B2B Search Engine Optimization: Where to Start
by Emily Baker
You’ve decided it’s finally time to put some marketing dollars towards B2B search engine optimization. Great! But where do you start?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, can seem daunting at first. That’s why almost 60% of B2B brands work with external marketing sources, such as a digital marketing agency, to help them out. But if you’re thinking of doing SEO in house, or just want to learn more, this is where you should start with B2B SEO:
Understand Why You Need B2B SEO
Odds are, if you’ve searched for “where to start with B2B search engine optimization”, you already understand why you need it, but let’s take another look. SEO is the practice of optimizing your website so it can show up at the top of a search engine during a search. If you are a manufacturing company for warehouse safety products, you want to ensure you’re at the top of a Google search for “warehouse safety equipment”, and not your competitors. Without good SEO, your website will have a hard time showing up for relevant searches, which means less traffic for you, and ultimately, less leads.
Improve Technical SEO
First things first – having a website that search engines can find. You may not think your B2B website needs to be mobile friendly, or that a slow loading page is just annoying to users, but these things actually factor into your technical SEO. Ensuring your website has a good website structure, is secure, and is easy to use should be your first priority. Technical SEO could be a blog all on its own, so check out Moz and Ahrefs. Both have great guides for beginners on technical SEO.
Know Your Audience’s Search Intent
You can’t improve a website’s SEO unless you understand why your audience is visiting your website in the first place. Why are they looking for this product or service? What will they be thinking about when they are looking for you? WHO is your audience? Understanding the intent of a B2B organic search query before anything with help you with the next step.
Keyword Research
The keywords you choose are highly important when it comes to B2B search engine optimization. Choosing the right keywords though can be a challenge. SEO and keyword tools can help you determine which keywords have search volume, but those aren’t your only options. The thing with B2B organic search is that a lot of relevant keywords will have little to no search volume. B2B keywords usually need to be very specific to match your user’s intent.
Let’s use the example from before. If your manufacturing company sells safety equipment for warehouses, you don’t want to spend time trying to rank for “safety equipment”. Instead, you’ll want to use a more targeted keyword such as “warehouse safety equipment”. Based on Ahrefs keyword explorer, “safety equipment” has a month volume of 3,400, while “warehouse safety equipment” only has 60. The more specific keyword may have low search volume, but that user is more likely to be searching for your products.
Keyword modifiers are another good B2B SEO trick, especially when working on B2B search engine optimization. Adding modifiers gives you more keywords to work with, as well as captures more users searching for the same thing, but in different terms. For example, “warehouse safety equipment” can use “cold warehouse safety equipment” and “retail warehouse safety equipment” or be changed to “distribution center safety equipment”.
Picking the right keywords to start with can be a challenge but working with a digital marketing agency who has access to SEO tools and has experience can be a big help with the keyword research process.
Content, Content, and More Content
Content has become one of the most important aspects of SEO. In fact, 84% of marketers believe that the future of marketing is in content. Once you have a keyword list, you can start implementing those into your website copy and blog posts. The more quality content you post, the higher you will rank. This is because content gives search engines like Google a better understanding of your website and what it is about. Optimized content makes this even better. Using a keyword a few times in a blog post can signal to Google the focus of your post. This can then help you rank better during a B2B organic search for that keyword.
Creating new, interesting content that is optimized for relevant keywords can increase your organic website traffic and bring in leads that are interested in that subject. Blog content also has the bonus of offering brand awareness within that industry. Using content in your B2B search engine optimization is essential.
Taking It a Step Further
There are a ton more B2B SEO strategies than those listed above. These strategies might be a good place to start, but building links to your content, optimizing the metadata on your site, and tracking the progress of your SEO efforts are all important as well. This is why help from a digital marketing agency is worth looking into. B2B organic search is one of our specialties here at M//G B2B. Contact us today to get started on your B2B search engine optimization.