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B2B SEO

In recent years, SEO has also become an indispensable channel in your marketing mix within the B2B sector, both at the bottom and at the top of the marketing funnel. With a B2B SEO strategy, you can improve your online visibility and build a strong foundation for establishing authority in your market.

Why Choose a B2B SEO Strategy?

These days, SEO is no longer just a channel primarily suited for consumers who search online. The business market also uses search engines to research, compare, and select a business partner or supplier. Many B2B companies are still missing out on potential growth or have hit a ceiling in their current SEO efforts. With a B2B SEO program, SmartRanking helps B2B companies become more discoverable. This not only makes a significant contribution to your company’s growth objectives but also helps strengthen your market position and visibility.

Key Differences Between B2B and B2C SEO

When it comes to SEO for businesses (B2B) and for consumers (B2C), it’s all about online visibility, but the approach differs. In practice, we see that marketers are too quick to approach a B2B SEO project in the same way as an SEO strategy aimed at a B2C audience. The main differences between B2B and B2C SEO are:

  1. The length of the sales cycle: The B2B target audience often does its research thoroughly, and the decision-making process frequently takes several months.
  2. Stakeholders involved: In B2B, multiple people are often involved in a decision.
  3. Building trust: Demonstrating your knowledge and confidence is essential for achieving the right B2B conversions.
  4. Higher order values: In the B2B sector, order values are typically significantly higher than in the B2C sector, which means fewer conversions are needed to achieve a return on investment.
  5. Low search volumes: Depending on your market and target audience, search volumes are often low. This can make thorough keyword research quite a challenge at times, due to the limited data available.

Decision-Making Stages in B2B SEO

In B2B SEO, you need to take into account the various steps your potential customer goes through before deciding to submit an inquiry or make a purchase. The decision-making phase in B2B is typically much longer than in, say, e-commerce SEO. It starts, for example, with searching for general information, followed by comparing different companies, and culminates in the final conversion. The decision-making phase is often underestimated, and many marketers quickly shift their focus to search terms at the bottom of the funnel. However, it’s essential to create content that addresses your target audience’s various information needs and to educate your leads. This ensures that your company is positioned as an authority, so that the potential customer ultimately chooses you.

KPIs in a B2B SEO Strategy

To assess the success of the B2B SEO strategy and the investment, it is important to review the objectives—in the form of KPIs—on an iterative basis. The KPIs within an SEO strategy are based on the type of business and its current market position. KPIs help determine how successful the SEO efforts are and where the strategy needs to be adjusted.

KPIs for B2B Service Providers

Key performance indicators for service providers typically include:

  • Cost per lead (CPL).
  • Search enginevisibility.
  • Market position (Share of Voice).
  • The cost per new customer (CPA).
  • The number of high-quality leads for marketing or sales.
  • The number of new users.

KPIs for B2B E-commerce

Different KPIs are used for B2B e-commerce than for service providers. Examples of KPIs for B2B e-commerce include:

  • Return on Investment (ROI).
  • Search engine visibility.
  • Market position (Share of Voice).
  • Revenue generated from organic search.
  • The number of new users.

More about the KPIs

Every B2B SEO project is different. Commercial KPIs aren’t always the primary objective in every B2B project. It may also be important for your company that SEO drives greater search visibility, traffic (for example, for remarketing campaigns), supporting conversions, or new users. That’s why there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to determining the right KPIs. Together with our consultants, the KPIs are tailored to your needs and used to guide the SEO project.

Getting Started with a B2B SEO Project

To carry out a successful B2B SEO project, a sound methodology is essential. A structured approach allows you to establish a strong strategy that involves all stakeholders. That’s why at SmartRanking, we work according to the Smarter Way of Visibility: our structured approach to ensuring your project’s success.

During a no-obligation online introductory meeting, we’ll review your B2B SEO challenges. We’ll discuss the obstacles you’re facing in improving your online visibility, what your market looks like, what your goals are, and how you’re currently working to improve your online visibility.

We’ll also briefly explain our approach to SEO, how we work, and discuss how we might be able to help each other.

If there is mutual interest, we’ll draft a proposal and schedule a time to go over it. The proposal for the collaboration includes a debriefing, an overview of the current situation, and the opportunities we see. This represents an investment of our time in a potential collaboration and is therefore non-binding. The proposal also includes additional information about the proposed collaboration, its objectives, and the budget.

Once the proposal has been approved, we’ll schedule the B2B SEO project. It begins with a kickoff meeting, during which we’ll further explain our approach and the specific plan for the first month. Next, we’ll get to work further developing the strategy, including various valuable analyses. This forms the backbone of the success we aim to achieve together.

At the end of the first month, the strategy will be fully developed. We will present the strategy to all relevant stakeholders, providing further insights into the competition, your position in the market, growth opportunities, and the recommended follow-up budget.

Once we’ve agreed on the strategy and the remaining budget, we’ll get started on optimizing the website in the form of monthly sprints. Each month begins with an SEO meeting, which is a regular opportunity to review the schedule and KPIs together. If other priorities arise for the month, it’s possible to reschedule or postpone tasks. Where necessary, the strategy is adjusted through continuous iterations to ensure the goals are met.

Take the next step in B2B SEO

Are you ready to take the next step in B2B SEO? Our team of experts is here to help. Together, we’ll make sure your business gains greater visibility and attracts more leads, helping you continue to grow. Contact us today.

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