What is a money keyword matrix for SaaS SEO?
It's a simple four-column sheet Sam Dunning uses to map how buyers actually search. The columns: how people refer to your solution, the industries you serve...
It's a simple four-column sheet Sam Dunning uses to map how buyers actually search. The columns: how people refer to your solution, the industries you serve best, the competitors you get compared against, and your dream client's jobs to be done.
Quick Answer
- Column 1: every way someone refers to your solution or software.
- Column 2: the industries you serve best — with the problem, the motivation, and the cash to invest.
- Column 3: the competitors that come up on sales calls.
- Column 4: your dream client's jobs to be done and most expensive pain points.
How to build it
Sam recommends a founder build this, or a marketing leader build it with input from sales, customer success, and marketing. You can do it in a Google Sheet (or with a ChatGPT prompt).
"What's every way that someone can refer to our solution or software? Column one. Column two, what are the main industries we serve best... Column three, what are the main competitors that come up on sales calls... And then column four, what's our dream client's jobs to be done?" — Sam Dunning
For a proposal-software company, column one might be proposal software, quoting software, proposal tools, or proposal platform. From the filled-out matrix you build long-tail queries buyers actually search, like "best proposal software for sales teams," plus high-intent comparison terms like "competitor alternatives" or "competitor pricing." Sam notes you can tap sales calls for this research — even linking recordings from Gong, Fathom, or Fireflies as an MCP into Claude to pull it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the four columns of the money keyword matrix?
How people refer to your solution, the industries you serve best, the competitors you get compared against, and your dream client's jobs to be done.
Who should build it?
Sam Dunning says it's best built by a founder, or by a marketing leader with input from the sales, customer success, and marketing teams.
How does it turn into keywords?
You use the columns to build long-tail queries buyers search when in market, plus comparison terms like "competitor alternatives," "versus," "pricing," and "reviews."
Watch the full interview
Sam Dunning and Dane Frederiksen go deeper on SaaS keyword strategy in the full interview.
Want the full conversation?
Watch the full interview with Sam Dunning or jump straight to the YouTube video.