<\/span>Why SEO Matters for B2B<\/span><\/h2>\nIt\u2019s true that the B2B environment is different than B2C, for a variety of reasons:<\/p>\n
\n- More complex products and services <\/strong>\u2013 sales may not be closed online.<\/li>\n
- A different buying process <\/strong>\u2013 it\u2019s not as simple as a customer choosing the color and size of a shirt and clicking \u201cBUY.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Longer buying cycle <\/strong>\u2013 it may take weeks or months for the decision to be made.<\/li>\n
- Difference in the size of the market and target market <\/strong>\u2013 you aren\u2019t targeting the entire Internet of consumers.<\/li>\n
- Unique language <\/strong>\u2013 depending on your business, the jargon of the industry will impact your web copy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This may lead you to believe that more traditional marketing is enough. You may think your sales force, channel partnerships, or word of mouth are sufficient marketing initiatives.<\/p>\n
However, the fact remains that SEO is important. The decision-makers in a B2B environment still use web search. This happens when they are first looking for a product or service, prior to connecting with a sales person. They\u2019ll be looking for the top results in their search.<\/p>\n
It also happens after a sales pitch, word of mouth or channel connection is made. They will use the web to do further research on your company \u2013 and the competitors they are also looking at.<\/p>\n
Therefore, your search strategy has to serve two purposes:<\/p>\n
1.<\/strong> To increase organic traffic to your website.<\/p>\n2.<\/strong> To support your other marketing efforts with meaningful content that decision-makers will find in their due diligence phase.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s different than a B2C environment, where comments in forums, generating backlinks, or creating large volumes of content may be enough.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s look at seven B2B SEO strategies to accomplish your business goals.<\/p>\n
<\/span>1. Have a High-Quality Website<\/span><\/h2>\nBefore driving traffic to your website, it\u2019s essential to make sure the site itself is high quality. Look at it from a customer\u2019s perspective, to make sure the user experience is top notch. Ensure customers will get what they need when they arrive at the site.<\/p>\n
Since this article is focused on SEO, we won\u2019t spend too much time on actual tactics for a better B2B website user experience. But here are a few things to consider:<\/p>\n
\n- Incorporate quality design that highlights your company\u2019s brand and image.<\/li>\n
- Ensure the writing is high quality.<\/li>\n
- Understand your target audience and build the website to serve them.<\/li>\n
- Ensure the navigation is user-friendly, so users can find what they\u2019re looking for.<\/li>\n
- Keep your site free from errors by running timely website audits<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Make sure you spend enough time making your website great so you won\u2019t be driving too many potential customers to it as a sub-par site.<\/p>\n
<\/span>2. Be Mobile-Friendly<\/span><\/h2>\nWhile on the topic of user experience, be sure that your website is optimized for mobile<\/a>.<\/p>\nIn the past, we may have pictured a corporate decision maker behind a desk at the office, working on a desktop computer to do online research. That\u2019s changing. Decision makers are younger, more likely to do work away from the office, and \u2013 like everyone else \u2013 more likely to use mobile devices for everything.<\/p>\n
This means you need to make sure that your site is mobile-friendly. Here are a few tips to consider:<\/p>\n
1. Make your landing page mobile-friendly.<\/strong> If you\u2019re promoting a recent research report, for instance, make that landing page and the email sign-up form mobile friendly.<\/p>\n2. Make your blog mobile-friendly.<\/strong> We will discuss thought leadership in detail below, but if one of the tactics you choose is a regular blog post, make sure it\u2019s mobile-friendly. You don\u2019t want to drive customers to a blog, only to have them arrive via their mobile device and not be able to read it.<\/p>\n3. Consider making your site <\/strong>responsive.<\/strong> This means it\u2019s coded to adapt to the viewer\u2019s screen, whether it\u2019s a desktop, a tablet, or any of a variety of smart phones. This is different than having a mobile site, which is a copy of your site slimmed down for mobile. Responsive sites are proving more user friendly and increasing search results from mobile.<\/p>\n4. Consider mobile when doing keyword research.<\/strong> We will expand on keyword research below, but when doing your research, consider how people do searches with mobile devices. They are using personal assistants like Siri or Alexa, and framing searches as full sentence questions.<\/p>\nKeep your B2B site optimized for mobile devices at all times. Test it now<\/a> to see if it needs improvement.<\/p>\n<\/span>3. Focus Your Content on Generating Leads<\/span><\/h2>\nLet\u2019s look at the content that will support your B2B SEO efforts. Particularly if you have complex or expensive products and services, you can\u2019t expect decision-makers to complete sales online, at least as a first-time customer. Instead, when they come to your site at the start of their decision-making process, you will need to treat them like you would any other sales lead.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important for your web content, therefore, to have all the details about your products and services, and plenty of ways to gather more information.<\/p>\n
Include ways to contact a product specialist or salesperson for more details. Maybe it\u2019s possible to order a sample or a test run of a product. Mention all those options and make it easy for the customer to contact your company, with phone numbers displayed prominently, online forms<\/a>, email address requests or even live chats.<\/p>\nProduct and service descriptions need to be well written, with clear, explanatory content. The specifications and features need to be covered in detail, along with descriptions of how the product or service is used. You can even help potential customers understand your product by adding images or videos.<\/p>\n
<\/span>4. Find the Right Keywords<\/span><\/h2>\nKeywords are important to B2B and <\/span>B2C SEO, but in B2B, there are some additional considerations.<\/p>\nIf your industry has its own language, including jargon or acronyms, it\u2019s important to include those in your keyword implementation. However, don\u2019t overdo it with jargon. Make sure the content is clear and understandable.<\/p>\n
As well, don\u2019t make the mistake of using your brand or product in place of keywords. Unless your brand is so well known that customers search using only the brand name, you will need to do keyword research, which will then feed into the quality content on your site.<\/p>\n
Here are some ways to do keyword research:<\/p>\n
1.<\/strong> Use your sales team, your customer service team, or even customers, to do research. Find out what questions are being asked by customers or potential customers, and what they\u2019re searching for when they go online. Also find out how they found you.<\/p>\n2.<\/strong> Find out the area of your customers\u2019 companies that the decision-makers are from \u2013 the IT department or the executive team, for instance. Targeting your market will help with content creation.<\/p>\n3.<\/strong> Find a tool that works for you, like WebCEO’s Keyword Research<\/a>, to search for relevant keywords.<\/p>\n4.<\/strong> Use long-tail keywords, like complete phrases or questions that your customers may ask.<\/p>\n<\/span>5. Create Quality Content Through Thought Leadership<\/span><\/h2>\nOnce you understand the keywords and the phrases that people use to get to your site, create quality content that will appear in those search engine results. There are a number of ways to do that, but one of the best is by becoming a thought leader.<\/p>\n
This is important for both of the objectives of your B2B SEO strategy \u2013 increasing organic traffic and <\/em>supporting your other sales channels. Decision makers doing due diligence will want to see that your company is a leader in the industry, and quality content in the form of thought leadership will do that.<\/p>\n
This may lead you to believe that more traditional marketing is enough. You may think your sales force, channel partnerships, or word of mouth are sufficient marketing initiatives.<\/p>\n
However, the fact remains that SEO is important. The decision-makers in a B2B environment still use web search. This happens when they are first looking for a product or service, prior to connecting with a sales person. They\u2019ll be looking for the top results in their search.<\/p>\n
It also happens after a sales pitch, word of mouth or channel connection is made. They will use the web to do further research on your company \u2013 and the competitors they are also looking at.<\/p>\n
Therefore, your search strategy has to serve two purposes:<\/p>\n
1.<\/strong> To increase organic traffic to your website.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> To support your other marketing efforts with meaningful content that decision-makers will find in their due diligence phase.<\/p>\n That\u2019s different than a B2C environment, where comments in forums, generating backlinks, or creating large volumes of content may be enough.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s look at seven B2B SEO strategies to accomplish your business goals.<\/p>\n Before driving traffic to your website, it\u2019s essential to make sure the site itself is high quality. Look at it from a customer\u2019s perspective, to make sure the user experience is top notch. Ensure customers will get what they need when they arrive at the site.<\/p>\n Since this article is focused on SEO, we won\u2019t spend too much time on actual tactics for a better B2B website user experience. But here are a few things to consider:<\/p>\n Make sure you spend enough time making your website great so you won\u2019t be driving too many potential customers to it as a sub-par site.<\/p>\n While on the topic of user experience, be sure that your website is optimized for mobile<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the past, we may have pictured a corporate decision maker behind a desk at the office, working on a desktop computer to do online research. That\u2019s changing. Decision makers are younger, more likely to do work away from the office, and \u2013 like everyone else \u2013 more likely to use mobile devices for everything.<\/p>\n This means you need to make sure that your site is mobile-friendly. Here are a few tips to consider:<\/p>\n 1. Make your landing page mobile-friendly.<\/strong> If you\u2019re promoting a recent research report, for instance, make that landing page and the email sign-up form mobile friendly.<\/p>\n 2. Make your blog mobile-friendly.<\/strong> We will discuss thought leadership in detail below, but if one of the tactics you choose is a regular blog post, make sure it\u2019s mobile-friendly. You don\u2019t want to drive customers to a blog, only to have them arrive via their mobile device and not be able to read it.<\/p>\n 3. Consider making your site <\/strong>responsive.<\/strong> This means it\u2019s coded to adapt to the viewer\u2019s screen, whether it\u2019s a desktop, a tablet, or any of a variety of smart phones. This is different than having a mobile site, which is a copy of your site slimmed down for mobile. Responsive sites are proving more user friendly and increasing search results from mobile.<\/p>\n 4. Consider mobile when doing keyword research.<\/strong> We will expand on keyword research below, but when doing your research, consider how people do searches with mobile devices. They are using personal assistants like Siri or Alexa, and framing searches as full sentence questions.<\/p>\n Keep your B2B site optimized for mobile devices at all times. Test it now<\/a> to see if it needs improvement.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at the content that will support your B2B SEO efforts. Particularly if you have complex or expensive products and services, you can\u2019t expect decision-makers to complete sales online, at least as a first-time customer. Instead, when they come to your site at the start of their decision-making process, you will need to treat them like you would any other sales lead.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important for your web content, therefore, to have all the details about your products and services, and plenty of ways to gather more information.<\/p>\n Include ways to contact a product specialist or salesperson for more details. Maybe it\u2019s possible to order a sample or a test run of a product. Mention all those options and make it easy for the customer to contact your company, with phone numbers displayed prominently, online forms<\/a>, email address requests or even live chats.<\/p>\n Product and service descriptions need to be well written, with clear, explanatory content. The specifications and features need to be covered in detail, along with descriptions of how the product or service is used. You can even help potential customers understand your product by adding images or videos.<\/p>\n Keywords are important to B2B and <\/span>B2C SEO, but in B2B, there are some additional considerations.<\/p>\n If your industry has its own language, including jargon or acronyms, it\u2019s important to include those in your keyword implementation. However, don\u2019t overdo it with jargon. Make sure the content is clear and understandable.<\/p>\n As well, don\u2019t make the mistake of using your brand or product in place of keywords. Unless your brand is so well known that customers search using only the brand name, you will need to do keyword research, which will then feed into the quality content on your site.<\/p>\n Here are some ways to do keyword research:<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Use your sales team, your customer service team, or even customers, to do research. Find out what questions are being asked by customers or potential customers, and what they\u2019re searching for when they go online. Also find out how they found you.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Find out the area of your customers\u2019 companies that the decision-makers are from \u2013 the IT department or the executive team, for instance. Targeting your market will help with content creation.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> Find a tool that works for you, like WebCEO’s Keyword Research<\/a>, to search for relevant keywords.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> Use long-tail keywords, like complete phrases or questions that your customers may ask.<\/p>\n Once you understand the keywords and the phrases that people use to get to your site, create quality content that will appear in those search engine results. There are a number of ways to do that, but one of the best is by becoming a thought leader.<\/p>\n This is important for both of the objectives of your B2B SEO strategy \u2013 increasing organic traffic and <\/em>supporting your other sales channels. Decision makers doing due diligence will want to see that your company is a leader in the industry, and quality content in the form of thought leadership will do that.<\/p>\n<\/span>1. Have a High-Quality Website<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/span>2. Be Mobile-Friendly<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>3. Focus Your Content on Generating Leads<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>4. Find the Right Keywords<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>5. Create Quality Content Through Thought Leadership<\/span><\/h2>\n
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