B2B SEO aims to get your website to rank highly in search engine results and to encourage searchers to visit your site. That’s only the beginning. The visitor must be converted into a client or customer.
In the first part of this series, we talked about some key differences between B2C search engine optimization and B2B. In B2C, converting a visitor to a customer can be accomplished in minutes. However, in business-to-business, the conversion process can take several months or even years.
How can you measure and accelerate conversions in a B2B SEO environment?
Understanding the Goals
Most B2B buyers are looking for potential suppliers. What is their experience? What should I be looking for when choosing a supplier to work with? How can I be sure I am making the best choice?
You want to establish a relationship that allows them to get to know you and builds trust and credibility in your business. This will ultimately position you as the preferred provider. How can you accomplish this in an anonymous web environment?
Site Analytics
You should analyze your Web traffic first. It can be an excellent source of new leads. You can see the names of the companies of the visitors, even though the visitors’ identities are not revealed (unless they choose to log in). It may indicate that a company is interested in your product or service if they make frequent or long visits.
It would be best if you didn’t immediately start making calls to discover the identity of the visitor. This will only backfire because the searcher values anonymity. If the company you are targeting is not a known prospect, it may be better to identify the most likely buyers and include them as part of your direct marketing campaign. Send them a FedEx with a low-pressure offer the next day.
Engagement is the key to conversion (and leads)
Several strategies can help convert site visitors into B2B customers.
In the B2B realm, conversion is a relationship-building process that requires numerous touchpoints and interactions. Over time, it happens in various online and offline interactions. It is your job to increase the quality and quantity of these encounters by giving them opportunities to engage with you.
You can leverage this to build a long-lasting relationship with your business-to-business customers. Your site should have a lot of optimized educational content. This allows prospects to find you and learn about your firm in an anonymous and non-intrusive environment.
After learning more about your company and its products, prospects will feel more comfortable providing you with their contact information in exchange for additional information.
You should make a lot of your Web content accessible to everyone, but you should also reserve some valuable content that is only available through registration. This registration will provide you with valuable lead information.
Here are some tools that you can use to increase engagement, convert leads, and create leads, as well as measure the return on your SEO:
- Sign up for newsletters. Print and electronic newsletters can be a good way to keep in touch with B2B prospects and build a relationships. Don’t require too much information when registering for a newsletter. E-newsletters work best. Make sure your e-newsletter has a viral marketing feature that allows recipients to share it with others. Do not include the entire story in your newsletter. You can instead publish a paragraph or an abstract of the story and ask recipients to click links that will take them back to your website for more information. This will bring people to your website, where they can see other relevant content. Make sure your newsletter is full of great content. If it’s weak or you send out content that has little value often, recipients may opt out or, worse, label your newsletter as spam.
- Whitepapers. Whitepapers allow prospects to learn more about your thinking and evaluate your perspectives and knowledge. Post optimized whitepaper abstracts on your website and other places. Visitors to your site can register to download or view the entire whitepaper. Include electronic whitepapers on your website with links to related information. This will not only bring readers back to your website, but it will also allow others who receive the whitepaper to visit your site for the first. Do not turn your whitepaper into an obvious promotional tool. Only include links that are educational and objective.
- Podcasts. The popularity of B2B podcasts is increasing. It’s a great way to get your message across. Visitors can register to download the podcasts. Use newsletters and blogs as a way to promote podcasts.
- Case Studies. The fear of making a bad decision is the primary motivation for B2B suppliers to select their products. Case studies provide prospects with insight into your work and results, which builds trust and credibility. Do not require registration if your case studies are just a list of results. You can post the abstract of a case study and then require registration to view the full details. Like whitepapers, you can embed case studies on your website with links to the relevant pages. This will bring them back to your website and allow others who receive the case study to do the same.
- Literature Requests. Even in this age of electronic everything, many people still prefer printed material. It gives the impression of credibility and substance, which is so important for B2B. Electronic marketing is a cheap way to market your business. Print materials are a more serious investment, and this perception can boost your company’s credibility when evaluating purchases. You can offer detailed print materials to site visitors.
- Online trials and demos. If you can demonstrate your product online or offer trials, it is worth considering. It makes no sense to require registration for a simple, short demonstration. However, if it is a valuable and substantial demo, you may want to consider requiring people to register.
- Webcasts. Business-to-business webcasts provide a non-invasive forum for sharing research, information, and product demonstrations. Webcasts are much more affordable than on-site seminars, and they can be used to generate leads.
- Technical Information. Visitors to your site don’t expect everything from you; they are aware of the competition. Strong>Technical information./strong> Site visitors don’t expect you to share everything; they know that there is competition. Consider requiring a registration for technical details.
- Sending visitors to your blog. Your blog is another way for you to connect with your audience. B2B blogs can be a powerful tool for engaging with prospects. They will hear your thoughts and see your personality. Allow visitors to click on a blog that is related to your main website. It’s not possible to identify visitors, but site analytics may allow you to see which companies visited your blog.
- A drawing for a 42″ flat-screen TV. One of our clients offered a 42″ flat-screen TV as an incentive to watch a 10-minute product demonstration. Registration was only available at the end of the demo. This ensured that all site visitors saw the demo. A record number of people viewed the demo, and the number of leads generated also increased.
Balance the information that is available to everyone on your website with those sections where registration is required. Don’t over-request information for sections that require registration. You may turn people away. Lastly, ensure that the information needed for registration is in line with what you offer them. People will start to feel cheated if you don’t.