As more and more B2B companies look at digital marketing for their lead generation, we’re seeing a growing interest regarding how content and SEO (search engine optimization) interplay.
SEO gurus are often quoted saying Google’s search algorithm is the web industry’s best-kept secret. No wonder really – It’s the golden egg that everyone wants to get their hands on. But even if you had access to the algorithm, in all its glorious complexity (and there are literally hundreds of factors that determine ranking), it wouldn’t be a shortcut to the coveted #1 spot.
Your search rankings are a long game – it’s built into the algorithm!
Part of your B2B digital marketing effort is keeping up standards
To make things even more challenging rankings are a moving target because Google is constantly tweaking it’s algorithm. In fact it’s literally updated every month or so.
Inbound links are part of your B2B digital marketing
One thing that’s remained constant from the start, is the importance the algorithm ascribes to link building – The process of getting sites – preferably with a high rankings themselves – to link to your site.
Links remain an important component of your digital marketing and SEO strategy. But they’re not the only thing.
Content marketing is king
Compelling content is the what will get your audience engaged, and inbound links flowing in. You need to tread a fine line between writing that attracts readers and texts that are optimized for search engines. Read more on how to do that in our previous post – B2B content marketing – The challenges.
Beating the Bots
So you’ve got an engaging blog, you’ve been writing at least once per week, you’ve got great pictures with keyword-rich meta tags and you’ve generally followed good SEO practices. You’ve built it. You’ve even seen upward movement in your Google rankings. Great! But where’s your readership?
You’ve built it. You’ve even seen upward movement in your Google rankings. Great! But where’s your readership?
Here’s what’s happening: Google sends out bots or “spiders” that “crawl” your site looking for keywords. They’ve determined that your pages are of sufficient quality to boost your ranking. But bots are pretty stupid. They’re not human readers and they can’t determine whether your blog is actually engaging and worth reading. You need human eyes on your site.
Syndicating your content is another important part of B2B digital marketing
Social media is very effective in driving traffic to your site. Promote your blog posts via Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to encourage your friends and followers to share your content with their social networks. Asking isn’t enough; you need original content that’s fun to share. Think of all those LOL Catz…
You can also engage in guerrilla tactics by commenting on other blogs and pointing their readers to your site. Don’t be too sneaky. With the ease of hiding behind your computer, honesty and transparency become pretty important, or else you might get blocked from commenting. Guest blogs and interviews with other folks in your industry is also a great way to spread the word.
It requires a lot of work and time
Preferably you have at least one staff member dedicated full-time to SEO and social media. At Vimi, we do all of the above and more. Check out the marketing assessment template in the download section below and. contact us today to kick your B2B digital marketing into gear.
