Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is easily one of the most important business digital marketing practices, and businesses selling to end-users (customers) have long-adopted it in their marketing campaigns. The success of SEO has not gone amiss when a business is selling to other businesses, and an increasing number of B2B companies are using SEO as a means to gain traction online.
However, while the primary objective for businesses using SEO is improving online ranking and reputation, SEO for a B2B company is planned for achieving end-goals which are much more comprehensive than those of B2C companies.
SEO Benefits for B2B Marketers
Let’s start with this study by Google: Search is the B2B buyers’ #1 resource for research; online content has a moderate to major effect on business purchases for 9 out of 10 business-to-businessbuyers.
Why B2C marketers go for SEO is straightforward enough—they want to make a sale, clear and simple. If convinced and converted through the business’s SEO tactics, customers buy a product or service. It’s a short-term purchase cycle, often lasting less than 20 minutes.
An SEO-enabled sales cycle for a B2B marketer is a different story, because the point at which a business buyer is convinced and converts is only the beginning. The “sale” isn’t a mere transaction; it’s building a relationship, one lasting as little as a few months or as long as several years. In short, a killer B2B SEO strategy means that the entire company benefits, since the clients you gain traction from do more than just buy services, they also add to the strength of a company’s track record, which helps improve future marketing campaigns.
While each lead achieved through SEO strategy is important for B2C companies, each lead gained via SEO tactics for B2B companies delivers far more significant results. We’re talking higher return on investment, considerable brand exposure, and achievement of other key business objectives.
Needless to say, as a business-to-business marketer, you need to be twice as heedful when choosing SEO services.
B2B SEO—What Matters?
These are the key areas aspects of a successful B2B SEO strategy:
Ultra-precise Keywords
A typical B2C customer gets on a search engine and gears to “best [some service] near me“. A B2Bbuyer on the other hand tends to be more knowledgeable about the product or service for which they are searching. They have a better understanding of the product/service they’re looking for—after all, they belong to the industry. Their queries are bound to be comprised of highly specific keywords.
Your B2B SEO strategy should begin with industry-specific keyword research. Say you are a marketer for an accounting solutions firm. The keyword terms should include financial jargon, referencing areas of business which potential clients are trying to get solutions for, such as bookkeeping, payroll and maybe even benefits planning.
Multiplicity of Searchers
As a business-to-business marketer, remember that you are not targeting a customer who needs to get a product or service for themselves, family or friend. You’re trying to get an educated informed individuals to notice you, all belonging to one company, but with different ideas and approaches to search engine activity.
It’s not an uncommon case, where a single business assigns a team to look for other business services. The thing you need to realize is that each team member will tackle the issue from a different angle. One may want the services you offer to be cost-effective, while the other is more inclined towards working with a business with high regard for efficiency in planning and implementation. Your SEO strategy should be crafted on the basis of all possible searcher perspectives.
Bottom line: Modern B2B buyers have higher expectations, and businesses must understand their persona to better serve their needs. The digital media marketing experts at NextMediaDigital have established SEO best practices for both B2B and B2C clients, and help them better understand buyer behaviors to establish great search engine ranking and reputation.
