HR Tech SEO: 11 Strategies to Drive Signups and Leads

As you’ve likely already discovered, the world of HR tech can be fiercely competitive. It’s not enough to have a great product — you must also distinguish yourself from your competitors. In today’s digital world, that means having a solid marketing strategy that allows your HR tech company to stand out online. 

If you hope to improve your digital profile, you need a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. 

The right plan will get you better search engine results page (SERP) rankings, increase your site traffic, and encourage more visitors to convert.

Here are 11 proven strategies to help you accomplish these all-important goals.

1. Before You Start With HR Tech SEO, Start With an Audit

You need to have your foundational SEO elements set before you start your actual SEO strategy. 

You don’t want to start creating all of the content only to find out that Google can’t crawl or index any of your content. 

So, starting off with an SEO audit will allow you to thoroughly review your website’s current and find areas that need improvement. 

Otherwise, it becomes difficult to tell which strategies are working and which ones aren’t.

These audits will typically involve:

• Indexing issues
• Page speed
• Mobile usability 
• Page experience
• Content audits
• On-page SEO fixes (title tag, meta description, HTML headers)
• Redirect fixes
• Internal link audits

Long story short, make sure you have the foundation set before you start building your house. 

2. Have Your Technical SEO Foundations Set

Your SEO audit will identify any issues with technical SEO, but you need to fix these issues before you start any SEO strategy. 

This mainly pertains to search engines’ ability to discover, crawl, index, and render your content. 

If you have any issues with any of those, your content will struggle to rank.

You can use Google Search Console’s coverage report to review any pages with indexing issues.

3. Focus on Building EEAT and Align Content With YMYL

These two acronyms might be unfamiliar, but they’re important to factor into your SEO strategy. 

The first one, “EEAT,” stands for “Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.”

EEAT isn’t a factor that Google uses when ranking results on their SERPs. 

But in a way, it’s more important — it describes what Google’s Quality Raters look for when determining the quality of a specific search result. 

Quality Raters monitor Google’s search results to ensure that they return quality selections that meet search intent.

Even if Quality Raters weren’t a thing, it would still be a good idea to build EEAT, as experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are all things potential customers look for in search results too.

“YMYL” is another useful acronym to know. It stands for “Your Money or Your Life.” 

YMYL describes a type of content that has the potential to seriously impact a person’s life, such as health or finances. 

• Industries that fall under YMYL typically include:
• Healthcare and medical information.
• Financial advice or information.
• Legal advice or information.
• News and current events.
• Groups of people (information about or affecting those considered vulnerable).
• Safety advice or information.

Depending on the types of content for a B2B HR SaaS, you may not need to worry about YMYL. 

But if you write about content that classifies as YMYL, it’s useful to know that Quality Raters will use EEAT to gauge whether your content is worth showing to searchers or not. 

For instance, if your tech product was focused around payroll, the content you create would classify as YMYL since it has the potential to impact a person’s (or company’s) financial situation. 

So let’s say you are Paycom, and you’re creating content around your payroll solution; if you start creating misleading content, like inaccurate information on how to run payroll or tax-related information, Google might actually devalue your content.

Google uses algorithms like their helpful content system to measure content as a sitewide signal, so if you’re displaying inaccurate information, especially content that falls under the YMYL category, Paycom could see their content devalued across their entire website.

So especially with YMYL, focus on building EEAT, while ensuring your content is accurate and not misleading. 

4. Build Authority With Link Building

Link building is a strategy that involves getting other sites to link to your site. 

Each link back to your site is known as a “backlink,” and backlinks are essential to building site authority and establishing more trust with search engines.

Especially in the case of EEAT, backlinks make up a good majority of the “trustworthy” part of it.

That said, getting backlinks, especially in the B2B space, is sometimes harder than it might initially appear. 

Here are a few effective link-building strategies that work well for B2B HR Tech companies.

Guest-Post on Relevant Websites

Guest posts have been around since the dawn of SEO time. And while they used to be more impactful, they’re still a powerful tactic, especially if you know how to use them.

Now, back in the early days of SEO, people would pitch anything and a link (no matter the site would help them rank). 

So, as Google updated their algorithm, spammy guest post practices got decimated. If you’re fortunate enough, hopefully you don’t receive backlink pitch after backlink pitch on LinkedIn. And if you do, stay away, it’s basically spam.

But back to the matter at hand. If you want link building to work, especially in a complicated industry like B2B HR tech, you need to find websites that are relevant to your niche.

So, how do you pitch relevant B2B HR tech websites without going straight to your competitors? You go broad rather than specific. 

It is great if you can find actual HR tech websites to publish on, but if not, you can go for websites focused on B2B and HR.

So, assuming you’re reading this as a marketing professional at an HR tech company, this can work in a few ways. 

You can: 1. Use your marketing expertise to publish on websites like searchenginejournal.com or MarTech.com. 

Or 2. You can use the brand to publish thought leadership on Deloitte or SHRM.org.

Now, it’s obviously no easy feat to be featured on these websites, but it’s important that you do to build relevance around your links.

It’s a different world for link building now, and industry-relevant links are one of the most effective ways to go about it.

Just remember, quality over quantity any day. 

Would you rather spend $100 for 5 irrelevant websites or $500 for one solid link that actually helps with SEO and gets eyes on your brand? Remember, link building isn’t just an SEO tactic; it can also be a PR tactic too. 

Digital PR to Boost Awareness and Authority

Going off my previous point, this is where you can blend PR with SEO. So now, not only are you building authority through SEO, but you’re targeting highly trafficked publications that will get eyeballs on your brand. 

Even for an HR tech company, there are plenty of ways you can leverage digital PR. You can: 

• Thought Leadership on HR Tech Trends
• High-Profile Client Case Study Showcases
• Influencer Collaborations in HR Space
• Engaging HR Data Visualizations and Infographics
• Social Media Campaigns with User Success Stories
• SEO-Driven HR Tech Resource Pages
• Virtual HR Tech Conference Participation
• Industry-Specific HR Tech Research Reports
• Interactive HR Tools for Online Engagement
• Targeted Email Campaigns with HR Tech Insights
• ROI Tools for HR Professionals to Gauge Tech Impact
• Sponsored Digital Features on HR Platforms

Digital PR will look different for every company, but it shouldn’t be discouraged, especially if you’re an HR tech company. 

You’re not boxed in by your industry. 

Attend Podcasts and Webinars to Get Links (Which Also Builds Authority)

Collaborating with podcasters and webinar creators allows you to spread the word about your brand, establish authority and credibility, and even score a few backlinks. 

When asking a content creator if they’ll feature you, be prepared to give them a compelling reason they should choose you over other HR SaaS companies.

And again, if you’re a marketing professional, you can still book webinars to discuss general B2B marketing tactics.

It can be a good way to get visibility for your HR tech solution. Marketing agencies have HR departments too. 

Submit Expert Insights to HARO

HARO (“Help a Reporter Out”) is a program that makes it easy for journalists to find and connect with experts in a given field. 

How does HARO help you, exactly? 

If you submit a high-quality expert overview of a topic relevant to your product, your insights might be featured in an article.

Getting started is easy. 

You just need to make an account and sign up for notifications from relevant industries. 

Reporters submit queries to HARO, and those queries are then sent out via email to everyone on the relevant list. 

For example, you might get an email in which a reporter requests an expert’s opinion on the importance of using HR software. 

You can submit your answer, and if the reporter chooses it, it might appear in a story.

Let’s say you’re BambooHR, a popular all-in-one HR SaaS, and a query comes up asking about improving employee satisfaction. You don’t have to include your product (certainly don’t pitch it), but you have the expertise needed to give a well thought out answer that could include using an HR software solution.

And if you’re a marketing professional at BambooHR, the journalist will likely credit you and your brand as well. So not only are you getting the link, but you’re also building brand visibility as well. 

5. Build a Content Marketing Funnel for Your ICP

Marketers like to visualize the buyer journey as a funnel, which is generally divided into three sections from the broad top to the narrow bottom. 

Each section has its own distinct purpose:

• Top of the Funnel (TOFU): Draws visitors to your site and builds awareness of your brand
• Middle of the Funnel (MOFU): Creates leads
• Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU): Encourages at least a portion of those lea
• ds to convert

To build an effective funnel, you must generate content around section-specific keywords.

You can also take this a step further and classify the buyer’s journey based on a typical SaaS journey, so:

• Unaware
• Problem Aware
• Solution Aware
• Product Aware
• Most Aware

Bottom-of-the-Funnel Keywords

At this point, searchers are just about ready to make a purchase, and the keywords they search will reflect that. Here are a few examples of BOFU keywords:

• Best employee retention software
• [Your company] vs. [competitor] 
• [Your company] reviews
• [competitor] alternatives
• Additional branded keywords 

In some cases, these keywords may also include your company’s name. Of course, you can select the terms most relevant to you using your own keyword research.

Middle-of-the-Funnel Keywords

In the middle of the funnel, potential buyers are conducting more focused research — they might be looking for a solution to their problems or drawing attention to specific pain points. Or best solution alternatives. Here are a few middle of the funnel keywords you should consider:

• Solution-focused keywords
• Problem-focused keywords
• Product-focused keywords

Top-of-the-Funnel Keywords

These keywords are meant to draw in site visitors who are in the beginning stages of their buyer’s journey. Those who are just becoming aware of their problems and want to learn more. 

For an HR SaaS company, this means creating content that addresses challenges, trends, and top-level interests of HR professionals without going too deep into product specifics

As you might expect, most of these keywords are very broad. Here are a few possible examples:

• “Human resources best practices”
• “HR trends 2023”
• “HR challenges in remote work”
• “Building workplace culture”
• “Effective recruitment strategies”

Creating content around these broader keywords can bring more people to your site. 

Just remember that this stage of the funnel isn’t to pitch your product (although you should still take a product-led approach); this is to capture touchpoints of your target audience to build awareness about your HR tech company.

Something to keep in mind: an HR professional isn’t going to read one ToFU article and immediately move down your pipeline. For your HR tech content marketing efforts to be successful, you need to have full coverage of every funnel stage, but especially ToFu, since there are so many avenues your users can take.

You need to have complete visibility across every search point that’s related to your overall niche. And not only will it help you capture more customers, but it will also help you build a brand as well.

The more they see your content, the more they’ll come back to it, especially if they see it in the search results. 

Obviously, you’ll need to have the proper SEO budget to match this as well. 

Linkable Assets

Now, while linkable assets can be considered more ToFu content, they still should be considered in your content marketing strategy. 

Linkable assets are an often overlooked tactic in most SEO campaigns.

These are content pieces that other sites are likely to link to. They might include content like:

• Original research
  • The State of HR Automation in 2023: A Global Survey
  • The Impact of AI on HR Decision-Making: A Comprehensive Study
• HR Infographics
• HR trends and statistics
  • HR Trends to Watch Out For in 2023
• Case Studies with data
  • How Implementing [HR SaaS Product] Reduced Hiring Time by 40%: A Case Study
  • Revolutionizing Employee Training: A Data-Driven Success Story
• List posts
• Tools (such as industry-specific calculators)
  • Salary Comparison Calculator
  • Turnover Cost Calculator
  • Employee Retention ROI Calculator
  • Benefits Savings Calculator
  • Overtime Cost Calculator

Why are linkable assets so important? Backlinks build authority, and if you have content that other sites might link to, you have an opportunity to get backlinks without having to reach out and ask for them. 

You’re basically creating an entire inbound link strategy without even having to pay for your links. They’re coming in naturally. 

6. Focus on Optimizing Your Content Around Your Topic and Search Intent

A strong SEO strategy doesn’t just bring traffic to your site. 

It also provides content that’s valuable enough to convince visitors to stay.

The world of HR tech SEO is incredibly competitive, but because Google favors quality content over company size, a strong SEO strategy gives you a fighting chance against Oracle and other major companies.

Considering that quality content is so vital, it’s wise to do your research and ask for samples if you’re planning on working with a content creation agency. 

Don’t go for bargain-basement prices at the expense of quality.

That being said, content quality isn’t the only thing you need to focus on. 

Your content also needs to meet search intent. You can have the best content in the world, but if it doesn’t answer your visitors’ questions, they’re likely to bounce. And that’s if Google magically decides to rank your content.

7. Use a Product-Led Approach With Your Content

You know you have a great product. Since your ultimate goal is to sell that product, it’s a good idea to center it within the bulk of your content.

That’s not to say you should make every post a sales piece, but there’s always an opportunity to highlight a relevant benefit or two. For example, if you have a blog post about the advantages of automating payroll for small businesses, you might quickly mention how your product handles payroll automation.

A strong product-led approach relies on your product itself to do most of the selling. It therefore makes sense to give page visitors a chance to see your product for themselves. Consider offering free trials with limited features, quick video demos, and other ways for customers to see your product in action.

8. Create Lead Magnets That You Can Use Within Your Content

A lead magnet is any type of long-form resource (ebooks, white papers, templates, etc.) you offer site visitors in exchange for their contact information.

Most visitors probably won’t be inclined to hand over their contact info for nothing, but if you offer something of value (like a guide to HR for small business owners), they’re more likely to take the bait.

Once you have your lead magnet, make sure it’s easy for customers to find. For example, you might include CTAs in relevant blog posts, internal links to the resource, or both.

9. Spend Time Focusing on Conversion Rate Optimization

It’s easy to get excited once you see your new HR tech SEO strategy bringing in leads, but you won’t see much benefit unless those leads ultimately convert. A great SEO strategy focuses not just on bringing traffic to your site but also on improving your conversion rate.

Conversion rate optimization takes time and patience, so don’t lose sight of the big picture. It can be useful to look at each step of your sales journey to see what’s working and what isn’t.

For instance, if most of your leads show interest but disappear after a consultation with a sales rep, it’s clear that something in your consultation process needs to change.

10. Use Social and Email to Help Support Your SEO

The goal of SEO is to guide potential customers to your website through organic search. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on grabbing their attention in other ways.

When you integrate your site content with your social media accounts and email marketing, you might see an increase in leads. But how do you do that?

Let’s say you’ve just posted a piece of pillar content meant to introduce small business owners to the world of HR tech. You might consider creating an eye-catching Instagram post to promote it. You also could promote the post through marketing emails.

Be careful not to make these emails overly salesy. Just highlight some of the pain points business owners tend to experience (like struggling to balance handling their own HR on top of running a business) and suggest HR SaaS as a possible solution. If your recipients are interested, they’ll click the link.

11. Use Paid Ads to Generate Revenue While Your SEO Is Kicking In

SEO is excellent for drawing in new clients, but it doesn’t work overnight. 

You don’t need to pour all of your marketing budget into SEO and hope for results in 1-3 months. You should PPC ads concurrently to generate leads and build up your pipeline as your SEO is kicking in.

Even better, you can track conversions with your PPC data to find the keywords that are converting best for you and then you can create content around that so you can eventually dial back your ad spend. 

Most searchers prefer organic results 94% of the time compared to 6% PPC. So you’ll have a much larger target market share for a much lower CAC. 

Looking for Some Help With Your HR Tech SEO?

Whether you’re putting together an SEO strategy for the first time or need to sharpen your existing approach, I can lend a hand. I have extensive experience working as a B2B SaaS SEO consultant.

If you have a particular plan you’re interested in implementing or want to talk HR tech marketing, get in touch today to schedule your free SEO strategy call.