You may think SEO is technical work that applies to all sectors and remains the same for all accounts, but there are core differences between the ways a business-to-business SEO account and a business-to-consumer SEO account should be handled.
These differences lie in the digital strategies behind the SEO campaign and in the sales funnel. Here are five ways B2B SEO differs from B2C SEO:
Different product types
B2B and B2C sell products and services that have different tangibility. In the case of B2B, campaigns usually sell intangible products which benefit the customer’s business, not just the customer.
Different performance indicators
B2B marketers evaluate the performance of their SEO campaign on different indicators as in B2C, the purchase decision in B2B taking much longer and more sessions. In B2B, low volumes of leads are driven (lead qualification matters).
Different sales cycle
What information are B2B prospects looking for on your website? What is the user intent? Make sure your agency knows the various considerations behind a B2B purchase; the decision goes through several layers of management, whereas it tends to come from a single user in B2C.
Different SEO goals
B2B SEO campaigns aim at educating prospects, whereas B2C SEO focuses on links to improve rankings. Your B2B SEO agency must focus on exposing your services on industry websites read by your audience.
Different keywords types
B2B SEO campaigns require sector-specific intelligence to educate already knowledgeable users, and to expose products at the same time. The keyword research phase therefore tends to take longer for B2B SEO then for B2C SEO.
Click here to see the full B2B SEO vs. B2C SEO infographic.
