A B2B website with a blog can position a company as a thought leader in their industry – when done right. From a marketing perspective, a successful B2B blog will attract more website visitors, convert visitors to leads, and fuel revenue growth. But first, you’ll have to get your blog articles on the front page of Google. And to do that, you need to follow B2B blogging best practices.
At the heart of every successful B2B blog is a writing strategy that optimizes articles for Google (and those other search engines). That strategy is called search engine optimization (SEO).
The better your SEO strategy, the more your B2B blog articles will appear in top search results, sending a continuous stream of organic traffic to your website. With that, you'll have more opportunities to convert visitors to leads every day.
What is SEO? How does SEO writing get your blog to #1 on Google? Which SEO tactics should you use? Read on to learn how to put the best B2B blogging practices to work.
What is B2B SEO?
SEO for B2B blogs and websites relies on a special type of writing designed for search engines as much as it is for visitors. In order to feature your B2B blog articles in search results, Google has to first understand what they are about – specifically, the topics your content addresses.
As Google “crawls” and “indexes” your B2B blog content, its goal is to interpret, classify and, ultimately, rank those website pages based on how well they answer specific search queries. SEO, when done right, will tailor the language in your content to appeal to Google’s algorithms (its rules and methodology) and increase its chances of being prominently ranked.
The higher you rank on Google, the more people will find your B2B blog articles and read your content writing. Since SEO can be the difference between having your blogs read a lot or never seen, it pays to follow best practices.
The top 3 best SEO blogging practices for B2B lead generation and growth are:
- Keywords – The strategic use of important search terms in web content.
- Backlinks – Getting high-authority websites to link to your blog content.
- Frequency – Consistently adding new content for Google to notice.
Best B2B Blog Practice #1: Keywords
Having the right keywords in your B2B blog is essential for your SEO strategy. MOZ defines keywords as “ideas and topics that define what your content is about.”
More specifically, keywords are the words and phrases your audience uses in their Google searches when looking for information.
A B2B blog article needs to contain valuable keywords enough times for Google to understand what the main topic of the article is about, but it’s not as simple as stuffing keywords into every sentence. Every keyword needs to be put in a logical order, yet the writing also needs to feel natural. As such, SEO writing is a skill that takes time to master.
If you want to rank for a popular B2B keyword like “supply chain management”, for example, that keyword phrase should appear consistently throughout the article. Meanwhile, a less popular keyword like “systems in supply chain management” needs less mentions in a blog to perform well on Google. Targeting less popular keywords is often a great place for B2B blogs to start.
As a B2B blogger, however, you need to determine if popular keywords are more beneficial. In general, the larger the industry, the more niche your keywords should become. If you are one of few competitors in a niche industry, consider using a SEO keyword research tool to look for large keywords with little competition.
How to Find B2B Keywords for SEO Blog Writing
If you are in a niche B2B industry without much competition, you may be able to think of valuable keywords without doing much research. Researching similar B2B blogs and trying to pick out their keywords can sometimes work, too.
However, if you’re serious about B2B SEO strategy and really want to get to #1 on Google, you need to subscribe to a SEO research tool for independent keyword research.
With a SEO keyword program, you’ll discover the most popular keyword searches, but it’s a manual process that takes practice and a certain amount of patience to work. If you’re less confident performing your own keyword research, a B2B consulting agency specializing in growth marketing can be a great resource.
Best B2B Blog Practice #2: Backlinks
A backlink is a link from one website to another. A backlink to your website or blog is called an "inbound link" and is a signal to Google that other websites find your content useful.
A “high-quality” backlink is one linking from an authoritative website. Earning high-quality backlinks is a way to fortify your keywords and show Google that your B2B website is a source of reliable information – a big ranking factor that will help your B2B blog articles get to #1.
Backlinks can be obtained in a number of ways. Websites with industry directories are a great place to start. Get your B2B listed and make sure a link to your website is included on each one. You can also reach out to industry bloggers, thought leaders, clients, and anyone who might have related website content that could benefit from linking to your B2B web pages or articles.
Best B2B Blog Practice #3: Publish Frequently
A well-written SEO blog article can rank in the #1 spot for years, but in general, Google wants to show its users the freshest, most relevant information. This means Google is looking for websites that update frequently – at least every month, preferably once per week or more.
The amount of updating you’ll need to do depends on your industry. If you’re in a highly competitive B2B industry with companies producing blog content every day, consider matching their blog publishing schedules and word count. If you’re in a small, niche industry, your blog content might not have much competition – yet.
How Long Does B2B SEO Take to Work?
The amount of time it takes for B2B SEO to work depends on several factors. The amount of competing content already out there, the frequency and quality of your content, and the effectiveness of your keyword strategy are just a few.
Put these B2B blogging best practices to work consistently and you will see results in the form of organic traffic, bringing more visitors to your website who are searching for information about your products or services.
For low-competition industries, results can come in as little as a few months. For most industries, it will take 6-12 months to achieve meaningful results. Once your B2B blog gets traction, however, those results can compound and have a dramatic impact on your business’ growth. In the world of B2B SEO, patience and consistency are rewarded.
Now that you know how a successful blog drives B2B lead generation and growth, it’s time to build a strategy tailored to your business goals. Need help? Get all of your questions answered and a custom game plan with a free, no-pressure SmartGrowth Session.
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