Most marketers understand search engine optimization (SEO) and its role in helping websites rank higher in search results. Some may not be aware that selling business to business (B2B) requires a different approach and optimization methods than selling directly to consumers (B2C).

How Different Are B2B and B2C SEO Strategies?

The target audience makes the difference between B2B and B2C SEO strategies. B2C brands target end-users, while B2B brands target business decision-makers. In many circumstances, this implies your B2B SEO strategy should speak to everyone involved in decision-making in the firms you target.

Unlike customers, businesses usually require approval from multiple people or departments before purchasing. Because business purchases tend to be more expensive than consumer purchases, the sales cycle is generally longer.

Imagine a customer looking for a car part on Google. She selects one of the first results on the results page and purchases within minutes after examining the item’s specifications. But sales conversions for businesses as customers take time. Business buyers require a lot more information than a customer looking to buy something like car lights, and they will go through the purchase process several times before purchasing. 

Regardless of sales cycles or purchasing power, B2C and B2B companies use SEO to drive traffic to their websites. The B2B companies use different SEO tactics to close the deal. Before implementing an SEO strategy, B2b businesses must fully comprehend their customers’ purchasing processes.

Pillars of B2B SEO

B2B SEO has several elements. Each plays a part in your overall plan. If you fall short in one area, you still have the opportunity to optimize your site’s performance.

• On-Page Non-Technical SEO

Optimizes keyword usage, meta descriptions, titles and headings and website design to obtain a good user experience score. Also known as “Content SEO.”

• On-Page Technical SEO 

Technical SEO is a catch-all category for all SEO improvements – these changes affect your website’s code. Correcting faulty technical SEO might give you a tiny but considerable ranking improvement. Site speed is one example as people dislike slow websites. Your site will be ranked lower than a site with faster pages. This issue can be addressed by caching your page or reducing image file size.

Mobile-friendliness is another prominent area of technical SEO. If your site performs poorly on mobile devices, search engines can detect that and penalize your site’s rating on mobile-specific search engines.

• Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO mainly deals with backlinks. Having excellent and high-quality pages link to you on a particular subject improves your perceived competence in that subject. Additionally, engagement on the page or post is included.

How To Collaborate With a B2B SEO Agency

B2B SEO agencies can help you increase web traffic and leads by providing expert SEO advice and content. Working with them should be a team effort.

When working with a B2B Seo agency, make sure to assign an agency contact, define your business goals and create a clear review and feedback loop.

Ultimately, a B2B SEO agency helps you improve SEO fast and reach your SEO goals more quickly.

Ideas for Developing a Successful B2B SEO Strategy

1. Create Buyer Persona

A buyer persona represents your target audience based on market and competitor research and existing customer profiles. It is not about defining the business’s prospective customers but creating a collection of insights used by marketing, sales and product departments to make more informed decisions and more reasonable investments.

Buyer personas are significant in B2B market research. A buyer persona describes the person, their job in the company and the sources of information they consult while making decisions. The more information you have on the buyer persona, the more accurate are your analysis.

2. Understand the Sales Funnel

Before you start researching keywords, it’s a good idea to outline your company’s sales funnel. A B2B sales funnel shows a lead’s steps before becoming a customer. It starts with capturing their interest and then converting them into regular customers. 

There are three steps involved, and the business should take the necessary measures to get the customer. 

• Buying – The company realizes pain points as the potential customer seeks solutions.
• Sales – Good customer communication is required to solve the pain point.
• Marketing – Use tools to show you’ve researched the issue and identified some solutions.

A sales funnel is where buyers and sellers meet, owing to marketing content strategies. Regardless of the digital marketing tactics used, the goal is to educate the prospect of what you sell.

Therefore, to better envision buyer journeys, understand customer’s processes before purchasing. One way to discover your company’s sales funnel is by examining your company’s analytics to learn how customers find you, how long it takes them to buy, and why they leave.

3. Understand Keyword Opportunities

Many different keyword searches likely drive people to your website. But you can’t accurately target the most qualified audience without thorough keyword research.

Keyword research is the process of searching relevant keywords for your B2B business. Not only to rank but to produce qualified leads and profit.

Google Search Console and Google Analytics are free tools you can use to analyze your site’s performance and gain valuable keyword insights.

Consider using a tool like AnswerThePublic, which produces long-tail keywords based on user questions.  Your keywords should be as detailed as possible to reach the decision-makers who need answers. If your website can answer your visitors’ questions, it helps you meet Google’s expertise, authority and trustworthiness (E-A-T) requirements for high-quality websites.

4. Create a Scalable Content Strategy

Sales landing pages are usually seen at the action step of a B2B sales funnel. That means a scalable content strategy that increases exposure along the funnel is critical for B2B SEO. This content strategy usually incorporates a blog or content hub.

Build up your topic clusters with SEO-friendly material that answers inquiries, gets you noticed and presents your brand.

Don’t focus too low down the funnel, or else your competitors will generate awareness much earlier than you.

B2B content marketing uses a variety of content formats and methods to reach your target audience, such as blogs, videos, newsletters, podcasts, etc.

5. Match Search Intent to Content

Google is making its algorithms more innovative and more user-friendly. Google’s algorithms can now determine which words are more crucial to the topic, making content matching easier.

As a result, aligning content to search intent is crucial in B2B SEO. Google will prioritize specific content categories in search results based on the user’s intent.

As a result, a search for “best collaboration software” generates informational and comparison websites. If, for example, you were targeting this keyword through a product page, you are out of luck.

6. Build Links

One of the highly effective ways to show Google that your site deserves organic traffic is to have other websites link to it—referred to as link building.

Links in B2B SEO operate like word of mouth in real life. You’re more inclined to try a new product, see a movie, or travel somewhere if others recommend it. Google works similarly. If hundreds of websites link to your material, Google assumes it’s good.

There are various strategies to promote your material and develop links to it. The promotion strategies you utilize will depend on the content you’re advertising.

Below are the types for linking:

• Linking: These are primary links on your websites, such as statistics and content authorities. Reputable sources can significantly increase your content authority, leading to the following link type.

• Backlinking: A method of exchanging content links with other websites – many bloggers need high-quality backlinks and tap into high-DA websites to post their links. Paying for a backlink is sometimes necessary.

• Interlinking: Your blog posts can help you build links more than you realize – link your best blog posts to landing pages to boost on-page SEO. Ensure the landing page and blog post content are appropriate and insert the interlinks naturally. Interlinking your page strengthens its content authority for search engines and increases organic traffic.

Mentioned above are ways to establish links to your material online, but one idea stands out above all others: Attention begets attention. Therefore, share it with your subscribers, staff members and customers whenever you publish a new post.

Conclusion

If you execute your B2B SEO strategy correctly, you will eventually attract your target audience. Some content is meant to convert, while others support and build your brand.

In B2B, the brand is everything, and SEO content is one of the most acceptable methods to build it. It will become evident what you need to accomplish if you look at the entire funnel and have a long-term perspective.