Complex products and long buying cycles make search engine optimization for B2B sites different from that of B2C.
The difference, however, is not in the specific techniques, but in the way that SEO and other marketing tactics are integrated to help a B2B e-commerce company perform well in the search engine. For B2C, SEO can work as a stand-alone channel. But for B2B, this is part of several marketing tactics that work together.
"If you look at the SEO side of this, the fundamentals are all exactly the same" as those of the SEO business-to-consumer, said Jon Quinton, CEO of Overdrive Digital, a marketing firm, when from a November 2016 SEMrush Webinar.
"You must have a technically sound site.You must be relevant to the search queries that people put in. You must have some degree of popularity and authority in order to rank, but … l & rsquo; Approach [for B2B] …. is very different and must often be very different. "
Complex products
Even seemingly mundane products can be relatively more complex to find, choose and manage in the B2B channel.
For example, imagine a retailer of brick-and-mortar cowboy boots with 20 stores in the western United States. The company wants to order custom shopping bags for its stores, but it can not just go out and order the first bags that it finds.
The retailer will have to choose finishes such as matte, gloss, foil or laminate; choose the printing techniques; and even decide whether the $ 432 additional setup fee each time makes it worth it for double-sided printing.
It will also be important to know the delivery times of the supplier and the cost of the bags.
This level of complexity can make it difficult to simply search for shopping bags on Google and find a good source in the top 20 or more results.
Consensus required
The business-to-business buying process may require a consensus of several people.
Let's continue with the example of a retailer of cowboy boots looking online for custom shopping bags.
Unless the retail business is very small, it is likely that at least four people or groups will be involved in the purchase decision.
First, there will be one person doing the initial research. This person can work in the purchasing department or even in the marketing department and probably has a title such as "assistant", "specialist" or "coordinator".
Then there will probably be a graphic designer who will want comments on the color of the bag, the material, the logo options and the graphic layout.
A brand manager, art director or marketing director will have to approve everything the designer has selected, and someone in the operations group will decide on the feasibility or otherwise of the bags. Will they keep big box boots? Do they go under the meters?
En route, each of these people will probably go to Google or Bing and look for shopping bags. None of them will use the exact same key phrase.
Cycle of purchase longer
Given the complexity of the options and the number of people involved, do not be surprised if it takes weeks for a B2B buyer to actually make a purchase, even when he simply buys shopping bags.
To be fair, this basket example is hypothetical. Some B2B e-commerce purchases will be quick and easy. But others could be even more complex than shopping bags.
These complex purchases will require more work than simply attracting the attention of someone for a single query or a few keywords. What's more, some B2B searches are dominated by third parties.
Integrated approach
"There was a time when the number one ranking for a keyword was a win that deserved to be pursued – a time when you could create a list of keywords, create 300 blog posts words and generate new business.This is no longer the case, "wrote Garrett Mehrguth, managing director of Consulting Consulting.
"In 2017, we have a different search engine, and it is essential that B2B companies understand it … If your B2B SEO strategy is based on the ranking of your own website instead of positioning your brand, The reality is that your own website is no longer the best answer in the mind of Google for the keywords that are lowest in the funnel. independent websites that allow visitors to compare and review their options (you can thank Yelp for that). "
So SEO ecommerce SEO can work best when it is integrated into the disciplines of search engine advertising, public relations and content marketing. The goal is not just to rank a single keyword or even a group of keywords, but to surround these keywords with your brand.
This can take many forms.
Advertisement on search engines. Buy pay-per-click ads for keywords that your B2B e-commerce company targets for natural search. If you win the organic rankings, great. If this is not the case, you can always show the assistant, graphic designer, brand manager and operations manager your products – no matter where they are in the product cycle. ;purchase. In addition, use retargeting to track B2B buyers.
Encourage the critics. Public relations and influence marketing can help your B2B products to gain ratings on popular sites. A third-party article describing how your custom shopping bags improve customer loyalty can appear much higher in search results than your own content and can still contribute to your sales.
Develop content for the entire process of purchase. Create helpful articles and videos to answer questions that your prospects will have at each sentence of the buying cycle. It means helping the assistant doing the initial research to organize the options, help the graphic designer and even provide information to the people in the operations.
In the end, SEO ecommerce SEO can work best when you complete your organic keywords with ads, influencers and content.