SEO is a key component of B2B marketing that helps businesses rank on the first page on the SERP, which results in better exposure of brands and more lead generation.
A few years back Search Engine optimization was easy-peasy but now it is much broader and complex. Especially newbies seem to be uncomfortable with difficult to understand SEO lingo.
How to decide a B2B SEO campaign
Businesses use search engines in a different way so your SEO plans need to be programmed with different approaches to ensure Google your business satisfies the needs of target customers. Before you get into the B2B SEO strategy, we will know the major difference between B2C and B2B SEO. We will also explain why you should understand the difference between both.
Let’s start with B2B vs B2C SEO.
- The major difference between B2B and B2C SEO is the type of audience. Business owners think and use the search engine in a different way. Therefore, content type, quality, website design, marketing strategies need to be realigned.
- B2C campaigns can be designed to gain both website traffic and leads, however, B2B campaigns are mainly designed for lead generation.
Now you have got a clear idea about what B2B SEO is and how it differs from B2C SEO campaigns.
Steps to B2B SEO campaign
Though SEO strategies like content, off-site SEO, on-site optimization, backlinks, social media presence are common in both B2C and B2C, there are a few points you should keep in mind if your marketing campaign is mainly focused to reach more businesses. Below are a few effective B2B strategies that you need to know when drawing up a plan for B2B marketing.
SEO is always complex, Think different
Having a better presence on search engines is extremely crucial to enhance the brand’s presence and exposure. Moreover, it is the first choice for marketers to find businesses. SEO is an art of mastering the tricks that convince search engines to prioritise your website. It is the most important tool today that can drastically change your online presence if applied properly.
Today SEO is just confined to content, backlinks and keywords. A few years back, these three components were enough to seize the top spot as the search engines were not so smart then. Today, it has become more complicated.
Your competitors are also working on content and keywords as they are still the most important components. Therefore, you should put your efforts in more than content development and keywords research. In this article, we will highlight a few highly valuable yet ignored search engine optimization tactics that you should focus on.
With consistently changing algorithms to enhance the user’s search experience and serve the best results, many digital marketers struggle with technical SEO jargon. As of now, there are over 200+ search engine optimization factors. Though all of them are essential to improve the website’s SEO score, we will cover some most important SEO components, especially for B2B SEO marketing campaigns to optimise the content for search engines.
This article highlights the importance of SEO in digital marketing and we will provide you a step-by-step guide to launch a SEO campaign. Also, you will get to know how to execute an effective B2B SEO strategy.
And in this article you’ll know:
- What is a B2B campaign?
- B2B SEO v/s B2C SEO: Different Objectives – Same Strategies
- Learn about fundamental SEO strategies
- How to make B2B SEO strategies?
SEO is a powerful tool
Search engines are the first choice for buyers to find services and products. And SEO is one of the best weapons in arsenal to withstand a highly competitive market and help acquire a rank in the first page.
SEO is a particular set of strategies used to improve ranking of the page in the search result page. With the world turning digital, the methods of acquiring customers have also changed and now having a strong online presence is vital for a business to succeed.
SEO is the most powerful customer acquisition tool in today’s highly competitive digital market. It helps businesses reach a wider audience and rank them on the top pages.
On the whole, an effective and powerful SEO strategy is a prerequisite to survive in this highly competitive market. So how to execute and where to start from. Let’s plan it in the right way.
Learn how search engine algorithms work
Google pushes new tools periodically to make search engine relevant than ever, therefore the shape of SEO change over a period of time. The purpose of SEO is making website search engine friendly, reaching to masses without investing a huge amount of money.
Search engine also enhances your brand’s visibility and value, but your business should be among the top position holders. For B2B business owners, it is extremely valuable tool to market the business. Search engine marketing through SEO requires a proper planning otherwise your all efforts will go into vein.
What is a B2B SEO campaign?
B2B SEO is a set of tactics used to help businesses gain more exposure, improve brand’s value, improve customer relationship, seize the top spot in the search result page, and reap the valuable outcomes by mastering the art of the search engine optimization.
The main objective of B2B SEO is to increase organic traffic which results in better ranking of business. A right B2B SEO strategy helps business gain more leads and grow.
B2B SEO v/s B2C SEO: Different Objectives – Same Strategies
With a B2B SEO campaign, marketers focus on generating leads and engaging new buyers. In other words, B2B SEO helps one business to gain better ranking on search result pages. On the other hand, the objective of a B2C campaign can be both sales and website traffic.
As far as SEO practices are concerned, B2B SEO is almost the same as traditional SEO methods applied on B2C campaigns. However, B2B campaigns are developed keeping buyers’ needs in mind, so keyword research is extremely crucial.
Learn about fundamental SEO strategies
Netizens are searching products and services round the clock and if you are not on the top results, you might be losing around 75% potential buyers.
B2B SEO strategy is the same as B2C SEO. There are no particular SEO strategies for B2B companies by search engines.
There are plenty of SEO tool sets that help businesses gain more exposure and improve ranking.
- Know your audience
SEO practices are the same everywhere. Content creation, keywords research, backlinks, on-page/off-page SEO methods are exactly the same as that of B2C SEO marketing. They are fundamental to search engine marketing.
But selection of keywords and content is very different in B2B SEO.
In B2B business, your target audience doesn’t search the way general people search on the internet. Therefore, B2B marketers put more attention while analyzing keywords.
- Keyword research for decision makers
Usage of proper keywords is of utmost importance which helps businesses to reach the right audience.
Keywords are among top ranking factors and they tell search engines about your website’s content.
When it comes to business-to-business SEO strategy planning, the selection of keywords requires a different approach as the search intent for businesses can be different from generic search queries.
The data from B2B Keyword site Wordstream shows that B2B keywords slightly differ from B2C keywords. You can check out similar data to know how business people search for products and services.
A keyword can be a single word or a question and selection of the keywords should be based on the type of business you own.
There are various keywords search engines to fetch proper keywords that suit your business, both paid and free. You can utilise these keyboard search engines to filter the appropriate keywords along with “search volume” that indicates how many times clients have searched for a particular query.
- Put an SEO friendly content
SEO friendly content consists of proper use of keywords, original and meaningful content, and various other elements.
So far you have fetched keywords, now it’s time to draft meaningful and original content that tells about your services and products.
Content is the most important factor that turns a first time visitor to a regular customer. Despite the fact that you have excelled all the technical SEO tactics and tools, and successfully made into first page results, all your lead generating efforts will be in vain if the content is not upto the mark.
Especially for B2B businesses, it is extremely crucial to have outstanding and catchy content. That being said, “first impression is the last impression”. The content is the most important factor that engages your customers and makes an impactful impression if curated beautifully. The more time you invest in content creation, the more benefits you reap.
- Optimize your page
From shrinking images to avoiding stuffing websites with unnecessary content, you can optimize content in many ways.
A few tips to optimize page:-
- Use keyword in the first 100 words
- Original Content
- Avoid heavy images (improve page speed)
- Don’t overdo things (keep the content simple)
- Don’t stuff page with Keywords
There are various ways to make the business profile search engine friendly. These methods come under on-page SEO which you can work on while making a business profile.
- Mobile friendly business page
According to a report by search engine land, about 60% of traffic is from smartphone devices. A few years back, it could have hard to believe smartphone would replace the desktop. People equipped with smartphones round the clock prefer smartphones for online activities and not having a mobile friendly may affect the reach the business negatively.
Search engine giant Google recently listed mobile friendliness a very important factor and even it does affect the ranking of business as well. You can have a mobile friendliness check with tools available on the internet. If your website is not mobile friendly, you should work on it.
- Google My Business
Does your website is free and easy to setup tool that help people find your businesses authenticity, rating and physical presence and it also includes other important details such as contact details, office timings etc.
It is very crucial yet overlooked tool by marketers. It helps audience to know what your business without visiting website. You can think it as a first impression of your online presence. The more you work on it, the more you reap the benefits.
Google my business is a part of local SEO which prefer small businesses over giant. For example; if you own a small shop and you are looking a local audience in a particular region. With Google my business, you can set a great presence quickly without spending much time. Furthermore, it is free and easy to setup. The same applies to the biggies, setting up Google my business account can enhance your first impression on the internet.
Summing up….
Ask these questions before making a plan for B2B SEO strategy.
- What are your customers looking for?
- Is your content convincing?
- Is content on your website SEO friendly?
The SEO strategy is a seemingly endless process. There is always a learning and exploring process in SEO. It’s always learning, executing, and exploring new ways by keeping eyes on periodic updates, along with enhancing the content and optimizing the page.
This guide is for newbies who are looking for fundamental SEO tactics to get their business page on the first page. SEO is broader and always changing. This basic guide covers basic SEO elements that can help you reach your potential customers.
SEO is now a broad term and it is difficult to comprehend it fully. New elements are being added to bucket by Google, and now AI is an another big thing which is going to reshape the digital framework drastically including online market campaigns.
In this article, we have discussed about most important and highly influential yet ignored B2B SEO components to help you plan a proper marketing campaign leveraging the most powerful traffic driving tool – search engine.