Five steps to better B2B e-commerce SEO

In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, B2B e-commerce SEO can be a key differentiator in an organization’s success.

For the average business to business (B2B) organization, a significant portion of marketing spend goes towards paid advertising. In fact, in 2022, the global estimated spend on paid advertising hit $441 billion dollars.

However, in a world now marked by economic uncertainty, B2B organizations have increasingly looked to become more conscientious with budget allocation. This is where a virtually “free” marketing tactic like SEO can prove cost effective and deliver high-quality results in the long run.

What is SEO and what does it mean for companies selling B2B?

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website for search engines like Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, and more.

SEO produces organic traffic at little to no cost — it only requires time, consistency, and a little patience to pay big dividends.

Here’s everything you need to know about B2B e-commerce SEO, from why it’s so important, to how you can make it work for your organization.

Why is SEO important in B2B e-commerce?

Many B2B companies believe that SEO isn’t relevant to them because most of their business is conducted “offline” or via phone or email. Or because you can’t “target” buyers in B2B the same way you can consumers (B2C). This is simply not true anymore, and it won’t be true in the years to come.

It doesn’t matter if your website or web store is B2B, B2C, D2C, B2X — your users and/or buyers are searching for information on your business and products.

We conducted research on B2B buyers and found that e-commerce is now the number one channel professional buyers use to place orders for their business.

And your buyers use your site for more than just purchasing — they use it throughout every stage of the buying process:

We also know that a site visit is usually the first touchpoint for many B2B buyers, with 9 out of 10 buyers reporting that online content has a major impact on their purchasing decisions.

What are the benefits of SEO in B2B e-commerce?

The five-step plan for successful B2B e-commerce SEO

With the right SEO strategy, you can increase brand visibility, generate more leads, and ultimately, grow your business. Achieving B2B e-commerce SEO success does require a strategic approach, which is why it’s important to go in with a plan.

Here are five steps that will help you optimize your website and content for search engines, so you can achieve higher rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your website and product pages.

Whether you’re totally new to SEO, or simply looking to take your efforts to the next level, these steps will provide you with a roadmap to success.

#1: Technical SEO & structured architecture

Well-functioning B2B e-commerce SEO begins with a strong site architecture. The first step of your plan should address all technical elements of your website, since these affect the way search engines crawl and index your content.

Here’s how to check on and monitor your technical SEO:

#2: Research and analyze your audience and competitors

Once your technical checklist is clear, you can move on to phase two: research and analysis. This involves understanding who you’re targeting, identifying the keywords that will lead them to your website, and looking closely at what your competitors are doing.

Understanding your target audience

To flesh out your target audience, it helps to build “buyer personas”. These are the critical characteristics of your target buyers. Questions you can here include:

Identifying relevant keywords and phrases

Now that you know your audience, what they’re searching for, and how they talk about your products or services, you can develop keywords.

Your keyword research doesn’t have to be limited to search engines. For a better understanding of what your prospects are looking for, have conversations with your customer-facing teams, like sales, look through social channels, or read product reviews.

Expand your list of queries

Once you’ve got a basic list of keywords, or seed list, build your list out in as many directions as possible.

We recommend using a keyword tool to begin your keyword strategy. Here are some highly recommended keyword planning and SEO tools:

• Google Ads Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• SEMRush
• Ahrefs
• Spyfu
• Wordstream

Conduct competitor analysis

Once you’ve built the foundation of your keyword research, it’s a good idea to look at what your competitors are ranking for to add to it.

Outranking your competitors on target keywords increases brand visibility. In order to see what competitors are ranking for, you can do a basic search on your target keyword (in incognito mode). For more accurate (and efficient) results, we recommend using an SEO tool like SEMRush or Ahrefs.

Analyze what competitors are ranking for and see where your keyword gaps are. Then identify opportunities that you might be able to leverage with your content.

It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the content your competitors are publishing. To do so, you can set up Google Alerts to notify you when a competitor has published something new. Some SEO tools also offer features where you can track competitor content, as well.

Finally, after all your research, compile all your keywords together. You can now begin planning interesting content to write about and rank for.

#3: Content strategy and on-page SEO

New content and content strategy in B2B e-commerce

Now that you have a good list of keywords to start with, it’s time to focus on your site content.

Site content and content marketing in general is something that is often overlooked in B2B e-commerce. However, online content is one of the most important ranking factors, according to Google.

In order to lay a strong SEO foundation, you need good site content. One of the most successful ways to create content for SEO is through blog posts.

Start by choosing keywords that you aren’t ranking on yet and write new, high-quality content.

Publish regularly: A frequently updated site encourages people to return – as long as your B2B content remains relevant and engaging.

Keep in mind that it can take up to 3 months before your blog starts creating “SEO juice” and ranking. Don’t expect to see results right away!

Set a reminder for yourself to go back in 3 months’ time to check on your blog post’s performance.

Optimize existing content

On-page optimization is exactly what it sounds like: optimizing the elements of your website that are visible to search engines, including your content, title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs.

For B2B e-commerce SEO efforts, it helps to look closely at the layout and information available on your actual product pages.

To optimize your product pages to rank better:

Great content doesn’t end when you hit publish. Conduct periodic audits and ensure page information is as up-to-date as possible. This will help you keep keyword rankings long after you’re done writing.

URL structure

URLs are a key element of on-page optimization and can be deceptively simple. Always aim for clear, concise URLs that incorporate your main keyword when possible. Avoid numbers or special characters. Instead, using descriptive URLs that demonstrate page content, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index.

Meta tags optimization

Meta tags consist of title tags and meta descriptions, which are the snippets of text that appear when a user is searching for your content. These work to provide an overview of the content on your page, and can make a significant difference of the click-through-rate to your site.

Always ensure to incorporate your target keywords, and try to keep the content compelling enough to draw users in, while staying relevant (otherwise, you risk a high bounce rate).

#4: Off-page SEO and optimizations

Off-page SEO is all about relevance and building authority. When you indicate relevance for what you’re all about and when you get confidence, and votes, eventually authority is passed to you from other websites through links.

There are two main strategies you can use to ensure you’re doing the best you can with off-page optimization:

1. Link building strategies
2. Social media

Link building strategies

Backlinking is a crucial component of SEO success, and refer to the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. Search engines view these links as a vote of confidence of your website, and in much the same word of mouth can bring referrals to your business, relevant links can help bring additional relevant traffic to your B2B website.

Focus on high-quality, relevant websites in your industry when working on your link building strategy. Quality, not quantity, is what is important here. There are a couple of ways you can build links to your website, including blogs that will evaluate your product (positively, of course!), guest posting on industry publications, and getting listed on ‘where to buy’ pages, or other online stock lists.

Social media

Social media might not be the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to B2B e-commerce SEO and might not be relevant if you’re not publishing content on a blog that can be shared.

If your web store does include a blog, however, social channels are a powerful tool to help increase visibility and reach a wider audience. Sharing your content on social media and encouraging engagement from your followers can help drive traffic to your website and strengthen your SEO.

#5: Track your progress

One of the most rewarding aspects of B2B e-commerce SEO is it is truly measurable. Scheduling quarterly or monthly audits can help you track your progress and ensure you’re on the right track. Here are a couple of metrics that are worth keeping top of mind as you do this:

You can track your B2B e-commerce KPIs using tools such as Google Analytics, SEMRush, or Ahrefs. With regular study, you can ensure your B2B SEO efforts lead to long-term, healthy gains in traffic and leads for your business.

Common B2B e-commerce SEO pitfalls to look out for

B2B e-commerce SEO is complex, and even if you follow the five-step plan, there are a couple of common mistakes organizations can make when attempting to carry out strategy. These include:

Conclusion

B2B e-commerce SEO can be a rewarding channel to put effort into. Having healthy organic visibility ensures brand authority and brings relevant traffic to your website. With low-cost involved, it’s an impactful way to ensure you’re reaching a relevant audience and building brand authority over time.

By researching your audience, targeting the right keywords, and optimizing on-page, off-page, and technical SEO, your B2B website should build a healthy domain authority and draw traffic that keeps you on top of the competition and keeping your pipeline active.