To date, most adopters of search engine optimization have been B2C companies operating in an e-commerce environment. However, as business-to-business marketers recognize the potential of search, many are seeking ways to implement an effective B2B search engine optimization strategy.

To be successful, however, one needs to understand the critical differences between B2C and B2B SEO, and the implications of those differences.

A Difference in Goals

While the ultimate goal of both B2C and B2B marketing is to create a sale, the goal of B2B search engine optimization couldn't be more different from its B2C counterpart. SEO's goal in the B2C environment is usually to generate an online sale in a single visit. Ideally, searchers find a high-ranking site in the search engine results and navigate quickly from the landing page through a prescribed channel, and ultimately through the shopping cart and checkout process.

This, however, is unrealistic for most business-to-business marketers, whose products and services are generally not acquired in an e-commerce environment. The goal of search engine optimization for most B2B marketers is not an immediate sale but, rather, inclusion in the consideration set, the short list of preferred suppliers from which the ultimate provider will be selected.

Conversion in the B2B realm is usually not immediate; nor does conversion typically occur online. In B2B search engine optimization, getting found is merely the beginning.

Stickiness Versus Prescribed Conversion Channels

Because driving site visitors through a prescribed conversion channel is often not applicable in B2B, your focus should be on "stickiness"—getting visitors to delve deeper to other relevant, confidence-building content. Often, the primary motivator in B2B purchase decisions is risk, or, put another way, fear of making the wrong decision. Therefore, one of the key objectives of B2B searchers after they click through to your site is to evaluate both your company and its offerings.

Although searchers ultimately seek a solution to a need, their predominant behavior during the purchase research phase is to separate wheat from chaff. Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting.

Companies that make the initial cut move on to the next round of consideration. Make sure that your landing pages have carefully chosen links to other content that will build credibility and get you in the consideration set.

In addition to creating strong content, use a good Web analytics program to help you evaluate stickiness factors, such as length and depth of visits, time spent on specific pages, and whether the number of return visitors is growing.

Greater Importance of Copy

The words that you use both in on-page and off-page copy have a tremendous influence on rankings in the search engine results. However, nowhere is the nature of copy more important than in B2B search engine optimization. Not only does Web-page copy need to influence ranking in the search engine results, it must also persuade the business purchaser. Yes, of course this is true in the B2C environment as well, but the nature and purpose of B2B copy is vastly different.

The typical consumer good on a Web site gets evaluated on things like product specs, available colors, pricing, and perhaps a short blurb extolling the product. As noted earlier, however, business purchases are most often driven by risk avoidance. Just because you offer the product or service or have low pricing doesn't mean you're the best source for it.

B2B purchasers do much more research as part of the buying process. Your ability to establish confidence and credibility by writing intelligently and persuasively about your product and your company—and your ability to clearly articulate complex selling propositions—will determine whether you continue to be considered as a potential supplier. Therefore, not only the landing page copy needs to be compelling—so does copy on every other page.

One Searcher. Multiple Searches.

In B2C, the typical sales cycle may be as short as 10-20 minutes from search to sale. In the B2B world, the buying cycle may last months or even years. That's because B2B purchases undergo much more scrutiny throughout all phases of the buying cycle—and in those phases the same person may perform multiple searches, each with a different intent.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Galen De Young is managing director of Francis SEO (www.francis-seo.com), a Michigan firm specializing in B2B search engine optimization.