If your B2B website doesn’t give clear directions to search engines, will your prospects still find your website?
The answer is maybe, but most likely no.
If you don’t provide explicit directions to search engines, they won’t know what your B2B website is all about. How can search engines match up your website with people searching online if they don’t know what your website is about?
This is essentially what search engine optimization (SEO) does. It educates search engines about the services and products discussed on your B2B web design.
It’s easier to get on board with SEO (and get buy-in from your organization) if you have a better understanding of the value of SEO, as well as what happens without it. Here we share more SEO insights for B2B marketers.
SEO Is About the End-User
SEO has advanced over the past 2 – 3 years to include the user experience. This means that an essential part of SEO is creating an awesome experience for your end-user. Things like improving page speed (making the website load quickly), creating a secure website (SSL implementation), adding interesting multimedia (like videos, images, text, webinars, podcasts, etc.), and clear page titles that indicate what is covered on a certain page or blog are all part of SEO now.
Also important is making sure your content satisfies the searcher’s intent – in other words, will the content on your site provide the searcher the information they are looking for? Google now measures user experience metrics, such as time spent on the page, or whether the user went back to the search results and clicked on a different site. Be sure your B2B website contains relevant content that matches the user’s search query.
Search Engine Optimization Is Critical if You Want Leads
You can’t get website leads if you don’t have website visitors. You won’t attract new visitors if your website doesn’t show up in search engines when people are searching for your products or services.
It’s critical to optimize your website for users and search engines if you want your website to appear in search engine results when users are searching for your products or services.
SEO = Quality Web Visitors = New Leads
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You Must Follow Best Practices
SEO is highly sought after by many brands and companies and there are a lot of imposters who claim to be knowledgeable about SEO. However, it’s imperative to follow search engine best practices. There is no “gaming the system” or winning at SEO. There are only best practices. Stuffing keywords into a page, making copy invisible to users by making it the same color as the background, and buying links are all bad SEO practices.
Search engines want to provide useful, relevant content to people searching online. Bad SEO practices often go against that main tenet. Before you hire an SEO firm, ask about their experience, training, and, most importantly, results. If they make any promises (like getting you to the #1 spot on Google), they aren’t following best practices. Unfortunately, there aren’t any guarantees in SEO, so be wary of someone who offers a guarantee.
SEO Is Not a Quick Solution But Can Be Quickly Undone
Search engine optimization is not a quick fix. In my experience, a strong on-page SEO strategy often takes 2 – 3 months or more to start showing good results. However, the results can be easy to maintain if you consistently follow SEO best practices and create helpful, fresh content.
The downside is that SEO is not “set it and forget it.” It needs to be maintained. SEO can quickly be undone either through lack of maintenance or by following black hat (bad) SEO practices.
SEO Writing Can Read Well When Done by a Professional
The biggest worry we hear from clients is that they don’t want their copy to sound like SEO copy. The truth is that a seasoned SEO writer creates optimized copy that reads seamlessly. It may be apparent what term a page is optimized for to the reader, but that isn’t necessarily a drawback.
For example, if a user is interested in “Actuarial Consulting,” they won’t be turned away by a page that has “Actuarial Consulting” in the headline. In fact, the opposite is likely true. They will think, “This is what I was looking for.”
Another thing to keep in mind is that the bulk of online users and website visitors are scanners. You may spend hours poring over the content of your company blog or a website page, but the end-user will likely scroll down the page in 45 seconds or less, looking for the info they need – and this includes the keyword they typed into the search engine.
Don’t overthink it when it comes to SEO. Work with a partner you can trust who will look out for your best SEO interests.
Keyword Rankings + SEO Are a Means to an End
As a B2B marketing agency, we do tend to focus heavily on keyword rankings and SEO for the B2B web designs we create. This isn’t because we think SEO is the end goal. It’s because we know that tracking keyword rankings and implementing SEO are a means to an end goal. The end goal being quality website leads, retained clients, and brand awareness.
SEO Isn’t Optional Anymore
Your competitors are doing it. Your industry partners are doing it. Your Aunt Edna in Montana has even heard of SEO. That fact is that search engine optimization for B2B websites isn’t optional anymore, it’s now essential. This doesn’t mean you need to learn everything about SEO. You just need to understand the reason why SEO is essential and incorporate it into your B2B marketing strategy.
