# SEO Audit: B2B SaaS Project Management Tool

## Executive Summary

A 2-year-old domain with 150 pages struggling for "project management software" likely faces a combination of **domain authority gap**, **content depth issues**, and **missing topical coverage**. "Project management software" is extremely competitive (Asana, Monday, ClickUp, Wrike dominate), so the strategy must combine technical excellence with smart content positioning.

**Top 5 Priority Issues (Likely)**
1. Competing head-on for ultra-competitive terms without sufficient authority
2. Missing mid-funnel and long-tail content that builds topical authority
3. Thin product/feature pages that don't satisfy search intent
4. Weak internal linking and topical clustering
5. Missing structured data (SoftwareApplication, FAQ, Review schemas)

---

## Prioritized Audit Checklist

### Phase 1: Critical Fixes (Week 1-2) — Blocking Issues

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 1 | **Run `site:yourdomain.com`** — compare indexed count vs. expected 150 pages. Flag gaps. | High | 15 min |
| 2 | **Check robots.txt** — verify no accidental blocks on /features/, /pricing/, /blog/ | High | 10 min |
| 3 | **Validate XML sitemap** — must exist, be submitted to Search Console, contain only canonical 200-status URLs | High | 30 min |
| 4 | **Audit canonical tags** — every page needs a self-referencing canonical. Check for wrong cross-page canonicals | High | 1 hr |
| 5 | **Fix redirect chains** — no page should require >1 redirect hop to resolve | High | 1 hr |
| 6 | **Check for soft 404s** — pages returning 200 but showing error content | Medium | 30 min |
| 7 | **HTTPS audit** — no mixed content, all HTTP URLs 301 to HTTPS | High | 30 min |

**Tools:** Google Search Console Coverage report, Screaming Frog crawl, manual checks.

---

### Phase 2: Technical Foundations (Week 2-3)

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 8 | **Core Web Vitals** — target LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1. Run PageSpeed Insights on homepage, pricing, top 5 blog posts | High | 2-4 hrs |
| 9 | **Image optimization** — convert to WebP, add descriptive alt text, implement lazy loading | Medium | 2 hrs |
| 10 | **Mobile audit** — check tap targets, no horizontal scroll, same content parity as desktop | High | 1 hr |
| 11 | **URL structure review** — ensure `/features/gantt-charts/` not `/page?id=123`. Readable, keyword-bearing, lowercase, hyphenated | Medium | 1 hr |
| 12 | **Server response time** — TTFB under 200ms. Check CDN, caching headers, server config | Medium | 1-2 hrs |
| 13 | **JavaScript rendering** — verify Google can render key content. Use URL Inspection tool's "View Rendered Page" | High | 1 hr |

---

### Phase 3: On-Page Optimization (Week 3-4)

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 14 | **Title tag audit across all 150 pages** — unique, 50-60 chars, primary keyword front-loaded, compelling | High | 3 hrs |
| 15 | **Meta descriptions** — unique per page, 150-160 chars, value proposition + CTA | Medium | 3 hrs |
| 16 | **H1 audit** — one H1 per page, contains primary keyword, matches search intent | High | 2 hrs |
| 17 | **Heading hierarchy** — logical H1 > H2 > H3 flow, no skipped levels | Low | 1 hr |
| 18 | **Keyword cannibalization audit** — identify pages competing for the same keyword. Common in SaaS: blog post vs. feature page targeting same term | High | 2 hrs |
| 19 | **Keyword mapping** — assign one primary + 2-3 secondary keywords per page. Document in a spreadsheet | High | 4 hrs |

**Cannibalization red flag:** If both `/blog/best-project-management-software` and `/features/` target "project management software," Google won't know which to rank. Pick one, redirect or differentiate.

---

### Phase 4: Content Strategy (Week 4-6) — Highest Long-Term Impact

This is where B2B SaaS sites most often fail. You need **topical authority**, not just keyword targeting.

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 20 | **Content gap analysis** — compare your pages to top 5 competitors (Monday, Asana, ClickUp, Wrike, Teamwork). What do they have that you don't? | High | 4 hrs |
| 21 | **Build comparison pages** — create `/compare/vs-asana/`, `/compare/vs-monday/` etc. These convert well and rank for high-intent terms | High | 2-3 days |
| 22 | **Build alternative pages** — `/alternatives/asana-alternatives/`, targeting users unhappy with competitors | High | 1-2 days |
| 23 | **Expand feature pages** — each feature (Gantt, Kanban, time tracking, reporting) needs 800+ words with screenshots, use cases, and how-tos | High | 1 week |
| 24 | **Create use-case pages** — `/use-cases/marketing-teams/`, `/use-cases/software-development/`, `/use-cases/construction/` | High | 1 week |
| 25 | **Build topical clusters** — example cluster around "project management": | High | Ongoing |

**Example Topical Cluster:**
```
Pillar: /project-management-software/  (main target page)
  ├── /blog/what-is-project-management/
  ├── /blog/project-management-methodologies/
  ├── /blog/agile-vs-waterfall/
  ├── /blog/project-management-best-practices/
  ├── /blog/how-to-create-project-plan/
  ├── /glossary/gantt-chart/
  ├── /glossary/critical-path/
  ├── /templates/project-plan-template/
  └── /guides/project-management-for-small-teams/
```

All cluster pages interlink to the pillar and to each other.

| # | Action (continued) | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 26 | **Audit existing blog content** — refresh outdated posts, merge thin posts, add depth to top performers | Medium | Ongoing |
| 27 | **Add E-E-A-T signals** — author bios with credentials, customer case studies with real data, "written by" + "reviewed by" bylines | Medium | 1-2 days |
| 28 | **Create a glossary section** — 30-50 PM terms, each a standalone page. These build topical authority and earn long-tail traffic | Medium | 1 week |
| 29 | **Free tools/templates** — project plan templates, budget calculators, timeline generators. These earn links naturally | High | 1-2 weeks |

---

### Phase 5: Structured Data & Rich Results (Week 5-6)

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 30 | **SoftwareApplication schema** on product pages — name, pricing, rating, OS | High | 2 hrs |
| 31 | **FAQ schema** on feature + comparison pages | Medium | 2 hrs |
| 32 | **Organization schema** on homepage | Low | 30 min |
| 33 | **BreadcrumbList schema** site-wide | Low | 1 hr |
| 34 | **Review/AggregateRating schema** if you have customer reviews | High | 1 hr |
| 35 | **HowTo schema** on tutorial/guide content | Medium | 1 hr |

Validate all with Google's Rich Results Test.

---

### Phase 6: Internal Linking & Architecture (Week 6-7)

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 36 | **Orphan page audit** — find pages with zero internal links pointing to them | High | 1 hr |
| 37 | **Link depth audit** — every important page within 3 clicks of homepage | High | 1 hr |
| 38 | **Add contextual internal links** — every blog post should link to 2-3 relevant feature/product pages | High | 3 hrs |
| 39 | **Navigation audit** — features, pricing, use cases, resources accessible from main nav | Medium | 1 hr |
| 40 | **Footer optimization** — link to top-level category pages, not individual posts | Low | 30 min |

---

### Phase 7: Authority Building (Ongoing)

| # | Action | Impact | Effort |
|---|--------|--------|--------|
| 41 | **Backlink profile audit** — check toxic links, compare domain authority to competitors | High | 2 hrs |
| 42 | **Digital PR** — publish original research/surveys about PM trends (linkable assets) | High | Ongoing |
| 43 | **Guest posting** — contribute to PM and productivity publications | Medium | Ongoing |
| 44 | **Integration partner pages** — co-marketing with tools you integrate (Slack, Google, etc.) | Medium | Ongoing |
| 45 | **HARO / Connectively** — respond to journalist queries about project management | Medium | Ongoing |

---

## Quick Wins (Do This Week)

These require minimal effort but yield fast results:

1. **Fix title tags** on your top 10 pages by traffic — front-load keywords, add compelling hooks
2. **Add FAQ schema** to your 5 highest-traffic pages
3. **Interlink your top blog posts** to relevant product pages (add 2-3 contextual links each)
4. **Submit updated sitemap** to Search Console if not done recently
5. **Create one "vs" comparison page** for your closest competitor — these often rank within weeks

---

## Realistic Keyword Strategy

Stop chasing "project management software" directly — it's a 3-5 year play at your domain age. Instead:

| Term Type | Example | Difficulty | Timeline |
|-----------|---------|------------|----------|
| Long-tail | "project management software for marketing teams" | Low | 1-3 months |
| Comparison | "asana vs [your brand]" | Medium | 2-4 months |
| Alternatives | "monday.com alternatives" | Medium | 2-4 months |
| Feature-specific | "gantt chart software free" | Medium | 3-6 months |
| Educational | "how to manage multiple projects" | Low | 1-3 months |
| Head term | "project management software" | Very High | 12-24 months |

Build authority bottom-up: long-tail wins feed into topical authority, which eventually supports head-term rankings.

---

## Next Steps

To make this audit actionable for **your specific site**, I'd need:

1. **Your domain URL** — to run actual crawl checks and `site:` queries
2. **Search Console access** — for real indexation/coverage data and keyword performance
3. **Top 3-5 organic competitors** — for content gap analysis
4. **Current monthly organic traffic** — to set baseline and measure progress
5. **Any recent site changes** — redesigns, URL changes, CMS migrations

Want me to dive deeper into any specific phase, or create a detailed content plan for the topical cluster strategy?
