Can a small specialist software site move from long-tail to broader keywords?

[Sera]

I'm looking for some advice from people who have worked with SEO for small software sites.

I have a small website for a very specific type of business software. Google has indexed it and it is already appearing for some very specific searches that accurately describe what the software does.

The problem is that I'd like to gradually reach broader searches in the same area, for example "timekeeping software" and "timesheet software". These are obviously much broader and more competitive than the searches the site currently ranks for.

I've been adding pages covering closely related topics rather than trying to target completely unrelated keywords, but I'm not sure what the best next step is.

Would you concentrate mainly on building more topical depth, improving existing pages, building relevant backlinks, or something else?

I'd be particularly interested in advice from anyone who has taken a small specialist site from very specific long-tail searches into broader competitive terms.

 

[Gabriel7979]

Topical depth is usually the right first move here. Building a cluster of well-organised pages around timesheet workflows — approvals, overtime rules, payroll integrations — shows Google the site covers the topic properly rather than being a single niche page trying to rank for a broad term. I'd improve the existing long-tail pages at the same time, since they already have some traction, and link from them into a central timesheet software page so relevance passes through the structure. Backlinks do matter for broader terms, but for a small software site a few genuinely relevant links from industry resources usually beat generic guest posts. Also check what the top-ranking pages for those broad terms look like — if they're commercial landing pages, your broad-target page needs to match that intent rather than read like a blog post.