B2B SEO might seem like a bear of a topic, but it’s essential for the success of your small business.
Why?
- B2B products are naturally more expensive, so more options are considered;
- B2B purchases are generally approved by multiple stakeholders, not just one;
- B2B decisions usually take weeks or months, versus just days for consumers.
To be successful in persuading B2B decision-makers to take on your product or service, you need to be prepared to build a relationship that lasts for weeks or months before the purchase is made. SEO helps you do this by positioning you as a trusted and visible partner from the start.
For the foundations of a strong B2B SEO strategy, start here:
1) Find the Right Keywords
Keywords are the search phrases your potential customers are using online. They need to be represented both in your content – in titles, tags, and text – and outside your site as anchor text in the links leading back to your pages. However, B2B needs to go a step further.
B2B decision-makers go online to answer questions and solve problems. It’s important to take a close look at keywords and understand the intent behind them. The reason? Each keyword can equate to different types of content at different levels of sophistication … and content is king.
2) Build Out Landing Pages
Landing pages are among the most important tools in B2B SEO. Each needs to be 100% focused on a single offer – whether that means a whitepaper at the start of sales funnel or a product demo near the end. Each lander should have a single call to action repeated several times.
The more targeted, optimized landing pages you have, the better. B2B decision-makers want to go directly to the most relevant content for them. If they have to start on your homepage and go searching, they are much more likely to get lost on their way to a conversion.
3) Personalize Content
The easiest way to personalize content in B2B is to segment according to industry or use case. For example, a drone services provider should have different pages for telecom and construction industries, even though the services on offer will be largely the same.
Deep personalization usually comes from knowing more about an individual prospect. At various stages in your sales funnel, you should plan to get prospects to volunteer a few details about their needs. This gradual, informative process is called progressive profiling.
SEO can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. These three steps are the cornerstone of B2B SEO success – where you should get started. From here, understanding your prospects’ needs, following up, and generating helpful content regularly will help build your momentum.