Every business to business company is looking for online exposure. But that doesn’t mean they can sit back and hope for their company to be seen by their target audience of other businesses looking to use their services. In fact, Marketo says 77% of purchasers say they won’t speak to a salesperson until they’ve researched the company. This is where businesses look to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts to get them the correct keywords to rank for and the proper advice for how to get there. However, SEO is no longer just about optimizing for keywords in hopes you’ll be noticed. With the main goal ultimately to drive revenue through convertible traffic, here are a few tips of how Business to Business (B2B) companies should think about their SEO marketing strategies:
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Let Data drive the Plans
There are so many companies out there that want to be part of the SEO world, but jump into it without getting the full picture. For Business to Business companies, taking the time to research the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and fully understand the process is extremely important. With their efforts focused on other businesses as their customer, they need to be sure that their SEO plan considers the market share of the search results, or as Search Engine Land likes to call it “Share of SERP.”
This means using tools like SEMrush or SERP to track search results for keywords, share of the search results, and overall sentiment of those results. That way the company knows exactly where they stand within their competitive landscape.
Furthermore, data is always something to rely on when it comes to targeting businesses. According to Marketo, 61% of B2B buyers look to third party reviews in search of their own data before approaching a business. Putting your company at the forefront of those reviews in the searches, having a plan backed by data that other companies will respond well to, will save you time and money and ultimately lead to traffic and revenue.
Quality over Quantity
When piecing together an SEO plan, most companies have a “the more the merrier” mentality, however this is not the case in the Search Engine World. Getting a mass amount of links can look spammy, especially if it comes from a business within the B2B market. Business men and women aren’t gullible when it comes to content on the internet and are much more aware when it comes to spending money on behalf of a corporate entity. That being said, the content on the internet from businesses needs to be of the utmost quality. That way, companies get a better impression rather than a spam-filled one.
The whole point of SEO is not to rank websites, it is in fact to drive traffic and revenue. Spam links that may get a page to page 1 can get you in front of your target, but if the content isn’t quality, they will be deterred from working with you and eventually Google may penalize you. It helps to think of SEO like any other marketing plan and create longform content that will help the image of your overall brand.
Get Reviews to Page 1
No one likes listening to someone talk about how great they are. This is the same when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. There is nothing worse than having your customers see that all your content is produced by your business itself, especially if that target is a company who knows all the tricks to marketing. To combat this, most companies turn to reviews and content that is produced by other companies who use their content. However, this is something that needs to be kept authentic. Asking clients who are satisfied with your services to write reviews is often the best way to go about this. If your service is as good as you think, other partnering businesses will be more than happy to write a pleasant review. Remember that this doesn’t mean to stop all content creation together. Keep in mind that quality content from your company is something potential clients will still be looking for.
There are many similarities between SEO strategies for marketing to personal consumers and business to business SEO, however these are a few tactics businesses should take into account when targeting other companies. Data, quality content, and reviews are great ways to market the everyday consumer, but businesses should be especially cognizant of these three opportunities.
Author : Amanda Peterson