How to Increase Qualified B2B SEO Traffic
Many B2B marketers, especially those targeting enterprise companies and specific job titles, often struggle with generating SEO traffic that reaches their target audience.
There’s a common perception that large purchases by big companies aren’t often driven by search queries. Instead, these decisions are believed to be based on experience, recommendations, or brand familiarity. This makes it challenging to generate the right kind of search traffic for a B2B business. Here are some factors to consider:
Challenges in Generating Search Traffic:
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Limited Relevant Search Volume: Selling a specific product often means fewer search queries, which can hinder traffic growth. For example, HR software for mid-to-large companies might attract some interest, but specialized features may yield low search volumes.
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High Competition: The SEO industry is mature, meaning competitors are often targeting the same obvious terms, making it tough to rank.
- Evolving Search Results: Google now favors diverse content types. Sales pages about your product may not rank well, and the content that does rank might not convert effectively.
Strategies to Generate Relevant Search Traffic
Think People First, Not Keywords
Start by identifying your ideal customer. Understand who is buying your product rather than focusing solely on keywords. For instance, your target might be HR professionals in midsized to large companies. Consider what problems they’re facing and what content they consume. This will help you create targeted content that addresses their issues and naturally includes less competitive search terms.
1. Talk to Your Target Audience
Engage with your customers to learn about their challenges, daily activities, and preferred content. Regularly meet with your sales and service teams to gather insights on common issues and feature requests from customers and prospects.
2. Look at Conference Agendas
Examine the agendas of relevant conferences to find common issues and topics of interest to your audience. This can help identify potential content ideas.
3. Forums, Support Content, and Q&A Sites
Your own (and your competitors’) support and forum content can be goldmines for content ideas. Analyze common questions and feature requests to develop useful content that addresses these areas.
4. Content Your Audience Consumes
Identify the sites your prospects frequently visit. Use tools like SEMrush and BuzzSumo to find popular and highly shared content, providing insights into the topics your audience cares about.
5. Tools Your Prospects Use
Complementary tools your prospects use can inspire content such as "best tools" lists or comparison guides, helping you become a trusted resource.
Traditional Keywords: Maximizing Core Keywords
Even competitive keywords like "HR software" can be valuable. While these may be difficult to rank for, they shouldn’t be ignored. Use strategies like PPC ad testing, display ads, and creating related content to capitalize on these core terms.
Enhancing Existing Content
Utilize existing high-performing content by updating it with new information, optimizing SEO elements, and adding diverse content types.
Content Creation and Promotion
Determine Priorities
Evaluate potential topics based on search volume, relevance, and ranking feasibility.
Map Topics to Content Types
Select appropriate content types for each topic. For example, expert roundups, tips, and resource lists can effectively target core keywords, while shorter content may work for low competition terms.
Create, Promote, and Generate Leads
Develop content with a promotion strategy in mind. Ensure content is compelling and plan for outreach to relevant parties. Map specific offers to popular posts to convert traffic into leads.
Final Thoughts
Generating qualified B2B SEO traffic requires thorough research, strategy, content creation, and promotion. With proper execution, organic traffic can be a highly efficient and scalable channel for generating leads. Reassess your topic ideation and content processes to unlock the potential for valuable B2B SEO traffic.
