SEO for crm software. The searches that buy, and what links cost.
One of the most contested software categories. The head terms are owned by review sites; the winnable searches are by industry, team size and use case.
Searches: DataForSEO, United States, English. Link prices: Placement API Backlink Price Index, September 2026. Collected 2026-09-28.
Ship· Page improvements
The searches that buy.
Buying and comparing searches with at least 100 a month, ranked by volume times what advertisers pay per click. These are the pages worth improving first.
- 'CRM for [industry]' searches are smaller but buy at far higher rates than 'best CRM'.
- Link gaps against review sites are rarely worth closing; gaps against direct competitors' use-case pages often are.
| Search | Kind | Searches/mo | Ads CPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| crm software | Comparing | 165,000 | $38.64 |
| crm inside sales | Comparing | 74,000 | $17.06 |
| crm software top | Comparing | 9,900 | $41.47 |
| crm software small business | Comparing | 4,400 | $51.44 |
| crm software for a small business | Comparing | 4,400 | $46.17 |
| best crm | Comparing | 2,400 | $74.29 |
| best crm software for small companies | Comparing | 2,900 | $44.05 |
| sales crm | Comparing | 1,600 | $77.52 |
| crm software for real estate agents | Comparing | 2,900 | $40.76 |
| customer relationship management crm software | Comparing | 1,900 | $56.65 |
| crm software free | Comparing | 1,900 | $49.06 |
| crm systems for sales | Comparing | 880 | $96.85 |
| sales software crm | Comparing | 1,900 | $42.38 |
| crm for sales team | Comparing | 260 | $279 |
| best startup crm | Comparing | 590 | $118 |
| best crm for realtors | Comparing | 1,300 | $42.85 |
| nonprofit crm software | Comparing | 880 | $60.74 |
| crm for small business free | Comparing | 1,300 | $39.05 |
| cloud-based crm software | Comparing | 14,800 | $3.38 |
| crm software open source | Comparing | 1,600 | $29.88 |
- Lower quartile
- $71.44
- Median
- $135
- Upper quartile
- $290
| Claimed DR, all subjects | Websites | Middle half | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR 20–29 | 48,775 | $81–$332 | $174 |
| DR 30–39 | 42,432 | $86–$357 | $171 |
| DR 40–49 | 20,524 | $111–$506 | $232 |
| DR 50–59 | 14,530 | $124–$641 | $260 |
| DR 60–69 | 6,135 | $213–$1,042 | $483 |
| DR 70–79 | 5,108 | $342–$1,647 | $726 |
| DR 80–89 | 834 | $506–$4,148 | $1,399 |
| DR 90–99 | 115 | $383–$3,651 | $1,062 |
Scale· Backlinks
What links cost here.
What websites in technology ask for a link: the cheapest price for each website across every marketplace, suspect websites left out. Higher-rated websites cost more, as the table shows; these are asking prices, not what was paid.
Your numbers
Would links pay back for you? Enter what a customer is worth.
Each search is modelled moving from #7 to #4 into the top four. That takes 20 to 50 links depending on how well linked the results above are, priced from the table above: the technology median, or a higher DR band where the competition is stronger. Half the modelled gain is counted, as a hedge against rankings that don't move as planned.
Starting assumptions for a typical crm software business, not data: replace them with yours. At these, each visitor from a buying search is worth $22.50.
15 of 20 buying searches pay back within 12 months; 3 more within 18.
$44,000/month for 3 months
A link budget that funds all of them at a natural pace, expected to bring in $143,876 a month once the links are live (risk-adjusted).
- Searches a month
- 2,400
- Extra clicks, #7 → #4
- about 106
- Value per visitor
- $22.50
- Extra revenue a month
- $2,385
- × 50% confidence
- $1,193/mo
- 30 links at $232 (DR 40–49)
- $6,968
- Payback
- 5.8 months
| Search | Extra revenue/mo | Payback | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| crm software | $81,675 | under a month | Worth it |
| crm inside sales | $36,630 | under a month | Worth it |
| cloud-based crm software | $7,324 | under a month | Worth it |
| crm software top | $4,905 | 1.4 months | Worth it |
| crm software small business | $2,183 | 3.2 months | Worth it |
| crm software for a small business | $2,183 | 3.2 months | Worth it |
| best crm software for small companies | $1,440 | 4.8 months | Worth it |
| crm software for real estate agents | $1,440 | 4.8 months | Worth it |
| best crm | $1,193 | 5.8 months | Worth it |
| crm software free | $945 | 7.4 months | Worth it |
| sales crm | $788 | 8.8 months | Worth it |
| best crm for realtors | $641 | 10.9 months | Worth it |
| crm for small business free | $641 | 10.9 months | Worth it |
| customer relationship management crm software | $945 | 11.0 months | Worth it |
| sales software crm | $945 | 11.0 months | Worth it |
| crm software open source | $788 | 13.2 months | Slow |
| crm systems for sales | $439 | 15.9 months | Slow |
| nonprofit crm software | $439 | 15.9 months | Slow |
| best startup crm | $293 | 23.8 months | Not yet |
| crm for sales team | $124 | 56.3 months | Not yet |
Extra revenue is risk-adjusted: 50% of the modelled gain.
Big, but not for links
Searches to answer, not to buy links for.
The biggest learning searches in this industry. Worth good content and internal links to the pages that sell; rarely worth link money.
| Search | Kind | Searches/mo |
|---|---|---|
| what is crm system software | Learning | 12,100 |
| what is crm sales | Learning | 880 |
| what does crm software stand for | Learning | 480 |
| crm sales meaning | Learning | 320 |
| best practices crm | Learning | 260 |
| what is the best crm system | Learning | 210 |
| what is the best crm for realtors | Learning | 140 |
| crm meaning in sales | Learning | 140 |
Run this on your own site. With your real numbers.
Ship/Scale replaces the guesses on this page with your Search Console and analytics data, then shows which of your crm software pages would pay back.
Pro is $99/month. Free has no subscription fee: you pay your own AI and data providers. Backlinks cost extra on both plans.