Skip to main content

Keyword research for SaaS

Keyword research is the most important work you do in Google Ads. The keywords you pick determine which queries enter your ads' auctions. Good keywords send your budget toward people likely to buy. Bad keywords send your budget toward people who will click but never convert.

This article covers how to think about keywords for B2B SaaS specifically.

Start with intent, not volume​

The instinct is to find keywords with high search volume. That instinct is wrong. Volume matters, but it is not enough on its own. What matters is intent: is this searcher likely to fit your product right now?

Five buckets of intent, in roughly the order they convert:

1. Branded competitor terms​

People who search for a specific competitor by name. "Salesforce alternative", "alternatives to Asana", "Mailchimp competitors".

These convert exceptionally well. The searcher is dissatisfied with a known competitor and looks for alternatives. In effect, they ask to switch.

The catch: Google lets you use a competitor's name as a keyword. But Google can restrict the name in your ad text when the trademark owner complains. Keep the name out of headlines, descriptions, and sitelinks. Check the local trademark law for your market.

2. Switching intent terms​

Variants of the terms above that do not name a specific competitor. "Switching CRMs", "CRM alternatives for startups", "replace my CRM".

Slightly less specific, but still high intent. The searcher is actively looking to buy.

3. Specific category + qualifier terms​

Terms that narrow your category to a specific use case. "CRM for sales engineering teams", "project management for consulting", "email marketing for ecommerce".

These match buyers who know what category they want and have a specific use case. They convert well if your ad and landing page address that use case.

4. Broad category terms​

The category name without a qualifier. "CRM software", "project management tool", "email marketing platform".

Category searches that include "software", "tool", or "platform" show buying intent: the searcher looks for a product. They have the highest volume and the highest competition. Each conversion usually costs more than on a qualified term, because more advertisers bid on them. Hero Marketer keeps these terms in its keyword clusters. Searches that only ask a question ("what is a CRM") show low intent.

5. Top of funnel research terms​

"What is a CRM", "how to manage a sales pipeline", "introduction to email marketing".

Almost never convert directly. The searcher wants to learn, not buy. Target these terms if you have content that captures email addresses to nurture leads. Skip them if your only goal is a direct conversion.

Avoid these patterns​

Your own brand name​

If you are already known, people who search for your brand will find you organically. When you bid on your brand, you pay for clicks you would get for free anyway. The exception is when a competitor bids on your brand name. Then bid on it too, to defend it. To defend your brand with Hero Marketer, choose Brand search in the Search type menu of the campaign wizard.

Generic adjectives​

"Best", "top", and "compare" are evaluation signals when they are next to a specific niche ("best CRM for sales engineering"). Alone ("best CRM"), they add little.

"Free" is useful only if you have a free tier. Otherwise, skip it.

Job titles​

"Account executive", "marketing manager". Job titles are not search queries. People who search their own job title probably look for a job, not your product.

Industry names​

"SaaS", "B2B", "fintech". Too broad, too top of funnel. Useful as filters or categories, not as keywords.

How to find keywords​

A few approaches, in order of effectiveness:

Mine your own data​

If you have any organic traffic, your search console (Google Search Console) shows what queries bring people to your site. Those are real intent signals. Some will be good keywords for paid ads. Many will not.

Look at competitor ads​

Type your competitor brand name into Google. Look at the ads that show up, especially ads from other companies that bid on your competitor's brand. Their ads are public. Their keyword lists are not, but the ad copy shows which searches they target and gives you ideas.

Use Google's keyword planner​

Google Ads has a built in keyword planner. Type a seed phrase. Get keyword suggestions. Volume estimates are noisy, but they give a rough guide.

Use AI-driven keyword tools​

Hero Marketer's campaign wizard generates keyword clusters from one seed keyword, your product name, and the first point of What problem does your product solve? in your product context. It pulls from Google's keyword data and keeps only high intent keywords, in 1 to 3 clusters of up to 10 keywords. It is faster than manual research, and it stays grounded in what your product is. See Choose keywords and budget.

You can also ask Hero AI. For example: "What keywords should I target for CRM for sales engineering in the United States?" Hero AI asks for a country if you do not give one. Tell Hero AI what you need, for example competitor terms or one segment, and Hero AI follows your request. To check a list that you already have, paste up to 1,000 keywords. Hero AI returns Google's monthly searches, competition, and top-of-page bid range for each keyword. See Research keywords in chat.

Talk to customers​

Especially newer customers. Ask: "When you were searching for a tool like ours, what did you type into Google?" The answers are often surprising and rarely match what marketing thinks customers search.

Match types matter​

Google Ads has three keyword match types:

  • Exact match. Ads can show on searches with the same meaning or intent as the keyword. Tightest control.
  • Phrase match. Ads can show on searches that include the meaning of the keyword. Looser.
  • Broad match. Ads can show on searches that are related to the keyword. Loosest, most volume, most risk.

For most B2B SaaS, start new keywords as Exact match. Add Phrase match when you want more reach. Use Broad match only on a Smart Bidding campaign that has about 15 or more conversions in 30 days. Add negative keywords as Phrase match.

The campaign wizard adds Search keywords as Exact match, and Search retargeting keywords as Broad match. To add a keyword with a different match type later, ask Hero AI. Hero AI shows an approval card first.

Negative keywords are half the work​

A keyword tells Google what to bid on. A negative keyword tells Google what never to bid on, regardless of other matches.

Negatives are how you cut wasted spend. Common B2B SaaS negatives:

  • "Free" (if you do not have a free tier, or if you do not want people who only look for free options).
  • "Job", "career", "salary" (people who research jobs, not tools to buy).
  • "Definition", "what is", "examples", "tutorial" (research, not a purchase).
  • "Reddit", "YouTube" (people who look for opinions or content, not products).
  • Brand names of products with completely different use cases that share keywords.

Run your campaigns for a week. Pull the search terms report from Google Ads. Add anything irrelevant as a negative keyword. Repeat weekly for the first month.

In Hero Marketer, ask Hero AI which search terms waste spend. Hero AI proposes negative keywords on an approval card, as Phrase match by default. The "Search terms wasting budget" alert can also do this check every day. The "Block wasting search terms" automation can add each flagged term as an Exact match negative keyword, with daily caps and one click revert. The automation is off by default. Daily checks cost 0.25 credits a day for each connected account.

How many keywords per campaign​

Tight clusters of about 5 to 15 high intent keywords work well. Hero Marketer's keyword clusters hold up to 10 keywords. Hundreds of keywords in one campaign usually mean the cluster is too broad.

If you are tempted to throw 200 keywords into one campaign, the right move is usually to split them by intent into several tight clusters. See Building keyword clusters.

A starter list for a B2B SaaS​

If you start from zero, build campaigns around these intent buckets:

  1. Alternative to [biggest competitor]. One campaign, often the highest converter.
  2. [Category] for [your specific customer type]. "CRM for sales engineering", "project management for consulting".
  3. [Specific job your product does]. "Track engineering work", "automate email outreach".
  4. [Pain point your product solves]. "Reduce manual data entry", "speed up sales handoff".

Four campaigns, each with one tight cluster, get you quickly to the data that tells you what works.

Next​