What Does an MQL Mean for Your SaaS Startup?

The YCM Insider
5 min readDec 14, 2022

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Hey 👋

Welcome to the fourth episode of The YCM insider weekend roundup.

Here’s what we covered in this week’s edition:

  • StartupOS launches what’s likely to be the Operating system for early-stage Startups
  • Twitter’s algorithm tweak will allow you to see recommended tweets from people you don’t follow.
  • Google releases an updated guide to its search ranking system.

Let’s dive in:

SaaS Stories of the Week

StartupOS Launches “ The Operating System” for Early-stage SaaS Startups

Running a startup involves many moving parts. There are 1001 things to be done. You have to build an MVP, create a GTM strategy and achieve product-market fit.

It’s no surprise that lots of things often slip through the cracks. StartupOS sees all your pain and has taken a bold step to help by launching a new platform that’s said to be the “Operating System “ for SaaS founders just starting out.

Through this platform, you will access tools, funding sources, advisory sessions, and mentorship from the big players in the game. This will no doubt contribute to every startup’s success.

Twitter’s Algorithm Tweak will let you see Tweets from People you don’t follow

As Elon Musk continues to tinker with things, Twitter’s algorithm is set to go through a makeover. Twitter will be rolling out what’s dubbed as “expanding recommendations to all users,” which allow you to see useful content from accounts you don’t follow.

This also means that people who do not follow you will see your tweets. And will likely give your content more visibility, which could translate to more followers.

You Can Now Message Yourself on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature that allows you to send messages to yourself. With this, marketers can keep track of appointments, create a to-do list or send vital information such as notes and reminders.

SaaS Good Reads and Listens

The concepts of MQLs and SQLs have been up for debate within sales and marketing teams for a long time. In most SaaS companies, MQLs are left undefined or tagged to the wrong prospect.

Kamil Rextin, General manager at 42 Agency, teams up with sales leaders from different companies to weigh in on how they define MQLs.

Some insights covered in this value-packed LinkedIn post include

  • Why companies should kiss goodbye to the usual definition of an MQL.
  • Factors to consider in your MQL definition
  • When to and not to develop an MQL score system
  • How to determine if an MQL has high buying intent
  • The two types of MQLs and how to handle them

Google’s Updated Guide to Search Ranking Systems [Article]

Google is continuously tweaking its algorithm to serve readers insightful content. But most of these updates are housed on different pages. To make it easier for marketers to find information and updates about search ranking, Google has created a centralized page to store every blog post related to that purpose.

Their guide digs in on how they rank pages following the helpful content update.

How to Boost Online Traffic That Converts In 2023 [YouTube Video]

In this episode of Small business, Big results, host Brian Dean interviews Benji Hyam of Grow and Convert to uncover valuable nuggets on how to boost traffic in 2023.

Some of the key lessons from the interview include:

  • Why an increase in traffic isn’t necessarily a business success for companies
  • Target low-volume, high-conversion intent keywords
  • Why BOTF keywords with 0–10 search volume are worth going after
  • The untapped strategy for driving conversion with TOFU keywords

Winning SEO Content Strategy for Blogs — Jake Ward [LinkedIn Carousel]

Blogging expert, Jake Ward, reveals his winning SEO content strategy in a 25-page LinkedIn carousel. According to him, following this blueprint will help SaaS businesses:

  • Generate revenue
  • Scale organic traffic
  • Earn backlinks naturally
  • Create content moat
  • Build email list

If you are a SaaS founder or Marketer on LinkedIn, Jake Ward is one to follow.

What I’m Currently Thinking

If you study the SEO strategy of most SaaS brands, you will observe a common trend:

They don’t target zero search volume keywords.

  1. 15% of searches on Google are new — People seek further information daily, and SEO tools can’t accurately figure out what people are searching for.
  2. Rank faster and higher on the first page: Zero search volume keywords have less competition, and they’re easy to rank for even if you have low domain authority.
  3. Leverage the first-mover advantage: Chances are that your competitors are ignoring zero search volume keywords. However, when the industry matures, the number of people searching for it will increase. And that will drive more traffic to your site, especially if you can find your way to the first page.

But you shouldn’t follow the same path if you’re a SaaS startup for these reasons:

In summary, there are lots of potentials in zero search volume keywords, and it will be a huge mistake to ignore them.

I have created a guide that outlines how to identify high-intent zero-volume keywords that move the needle for your business.

<Click here If you’d like to gain access to it.>

Tool of the Week

Our pick for the tool of the week is the Messasix time tracker. This software integrates with Slack to help managers monitor how team members execute their assigned tasks.

With it, team leaders can track employees’ work time. For example, you can measure when a team member clicks in and out, the total time worked by day, week or month.

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Got Any Feedback, Question, or Resources?

Our goal is to make the next issue of the YCM Insider Weekend roundup better than the one you’re currently reading. So, if you have any feedback on how we could improve on this, please let me know.

Thanks for reading.

  • AbdulGaniy Shehu

The YCM Insider weekly roundup is sponsored by Your Content Mart — an agency that helps Seed Stage B2B SaaS startups grow to $1M ARR using ROI-driven content marketing.

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The YCM Insider

Practical content marketing insights and tips for SaaS startups