94.6% of SaaS websites don't use SoftwareApplication or WebApplication schema, the code that tells search engines a site sells software, and 44% have no schema markup of any kind, against a 32.9% average across 15 industries.
Analysis of 652 SaaS websites · US software company Google Business Profiles and their websites, September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.94.6% of SaaS websites don't use SoftwareApplication or WebApplication schema, the code that tells search engines a site sells software.
- 2.44% of SaaS websites have no schema markup of any kind, the third highest rate of 15 industries and above the 32.9% average.
- 3.38.2% of SaaS websites miss at least one of four basic SEO elements on their homepage, against a 37.9% average across 15 industries.
- 4.24.8% of SaaS homepages have no H1 heading, the main headline search engines read to understand a page, the most common basic problem.
- 5.27.1% of SaaS websites have no XML sitemap, the file that lists a site's pages for search engines, against an 18.3% average across 15 industries.
Summary
A buyer looking for project management or payroll software types the category into Google, opens a few vendor sites and builds a shortlist before ever booking a demo. A SaaS company's website does most of its selling in that phase, and search is how many buyers reach it.
Search engines rely on a few basic signals to understand a page: a page title, a short description, a main heading, a secure connection, and schema markup, code that states in machine-readable terms what a business is and what it sells. Schema has its own type for software products, SoftwareApplication, which can carry the product name, category, price and rating. These signals help Google's regular results and its AI answers describe a product correctly.
SaaS companies almost never use that type. 94.6% of SaaS websites don't use SoftwareApplication or WebApplication schema, and 44% have no schema markup at all, well above the 32.9% average across 15 industries. On top of that, 38.2% miss at least one of the four basic SEO elements on their homepage, most often the main H1 heading.
What we measured
In September 2026 we took 652 SaaS websites listed on US Google Business Profiles and checked each homepage for four basics: a title tag, the page name shown as the blue link in search results; a meta description, the summary Google can show under that link; at least one H1 heading, the main headline on the page; and HTTPS, the secure connection shown by the padlock in a browser. A site fails the basic check if its homepage misses any of the four.
We also recorded whether the homepage title was too long to show in full on Google, whether any page on the site could not be added to Google's index, whether the site had an XML sitemap, and which schema types each site used. We ran the same checks on websites in 15 industries, from accounting to HVAC, so every SaaS figure can be compared with the 15-industry average, the simple average of the 15 industry rates.
Almost no SaaS site tells Google it sells software
Schema.org, the shared vocabulary Google and other search engines read, has two types made for software: SoftwareApplication and WebApplication. They let a company state what its product does, which category it belongs to, which systems it runs on and what it costs. Only 5.4% of SaaS websites use either one, fewer than one in 18.
Many SaaS sites skip schema entirely. 44% have no schema markup of any kind, the third highest rate of the 15 industries, behind accounting firms (52.2%) and real estate (46.1%), and above the 32.9% average. The schema SaaS websites do use is mostly what a website builder or SEO plugin adds automatically: WebSite (38% of SaaS websites), WebPage (30%), ImageObject (29%) and SearchAction (27%). Those types describe a website, not a software product.
Four in ten SaaS homepages miss a basic SEO element
That is close to the 37.9% average across 15 industries and the seventh highest rate of the 15. The most common gap is a missing H1 heading, on 24.8% of SaaS homepages, followed by a missing meta description on 23.9%. Missing page titles (3.1%) and sites without HTTPS (2.5%) are rare.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 652 SaaS websites · US software company Google Business Profiles and their websites, September 2026
| Check | SaaS | 15-industry average |
|---|---|---|
| Fail at least one basic check | 38.2% | 37.9% |
| No H1 heading | 24.8% | 24.5% |
| No meta description | 23.9% | 23% |
| No XML sitemap | 27.1% | 18.3% |
| Page not indexable | 11.5% | 15.2% |
| Title too long | 10.9% | 20.1% |
| No title tag | 3.1% | 2.8% |
| Not on HTTPS | 2.5% | 2.2% |
| No schema markup | 44% | 32.9% |
SaaS companies do better than most on titles: 10.9% of SaaS homepages have a title too long to show in full on Google, about half the 20.1% average, and 11.5% of SaaS websites have a page Google cannot index, against 15.2% on average. WordPress runs 36% of SaaS websites, and SaaS sites on WordPress fail the basic checks 40% of the time, slightly above the 38.2% rate for SaaS overall.
SaaS sites skip the sitemap more than most industries
27.1% of SaaS websites have no XML sitemap, the file that lists every page a site wants search engines to find, against an 18.3% average across 15 industries. For a software company with separate pages for every feature, integration and use case, the sitemap is how new pages get discovered quickly.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 652 SaaS websites · US software company Google Business Profiles and their websites, September 2026
| Industry | Fail basic checks | No schema |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | 53.1% | 52.2% |
| Manufacturing | 48.5% | 37.1% |
| Restaurant | 46.2% | 39.3% |
| Real estate | 45.4% | 46.1% |
| Financial advisor | 44.8% | 24.2% |
| Law firm | 39.8% | 26.6% |
| SaaS | 38.2% | 44% |
| Hotel | 38.1% | 33.3% |
| Medical practice | 36.3% | 36.2% |
| Auto dealer | 32% | 25.3% |
| Insurance | 31.5% | 32% |
| Plumbing | 30.5% | 26.5% |
| Dental | 30.2% | 24.3% |
| Roofing | 28.1% | 21.7% |
| HVAC | 26% | 23.9% |
Across the 15 industries, the share of websites failing at least one basic check runs from 26% for HVAC companies to 53.1% for accounting firms, and missing schema runs from 21.7% for roofers to 52.2% for accountants. SaaS sits in the middle on the basics and near the top on missing schema: software companies get the page elements right about as often as anyone, then leave out the markup that would describe their product.
What this means for SaaS companies
Add SoftwareApplication schema to your homepage and each product page, with the product name, category, operating system or platform, and pricing where you publish it, plus Organization schema with your company name, logo and social profiles. With 94.6% of SaaS websites leaving this out, it is one of the few technical steps that sets you apart from nearly every competitor.
Next, check the pages built fast from templates, such as feature, integration and use case pages, which often skip the meta description or the H1. Make sure your XML sitemap exists, lists every page you want found and is submitted in Google Search Console. A saas seo agency will start with these checks, because they cost little and every later ranking gain depends on them.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-website-seo-audit">95% of SaaS Websites Have No Software Schema Markup - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). 95% of SaaS Websites Have No Software Schema Markup. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-website-seo-audit
95% of SaaS Websites Have No Software Schema Markup - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-website-seo-audit