Inspired by the SEO strategies of Adobe and Canva, I began to study feature pages and the possibility of using unbranded keywords to increase conversions.
A few months ago I started building an SEO “swipe file” for SaaS and software brands, ranking the first page with non-branded keywords on their feature pages.
Initially, this was intended to be a simple project. Drop a few examples and use this in my work with clients and colleagues to show what’s possible.
Then it became very clear that many websites do not use this strategy, so sifting through hundreds of pages resulted in 30 winners.
In this article, we’ll explore why considering unbranded keywords for your landing pages is a profitable strategy, and bust a few SEO myths about building an optimized page.
Leveraging Non-Branded Keywords On Landing Pages
Landing pages are usually not the area that SEO professionals shout about as the content is considered thin and unable to rank due to low word count. Landing pages also don’t lend themselves to backlinks compared to other pieces of content.
Let’s rewind and clarify what I mean by landing page.
Viola Eva wrote an excellent article for Ahrefs on landing page SEO, defining landing pages as “web pages designed to convert traffic into leads.”
This includes feature, product, and solution pages, as well as competitor pages, use cases, or lead magnets.
While we could argue about the linguistics of it all, the bottom line is that solution, industry, and feature pages can be optimized for organic reach. In fact, they are quite powerful converters.
I dug into over a hundred feature pages to study what it takes to be on the first page, and the results are pretty compelling.
Disclaimer: I work for Flow SEO, who supported this research through access to Ahrefs, and some of the companies on the list are our clients.
Identifying Opportunities For Non-Branded Feature Pages
Unfortunately, we can’t be Salesforce or Oracle, who know people by name, and search their products with branded searches.
Optimizing your feature page for non-branded keywords is an opportunity to generate organic traffic for those who are not yet brand loyal. This is an opportunity to really make your product features shine.
Should all functions have a page? Probably not.
I recommend creating one page with all features as a hub and creating feature pages for strong contenders.
So how do we identify the right job pages?
We get our hands dirty in keyword research and search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is an exercise in putting yourself in their shoes. List all the words or phrases surrounding that attribute, while also envisioning what you’d be looking for if they were on the market for that product.
How do you use it? Which industries does it apply to? What problem does it solve?
This is where you build a list of potential keywords and use it to research whether the search intent as shown in the SERPs matches the website’s feature page.
Tips for identifying pages and keywords:
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022
If you see other brands have feature pages on the first page, it doesn’t mean your site will too.
Click through the pages and try to understand the audience and industries they target.
It doesn’t have to be difficult.
One of my favorite ways to do this is to simply ask my customers about their product, noting specific phrases and the language they use, and also asking how their customers use the product or specific feedback on that feature.
Interviewing your customer or target audience is the best way to connect through a shared language and perspective.
SEO Tips For Optimized Feature Pages
These recommendations are based on studying an endless number of feature pages, resulting in a final list of 30 SaaS and software feature pages with first-page positions for non-branded keywords.
There Is No Recommended Word Count
Earlier I mentioned how some people may not consider a landing page an SEO opportunity.
One of the main reasons for this is that there is a mistaken belief that the page needs a lot of text to rank.
My research shows that this is a completely false assumption.
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022
The estimated word count of the 30 pages examined is 170-2,600.
As you can see in the chart above, the highest word count is for ZenDesk’s feature page.
This page is in the bottom half of the 30 in terms of total keywords and referring domains.
While Grammarly and Adobe dominate overall keyword counts, their word counts are relatively low.
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022
Breaking this down further, the chart above shows the sites with non-branded keywords that rank number one.
Again, the word count does not rank these pages significantly as the word count ranges from 170 to 970.
Rather, this suggests that those pages are content-specific and adequately answer someone’s question.
Backlinks Won’t Make Or Break Your Page
The good news doesn’t stop at a lower word count.
This research also shows that domain forwarding is not a priority or not necessary.
At the absolute lowest point, one feature page had 3 referring domains and the highest had 2,400.
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022
The diagram above may look familiar, but this time I’ve added a rule to point domains to the URL.
Interestingly, it does not show a strong relationship to the total number of keywords on the page or the number of words.
Create A Free Tool
One thing I noticed the most while doing this research is that leveraging a feature of your overall product and making it available as a free tool is a great strategy.
This free tool doesn’t have to have all the same features as your paid tool, but just enough to be useful for people to actually use, maybe even more than once.
Grammar is a good example of this strategy.
The plagiarism feature page includes a free tool for scanning a document or text, and it’s the first thing you’ll see when you land on it.
Screenshot from Grammarly.com, December 2022
This page doesn’t stop there as it goes on to explain “why use a plagiarism checker?” and who the product is for, while ending with a call-to-action (CTA) to “check your text now.”
This is a common strategy used by other well-known companies such as Adobe or Canva.
It works because your website visitors see an instant solution without even having to sign up.
It creates a positive user experience with your brand and starts the dance of reciprocity.
Schema Helps Produce Rich Results
Your feature page is a landing page, so you want it to convert.
You want to draw eyes from the very first moment search results appear.
Using schemas or structured data can make your feature page stand out in SERPs by adding rich results. These rich results can provide a visual review score, carousel, pricing, or other visual elements.
It costs nothing to implement, but gives you a robust SERP entry that goes beyond a single blue link to help you stand out from the competition.
Pop-Ups Are Out – Chat Bots Are In
Of the 30 websites surveyed, only one had an on-page popup, while 16 had chatbots and 14 had neither.
I know I can’t be the only one celebrating the death of popups.
Not only are popups an intrusive feature that most people don’t enjoy, but they can also contribute to a sensory overload for many people, so they’re inaccessible.
Domain Rating Is Important Until It Isn’t
Out of 30 feature pages examined, the average domain rating is 82, ranging from 57 to 96.
The chart below shows the sum of the total number of keywords along with the domain rating.
While the URLs with the most keywords tend to have higher domain ratings, this chart doesn’t show a very clear relationship.
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022
It tells me it helps to have a strong domain score over 50, but that doesn’t mean you need 96 to be on the first page with a non-proprietary keyword.
Non-Branded Keywords For The Rest Of Us
Unfortunately, most companies have no name recognition.
So while well-known brands can drop a feature page and not consider optimizing it for SEO, the rest of us need to get creative to bring in more qualified leads.
We identified potential feature pages for non-branded keyword optimization and dug into the research to see what it takes to get number one.
This is a solid framework for going out there and putting this strategy into practice.
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the subject, especially if you’ve successfully implemented this strategy.
Featured image: amgun/Shutterstock
How can I get unlimited traffic?
Here are 10 additional steps you can take to increase your website traffic.
- Get listed in online directories. …
- Building Backlinks. …
- Post on social media. …
- Add hashtags to your posts. …
- Use landing pages. …
- Target long tail keywords. …
- Start with email marketing. …
- Guest blog.
What is non branded content?
Non-branded content is not about the brand, but still supports the industry or other areas of interest related to the brand. The brand may be mentioned, but it’s not the primary or even secondary focus of the content.
What is not branded content? Branded and unbranded content – what’s the difference? Branded content is clearly about your company and is usually promotional or advertorial. Non-branded content isn’t specifically about your business, but is somehow relevant to your industry or product.
What is branded vs non-branded?
Difference between branded search and non-branded search The difference between branded and non-branded search is that a branded search contains your company, service or product name, while a non-branded search does not. This applies to both organic results and search ads.
What is branded vs non-branded traffic?
Non-branded traffic tends to be more engaged Non-branded traffic usually arrives at your site with specific goals in mind. They may be looking for general information, comparing products, or researching a purchase. This makes them more engaged than brand traffic, which is often just browsing.
What are non-branded goods?
Unbranded: This is used for unlabeled products, i.e. the name of the manufacturer and the name under which they sell is unknown. However, items manufactured by local, small-scale sellers who are not yet well-known in the market are also categorized as “unbranded,” “private label,” or “generic” products.
What does non-branded mean?
Meaning of unbranded in English An unbranded product is sold under the name of a store or under the name of the product itself, rather than the name of the company that made it: unbranded goods can be found in many stores. Many consumers are now leaning towards buying non-branded products.
What are branded and non-branded goods?
Branded content is clearly about your company and is usually promotional or advertorial. Non-branded content isn’t specifically about your business, but is somehow relevant to your industry or product.
What is the meaning of non-branded?
Meaning of unbranded in English An unbranded product is sold under the name of a store or under the name of the product itself, rather than the name of the company that made it: unbranded goods can be found in many stores. Many consumers are now leaning towards buying non-branded products.
What are non-branded goods?
Unbranded: This is used for unlabeled products, i.e. the name of the manufacturer and the name under which they sell is unknown. However, items manufactured by local, small-scale sellers who are not yet well-known in the market are also categorized as “unbranded,” “private label,” or “generic” products.
What is a non-branded product called?
unbranded | Business English unbranded products are not branded and not legally owned by any particular company, so any company can make them: sales of the supermarket’s unbranded goods are declining.
What is a non-branded product called?
unbranded | Business English unbranded products are not branded and not legally owned by any particular company, so any company can make them: sales of the supermarket’s unbranded goods are declining.
What does unbranded product mean?
/ËÊnËbrændɪd/ us. Non-branded products have no brand name and are not legally owned by any particular company, so any company can make them: sales of the supermarket’s non-branded goods are declining. US drug manufacturers must allow unbranded versions of their products to be produced after a certain period of time.
What are the 4 types of brand?
What are 4 types of brands? There are countless types of brands, but the four most common are corporate brands, personal brands, product brands, and service brands.
What is non-branded?
Keywords that do not refer to a brand name or part thereof (including any spelling errors) are considered unbranded keywords. Additionally, some keywords that have a brand name in the phrase, but are not unique to any one brand or domain, are considered unbranded by Semrush. More explanation about this below.
What are the 3 C’s of SEO?
Simply put, the fundamentals of SEO can be summed up in the 3 C’s: content, code and credibility.
What are the three stages of SEO ranking? The three stages of ranking are: discovery, relevance, and authority.
What are the 3 components of SEO?
The three main parts of SEO are: Technical SEO. On-page SEO (or content SEO) Off-page SEO (or links)
What are the components of SEO?
Knowing and understanding each of the 4 main components of SEO is crucial to improving a brand’s search results. Each component builds on and complements the others. The stronger the connections between each of the 4 SEO components – technical SEO, on-page SEO, off-page SEO and content – the better the results.