Leveraging SEO to Boost Conversions

Summary

Businesses looking for long-term, sustainable growth should be aware of the importance of SEO (search engine optimisation) and CRO (conversion rate optimisation) techniques.

Within a B2B context, search engine optimisation is not merely a tool for driving organic traffic to a website. In conjunction with conversion optimisation practices, it becomes a channel for building brand awareness and attracting quality leads that have higher chances of turning into clients.

This article delves into the features of a B2B SEO conversion optimisation strategy, and the challenges facing marketers seeking to adopt SEO techniques to support high-quality lead generation.

Understanding B2B SEO
for lead generation

The primary aim of B2B SEO is to improve the performance of multiple aspects of a website to reach higher positions in search engine result pages (SERPs) and drive consistent traffic back to the website. The success of this strategy rests on four pillars: technical SEO, content marketing, on-page optimisation, and off-page optimisation.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on improving a website’s architecture to help search engines crawl and index web pages without difficulty. Additionally, this practice also eliminates any issues preventing visitors from having a flawless user experience. Businesses wishing to boost their online visibility should consider the following suggestions:

Speed up webpage loading time
Ensure the site is mobile-friendly and secure
Employ a hierarchical website structure
Optimise URLs
Add structured data to the website
Submit an XML sitemap

Content marketing

Whilst content marketing is an integral element of a B2B demand generation strategy, it can also function as a separate SEO campaign. This approach involves generating relevant online content for a particular target audience, optimised with specific target keywords. Leveraged effectively, this strategy can boost brand awareness and revenue.

B2B content marketing strategies consist of a variety of different content formats, including blog posts, short articles, whitepapers, eBooks, research studies, videos, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, etc.

The core function of this content is to provide audiences with relevant information concerning their pain points and needs, subsequently positioning the brand as an authority in its field.

guide

Discover the fundamentals of a content marketing
strategy with our Definitive Guide

On-page optimisation

On-page SEO involves enhancing website elements to rank higher on SERPs. This tactic includes optimising meta descriptions, titles, and headings, performing keyword research, streamlining navigation, and formatting content to make it more accessible for visitors.

On-site optimisation also deals with adding internal links to connect different pages on the same site (interlinking), helping users and crawlers navigate the website and discover valuable information.

Off-page SEO

This approach includes all the strategies implemented outside a website to increase search engine ranking. Obtaining quality backlinks, utilising guest posting and social sharing, as well as participating in interviews, are among the most effective solutions in B2B marketing to promote content and generate quality demand through organic search. Besides, off-page SEO efforts contribute to building website credibility and improving domain authority.

Challenges of B2B SEO strategy
for lead conversion

To analyse the difficulties B2B marketers face when implementing an SEO strategy for their business growth, let’s briefly break down the differences between B2B and B2C SEO techniques.

Comparison chart of B2B and B2C SEO

Source: Onilab

Most challenges of a B2B SEO strategy derive from the target audience, marketing goals, and complex buying processes. Here are the top five hurdles companies need to tackle to empower their SEO efforts.

Longer sales cycle

Unlike a B2C sales funnel, which is short and straightforward, the B2B buying process comprises more stages. This more complex sales cycle is a result of the greater number of decision makers involved in the buying process. These aspects directly influence conversion rates, which in general tend to be lower for B2B. Therefore, it is vital for companies to have a profound understanding of their target audience’s unique needs and pain points, generating content optimised for each phase of the buying process and personalised according to the decision makers involved, in order to boost conversions.

Narrow audience

One of the difficulties of B2B SEO comes from its niche audience. Whilst B2C marketing centers on a broad consumer base, B2B clients are stakeholders and decision makers spread across different geographical locations, demographics, and interest groups. Developing your buyer personas thoroughly and tailoring content for each of them is a necessary point for effective SEO.

Low search volume keywords

B2B audiences tend to target keywords that have low search volumes. Most often, these are industry-specific long-tail terms. B2B companies should spare no effort in keyword research and determine the right search terms, enabling marketers to generate demand with a particular audience and encourage them to progress down the sales funnel.

Need for establishing thought leadership

In contrast to B2C buyers who often shop on impulse, B2B prospects rarely convert on their first website visit. They conduct thorough research before interacting with a salesperson. For this reason, establishing a brand’s position as a thought leader is essential for boosting revenue.

With well-crafted content showcasing their competence in a particular area or topic, companies can upgrade their reputation, improve customer credibility, and eventually increase the SEO conversion rate.

Whilst there are plenty of ways to demonstrate expertise, common methods include guest posting, blogging, conferences and webinars, video marketing, PR, and podcast appearances.

SEO conversion optimisation
tactics for B2B

Despite the challenges of implementing a B2B SEO strategy, it is still a tactic worth investing time and resources in. The following tips will help businesses improve their ranking to get their websites in front of the target audience, earn authority, and drive sales opportunities. Consider these steps to build a robust online presence.

Determine your buyer persona

All marketing and advertising efforts must be based on a deep understanding of your clients and what they need. Identifying a target audience is a stepping stone to achieving success. In the realm of B2B, it is crucial to aim not for a company, but for the buyer committee of decision makers (or buying group) who collectively influence the purchasing process within an account.

Once you have determined the decision makers, start developing buyer personas around them. Buyer personas are abstract representations of a company’s ideal clients (ICP), constituting valuable assets for informing marketing strategies. When creating these personas, consider such information as demographics, job titles, buying role, favorite content channels and formats, as well as objectives, and major pain points. Detailed breakdowns of target audiences help businesses connect with clients and address their concerns more effectively.

guide

Learn how to craft actionable buyer personas
with a 4-step playbook

Perform keyword research around target audiences

Thorough keyword analysis is a crucial mainstay of an SEO conversion optimisation strategy. It involves mapping out relevant words and search queries your target audience enters when looking for information regarding your product or service.

For keyword research, B2B marketers can employ various tools (such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, SpyFu, Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, and others) to reduce manual work. Still, there are a few steps to follow when searching for the right terms and phrases.

Brainstorm seed keywords: These generic terms best describe your business niche and services to form the basis of keyword analysis. Synchronise this effort with your sales team to generate ideas, gather insights from clients, or take part in industry forums to outline the head terms. Next, strive to identify synonyms for the main phrases. This will make a list of seed keywords more varied.
Analyse competitors: Evaluating keywords your competitors are ranking for is a necessary step as it can inform keyword research to identify the most suitable phrases that can attract quality traffic. With the help of SEO tools, identifying the top-ranking keywords for every single competitor is a straightforward task.
Focus on long-tail keywords: These are long-tail variations of your primary keywords. Long search queries are particularly valuable for B2B companies. Despite having a low search volume, these specific keywords are best suited to generating higher-quality leads given their specificity. Prospects searching for long-tail phrases in the search bar are more likely to have a genuine interest in the specific term they are searching for.

What is more, unlike popular queries, long keywords have less competition, making it easier for B2B websites to rank higher on the SERPs. The easiest way to determine long-tail keywords is by looking at the Google suggestions and related searches at the bottom of the result page.
Pay attention to keyword clustering and mapping: The next logical step after drawing up a list of relevant keywords is combining them based on semantic similarity and linking these keyword groups to particular pages or pieces of content on the website.

This approach can be a great asset for SEO. Firstly, it ensures a logical site structure and matches content with user intent. Secondly, this practice prevents keyword cannibalisation and helps companies monitor the performance of individual keywords.
Keep the buyer’s journey in mind: Embedding a keyword strategy in the sales cycle is a powerful resource to nurture leads and drive conversions.

For instance, at the TOFU stage (top of the funnel), pay attention to keywords capable of catching the interest of prospects and addressing the pain points of your target audience. MOFU (middle of the funnel) keywords should help potential customers find valuable data about your service or product. Finally, at the BOFU (bottom of the funnel) stage, B2B buyers are closer to making a purchase, making product-specific keywords a logical choice. However, keep in mind that these leads often need further nurturing before being ready for a sales conversation.

guide

Avoid common mistakes when engaging BOFU leads
to enhance your conversion rate

Create content relevant to each sales stage

An effective B2B SEO conversion optimisation strategy revolves around creating high-quality and relevant content that provides value to target audiences. The messaging should also demonstrate expertise and industry knowledge to help organisations assert their position as thought leaders. Below are a few points to consider when developing a winning content strategy to increase SEO conversion rates:

Stick to a clear content structure and strive to make information easily readable and scannable for viewers, by utilising subheadings, bullet points, numbered lists, italicising, and bolding.
Insert keywords strategically and avoid excessive use, as Google penalises websites for keyword stuffing.
Include external links in the post to prove points and claims, and keep internal linking in mind to help crawlers discover and index webpages of your website and guide readers to your other content.
Utilise various forms of media, such as infographics, charts, images, and video, to keep your audience engaged.

Content planning should reflect a lengthy and intricate sales cycle. Research reports, whitepapers, and product demos are among the many content formats within a B2B setting, and each type is appropriate for a particular stage of the sales pipeline.

By tailoring messaging to the buying process, businesses can drive demand and lead generation, encouraging buyers to progress down the sales pipeline much faster. The infographic below gives examples of different content assets for the top, middle, and bottom of the SEO conversion funnel:

Earn high-quality backlinks

Backlinks are an essential SERP ranking factor. Getting other reputable sites to link to your web pages increases the overall traffic, helps improve domain authority, and builds your brand as an industry thought leader.

Creating unique and relevant content is a prerequisite for a solid B2B backlink strategy. Exclusive study results, aesthetically pleasing and informative graphics, whitepapers, and opinion polls providing valuable insights may encourage other websites to quote the information and link to it as a source.

Whilst producing excellent content is a top priority, there are a host of complementary ways how to obtain backlinks, such as guest posting and fixing broken links:

Generating guest articles starts with reaching out to sites related to your business niche. Although writing these articles can be a time- and resource-intensive task, it offers companies an excellent opportunity to grow traffic and boost brand awareness.
Guest posting is particularly useful for promoting content, as it allows including backlinks to your content library. But bear in mind that text should differ from those on your website, to avoid search engines categorising it as duplicate content. This can damage your domain authority and reputation, ultimately resulting in lower rankings.
Checking for broken links is another practical way to increase a website’s visibility. There is an abundance of links on the Internet leading to 404 errors simply because the web pages originally linked to are not available anymore. However, before suggesting new content to fix the broken link, make sure it fits the original context.

Key takeaways

A well-planned B2B SEO strategy is not limited to boosting organic traffic. It can be a powerful tool for generating quality leads and converting them into paying clients. Companies should consider the following crucial points when designing an SEO campaign geared toward success:

Create accurate buyer persona profiles to have a granular understanding of potential clients and tailor SEO efforts according to the client’s needs
Develop quality content targeting long-tail keywords with high value
Align different content formats with the stages of the sales cycle to improve lead conversion
Focus on growing quality backlinks to earn authority and build trust with your prospects

Of course, a winning SEO strategy is subject to change due to the ever-evolving nature of marketing trends. Keep a pulse on the industry, prioritise a client-centric approach, and plan your SEO strategy taking into account the major challenges of a B2B environment, such as:

Addressing a narrow audience
Handling low conversion rates
Creating content with low search volume keywords
Establishing expertise within a highly competitive business niche

About the Author

Kate Parish

Kate Parish is a chief marketing officer at Onilab. With almost a decade of experience in the company, Kate is enthusiastic about every aspect of digital marketing. Kate sees the marketing mission as ensuring sustainable business growth. For this purpose, she helps companies and readers create efficient campaigns, solve common problems, and enhance crucial website metrics, such as conversions, bounce rates, and others.