?
5. Does Google show "best software" type results?
6. Are the ranking pages commercial landing pages or educational articles?
7. Does the SERP appear to be dominated by definitions, guides, Reddit, Wikipedia, etc.?

If the SERP is dominated by product/category/comparison/pricing pages, that's strong evidence of commercial intent.

If it's dominated by Wikipedia, educational guides, forums and "what is/how to" pages, treat it as informational—even if your keyword tool labels it commercial.

For SaaS specifically, I'd build these keyword buckets

Tier 1 — money keywords

Highest priority:

• [category] software
• [category] platform
• [category] tool
• best [category] software
• [category] pricing
• [category] demo
• [category] free trial
• [category] software for [ICP]

Tier 2 — competitor capture

Extremely valuable for SaaS:

• [competitor] alternatives
• [competitor] alternative
• [competitor] vs [client]
• [competitor A] vs [competitor B]
• [competitor] pricing
• [competitor] reviews

These can be some of your highest-converting SEO pages despite relatively modest volume.

Tier 3 — use-case keywords

Often overlooked:

• [problem] software
• [problem] platform
• software for [job/function]
• automate [process]
• [process] automation software
• [industry] [category] software

These are particularly valuable because the searcher may not know the client's category terminology yet.

Tier 4 — informational

Keep selectively:

• how to...
• what is...
• why does...
• examples of...
• guide to...

Don't automatically throw these away. They can build topical authority and introduce prospects earlier in the funnel. But don't let them consume the same priority bucket as pages designed to generate demos/trials.

My ideal agency workflow

Ahrefs/Semrush → keyword universe → intent filter → SERP review → business-value scoring → GSC validation → final content map

I'd give each keyword these fields in your master sheet:

Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC | Intent | SERP Type | Business Relevance | Funnel Stage | Current Position | Competitor Ranking | Conversion Potential | Priority

Then have the strategist manually review the top ~100–300 opportunities, rather than trying to automate intent classification perfectly.

The important distinction is:

Search intent tells you what the user wants. SERP composition tells you what Google believes they want. Business relevance tells you whether you should care.

That combination is much better at stripping out SEO "fluff" than simply filtering out keywords containing what, how, or guide.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. help.ahrefs.com

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. ahrefs.com

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for:
  • Intent
  • Funnel stage
  • CPC
  • Difficulty
  • Search volume
  • SERP type
  • Target page
  • Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. help.ahrefs.com

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. ahrefs.com

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for:
  • Intent
  • Funnel stage
  • CPC
  • Difficulty
  • Search volume
  • SERP type
  • Target page
  • Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. Ahrefs Help Center Semrush

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. Ahrefs

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for: - Intent
• Funnel stage
• CPC
• Difficulty
• Search volume
• SERP type
• Target page
• Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. help.ahrefs.com

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. ahrefs.com

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for:
  • Intent
  • Funnel stage
  • CPC
  • Difficulty
  • Search volume
  • SERP type
  • Target page
  • Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For SaaS clients, the biggest mistake agencies make is chasing search volume instead of purchase intent. I'd optimize your onboarding process around identifying keywords that correlate with demos, free trials, and sales conversations—not blog traffic.

Here's the stack I'd recommend:

My SaaS keyword workflow

1. Start with competitor pages—not keywords

Instead of searching for "CRM software," find competitors and extract:

• Landing pages
• Integration pages
• Comparison pages
• Alternative pages
• Pricing pages
• Industry pages

These usually contain the highest-converting keywords.

2. Filter aggressively for commercial intent

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter for:

✅ Commercial

✅ Transactional

Exclude:

• Informational
• "How to"
• Definitions
• Beginner guides
• History
• Statistics
• Templates (unless your product solves that problem)

Both Ahrefs and Semrush let you filter by search intent directly. help.ahrefs.com

3. Build an "intent modifier" list

These modifiers almost always produce better SaaS opportunities:

High intent:

• software
• platform
• tool
• app
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• free trial
• enterprise
• API
• integration
• alternative
• competitor
• compare
• vs
• reviews
• best

Examples:

• payroll software for startups
• HubSpot alternative
• Jira vs Linear
• SOC 2 compliance platform
• CRM with WhatsApp integration

4. Ignore raw search volume

I'd rather target:

• 150 searches
• 800 CPC
• product pages ranking

than

• 15,000 searches
• $0.40 CPC
• all blog posts ranking

High CPC often indicates advertisers see commercial value, making it a useful secondary signal. ahrefs.com

5. Use the SERP as the final judge

Search every promising keyword.

If Google shows mostly:

• Product pages ✅
• Pricing pages ✅
• Comparison pages ✅
• Vendor directories ✅

it's likely buyer intent.

If it shows:

• Wikipedia
• Reddit discussions
• "What is..."
• Beginner guides
• YouTube tutorials

it's usually informational.

SaaS keyword buckets I'd create

Bottom of Funnel (highest priority)

• competitor alternatives
• competitor vs competitor
• software
• pricing
• demos
• integrations
• enterprise solutions

Examples:

• Notion alternative
• Asana pricing
• HubSpot vs Salesforce

Middle Funnel

• best CRM for nonprofits
• HIPAA scheduling software
• project management software for architects

These are often some of the best ROI pages.

Top Funnel (limited investment)

Only create content that naturally leads into the product.

Examples:

• how to automate invoices
• customer onboarding checklist
• SOC 2 compliance checklist

Avoid broad educational topics that don't connect directly to the buying journey.

My favorite agency stack

• Ahrefs → competitor research, keyword gaps, backlink analysis
• Semrush → keyword intent filtering, clustering, position tracking
• Google Search Console → identify quick wins from existing impressions
• Google Sheets or Airtable → maintain a master keyword database with columns for:
  • Intent
  • Funnel stage
  • CPC
  • Difficulty
  • Search volume
  • SERP type
  • Target page
  • Business value score

For onboarding specifically, I'd score every keyword on Business Value (1–5) before looking at search volume. A keyword like "competitor alternative" with 200 monthly searches is often far more valuable than an informational query with 20,000 searches because it attracts users much closer to making a purchasing decision.

For a SaaS client, I’d use a stack rather than one keyword tool. The key is to distinguish search volume from commercial value—a 10k-volume “what is X?” keyword can be far less valuable than a 200-volume “X software for [use case]” query.

My recommended SEO stack

1. Start with Ahrefs or Semrush

Both now have explicit intent classification.

Ahrefs lets you bulk-filter keywords by informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional intent, as well as branded/local attributes. help.ahrefs.comahrefs.com

Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool similarly lets you filter by intent, CPC, volume, KD, word count, and SERP features. www.semrush.comwww.semrush.com

For SaaS, I'd start with:

Commercial

• best [category]
• [category] software
• [category] tools
• [product] alternatives
• [competitor] alternatives
• [category] platforms
• [category] solutions
• [use case] software
• [use case] tool

Transactional

• [product] pricing
• [product] cost
• [product] demo
• [product] free trial
• buy [category] software
• [product] discount
• [product] plans

Then add SaaS-specific modifiers around the client's actual product/category.

2. Don't blindly exclude informational keywords

This is where agencies often overcorrect.

I'd classify queries into three buckets:

P0 — Bottom-funnel

pricing, demo, alternatives, software, platform, vendor, buy, free trial

P1 — Mid-funnel

best X, X tools, X software, X vs Y, X for [industry/use case], alternatives

P2 — Top-funnel

what is X, how does X work, X definition, X examples, X tips, X guide

P2 isn't necessarily "fluff." It just shouldn't consume the same content budget as P0/P1.

Ahrefs explicitly notes that commercial queries tend to involve product/service comparison, while transactional queries indicate readiness to take an action such as purchasing. help.ahrefs.com

3. Use CPC as a surprisingly useful signal

For SaaS, I would not filter purely by search intent labels.

Add CPC to your scoring model.

For example:

Keyword A: 5,000 searches, $0.20 CPC, informational
Keyword B: 300 searches, $18 CPC, commercial

I'd investigate B first.

CPC isn't proof of organic conversion intent, but advertisers putting significant money behind a query is useful evidence that the query has economic value. Semrush exposes CPC alongside volume, difficulty and intent specifically for this kind of evaluation. www.semrush.comwww.semrush.com

4. The most important filter: inspect the SERP

This is the step I'd make mandatory for your agency.

Intent tools are predictions, not truth. Semrush's intent classification uses factors including SERP features and intent-bearing words, while Ahrefs acknowledges that intent can be mixed or occasionally misclassified. help.ahrefs.comwww.semrush.com

For each important keyword, ask:

What does Google think the searcher wants?

If the SERP is dominated by:

• product pages
• SaaS vendors
• comparison pages
• pricing pages
• review/listicle pages
• category pages

→ commercial opportunity

If it's dominated by:

• Wikipedia
• definitions
• how-to articles
• educational publishers
• Reddit/forums
• generic informational blogs

→ probably informational

If it's mixed, that's often an interesting opportunity—but you need to decide which page type can realistically compete.

5. Use competitor keyword gaps to discover the real buyer terms

For SaaS, I'd put a lot of emphasis on:

Ahrefs Site Explorer → competitors → Organic Keywords / Content Gap

Look specifically for terms where competitors rank with:

• product/category pages
• comparison pages
• alternatives pages
• use-case landing pages
• industry landing pages

That's often much more valuable than generating thousands of keywords from a seed term.

Ahrefs also supports keyword-gap analysis and identifying opportunities based on competitors' rankings. help.ahrefs.comahrefs.com

6. Build a simple agency scoring model

I'd ultimately stop thinking in terms of "informational vs commercial" and score every keyword:

Buyer Intent Score (0–10)

• +3 transactional intent
• +2 commercial intent
• +2 SaaS/product/category modifier
• +1 high CPC
• +1 competitor/product comparison
• +1 SERP contains vendor/product pages
• −2 purely informational modifier
• −2 definition/question with no commercial angle

Then combine it with:

Opportunity Score = Buyer Intent × Relevance × Ranking Feasibility × Traffic Potential

That gives you a much better prioritization system than:

"Volume > 500 and KD < 30"

One particularly useful trick

Don't just filter out informational terms. Create an exclusion list for obvious low-value queries:

what is
definition
meaning
examples
history
statistics
jobs
salary
course
certification
tutorial
how to
template
free (careful—this can be highly commercial for SaaS)

Then review the exclusions rather than automatically deleting them. For SaaS, terms like template, free, how to, and guide can occasionally have excellent product-led conversion paths.

If I were setting this up for an agency today: I'd make Ahrefs + Semrush + GSC + Keyword Planner + manual SERP validation the core workflow. Ahrefs/Semrush generate and classify; GSC tells you what's already working; Keyword Planner adds advertiser-value data; and the SERP is the final judge.

For a SaaS SEO engagement, I’d use a stack rather than a single keyword tool. The goal is to discover broadly, then aggressively filter for commercial relevance + evidence of a buying journey.

My recommended stack

Semrush and Ahrefs are particularly useful because they now expose intent classifications. Ahrefs lets you bulk-filter keywords as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional. help.ahrefs.com Semrush has equivalent intent filtering and specifically recommends commercial + transactional filters when prioritizing revenue-driving keywords. www.semrush.com

The workflow I'd use for your SaaS clients

1. Start with competitor keyword gaps

Put in 3–5 direct competitors in Semrush/Ahrefs and pull:

• Missing keywords
• Weak keywords
• Commercial intent
• Transactional intent
• Non-branded
• Reasonable KD
• Keywords where competitors have product/solution pages ranking

Semrush's Keyword Gap specifically supports Missing/Weak filtering alongside intent. www.semrush.com

2. Build a buyer-intent modifier library

For SaaS, don't rely solely on the tool's intent label. Create your own modifiers.

High-value examples:

Solution/category

• project management software
• accounting software
• customer feedback platform

Evaluation

• best [category] software
• [category] tools
• [product] alternatives
• [competitor] alternatives
• [product] vs [competitor]
• [category] comparison
• [product] reviews

Commercial/action

• [product] pricing
• [product] cost
• [category] pricing
• [product] demo
• [product] free trial
• [product] discount

Problem + solution

• software for [specific problem]
• tool for [specific workflow]
• automate [business process]
• [use case] software

This is where SaaS gets interesting: "best X software" isn't transactional in the traditional sense, but it can be extremely valuable commercially. Semrush similarly distinguishes commercial intent (research/comparison) from transactional intent (ready to act). www.semrush.com

3. Use CPC as a signal, not a filter

This is where I'd bring in Keyword Planner.

Google provides keyword ideas, monthly searches and bid estimates. support.google.com

For an SEO agency, a keyword with:

500 searches + $15 CPC

may be substantially more interesting than:

10,000 searches + $0.20 CPC

The CPC isn't proof that organic visitors convert, but it can indicate that advertisers perceive commercial value.

4. Build an explicit "fluff filter"

I'd score every candidate keyword against something like:

Buyer Intent Score

• +3 = transactional
• +2 = commercial investigation
• +2 = product/category explicitly mentioned
• +2 = pricing/cost/demo/trial
• +2 = competitor comparison
• +1 = strong SaaS use-case modifier
• +1 = meaningful CPC
• −3 = purely informational
• −2 = definition/meaning query
• −2 = tutorial/how-to with no product angle
• −2 = academic/general research
• −3 = irrelevant audience/use case

Then prioritize roughly:

8+ → Tier 1 money keywords
5–7 → Tier 2 commercial opportunities
2–4 → supporting content
<2 → usually reject

5. Don't automatically throw out informational keywords

This is the important nuance.

I'd filter out informational fluff, not informational keywords wholesale.

For example, suppose the SaaS is an HR platform:

The key question isn't:

"Is this informational?"

It's:

"Does ranking for this query put the SaaS in front of someone who could plausibly become a customer?"

6. Finally, manually validate the SERP

This is the step I'd make mandatory before a keyword enters the strategy.

If you search employee onboarding software and Google returns:

• SaaS product pages
• Software directories
• Comparison pages
• Vendor landing pages
• Product reviews

that's strong evidence of commercial intent.

If you search employee onboarding and Google returns:

• Wikipedia
• Government resources
• Academic articles
• How-to guides
• PDFs

that's a very different SERP, regardless of what a keyword tool labels it.

Ahrefs explicitly bases its intent classification on SERP data and notes that a keyword can have multiple intents. help.ahrefs.comwww.semrush.com

If I were setting up your agency's standard process

I'd make the pipeline:

Semrush/Ahrefs discovery → competitor gaps → intent filter → modifier/CPC filters → GSC validation → SERP inspection → business-value scoring → keyword clustering → page mapping

And I'd maintain three separate keyword buckets:

1. Revenue keywords — product/category, alternatives, comparisons, pricing, demo/trial
2. Problem/use-case keywords — searches from people experiencing the problem the SaaS solves
3. Authority/supporting keywords — informational content that can feed the commercial funnel

That prevents the classic SaaS SEO mistake of reporting 100k+ informational traffic as a win while generating very little pipeline.

For a SaaS client, I’d use a stack rather than one keyword tool. The key is separating “people searching around the problem” from “people evaluating or buying a solution.”

My recommended stack

The filtering framework I'd give the team

Start broad, then score keywords rather than simply deleting everything informational.

Tier 1 — Money keywords

• software
• platform
• tool
• solution
• pricing
• cost
• demo
• trial
• buy
• subscription
• alternative
• competitor
• [competitor] vs [client]
• [competitor] alternative

These tend to sit closest to evaluation/purchase. Semrush defines transactional intent as users looking to take an action/buy, while commercial intent captures people researching products/services before buying. www.semrush.com

Tier 2 — High-value commercial investigation

This is the bucket I'd be careful not to throw away:

• best [category] software
• best [category] tools
• [category] software for [industry]
• [category] for [use case]
• [competitor] alternatives
• [client] reviews
• [client] pricing
• X vs Y
• X alternatives

These may not contain an obvious “buy” modifier, but the SERP can reveal strong buying intent. Ahrefs specifically recommends looking at SERP features such as ads/product results as evidence of commercial intent. ahrefs.com

Tier 3 — Problem-aware informational

Don't automatically kill these:

• how to [solve problem]
• ways to [solve problem]
• [problem] software
• how to automate [use case]
• [use case] tools
• [problem] solution

I'd retain them when the SaaS product is a natural solution and there is a plausible path from the content → product page → trial/demo.

Tier 4 — Usually fluff

I'd deprioritize things like:

• what is [generic concept]
• [concept] definition
• [concept] meaning
• history of [topic]
• examples of [generic topic]
• statistics
• salary
• jobs
• course
• certification
• template / worksheet / pdf (unless the client monetizes these)
• queries where the SERP is dominated by Wikipedia, educational institutions, news, etc.

The important part: add a Business Intent score

I wouldn't rely on Semrush/Ahrefs' intent labels alone.

For every candidate keyword, score:

Buyer Intent = 0–5

• 5: pricing/demo/trial/buy
• 4: alternatives/comparison/best software
• 3: category + use case/industry
• 2: problem-aware but solution isn't explicit
• 1: broad informational topic
• 0: irrelevant/non-commercial

Then add:

Business Relevance = 0–5

• Does the SaaS actually solve this?
• Is the searcher likely to be the ICP?
• Is there a logical landing/product page?

And:

SERP Commerciality = 0–5

• Ads?
• Competitor SaaS landing pages?
• Review/comparison sites?
• Product/category pages?
• “Best software” lists?

Then prioritize something like:

Priority = Buyer Intent + Business Relevance + SERP Commerciality − Difficulty penalty

That produces a much better SaaS keyword set than simply exporting 100k keywords and filtering for “transactional.”

One workflow I'd use for onboarding

1. Seed from the product

• Product category
• Core use cases
• Pain points
• ICP/verticals
• Competitors
• Features
• Integrations

2. Expand in Semrush + Ahrefs

3. Immediately separate

• Commercial
• Transactional
• Informational
• Navigational

4. Apply modifier filters

Include:
best | software | platform | tool | solution | pricing | cost | demo | trial | alternative | comparison | vs | reviews | for [industry] | for [use case]

Exclude where appropriate:
definition | meaning | history | jobs | salary | course | certification | homework | free template | pdf

5. Run the survivors through Google Keyword Planner

Use CPC/bid data as a commercial-value signal, not an intent verdict. www.semrush.combusiness.google.comhelp.ahrefs.com

6. Manually inspect the SERP for the top ~100–300 terms

This catches the biggest problem with automated intent classification: the same wording can have radically different intent depending on the SERP. Ahrefs likewise notes that intent is inferred from what Google actually returns and that keywords can have mixed intent. help.ahrefs.com

7. Validate against GSC

Once you have access to the client's property, GSC gives you the most valuable dataset: what their actual audience is already searching for. support.google.com

If I were choosing only 3

For an SEO agency onboarding a SaaS account:

Semrush + Ahrefs + Google Search Console

Then use Google Keyword Planner + manual SERP analysis as validation layers.

The big strategic distinction I'd make to the client is “informational” ≠ “worthless.” For SaaS, I'd eliminate low-business-value informational keywords, not informational keywords wholesale. A query like “how to automate X” can be considerably more valuable than a high-volume “X definition” keyword if the SaaS is the obvious solution.

For a SaaS client, I’d use a stack rather than one keyword tool. The key is to separate keyword discovery from intent qualification.

My recommended stack

The big one: Ahrefs intent filtering

For an agency workflow, Ahrefs is particularly useful because its current Keywords Explorer lets you bulk-filter keywords by informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional intent, as well as branded/local attributes. help.ahrefs.com

I'd start with:

Keep