Advertise My SaaS

The channel ROI stack (indie edition)

1. SEO + comparison pages. Slow start, compounding forever. Non-negotiable.
2. Launch boards. rankraw, Product Hunt, Show HN. Free burst of qualified traffic every 4–6 months.
3. Communities. Weekly presence in 1–2 places where your ICP already talks.
4. Cold outbound. 5–20 personalized DMs a day. Highest conversion per hour when done right.
5. Content & partnerships. Podcasts, newsletter swaps, guest posts. Compounds like SEO.
6. Paid ads. Only after CAC:LTV is provable. LinkedIn for B2B, Meta for prosumer, Google Search for commercial-intent terms.

Programmatic pages: the SaaS SEO cheat code

Every mature SaaS site has three programmatic patterns: alternatives pages ("X alternatives"), comparison pages ("X vs Y"), and use-case pages ("X for [role]"). These capture the entire bottom of the funnel.

You don't need 1,000 pages. You need 20 well-researched ones. Pick your top 5 competitors, publish an honest comparison for each, and watch what happens over 90 days.

The advertising audit

• Do I have a public changelog? If no, ship one. It's free ongoing PR.
• Am I on the top 3 discovery boards for my category? If no, launch this month.
• Do I have alternatives + comparison pages? If no, write the first 3 this quarter.
• Do I know my activation and retention numbers? If no, do not spend a dollar on ads yet.

FAQ

What's the best way to advertise a SaaS product?

For most indie SaaS the ranking is: SEO + comparison pages, then launch boards (rankraw, PH, Show HN), then targeted community presence, then cold outbound, then paid (LinkedIn or Google Search for B2B; Meta for prosumer). Free channels dominate the top of the ROI list until year 2.

Should I use Google Ads or SEO for my SaaS?

Both, but not at the same time. In year one, invest in SEO — it compounds and never turns off. Add Google Ads only for pure commercial-intent keywords once your organic pages are ranking on page 2 or 3.

How much does it cost to advertise a SaaS?

Free-only distribution can carry a bootstrapped SaaS to $5–10K MRR. Beyond that most founders spend $500–$5,000/month on paid channels, always gated by proven CAC:LTV of 1:3 or better.