Keyword research for a SaaS: the six families that matter

Target these six families. They map to how people buy software and how Google shows results.

• Category and best-of: “project management software”, “best password manager for teams”
• Alternatives and vs: “X alternatives”, “X vs Y”
• Jobs to be done: “how to do Z”, “process for Z”, “template for Z”
• Integrations: “X with Y”, “connect X to Y”, “sync X and Y”
• Rivals’ pricing and comparison pages: “rival pricing”, “rival vs rival”
• Your brand: your product name, with and without qualifiers

Each family needs its own page type. That match is how you get intent right and clicks that convert.

Start with what buyers type. Use Google’s own surfaces and what rivals already ship. Do not guess from your product tree.

1. 1

   Category and best-of

   Type your category and see autocomplete. Add “best”, “for”, and your niche. Note the exact strings. Then scan the results page: are there listicles and roundups? Save titles and H1s.

2. 2

   Alternatives and vs

   Search “<rival> alternatives” and “<rival> vs”. List each pair you see in titles. Check People also ask for more pairs. These are commercial investigation intents.

3. 3

   Jobs to be done

   Write down tasks your user does in your app. For each, search “how to <task>”, “<task> template”, “<task> workflow”. Use the Related searches at the foot for variants.

4. 4

   Integrations

   List apps in your users’ stack. Combine them with your category verbs: “sync”, “integrate”, “import”, “export”, “connect”. Check if results show docs, marketplace pages, or guides.

5. 5

   Rivals’ pricing and comparisons

   Run site:rival.com and add “pricing” or “compare” to see their structure. Open their sitemap.xml to list all comparison and pricing URLs. Their title tags show the queries they target.

6. 6

   Your brand

   Search your brand naked and with qualifiers: pricing, reviews, competitors, login, alternatives. Save the set Google suggests in autocomplete. These are navigational and defensive.

Use your own Search Console to seed. The Queries table shows where you already appear. Expand anything with impressions and low clicks for quick wins.

Size clusters, not single strings. Then check the results page to read intent before you commit a page type.

• Group close variants into one cluster. The total demand is the sum of the members.
• Search volume is a monthly average over the last twelve months. Treat it as an estimate, not a promise.
• Two tools will disagree. Use them to rank clusters against each other, not to forecast to the last click.
• Open the results page for your head term. If you see guides and videos, it is informational. If you see product pages and shopping blocks, it is transactional. Lists and comparisons mean commercial investigation.
• Note any featured snippet or AI Overview. Expect fewer clicks than volume suggests when those show.

A good cluster sheet has the canonical query, its variants, the page type, the model title, and notes on the results page. Keep it simple enough to ship.

Ship the pages most likely to win fast and convert. Leave the hardest fights for later, when you have links and trust.

• Your brand home and pricing: people will search your name. Make sure “/pricing” exists and answers “pricing”, “plans”, and “cost”.
• High-fit jobs to be done: templates and how-tos tied to your core workflow. These rank with fewer links and bring qualified readers.
• Integration pages for niche pairs: target where marketplaces are thin. “X with Y” pages can win on long tails and send referral traffic.
• Alternatives to the closest rival you replace: “Rival alternatives” and “Rival vs YourBrand”. Start with one strong page, not ten thin ones.
• One narrow category or best-of angle where you have an edge: “best <category> for <niche>”. Pick a niche you can own.
• Hold broad category head terms until you have evidence. Compete later with a pillar and supporting pages.

A fixed page looks like this: “/integrations/notion-sync”, with a clear H1, a how-it-works section, setup steps, limits, and FAQs. Link to it from your app nav and docs.

Match page structure to intent. Your title and H1 should echo the core query without stuffing. Keep one page per cluster.

Keep titles within about 60 characters. Write meta descriptions that set expectations. Do not use the same angle twice across your site.

Assume “Flowmerge”, a SaaS that syncs customer notes between Notion and HubSpot for B2B teams. It also deduplicates contacts. New domain, no links.

• Category and best-of: “customer data sync”, “best data sync tools for HubSpot”, “best Notion CRM sync”. Results show listicles and marketplaces.
• Alternatives and vs: “Zapier alternatives for HubSpot sync”, “Zapier vs Make for HubSpot”, “HubSpot Notion sync vs CSV import”.
• Jobs to be done: “how to sync Notion with HubSpot”, “deduplicate HubSpot contacts”, “unify customer notes across tools”, “customer notes template”.
• Integrations: “Notion HubSpot integration”, “connect Notion to HubSpot”, “sync Notion and HubSpot”, “HubSpot dedupe with Notion”.
• Rivals’ pricing and comparisons: “Zapier pricing”, “Unito vs Zapier”, “Make vs Zapier”, “HubSpot Operations Hub pricing”.
• Brand: “Flowmerge”, “Flowmerge pricing”, “Flowmerge Notion HubSpot”.

1. 1

   Find and cluster

   Use autocomplete and People also ask to pull variants for each. Group by intent: integration setup, comparison, pricing, how-to. Sum volumes per cluster. Ignore duplicates like pluralisation.

2. 2

   Decide page list for month one

   Ship seven pages: “/integrations/notion-hubspot”, “/use-cases/deduplicate-hubspot-contacts”, “/templates/customer-notes-notion”, “/compare/zapier-alternatives”, “/compare/zapier-vs-make”, “/pricing”, and the home page tuned to the brand.

3. 3

   Write model titles

   Examples: “Notion HubSpot integration: sync notes both ways”, “Deduplicate HubSpot contacts without spreadsheets”, “Zapier alternatives for HubSpot data sync”. Stay under about 60 characters.

4. 4

   Draft outlines that match SERP

   Open each results page. If top results are docs and marketplace listings, lead with setup steps. If they are comparisons, build a scenario table and switching notes.

5. 5

   Publish and link

   Link from the home and header to “/integrations”. Cross-link the comparison pages. Link job pages to the integration page. Add a small CTA block on each guide.

6. 6

   Measure and adjust

   In Search Console after 28 days, pull queries for “/integrations/notion-hubspot”. Add H2s and FAQs around rising queries. Build a “/integrations/hubspot-notion-dedupe” child if you see that phrasing climb.

What a fixed page looks like here: “/integrations/notion-hubspot” with H1 “Notion HubSpot integration”, a two-minute setup video, exact fields that sync, rate limits, and a link to pricing. Add an FAQ block for “Does it sync both ways?” and “What about attachments?”.

You can map a rival’s search play in an hour. Use their public files and Google itself.

1. 1

   List their content types

   Open rival.com/sitemap.xml. Copy all /compare/, /integrations/, /blog/ topics, and /pricing. Note the naming patterns.

2. 2

   Read their titles

   Scrape or scan title tags. They show the head queries. Flag anything like “X alternatives”, “best <category> for <niche>”, or “<tool> vs <tool>”.

3. 3

   Spot what Google holds

   Search site:rival.com <keyword>. Adjust the keyword. See which pages are indexed and which ranks pages Google prefers.

4. 4

   Check SERP intent fit

   Open the top results for the same query. Compare your planned page type to what wins now. Change your angle before you write if needed.

5. 5

   Pick two gaps to attack

   Look for a comparison they have not covered, or an integration they ignore. Build depth, not breadth.

Do not mirror their weak pages. If their “alternatives” is a thin list, beat it with real scenarios and migration notes. One better page is enough to take share over time.

Treat keyword difficulty as a rough link proxy. It does not judge your intent fit. You can win with the right page on a high “KD” long tail.

• Use difficulty to sort within the same family and intent. Lower first when your domain is new.
• Open the top results and count meaningful links and mentions. Titles stuffed with head terms and poor match are a chance.
• Favour queries with messy results pages. If results mix docs, forums and vendor pages, a clear, matched page can land quickly.
• Ignore head terms that show marketplaces and review sites only. Go after the “for <niche>” and “template” variants first.

A fixed win looks like this: your “/compare/zapier-alternatives” takes traffic for “zapier alternatives for hubspot” because you focused on that scenario, while generic lists missed it.

Publish, then maintain. Your search gains come from iteration. Use your own data, not guesses, to choose the next page.

• Check Search Console monthly. Sort queries by impressions, then clicks. Expand subheads on pages that show rising impressions and few clicks.
• Find striking distance. Anything in positions 4 to 15 with a clean intent match can move with better titles, intros and internal links.
• Prevent cannibalisation. One page per cluster. If two URLs compete, merge and redirect the weaker one.
• Use internal links to move equity. From your top posts, link with natural anchor text to the comparison and integration pages you need to lift.
• Refresh guides that slide. When clicks decay, update steps, screenshots and dates. Keep the URL.
• Track post-click in GA4. Watch which pages send trials or signups. Build more in those families.