In business-to-business (B2B) web marketing, your success depends on converting web visitors into qualified leads. Perhaps you have plenty of web traffic. Great. But how’s your conversion rate? What percentage of your visitors is turning into leads – and customers?

Unless it’s 100%, you can improve. So marketers like you need to continuously boost their efforts to convert more website visitors into profitable leads.

Boost your conversion rate when you request a complimentary Website Usability & Conversion Assessment, custom-tailored for you by our team of experts

As many B2B marketers have learned the hard way, web marketing strategies that work with consumers aren’t necessarily effective with B2B. That’s because B2B typically involves a high-value, complex sales cycle. So you need to convert visitors into qualified leads, who are added to your database or CRM so your sales team can follow up by email or phone.

The following 10 tips are sound, proven techniques that – when  implemented properly – will increase the quantity and quality of your leads and your web marketing profit.

1.  How to Find Out What Your Web Visitors Really Want

Start by analyzing which pages your visitors visit most – this reveals their areas of interest.

There are a number of analytics programs such as google analytics. I recommend focusing on your top 10 pages, then looking at two key reports: which pages visitors came from – and which pages they visited next. By understanding your visitors’ behavior and navigation, you’ll understand what they’re seeking.

Usually the home page is your most visited page, but where do visitors go next? An understanding of what pages they visit next is essential to identify what your visitors want. And once you know what information is important to them, you can gather or create effective marketing assets.

Do visitors click on your About Us page to learn more about your company? Or do they click on the Solutions/Services page to understand more about your offerings? If the Solutions page is the second-most visited page, look at the navigation summary to determine which page most visitors clicked on next. When on your solutions pages, what additional information are they seeking? Then create an asset that provides that information.

2.  Implement Clean, Clear Landing Pages

The design and verbiage of your websites, microsites or landing pages is critical to success. Through extensive testing, I’ve learned that clean, simple design usually performs best with B2B visitors. That’s in contrast with consumers who often prefer flashy, busy sites. While consumers usually enjoy being wowed or entertained, business buyers don’t have time for fluff and appreciate a simple, clear landing page.

The best web marketing copy also differs in B2B compared with B2C sites. In B2B, you should always present – as quickly and efficiently as possible – clear benefit statements, points of differentiation, and calls-to-action. You’re not writing to entertain – you’re writing to inform, quickly and efficiently.

3.  Focus on Visitor Benefits

Many marketers make the mistake of focusing on their products or services – and how awesome they are. But what business buyers really want to know is “what’s in it for me?” So focus your webpage content, calls-to-action and downloadable assets on benefits to the prospect.

 Boost your conversion rate when you request a complimentary Website Usability & Conversion Assessment, custom-tailored for you by our team of experts

Give business visitors something of value, something that will boost their knowledge or skills, and help them do their job better. Provide unique, helpful information, rather than a self-serving promotional piece about your company.

For example, studies on market research have a much higher conversion rate than marketing brochures. This is especially true if you promote the study by focusing on the benefits the reader will receive. So a good description for a white paper might be something like Find out how to increase your search marketing ROI or Case study on how 5 companies successfully used social media to generate leads.

4.  Create Unique, Compelling Calls-to-Action

You know what pages your visitors look at most, you have a clean landing page. At this point, your goal is simple: capture your visitors’ contact information. To do this, you need to identify the most effective calls-to-action (CTA).

Go back to your navigation summary report, and identify the navigation path.  For example, if your searchers are clicking through to your services page, you might create an asset for that page focusing on services in your industry, such as a guide, report, or white paper about your industry, and how to compare and contrast service providers.

The CTA – and the asset offered to your visitors – should vary from page to page, as you seek to align the asset offered with the information your searchers are seeking.

5.  Offer Value in Exchange for Contact Info

This is it, the goal of most B2B websites:  to capture contact information. In order to persuade your visitors to give up some privacy and give you their contact information, you need to provide something valuable in return.  Identifying the most attractive assets to offer will help convert more website visitors into qualified leads.

The more contact information you want (e.g. visitors’ phone numbers), the more valuable the asset needs to be. Reflect on your own experience – we tend to give out email addresses relatively easily (especially if we have a secondary email address), but we’re much more guarded about our phone number. If you want a phone number, you need to create something of great value that meets the visitors’ specific needs.

I hope you’ve profited from Part 1. Be sure to check out our March newsletter, which will feature How to Convert Your Web Visitors Into Leads – 10 Essential Tips – Part 2

Boost your conversion rate when you request a complimentary Website Usability & Conversion Assessment, custom-tailored for you by our team of experts

Why? Many B2B marketers fail to include informational assets in their overall SEO strategy. Information presented on your website such as press releases, case studies, newsletters, white papers, product demos, and how-to videos are all great ways to engage prospects, generate leads and acquire customers.

But, if they aren’t readily found by searchers, they will not realize their full SEO potential.

Here are three steps to fully capitalize on the SEO potential of your online informational assets.

1.  Select Specific Keywords For Each Asset

Just like your website’s overarching SEO strategy, your online assets must also include targeted keywords. The keyword set may be more specific and will likely contain long-tailed terms.

I encourage you to perform keyword research specifically around the topics of your press releases, studies, etc… to better understand your prospects’ online behavior and intent.

Review your analytics data as well and take a look at the specific search queries prospects use to find your site and access various information. By targeting the right set of terms, your marketing assets will become powerful tools to engage prospects.

For example, a B2B market research company is optimizing many of their webpages for target keywords such as “local market research”, “market trends”, and “consumer research”.

In addition to website SEO, they are also optimizing a research study that addresses the topic of green consumers. The SEO plan for this downloadable asset focuses on much more specific keywords such as “Green consumer research” and “eco-friendly market research”.

This comprehensive approach to SEO allows the main pages of the site to rank well for general terms while the research download ranks well for more specific search queries.

2.  Optimize Webpages & Asset Content

Optimizing online assets is not much different than optimizing the rest of your website. Specific tactics may vary based on the format in which the information is presented, but here are some general rules to follow:

• Use keywords in the URL structure of the page that promotes the asset. For example:  www.mysite.com/market-research/green-consumers is much more effective than www.mysite.com/downloadresearchstudy

•  Use keywords in the page title and META descriptions for the page

• Within the body of the asset, insert keywords into headings.

•  Incorporate key phrases into the text links throughout the body copy.

For example: Click here for more information is not nearly as effective as Click here for more local market research data

• Apply keyword-rich alt tags to all images

3.  Utilize Social Channels

Blogs provide a wealth of content to your site, which is exactly what the search engines look for – current, up-to-date content. Blog posts can range from fun, light-hearted topics, to more serious, industry related topics. Your corporate blog is also a great way to promote downloadable assets.

By optimizing blog posts you make them more visible in search results.

Blogs should be used to:

•      Provide a snippet of a press release
•     Summarize a downloadable research report
•     Promote a product video or webinar
•     Preview a case study

Use other social media channels to promote optimized assets as well. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ should all be part of your integrated SEO strategy to optimize and promote informational assets.

If You Have Online Assets – Optimize Them!

Don’t forget to include marketing assets and informational downloads in your B2B SEO strategy. Capitalize on all the online tools at your disposal including press releases, case studies, product demos, white papers and webinars.

Create a specific SEO Plan and Keyword map for each asset and use your corporate blog and social channels to drive searchers to these optimized assets.

B2B marketers may actually have an advantage over consumer marketers due to the wide range of assets at their disposal. Informational pieces like webinars, white papers and product demos provide great channels to expand and enhance your B2B SEO strategy.

The goal is to not only for the main pages of your website to rank well in search results, but for your online assets to appear at the top of the results too. Remember that Google displays “everything” in the search results, including images, blogs, videos, news, etc… so the more assets that are optimized, the more opportunity your site has to rank well.

In order to be successful in 2012, search marketers must realize the line between social media and SEO is becoming nonexistent. The world has embraced social media and social media platforms have made great strides in courting businesses for participation and advertising. Social media is becoming essential for all businesses to include in their marketing efforts.  After all, social signals are already affecting search engine results.  The major search engines have publically confirmed this fact on multiple occasions.

In addition, search engines are displaying both personal (when logged into the corresponding account) and public information in their search results.  Facebook currently partners with Bing to provide personalization in their search results by including posts from friends or companies you “like” that are related to the search topic. And Google just launched “Google plus your world” at the beginning of the year, which allows content from your Google+ account and circle to appear in their search results.

This evolution of search provides businesses with more opportunities to share information and news about their company and business and have that message appear across online platforms. By participating in, creating and promoting conversations about your industry, company, products or services you can not only communicate with your target audience, you can also influence how your website ranks in the search results.

With programs such as Google’s “Google plus your world” and Facebook’s partnership with Bing, social media efforts must work in concert with your SEO program and is becoming an essential component to search engine optimization packages. When these strategies are properly orchestrated, your target audience should get one cohesive message no matter the outlet, increasing brand awareness and potentially lead generation or sales. With socially acceptable search engine optimization packages, businesses will likely see greater results in their SEO programs now and in the future.

A microsite is a “mini website” with multiple pages and usually some type of navigation bar. The visitor can browse around the site and determine what is content important to them.

A landing page can also have multiple pages (multi-step landing page) but there is generally one or two paths for the visitor to take towards converting. The visitor is guided through the content and pages in the order you decide.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the differences between the two types of sites here are three factors to help determine which is best for you

1. Complexity of the Product or Offering

Does your product or offering need explaining or is it self-explanatory?

If you have a complex product, a microsite may be a better option. The extra pages of a microsite allow you to explain the various details of the product while still making the information optional. It’s there if visitors need it but does not impede the conversion if the visitor doesn’t require additional information.

If a product / offering is self-explanatory or easily explained, a landing page or multi-step landing page could work better. This option is also great if you have content that you want every visitor to see.

2. Your Target Audience

It is important to understand how your target audience searches and makes decisions.

• Do they need to be in control and make their own decisions (microsite) or do they need to be guided through the process (multi-step landing page)?
• Do they need all of the facts and details to make a decision or not?
• Do they have the time or patience to go through multiple steps or not?

3. The Level of Commitment You are Asking for

Is your call to action (CTA) asking for a large commitment like installing a software demo or a small commitment like viewing a free guide.

Larger commitments generally means that the visitor will want more information before making a decision and will also have higher anxiety in deciding. A microsite can provide the additional information needed in a familiar and professional format of a website.

For a small commitment or very specific CTA, the additional pages of a microsite may be distracting or confusing for the visitor in how to proceed. The clear path of a landing page or multi-step landing page may be better in this situation.

Test It!

There is not one set answer for using a microsite vs. a landing page and many factors play a part in determining which would be best.

You may have a complex product but your target audience needs to be guided through the process. You may have a CTA with a small commitment but your target audience needs to be in control and determine what is important themselves.

The only way to know for sure whether a microsite or landing page is better, is to test it.

Thank you for taking the time to read, if you have any questions or comments please post below or e-mail me at abraham@smartsearchmarketing.com.

Below are three aspects of your SEO Program to analyze and improve to ensure that your SEO investment is generating website visitors, prospects and ultimately leads and customers.

Track Rankings…But As A Secondary Metric

Too often, B2B SEO programs are focused solely on increasing search engine rankings, and success is measured via ranking software and some type of “visibility score”.

In my opinion rankings should be tracked, but only as a secondary metric. It’s fine to track and report position (or rank), by keyword, and by engine — in order to understand the impact of your specific SEO efforts, but the ultimate goal of any B2B SEO Program is traffic, leads, customers and sales.

I’m not suggesting that search engine ranking scores are a bad thing. Our agency uses this type of analysis as one data point in a comprehensive SEO solution. The point – organic search rankings are a contributing factor, not a primary success indicator.

Even more importantly, I believe that ranking metrics allow B2B search marketers to use as a way to gauge whether or not their efforts are having a positive or negative impact and to find out if the pages they’re optimizing for a certain term are actually ranking, or is it another page on the site that’s ranking well, but isn’t the most ideal page for conversions.

Improved Visibility, But No Traffic?

The real question is: if your SEO Program is generating increased search rankings yet you’re not receiving any additional traffic, what might be the problem?

If rankings are increasing but organic traffic is not, here are three aspects of your SEO program to analyze:

1) Are you focusing on the wrong keywords?

This should always be one of your first considerations. Are you targeting internal “marketing speak” words and phrases versus the words people actually search for?

For example, one B2B firm insisted on targeting the keyword: ‘claims re-pricing’, which is how everyone in the organization described their business.

However, keyword research indicated that virtually no one searched for this phrase. Rather, there was 10 times the search volume for the phrase: ‘medical claims re-pricing’.

This insight alone allowed us to refocus the SEO program and generate not just visibility (on a non-used phrase) — but traffic and results (on the words people actually search for).

Think outside your “marketing box”. You have one way of describing your products and services, but potential customers may have a different way of thinking about what they need. Survey your customers and ask them how they would go about finding you online.

2) Analyze search query volume and intent

The way people search, and the words they use, definitely changes over time. Make sure you are analyzing search query trends.

One aspect of B2B SEO that’s very challenging is conducting keyword research and understanding the intent behind search queries. This is particularly true for B2B firms with long, complicated sales cycles. PPC campaign data (if available) can help you gain a better understanding of which keywords convert, and which keywords are more research oriented.

As another example, one firm wanted to target the keyword: ‘business satellite internet’. This is exactly what they provide, and they have been referring to their business this way for years.

But, an in-depth analysis of searcher behavior shows that overall volume for search terms related to ‘business satellite internet’ has been steadily decreasing over the past 5 years, and new search queries including Mobile, Broadband, and Wireless-related terms are on the rise.

There is a fundamental shift taking place in this industry and the way customers think about these services. This firms SEO program needs to be revised to reflect this shift in buyers’ behavior.

A couple of useful tools you can use to conduct this sort of research are Google Trends and Google Insights. Do you have suggestions for more market research tools? Please post in the comments below.

3) How does your listing appear in the SERPs?

It’s easy to become fixated on SEO metrics such as visibility and traffic, but don’t forget to review the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)! Is your organic listing accurate, unique and compelling? How does it compare to the other listings on the page?

Here is one example. If you are searching for:’B2B Search Marketing Agency‘which of these listings would you click on?

-or-

The second listing is much more readable, unique and compelling.

B2B SEO experts must utilize the Title tag to optimize for keywords you’re targeting, but also make sure your title is captivating and entices a click-through. Same for your Meta Description tag - though there’s very little optimization benefit to the Meta Description anymore, but the description is still very important in terms of how searchers perceive your firm. Utilize these 155 characters to their fullest potential and make sure your listing is captivating and entices action.

In Closing…

An increase in search rankings should translate to an increase in organic traffic. But, if this is not the case, B2B marketers should analyze:

A) Keywords

B) Search query trends

C) Your actual listing as it appears in the SERPs.

My final thought on why improved rankings might not be correlating to increased traffic is how searcher behavior has changed in the past several years. Today, not only do most searchers not visit pages 2 and 3, evidence is suggesting that most people don’t even scroll down the first page.

What that means is if you’re not listed in the top 1-5 results, you’re probably not getting the clicks. So, even if your SEO efforts have taken you from oblivion to the bottom of Page 1, you’ve still got a mountain to climb to get in the top 3!

B2B search marketers should continue to track visibility as a contributing factor…but remember — the success of your SEO programs will ultimately be judged based on ROI metrics related to leads, customers and sales.

To some B2B companies, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can seem like a mysterious practice.  The fact that the industry has those so called “Black Hat” SEO agencies making ridiculous promises can make understanding SEO even harder.  So how do you know you have chosen the correct agency to manage your B2B SEO?  Hold your B2B SEO agency accountable with these 3 simple steps:

1. Make Appropriate Keyword Choices
2. Track More Than Just Rankings
3. Determine ROI

Appropriate Keyword Selections

Your B2B SEO program should be built on a foundation of research.A major portion of that research will be used to select keywords for which you would like to have increased visibility in the search engines.So you know the criteria your SEO agency used to choose your targeted keyword phrases?

It is important that your keywords match the intent of the searcher – your target audience.  When a search is conducted using the keywords or phrase you are optimizing for, they should be looking specifically for your company’s services.

Do those same keywords have reasonable search volume figures (the average number of monthly searches for that keyword or phrase)? A B2B Search agency should determine appropriate keywords based on search volume, level of competition and applicability to your service offerings.  Search volume and PPC competitive data can be found by using a keyword research tool such as the free Google Keyword Tool.  In addition, your B2B SEO agency should analyze your online competition and thoroughly understand your services.  This information, when considered collectively, will allow them to determine the best keywords and phrases to target as part of your SEO program.  Don’t sit on the sidelines for this crucial step of your SEO program!  Ask questions and make sure you are fully informed on why keywords are being chosen.

Not Just Rankings…Show Me TheTraffic!

As part of your B2B SEO program, your search agency should be tracking the results of their efforts.  This means considering more than just rankings. While better rankings is the first step in achieving SEO success, it is not a 100% reliable data point due to factors such as localized and personalized search.  What appears in the search results on your computer at the office could be completely different from the search results on your home computer so you can imagine the discrepancy your target audience could see if they are located in other states or even other countries.

A more accurate measurement for SEO success is an increase in organic traffic.  This can easily be monitored in any analytics program.  (This assumes your company has set up analytics tracking as detailed by the analytics service provider) If your B2B SEO agency has taken the steps to properly select target keywords and phrases for your SEO program and have correctly implemented your SEO campaign, your analytics should reflect an increase in traffic from search engines.  Not only should this statistic be on the rise, you should see traffic coming directly from your selected keywords and phrases.

They Say I Can’t Track ROI?

A huge challenge in tracking success for your B2B SEO program can be in determining if you have received a Return on Investment (ROI).  While analytics can provide a great deal of insights, tracking organic traffic to the end conversion is not always possible for B2B companies due to long and complex sales cycles.  How do you hold your Search Marketing Agency accountable to ROI when nearly all end conversions take place off-line rather than on your website?

Goal conversions!  Most B2B companies can determine the value of a lead and use this to measure the success of off-line marketing efforts such as print and television advertising.  Your analytics program should be set up to track the actions of your users such as filling out a contact form, downloading a whitepaper, reading a case study, and signing up for a newsletter.

While these actions do not convert a user into a client, they do become more engaged with your company and can be considered a prospect.  If you assign a value to each action that provides a different type of prospect, you can begin to analyze whether or not your B2B search agency has provided you ROI on your SEO investment.

You can alsohold your agency accountable to traffic quality by using this metric.  Targeted keywords and phrases that are driving high quality traffic will be reflected in goal conversions.

B2B Search Agency Accountability with Proper Expectations

While you may not know how every detail of your SEO works, you can hold your B2B SEO agency accountable to delivering results.  A great search marketing agency will start every project by setting proper expectations.  From those expectations, there should also be consideration for program goals.  What will the benefits be to your company?  How will you track success?  Be sure to insist that your agency reveal the data and reasoning for selecting your keywords.  Demand to see more than just search rankings as an indication of success.  Determine if you are getting ROI by tracking activity on your site and assigning a value to prospects.  Make yourself an informed client and you will have no problem holding your agency accountable!

To compete in web marketing in 2012, it’s essential you have either a well-trained in-house team of experts – if you have the required resources – or hire a cost-effective, ROI-focused search marketing agency (the more cost effective option). That’s because search marketing is becoming more complex and diversified than ever before, as evidenced by these 5 key trends for 2012.

Be more profitable in 2012 when you request a complimentary internet marketing plan,

custom-tailored for you and your market by our expert team

Here are 5 important trends to watch in 2012:

1. Increased Focus on Conversion Rather Than Traffic
2. Strategic Importance of Diverse Traffic Sources
3. The Rise of the Mobile Search Market
4. Leveraging Google +1
5. Google Sitelinks Opportunities

1.       Growing Focus on Conversion Rather Than Traffic

With the ongoing troubled economy, companies are watching the bottom line more than ever. One area coming under increasing scrutiny is web marketing. Traffic and rankings are a good story, but ultimately your job is conversion: turning visits into leads, customers and sales.  Your search marketing program must demonstrate measurable ROI.

Visibility and traffic are valid secondary metrics, but the ultimate success metric in search marketing is sales from search engine visitors.  Executives want ROI in terms of search-generated leads, customers and sales.

To ensure ROI-driven results, your search efforts and budget must include focus on post-click conversion and usability efforts.  Examples include

Robust landing page testing and improvement programs

Virtual website usability tests

A prioritized website improvement plan based on analytics data

2.       Strategic Importance of Diverse Traffic Sources

Is your company one of the many that puts too many eggs in too few baskets? Testing different traffic sources is essential, and can be one of the most profitable action items in web marketing. You’ve probably optimized your website, and are doing pay per click. But what about social media optimization, or testing paid advertising via alternate sources such as Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon and more?

Ultimately the goal of any website is to find customers and grow sales, and one key to increasing sales is to test – and adjust – your traffic sources. Then increase focus and spending  on traffic that’s converting. For sources that aren’t, test changes such as different landing pages or calls-to-action. Sources that remain unprofitable should be scaled back or dropped.

 Be more profitable in 2012 when you request a complimentary internet marketing plan,

custom-tailored for you and your market by our expert team

3.       Rise of the Mobile Search Market

Increasingly business is no longer conducted solely during work hours at a desk.  According to a recent study by emarketer.com, 59% of business- to-business decision makers have used a smartphone to gather purchase information.

That means key decision makers are now researching on the go. They’re cutting deals while traveling, over lunch, or on the golf course.  So you need to

• Update your SEO program to ensure you’re optimizing for smartphones and mobile devices
• Test mobile PPC ads

This will help you stay in front of decision makers throughout the decision making cycle.

4.       Leveraging Google +1

Last year Google introduced +1 to enable people to recommend websites. It’s a democratization and socialization of the search process, with recommendations from real people like you.

Will Google +1 help search rankings or increase traffic? Only time will tell. But it’s likely to drive more traffic to your site since the more people recommend it, the more likely others will visit it. You can track Google +1 interactions via Google Analytics.

We recommend adding +1 to your web marketing immediately – you can always remove it later if the +1 button effort fails.

 5.       Google Sitelinks – Growing Opportunity

 The recent enhancement of Google Sitelinks provides a lot of opportunity for search marketers. Sitelinks now shows 12 interior pages in google results – up from 8. Also each interior page now includes a 1-line snippet which can help increase clicks.

Google is focusing on Sitelinks to help searchers directly access the most important pages on websites. This is a great opportunity for your business. Once set up, you get 13 opportunities (home page + 12 interior pages) rather than just 1. And while a site owner can’t decide which interior pages are displayed, with the right tools one can influence which pages are featured.

It’s a new year – and a great time to take a fresh perspective on the internet, the most powerful marketing tool in history. You’ll be better prepared and more successful when you request a complimentary internet marketing plan, custom-prepared for you and your market by our team of experts.

Business Buying Is A Process

Think about your own experience — both as a consumer and, if applicable, as a business buyer. How do you use search engines? Do you only conduct a search only when you’re ready to choose a partner and purchase a product or service? Probably not.

In fact, market research shows that business buyers use search engines throughout their entire buying process, and we know that buyers rely on search heavily during their initial research phase.

Typical B2B Buying Process

But, let’s face it…. searchers engaged in general market research are not sales-ready-leads, are they?

Problem Or Opportunity?

Here’s a suggestion. Instead of viewing this as a problem, B2B marketers should view this as an opportunity; and use the situation to create a competitive advantage.

How?

• Utilize search marketing to reach all people conducting relevant searches
• Establish your brand as a leader in the market place
• Engage and educate prospects
• Proactively move them through their research and buying process.

I believe that B2B marketers need to find and reach prospects early and often. Don’t wait until they are ready to make a purchase. You will likely be too late!

At the point of purchase, a competitor has probably already engaged them in a “conversation” and established an online relationship.

Offer Engagement Choices

If the only call-to-action you present — in your ppc ads, on your landing pages, and across your website — is some version of “talk to a sales person” (examples include: Contact Us, Request a Quote, etc.) your lead volume and ROI are probably quite low.

Tip: I urge B2B marketers to offer multiple action options; and to provide information that appeals to prospects across every phase of the buying process.

The following assets are examples of what typically appeals to prospects at various buying phases:

Research phase

• Market overview and analysis
• Research studies

Product knowledge and comparison phase

• Product demo
•  Case studies
•  Product comparison charts

Vendor selection and purchase phase

• Request a quote
• View pricing options and contract terms

Measuring Results

The real challenge is how to estimate true marketing value and measure your search marketing results.

Tip: If you’re only assigning a value to sales-ready-leads, your ROI probably doesn’t look very good! Instead, I recommend that B2B marketers to assign an estimated value to all the steps in a typical buying process.

Ask yourself, what is it worth to have a prospect:

1. View your ad
2. Click-through to your website
3. Engage with the information on your site
4. View product/service information
5. Download an asset
6. Request contact

Think Like Your Buyer

Don’t be short-sighted and unrealistic about your search marketing goals. Think like a searcher and a prospective buyer. Embrace the way your prospects actually use search engines.

There is a real opportunity for B2B marketers to establish a competitive advantage by (1) establishing your brand as a trusted partner, and (2) by interacting early and often with prospects as they move through their buying process.

Then, when prospects are truly ready to become a sales-ready-lead… YOU will be the obvious choice.

Effective search engine optimization (SEO) programs and pay per click (PPC) campaigns usually improve visibility – and drive traffic to your website. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean your sales and profit will increase.

That’s because many businesses focus on only the first half of the web marketing equation. It takes more than traffic to achieve rewarding ROI. it’s equally, if not more important, to focus on what happens after a searchers clicks to your site.

Increase your sales and profit when you request our FREE Search Marketing Opportunity Assessment. Our experts will create this valuable guide specifically for your company and industry.

1. Most Visitors Doesn’t Necessarily Mean More Revenue

Imagine you’re trying to increase business at a cafe, so you run an ad campaign: “Visit My Café!” And it works – more people visit your café. But…they don’t buy anything – all you told them to do was to visit. You need to know what you want your visitors to do, and then persuade them with an effective call-to-action. Focus on what you want your visitors to do, once they arrive.

2. Focus on Post-Click Improvements

Your search marketing program is like this cafe. Most B2B search marketers focus on improving their SEO efforts and PPC campaigns. But they must focus equally on post-click results: improving website usability, improving engagement and increasing conversion: turning visitors into leads and customers.

3. Post-Click: Best Way to Boost ROI

Most companies focus on SEO metrics such as search engine ranking and traffic volume, or PPC factors such as click-through-rate and cost-per-click. However, it’s post-click metrics that offer the largest opportunity for ROI improvement. For example, if you double your PPC conversion rate, you receive double the leads with no increase in PPC costs. That’s impressive.

Increase your sales and profit when you request our FREE Search Marketing Opportunity Assessment. Our experts will create this valuable guide specifically for your company and industry.

4. Align Pre- and Post-Click Messaging

The key to maximizing ROI is to align your pre- and post-click activities – the right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing. If you’re running ads focusing on a particular product, drive prospects to that specific product page, rather than the home page or other general content.

5. Align Messaging With Buying Cycle

Make sure your ad copy is aligned with the searchers’ query. The B2B business cycle is usually long and multi-step. So if a person searches ‘data storage options,’ offer a landing page with that information rather than a “free shipping” promotion. This type of searcher will be much more likely to click on a message related to industry research and technology. Only when they are further along in the B2B buying process will they be open to pricing and fulfillment offers.

6. Coordinating Multiple Products

If you offer multiple products or services, coordination between pre- and post-click activity is even more important. Hire a web marketing team that can create specific, micro marketing campaigns, including keyword research, copy writing, landing page creation, and calls-to-action.

7. Your Top Priority: Post-Click Improvements

Again, make sure you’re focusing not just on PPC and SEO but also the customers’ experience after the click. If a customer enters your restaurant (see above), your next action is clear: ask for the order. Your website’s the same: the most valuable searchers are the ones already on your site, right now. So improve your usability, engagement and conversion – and take the order!

Increase your sales and profit when you request our FREE Search Marketing Opportunity Assessment. Our experts will create this valuable guide specifically for your company and industry.

As many B2B marketers have learned the hard way, the traditional methods of marketing to consumers are simply not effective in the business arena. The following 5 tips are proven, easy to implement landing page tactics that will help you generate more leads and improve lead quality.

1. Implement Clean, Clear Landing Pages

The design of your website, microsite or landing page is critical to B2B search marketing success. Through extensive testing, I’ve learned that Web design that is often considered boring, uninteresting, or stale from a consumer perspective may perform quite well when targeting business prospects.

B2B landing page content is also different than consumer messaging. Remember, you are not trying to win a Pulitzer Prize with your writing! Present benefit statements, points of differentiation, and calls-to-action as quickly and efficiently as possible.

While consumers may need to be “wowed” or entertained, business buyers simply do not have time for “the fluff” and will appreciate you all the more when you acknowledge this with a simple, clean, clear landing page.

2. Focus On Visitor Benefits

All marketers tend to focus on how great their company is, but business buyers want to know “what’s in it for me”. Focus your webpage content, calls-to-action and downloadable assets on what will benefit the prospect.

Give business visitors something of value; something that helps them do their job better or educates them; information that is unique — not just another promotional piece about your company.

For example, market research studies convert much better than marketing brochures. This is especially true if you promote the study by focusing on the benefits the reader will receive.

Here are a few examples of benefit statements used to promote a software industry whitepaper:

See how 5 software companies successfully used social media to generate leads.
Find out why search marketing is particularly effective for software firms.

3. Offer Choices

Not all visitors are the same and acknowledging this is the first step to converting them into prospects. Empower visitors by allowing them to decide for themselves what they want. Test various types of offers and assets.

Prospects who are early in their buying process often prefer general market information.
Prospects who are further along in their research appreciate comparison charts and independent user reviews.
Prospect who are ready to buy appreciate information on pricing and terms and conditions, and are probably ready to talk with a sales representative.

Here is an example of a landing page that provides two calls-to-action with different downloadable assets.

Providing 2 offers increased leads by 63% over a single call-to-action:

4. Ensure Promises are Accurate

Make sure your website engagement process is straightforward and simple. Ensure “promises” are accurate and consistent.

For example: A link sending visitors to a registration form should not read “download now”. A more accurate statement would be “register for instant access“.

5. Create Demand & Urgency

Website visitors’ attention span is fleeting. Because of this, business marketers must present compelling, actionable information and offers should instill a sense of urgency.

Utilize limited time or limited availability offers for that little extra push to compel website interaction.

This example of a time sensitive call-to-action increased lead volume by 46% over a non-time-sensitive statement.

Let Your Customers Guide the Way

True, these 5 tips aren’t rocket science! But it’s shocking how many B2B marketers don’t follow these basic principles in their search marketing lead generation efforts. Focusing on simplicity, buyer benefits, compelling information, urgency and accuracy will increase leads and lead quality.

The key to your search marketing success is to test, test, test… and discover what type of landing page works best for your target audience.