A B2B SEO strategy

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What is SEO?
Let’s start at the beginning, for those who don’t know what SEO is all about. SEO is an acronym in English for “Search Engine Optimization”. What does this mean? Roughly speaking, it basically involves improving the content and code of a website (OnPage SEO) so that search engines “understand” what the website is about and then get more mentions (links and social ratings) to be more popular (authority) than the competition and thus appear on the search engine results pages (SERP) above them for the terms used by the company’s target audience.

b2b seo strategy

Although it may seem simple at first, the subject of SEO is quite complicated and there are many factors to take into account. What is really important to keep in mind is that, according to several studies carried out by professionals in the sector such as this graph , in most cases the majority of user clicks occur in the first 10 results, especially in the TOP 5, relegating the rest to residual clicks. And, for this reason, the company's objectives must be very clear from the outset in order to be able to face the competition with all the resources available.


Starting from the beginning: having clear objectives
Although each company pursues its own objectives, it is generally possible to categorize the objectives that a company has based on the type of company it is. B2B (business to business) companies generally tend to either sell products or services to other companies, or simply increase their visibility on the Internet to make themselves known to suppliers or end customers. While B2C (business to customer) companies pursue the sale of products and services to the end customer.

That said, it is necessary to be aware that a website (or the set of different resources that the company has on the Internet) can help the company to achieve other secondary objectives apart from the main one. Continuing with the example of a B2B company in the industrial sector, it could set the following objectives:

Main: Receive contact requests from new distributors
Secondary: being in the top of mind of the end consumer and distributors or unloading their call center (FAQs section, forum, downloadable technical content on products, etc.)
Having clear objectives is key for the company to know what actions to carry out with its target audience.

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Defining the main objectives that you want to achieve through web positioning is the first point, and perhaps the most important, since it will be the basis of the entire strategy.


Define the target audience and locate the media where it is on the Internet
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It is vital for every company to know its target audience well and here two important concepts come into play, the different buyer personas (archetypes) that make up the company's target audience and their respective customer journeys.

The buyer persona is nothing more than a representation of one of the archetypes of the company's target audience. In it, we will have to include demographic characteristics, needs, concerns and, of course, motivations. By doing this for all archetypes, the company will be able to better understand its target audience, and will be able to design all possible customer journeys to the millimeter, in order to establish actions and be present at all stages.


Although SEO companies are able to detect which keywords are used in search commercial real estate email list engines by users who are part of a company's audience, having this well-detailed information is very useful for accessing a wider range of keywords and, consequently, assigning them to a specific stage of the customer journey of the archetype in question.

However, in order to properly define an SEO strategy for a B2B company, it is also necessary to know which media each archetype usually uses at the different stages of their customer journey. It should be noted that, in many cases, but especially in niche sectors, there are other search engines (vertical search engines) that play an equal or more important role than general search engines such as Google. Having a clear answer to the following questions: Where are my customers? Where do they shop? Do they meet in a specific place? can help to locate these vertical markets.

There are some products that work great with Facebook Ads, others with Adwords, and of course, others with SEO. But that doesn't mean yours is the same. That's where vertical search engines come in, which are platforms or marketplaces where products and services from a specific niche are grouped together.

There are several clear examples for each sector, some known and some not:

Bodas.net: This is a clear example of a vertical search engine for everything related to organizing a wedding. It is a meeting point for thousands of weddings a month and is worth taking into account.
Guiaimprentas.com: another vertical portal where you can request quotes from several printing companies at the same time from a single platform, allowing you to save money.
Solostocks.com: another excellent vertical search engine, this time somewhat more generic and focused on all types of products in stock.
At this stage, it would be ideal to choose which is the best model or even consider a joint strategy that covers both options.

Continuing with the example of a B2B company in the industrial sector, below you will find an example of a buyer persona. This is Juan:

The idea of ​​creating a buyer persona is simply one of the ways to get to know the customer better from start to finish, which can allow us to offer them better products and make their experience as complete as possible.

To achieve this, a multi-point process is followed:

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Business Objectives: What is the business context and environment for the client?
Trends: What purchasing behaviours and customs are common in our sector?
Segmentation: We categorize potential clients
Buyer persona: Our bulk of potential customers
Customer journey: Our customer's purchasing journey
Opportunities: Conclusions that are drawn to improve the process
When looking for this information, we can use four channels to find information:

Own channels: Own social networks where surveys and questionnaires can be carried out
Indirect channels: Forums, blogs, newspapers and all types of information media
Direct channels: Cold calls, inquiries in our store, use of the database
Reports from a consultancy or an external entity: Consultants are responsible for making this type of report for their clients.
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Another key factor in any SEO strategy is to locate all possible competitors and try to find out what strategies they follow.

To locate the competition, you simply need to make several queries in the search engines for the terms defined in the previous point. It is also possible to use some Google commands, such as “related:” or certain paid tools to achieve the same objective. It is important to bear in mind that the competition on the Internet may not be the same as in the offline world (direct business competitors).

Once all competitors have been located, it is necessary to assess several points of each competitor to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as trying to unravel all the details of the SEO strategy they are carrying out. An example of the KPIs that we usually study at SEOCOM are:

Authority: Domain and HOME authority. Total number of referring domains and backlinks

Positioning: Keywords for which it appears in Google and pages with which it ranks

Thanks to everything defined in the previous points and this analysis of the competitors, it will be easier to define a successful SEO strategy that allows the company to achieve its objectives on the Internet.