Zapier attracts more than 280,000 visits each month with zero paid advertising
For most B2B companies, reaching mid-to-bottom-of-funnel sales prospects is a lengthy process involving carefully crafted campaigns and substantial investment in paid advertising. For Zapier, a workflow automation software that facilitates application integrations, capturing more than 280,000 visits from high-intent searchers every month (per Ahrefs) is a systematized process that’s practically on autopilot.
Zapier uses a strategy called programmatic SEO (pSEO) to create thousands of SEO pages that match the search intent of users who will benefit from Zapier’s solution. It’s the same approach daydream’s platform has automated to help companies like Notion, Product Hunt, and other startups achieve similar results.
Zapier’s pSEO strategy has circulated the blogosphere and been attributed as a major contributor to the company’s remarkable 10-plus-year growth to more than 2.2 million customers and a $5 billion valuation; however, these pages aren’t the only factor propelling Zapier’s growth. A broader content strategy drives close to 9 million monthly organic visits on the Zapier blog (per Ahrefs).
Zapier’s focus on product-led content
From the beginning, Zapier’s founder, Wade Foster, believed content marketing would play a pivotal role in Zapier’s marketing and growth strategy. His team went to work building top-of-funnel blog content; however, Foster quickly realized that this type of content would not scale or result in visits from people who were ready to purchase.
Wade and his team decided to pivot to a product-led approach to its SEO content. This meant that rather than educating people on the value of integration tools, the content would reach searchers who were looking for answers about how to achieve specific integrations between applications. In other words, Zapier could reach ready-to-buy users with high-value content that met their search intent.
This type of content could be achieved via two paths:
Long-form, product-led content: Create detailed blog content using keywords that match search intent for “how to integrate SaaS applications.” These blog posts explain in depth how users can integrate applications using Zapier.
A pSEO engine: Create thousands of pages from a single template or templates that meet search intent for “how to integrate {SaaS app A} and {SaaS app B}.”
Zapier’s broader blog strategy boosts brand visibility and authority
Zapier’s blog content is less talked about than its pSEO strategy, but it drives the most organic traffic to the site. According to Ahrefs, the blog draws in close to 9 million organic visits per month.
Zapier’s blog content covers a spectrum of topics designed to deliver knowledge, tips, and insights related to productivity. The content spans the entire customer purchase journey and ultimately helps bolster Zapier’s position as a thought leader. The company’s dedication to quality content marketing sets it apart as a credible advisor — and the blog’s consistent traffic is a testament to the value of a well-rounded, multi-faceted content strategy.
While much of Zapier’s blog content covers top-of-funnel productivity-related tips and insights, Zapier also focuses large sections of the blog on product-related content. For example, the “Zapier tutorials” section of the blog includes articles about how to integrate various SaaS applications. These step-by-step guides interlink to Zapier’s pSEO pages, sending signals to Google and other search engines that help boost organic traffic.
Zapier’s pSEO content drives high-intent traffic and conversions
Zapier created four different pSEO templates to capture online searchers looking for information about app-to-app integrations. These pages are designed to convert visitors into Zapier customers.
App integration page. These pages detail how Zapier lets users connect a single app to various applications. (e.g. Google Sheets)
App + app integration page. These pages detail how Zapier enables users to connect two different applications. (e.g. Google Sheets to Gmail)
Zap template page. These pages demonstrate how Zapier enables users to leverage specific workflows within app-to-app integrations. (e.g. a specific workflow between Gmail and Google Sheets)
App + app + app page. These pages detail how Zapier enables users to connect three different applications. (e.g. Google Sheets to Gmail to Notion)
While Zapier’s blog drives most of the site’s monthly organic traffic, Zapier’s pSEO pages are likely the company’s most powerful organic channel. “What’s beautiful about this approach is that the expected conversion rate is quite high because, in theory, the user is Googling exactly the thing they need to automate, and then Zapier is there with a free trial on a landing page that does exactly that,” Matt Bowers, former Head of SEO at Zapier, explained. “The pages are hyper-specific to the searcher’s use case, and that’s not something you could do at scale with a manual content approach because it would take too long to write it all.”
According to Ahrefs, Zapier has created close to 63,000 of these templated pages (all follow a similar URL architecture that includes “/apps/”), resulting in more than 280,000 organic views each month.
Zapier’s app integration page template
App integration pages detail how Zapier enables users to connect a single app to various applications. (See an example here.) These pages catalog all of Zapier’s application partners and live within Zapier’s app directory.
According to Ahrefs, Zapier has created close to 5,800 app integration pages, which results in more than 120,000 organic views per month. These pages follow a simple, yet information-rich template that captures search intent while encouraging conversions.
The page template includes the following elements:
The app name and logo are prominently displayed at the top of the page to validate that the page content matches the searcher’s intent. Just below are an action-focused headline and CTA buttons to encourage conversions.
An integrations module with an interactive search bar allows users to search for specific app-to-app integrations or select from a list of popular integrations. This section links to Zapier’s relevant app + app pages. Each integration also includes a CTA to “try it,” which clicks to a unique conversion page.
A social proof module displays credible companies that use Zapier to help influence conversions.
A templates module with an interactive search bar allows users to search for specific Zapier workflows or select from a list of popular workflows. This section links to Zapier’s relevant app + app workflow pages to improve interlinking between pages. Users are also invited to “try it” and directed to a unique conversion page to get started with Zapier.
An overview section offers high-level information about the integration with a CTA to get started.
A “supported triggers and actions” module shows the specific actions users can create to trigger different automations with Zapier. Each trigger and action includes a CTA for users to “try it” and leads visitors to unique conversion landing pages to get started.
An “about” section includes an eyebrow with breadcrumbs linking to Zapier’s app directory. This section also links to “similar apps” found within Zapier’s directory.
A “popular integrations” module allows users to select from a list of popular integrations. This section links to Zapier’s relevant app + app pages.
Zapier’s app + app integration page template
To capture searchers looking for specific app-to–app integrations, Zapier created a page template aimed to rank for ”{SaaS app A} + {SaaS app B} integrations” keywords. (See example page here).
According to Ahrefs, Zapier's site hosts nearly 50,000 app + app integration pages, which result in more than 98,000 monthly organic visitors. Considering that Zapier enables hundreds of thousands of integrations, it’s evident that Zapier could significantly increase its production of app + app integration pages to generate even more traffic.
According to Bowers, a staggering 36 million app + app page combinations are possible based on the number of applications in the Zapier ecosystem. “Some of the possible integrations between applications are more valuable to users than others, so how the team set up the logic for which pages to index was an interesting challenge to tackle internally,” he said.
The app + app integration pages follow a similar template to the app integration pages with a few additions:
A workflow module displays some of the most popular workflow templates between the two apps. These workflow templates link to the relevant app + app workflow page to improve interlinking between pages. Each of these workflows includes a CTA for users to “try it.”
A templatized “how Zapier works” module explains Zapier’s core functionality.
A benefits section details the business value teams will gain from integrating the two apps.
A relevant blog content section includes links to long-form blog content about how to integrate the two apps.
An “other integrations” and “popular workflows” section includes links to relevant app + app and app + app workflow pages.
Interestingly, Zapier creates separate landing pages for the same app-to-app integration. For example, Zapier created a Hubspot + Slack page and a Slack + Hubspot page. These duplicate pages exist to support the overall navigation of the site in the app directory. To avoid keyword cannibalization, Zapier uses canonical links to ensure Google does not index both pages.
Zapier’s zap page template
To capture searchers looking for specific workflow functionality between two app integrations, Zapier created another page template. (See example page here).
According to Ahrefs, Zapier has created close to 18,500 of these pages, resulting in around 24,000 monthly organic visits. Considering more than 81 billion automations are possible with Zapier workflows, Zapier has plenty of opportunity to grow the number of app + app workflow pages in the future to capture more traffic. The keywords on these pages attract less search volume since they are more specific and longer-tail; however, these pages also have a higher expected conversion rate since they are hyper-specific to what the user is searching for.
The zap pages use the same modules as the other pages including:
App names and logos are displayed at the top of the page and link to relevant app integration pages. Just below, the page headline provides a tailored call to action related to the specific workflow (see image below.
The supported triggers and actions module links to the relevant app + app workflow pages.
The app overview module links to the relevant app integration pages.
The related templates module links to relevant app + app workflow pages.
Zapier’s app + app + app page template
To capture searchers looking for integrations between multiple apps, Zapier created a page template aimed to rank for “{SaaS app A} +{SaaS app B} + {SaaS app C} integrations” keywords. (See example page here). According to Ahrefs, Zapier has created around 5,000 of these pages, generating about 2,800 monthly organic visitors.
These pages follow a condensed version of the app + app template with one new module that shows how multi-app integrations work.
Why Zapier’s pSEO pages work
Zapier’s pSEO pages didn’t take off right away. The team built thousands of templated pages in late 2015, and traffic didn’t rise until several months later, well into 2016. Zapier felt convicted in this strategy despite pSEO being a relatively new concept in the world of SEO—and ultimately, it paid off. Since 2015, Zapier has scaled and improved its templates to better match search intent and convert visitors at a higher rate.
Winning strategy #1: Robust internal linking
All of Zapier’s pSEO pages are intricately interlinked. Every page includes dozens of links to relevant app integration pages, app + app integration pages, and so on. This matters because internal linking helps pages rank higher among search engines like Google. Below are a few examples of interlinking at play on Zapier’s pSEO pages.
1. Breadcrumbs (see example below) live at the top of app + app integration pages, app + app workflow pages, and app + app + app pages.
2. “Detail” buttons (see example below) live within the “triggers and actions” modules and link to corresponding app + app workflow pages.
3. “Similar app” buttons (see example below) live on every pSEO page and link to relevant app integration pages.
4. A footer navigation bar is included on every page and links to the app directory page.
In addition to interlinking pSEO pages, Zapier includes links to app integration and workflow pages within their product-led blog content. For example, this blog article about “How to add Mailchimp subscribers from ClickFunnels” links to the ClickFunnel + Mailchimp integration page.
Winning strategy #2: Context-specific CTAs to drive conversions
Zapier’s pSEO pages are optimized to convert visitors into Zapier users. The pages use context-specific CTAs liberally, leading to unique conversion landing pages.
For example, instead of a generic message leading visitors to a universal conversion page, the CTA on a Gmail + Google spreadsheets integration page shows the workflow possible with Zapier with a “try it” button that leads to a unique conversion landing page reinforcing the app-to-app workflow the user can achieve with Zapier.
Winning strategy #3: A backlinking cycle reinforced through strong partnerships
According to Ahrefs, there are close to 261,000 website pages backlinking to Zapier integration and workflow pages — that’s more than half (57%) of Zapier’s total backlinks. Most of these backlinks are from the websites of Zapier application partners who are referenced on the pages.
Zapier developed a platform partner program designed to build and maintain strong, mutually beneficial relationships with app partners. This program reinforces the visibility of Zapier’s app pages and reminds partners that the app directory pages exist for them to link back to in their marketing and content efforts.
How Zapier’s pSEO pages could be improved with daydream
Leverage generative AI
When Zapier started building its pSEO pages, it relied on partners to contribute unique content. Zapier’s aforementioned partner program encouraged partners to add content to these pages to make the content even more dynamic and information-rich. This strategy did not hold up, likely because:
It was difficult to maintain and scale across all of Zapier’s 6,000 partner applications
It was challenging to incentivize partners to do the hard work of writing long-form content
With daydream, Zapier could reignite its effort to include unique, value-added content on its pSEO pages. The daydream platform enables businesses to generate high-quality content at scale with AI. Instead of relying on partners to contribute content (plus a highly manual process to fact-check, edit, and upload content to the website), Zapier could enlist generative AI to craft detailed and tailored text for its pSEO pages.
Minimize internal engineering resources
Zapier used its internal engineering team to create and maintain its app directory. “It took a lot of time to create the initial version of the app directory, and then even more time to maintain. Zapier had a full engineering team, designer, and product manager dedicated to it,” Bowers said.
Zapier could greatly reduce the need for internal engineering, design, and product management resources by leveraging the daydream platform which takes the heavy lifting out of building a robust, automated pSEO engine.
Launch a pSEO program with daydream
Building a high-performing pSEO engine is not an easy task. Designing optimal, conversion-driving templates requires ongoing coordination between data analysts, content marketers, SEO specialists, web developers, and conversion copywriters. Not to mention executing the calendar and cadence of pSEO pages, measuring the performance of pages, and updating pages with the latest information and optimizations requires a similar tightly-coordinated team.
The daydream platform enables businesses to build pSEO programs while minimizing internal resource spend. Our platform automates all of the key workflows involved in building and maintaining a high-performing pSEO engine. If you’re interested in using daydream and joining our growing list of customers including Notion, ProductHunt, and Tome, email us at hello@withdaydream.com to start the conversation.