B2B SEO (Business to Business) is a search engine optimization strategy specifically designed for companies that offer products or services to other businesses rather than individual consumers.
Instead of targeting a general audience, B2B SEO focuses on capturing the attention of professionals, business owners, purchasing managers, and other decision-makers within companies.
To succeed in this strategy, it’s necessary to understand the B2B customer’s buying journey.
Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on reaching consumers directly, B2B SEO aims to attract other businesses as potential customers.
98% of B2B companies conduct some type of online search to choose a provider. Source: Forrester.
The B2B Customer Buying Journey The B2B customer carefully considers their options, as the decision-making process is part of a more analytical, complex, and prolonged process due to the higher budget involved.
The purchasing process is more formal, and decisions affect and impact the organization’s business objectives.
The customer seeks to gather information thoroughly before making a decision, as they are looking for an efficient solution for the medium and long term.
In this journey, SEO is crucial, as we have mentioned on other occasions, a B2B buyer invests 27% of their buying journey time in independently researching on the internet, using at least one search engine (Gartner).
Therefore, companies must be there when they are searching, and they must meet their needs at every stage of this journey. The stages of the B2B buyer’s journey are:
Awareness
It’s a stage of searching and discovery. The individual uses search engines, social networks, consults with colleagues, looks at what the competition is doing, and analyzes whether the information found on a brand’s websites generates enough trust to make it their provider.
Everything the user does involves internet searches, but they also gather information from offline actions such as networking events, talks, etc.
This combination of online and offline is key to capturing interested clients, and that’s where one needs to be.
Validation
Once past the initial filter, the buyer begins to make exhaustive comparisons with all the information gathered, focusing on the proposal, the clients they work with, their reputation, the services offered, and reviews from other users.
At this stage, the evaluation of the website becomes relevant, as it is a continuation of a company, it is the brand’s online office, and they need to find value, quality, and trust there.
Additionally, they make contact through a form inquiry or a call, and it’s here where one must be attentive and have extensive conversations about the product and/or service, its features, advantages, and benefits, etc.
Purchase
In this final stage, the options of pre-selected providers are compared, the value proposition is reviewed, the scope of the proposal is assessed, the selected team, the KPIs to be measured, the expected results, and the investment are evaluated.
The client talks with colleagues, with the sales agent, and attends events; it’s an offline phase, but digital influence is still present: through the providers’ websites and via social networks.
What does specialized B2B SEO do?
- Specific B2B Keyword Research: It focuses on identifying keywords that reflect the relevant business terms and issues for companies within a particular industry or niche.
- Highly informative and relevant content: It develops content that addresses the specific challenges, problems, and needs of businesses. This may include case studies, technical reports, buyer’s guides, product comparisons, etc.
- Focus on lead generation and conversion: It is geared towards generating leads and converting business prospects into customers. This may involve creating specific landing pages for audience segments, contact forms, relevant calls to action, and other conversion elements.
- Optimization for local or global search: Depending on the geographical scope of the B2B company, SEO can be adapted to optimize visibility in local or global searches, as needed.
- Quality link building: A link building strategy is carried out that focuses on obtaining quality links from relevant websites within the specific industry or niche of the company.
- Participation in social media and industry groups: Active participation in social media and online groups that are relevant to the B2B company’s industry or market niche.
This helps to increase the company’s visibility, establish relationships, and build trust among industry professionals.
B2B SEO is a specific strategy designed to increase online visibility and generate quality potential customers for companies that offer products or services to other businesses. It focuses on addressing the unique business needs and challenges of companies and attracting professionals and decision-makers within organizations.
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