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SEO for B2B Websites: How Can I Rank Higher?

SEO for B2B Websites: How Can I Rank Higher?

You built a website. It looks great, it talks about your products and services and has a call to action to encourage visitors to contact your team. You might have even picked out a key phrase for each of your pages to help with SEO.

But, the phone’s still not ringing, and that contact form you created only gets the occasional spam message. Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Evolution of SEO for B2B

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, has come a long way in recent years. However, we find that many B2B companies are stuck in the old ways of optimizing their websites. Their content is long, stuffed with keywords and has a “sales-y” tone. 

When it comes to developing SEO for B2B companies, Google and other search engines are focused on rewarding websites that are less keyword focused and more user-centric. This means building websites with content that educates, informs, instructs or otherwise enhances the user’s experience by alleviating a need or answering a question.

Content should focus less on the sale and more on educating the user

  • What is your business, your products, your services?
  • What is the latest news in your industry that the user should know?
  • How does your product solve a problem the user is facing?
  • How can your service fill a void in the user’s day-to-day?
  • If the user is facing a challenge in your industry, what steps should they take to overcome it? 
  • How does the solution you provide compare to others in the industry?
  • Can you break down the process that your product or service is a part of, for the user to understand better?

Content should be presented in multiple formats

  • Website landing pages, except for product pages, should be educational in nature
  • Add a blog to your website, and update it frequently with educational content and company news
  • Incorporate educational visual elements, like videos, photos and infographics into the website

Think about how people search for things on the internet – they often ask questions. When you consider how the user is looking for answers and anticipate the questions they will ask, your content will come more naturally.

Other Ranking Factors for SEO

In addition to changing how relevant content plays a significant role in SEO for B2B websites, there are other factors to consider when working toward a higher organic ranking. Each of these adds credibility to a B2B website, which in turn “tells” search engines to rank the site higher, so more users can have easier access to its credible information.

Schema Markups

Schema markups, or structured data for SEO, is a newer term and refers to other pieces of the SEO puzzle that shows search engines that your website is credible and allow them to understand what your site is about. A few examples of schema include:

  • Google Reviews (and other reviews, too!)
  • Complete Google My Business profile
  • Featured Snippet

Credible Backlinks

Backlinking refers to your website being listed on other credible websites, and serves as an important source of high quality website traffic. There are a few ways to gain backlinks to your site:

  • Industry directory listings
  • Guest blog posts, podcasts or webinars
  • Media coverage through public relations placements 
  • Event sponsorships or event listings

Social Media Pages

What else pops up when someone searches your company name? Do you have active social media accounts that are kept up-to-date with fresh information? Depending on your marketing strategy and goals, consider setting up and using YouTube (owned by Google), LinkedIn and Facebook pages.

Quality Website Traffic

More quality visitors are coming to your site, the more credible your site will become in the eyes of search engines. Create content and calls to action that encourage users to spend time on your site, visit multiple pages and complete specific tasks (like downloading a one sheeter or playing a video).

SEO for B2B Takes Time

Remember, SEO is no longer as simple as plugging in keywords to your website content. It takes time to build out high quality content on landing pages and blog posts, create schema and social media pages, and add credible backlinks. The process is continuous and should always incorporate new, fresh and relevant information.

Then, it takes time for Google and other search engines to recognize the quality content across both the website and schema. As your website’s credibility is recognized and rewarded, you will see higher quality traffic visiting your site and will likely notice a slow but steady climb in organic search ranking.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to SEO for B2B companies, which is why it’s important to have a marketing strategy and goals in place as a jumping off point. 

To learn more about how an agency like TRINDGROUP can help boost your organic search ranking, contact info@trindgroup.com

Mary Catherine Ratliff is a Senior PR and Marketing Manager who specializes in traditional public relations including media relations, and also has years of experience in social media management, content development, digital marketing and internal communication. Mary Catherine develops strategic PR and marketing plans for her clients based on their business goals, and manages the execution of those strategies day-to-day. She has worked with a wide range of B2B and B2C brands including those in marine, oil and gas, engineering, aquaculture, law, finance, manufacturing, entertainment and health/wellness industries. 

Mary Catherine holds a B.A. in Public Relations with minors in business and Spanish from Auburn University. 

When she’s away from her work laptop, you can find “MC” exercising, cooking, writing for fun and spending time outdoors.

MARY CATHERINE RATLIFF
Senior PR & Marketing Manager
TRINDGROUP

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