More and more serious business-to-business marketers are taking notice of their companies’ search engine performance. And for good reason: several recent studies have shown that a large majority of B-to-B buyers begin their research into new technologies or products by going to a search engine.

More importantly, they’re finding that prospects are using search at all parts of the buying process – not just the end, when search functions as a virtual catalog or Yelllow Pages for “ready-to-buy” prospects, but also at the beginning, when they’re looking for possible solutions to the problems or issues they are confronting.

Search engines are where B-to-B prospects and buyers are. And B-to-B marketers are earning a significant reward from their efforts to improve search performance. However, the path to better search engine performance has, for many, been shrouded in a fog of uncertainty.

Search performance decoded

When you cut through all the jargon about complex algorithms and proprietary technology, you discover that search technology is designed with one goal: making it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. The complications have arisen because a few less-scrupulous companies have attempted to “fool” the search engines to gain higher search rankings than they deserve.

The search engines have fought back fiercely, devising ever-more-ingenious ways to detect fraudulent intent. That single-minded devotion to the user is an unmixed blessing, forcing B-to-B marketers to focus on clear communications and a solid understanding of markets and technologies.

Thus, the process B-to-B marketers need to follow to improve search engine performance follows the same time-honored principles of B-to-B marketing communications. We call this new process B-to-B Strategic Search.

B-to-B Strategic Search

B-to-B Strategic Search has been created by Godfrey to provide the customer-centric, content-driven approach needed for successful business-to-business search performance. It uses all available tools to help B-to-B marketers achieve a presence in the search results of users who are looking for their technology or product. It thus includes both search engine optimization (SEO), the practice of modifying your site to improve organic search results, and search engine marketing (SEM), or paid search.

The important elements of Strategic Search include: keyword analysis, content development, link equity, integration, and analytics for continuous improvement.

Keyword Analysis

Godfrey combines keyword analysis tools with a deep understanding of B-to-B markets and your technology to develop a list of strategic keywords. Perhaps the most important element is our ability to help you identify your keywords. When we do search programs for our clients, we have a variety of tools we use to help us determine the right keywords, the words users in your industry actually type into those little boxes. And we’ve found it’s not about having a lot of keywords. It’s all about having the right ones.

Content Development

The search engines are designed to favor sites that offer relevant information – and reward them with higher rankings. As a result, the real key to improving search performance is solid content. Especially, the development of keyword-rich content and the appropriate use of key words and phrases not only in each web page’s meta data, but in the page content as well.

Many of today’s specialized search vendors know search technology, but have no demonstrated ability to create the content B-to-B marketers need to gain appropriate search rankings. Godfrey has extensive experience providing the kind of content that performs well in search.

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What makes search so strategic for B-to-B?

gaining all kinds of knowledge about what works and what doesn’t.

Search Engine Marketing

Much of what has been described here relates directly to search engine optimization (SEO), or optimizing your site and your program to improve performance in the organic searches that appear in the center of the search engine results pages. But the “sponsored links” that appear in the right-hand column (and at the top of the page in a shaded area in Google) offer another way to reach users who are searching for your subject matter.

This approach is called search engine marketing – SEM – allows you to purchase placement for specific keywords in these sponsored link areas. Originally SEM was promoted when organic search results were not satisfactory. So you paid to be present when you weren’t ranking very highly. But now, SEM has become much more than that. It has been shown to be a very cost-effective source of leads to your web site. We have sites that have achieved a 40 percent increase in site traffic with a relatively modest Adwords program.

And, thus, SEM has become an important new marketing technique in its own right.

Links

At first blush, links may not seem important. But the search engines use them as a way to determine the value other users place on your site. The more links you have, the better, for the most part. That means other people are finding your site valuable and see an advantage in offering links to your site from theirs. So it’s important to implement a comprehensive program to build links to your site from high-value, related sites. But not all links are the same. In fact, links from some pages – the notorious “link farms” –actually can be a problem.

Integration with your program.

Because of its growing use by buyers in all phases of the buying process, search now has an important role in any B-to-B marketing strategy. What you’ve learned about your target market’s use of keywords, for instance, should be reflected throughout your communications.

Suppose, as a result of your keyword analysis, you’ve discovered that your audience is more likely to call your product a “widget” than a “gadget.” That means you should be making sure you use the term “widget” in your ads, PR releases, brochures, direct mail. And when these documents are posted on the

web as PDFs, as they often are, the keywords should be incorporated into the meta data.

Search works best when that user-oriented approach is integrated into a full program of traditional elements – like ads, direct mail, and PR -- and non-traditional elements like podcasts, blogs, e-mail, and online ads. Because everything you’re doing is pointing the user consistently in one direction – “widget.”

And the program, in turn, works better with search. Because, as we noted, that’s where the users are.

Analytics for Continuous Improvement

Good search results require a commitment to a process of continuous improvement. That means analytics or measurement -- looking at the results constantly and making changes in an attempt to improve the results. Godfrey analyzes keyword performance regularly and makes immediate content revisions designed to improve performance.

And we also use information we gain from search to improve web pages – adding keywords and improving the pages’ relevance to the user. So not only are our clients’ results getting better, but we’re

B2B Strategic Search is a B2B-specialized, customer-centric approach emphasizing:• Keyword analysis to find the keywords prospects are using. • Content optimized for search • Links from high-value sites • Integration with the rest of your programAnalytics to allow continuous improvement of search performance.

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For more information, contact Lance Baird at 717.393.3831, email info@godfrey.com or visit www.godfrey.com

Godfrey provides full-service, integrated business-to-business branding and marketing communications services. The agency offers research, brand management, advertising, public relations, digital marketing, search (SEO and SEM), media, direct marketing and analytics services.