Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website content for search engines like Google. If your B2B company is thinking about reaching new customers or connecting with other businesses, it’s important to have a robust strategy directed toward your target audience. Learn which common SEO mistakes you should avoid to start increasing website traffic for your business.
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Common Mistakes B2B Companies Make in SEO
Users take advantage of search engines every day to ask questions. Whether it’s to find a product or look for answers to their common problems, becoming a resource that helps solve pain points is crucial to growing your following.
Unfortunately, many business-to-business (B2B) companies don’t know how to fully benefit from search engines and are overlooking prime opportunities to gain new business. Here are seven common SEO mistakes in B2B marketing campaigns to guard against:
- Forgetting about the target audience
- Not knowing the right competitors
- Low-quality product or service pages
- Confusing marketing strategy
- Forgetting zero-volume keywords
- Not understanding the value of SEO
- Skipping social media marketing
1) Forgetting about the target audience
Knowing your target audience is foundational for having a successful marketing campaign. If you don’t know who you’re selling to, how do you know what they need or are looking for? Speak to potential customers to discover how you can help them with your products and services, and then use that information to optimize your campaigns.
2) Not knowing the right competitors
Your in-person competitor may be different from your online SEO competitor. By doing a simple Google search for the keywords you want to target, you’ll find that there’s a distinct difference. To combat this, make sure you look at your competitors online first when it comes to planning a new marketing campaign. This will give you the edge you need to stay at the top of search result pages (SERPs).
3) Low-quality product or service pages
Your products and services are what make you stand out, and their pages should reflect that. If new users are visiting your website for the first time and aren’t finding the information they need, they’re going to leave and look elsewhere. Whether it’s using engaging images, video, or text, make sure your business’s products and services are highlighted in the best way possible.
4) Confusing marketing strategy
Publishing content like blog posts is a great way to keep your website fresh and up to date, but the type of content matters. Many B2B companies have no underlying plan when it comes to content creation and think users won’t notice. Whether it’s having complicated calls to action, misdirected landing pages, or incohesive branding, potential customers really do notice. Having an undefined marketing strategy will do nothing but impair your business’s conversion results.
5) Forgetting zero-volume keywords
Zero-volume keywords are certain keyphrases that do get searched but may come up with low results in certain SEO tools. Many digital marketing teams overlook these keywords because they think they won’t get the type of traffic they want to see. This is a prime opportunity for businesses, however, especially those in a particular niche. When you target your content toward zero-volume keywords, you can easily capitalize on a market and become the first search result with little to no effort.
6) Not understanding the value of SEO
Many owners and managers of B2B companies are focused on keeping their business up and running on the operational side. Unfortunately, many don’t think online marketing or search engine optimization can actually make a difference. If business owners want to keep up with the next generation and continue to grow their business, having an online presence has to become a priority.
7) Skipping social media marketing
Many B2B companies, especially those that have been in business for a long time don’t think social media is important. If anything, social media may be looked at as a nuisance or thing that B2C customers could benefit more from.
Today, the world of content marketing is changing and evolving. In order to really capitalize on all of the lead generation strategies, having a robust social media marketing capability will make you stand out from the competition. Even if you don’t update it on a regular basis, just having the accounts set up with your contact information will give users a way to contact you, leave reviews, or find a link to your website.
Jumpstart Your B2B Content for SEO
When done correctly, SEO for B2B companies can be one of the most sustainable and cost-effective ways to gain new customers. If you’ve made one of the previously mentioned mistakes or are ready to optimize your website for search engines, our digital marketing team in The Woodland is ready to help. We work with you to create great content that will add value to your business and make you stand out from the competition.
Contact us for a free consultation for your B2B company.
Ashlee Visser is the Content Manager at ITVibes, Inc. She holds a B.A. in Humanities from Thomas Edison State University. With a strong focus on organization, she excels in content management and website writing. Ashlee’s passion for writing is evident in every project she undertakes. When she’s not busy managing content, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their growing family.
