B2B Search Marketing often presents unique challenges for search engine optimization and managing profitable SEM programs. Columnists provide tips for common business-to-business search marketing issues such as lengthy conversion cycles, finding qualified buyers, the role search marketing plays in the overall sales process and more.

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Five Reports For Measuring B2B Marketing Effectiveness

May 15, 2013 at 9:45am ET by Derek Edmond

Like many online marketing professionals, B2B marketers are obsessed with data. Technological innovation creates phenomenal opportunities for marketers to "slice and dice" information in an effort to create more meaningful lead acquisition strategies. But, innovation might also act as a deterrent and be considerably overwhelming. A recent article on MarketingSherpa discussed their latest survey report on marketing analytics, which indicates that 42% of marketers surveyed believe the ability to act on data to be the most significant challenge they face. Combining data from multiple sources a [...]

How to Use The Keyword Planner — The New Keyword Tool From Google AdWords

May 8, 2013 at 9:00am ET by Larry Kim

Last month, Google quietly began rolling out the AdWords Keyword Planner to select AdWords accounts last month. In typical AdWords fashion, one of the biggest overhauls of the Google Keyword Tool ever went almost unnoticed! This new keyword tool combines elements of two existing keyword tools, the Google Keyword Tool and the AdWords Traffic Estimator, adding a more structured and integrated workflow as well as all sorts of new bells and whistles. If you've ever used the Google Keyword Tool and/or AdWords Traffic Estimator in the past, take note here -- the new Keyword Pla [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords

4 SEO Recommendations For Dealing With B2B Lengthening Sales Cycles

Apr 17, 2013 at 9:30am ET by Derek Edmond

Many of our clients face sales cycles in a six- to twelve-month duration. In a recent client interview, one of the sales directors revealed that they were on the verge of closing a multi-million dollar deal that took nearly three years of nurturing alone to finally get to the proposal process. With multiple decision makers and departments impacting complete B2B solutions, marketing plays a pivotal role. A recent news release, which summarized a comprehensive survey of B2B marketing professionals put together by BtoB Magazine and Bizo revealed that the sales cycle is lengthening for many B2 [...]

How To Prep Your B2B Search Program For Google Enhanced Campaigns

Apr 11, 2013 at 12:47pm ET by Brad Neelan

According to the great Greek philosopher Heraclitus, change is the only constant. As you have most likely heard by now, Google is making major adjustments to its AdWords platform that will have sweeping changes to the ways and means of how you execute your search campaigns. For B2B search, this is going to have a specific impact on your programs, and getting ready for the coming changes will require a bit of forethought into how you maximize the results of your campaigns. In a realm like B2B, there is always the dual challenge of a diffuse customer base with ever changing needs and a lim [...]

A Case Study In B2B SEO Keyword Analysis

Mar 20, 2013 at 11:46am ET by Derek Edmond

A few weeks back, Dr. Peter J. Meyers ("Dr Pete") wrote a post on SEOmoz about the average position in the browser screen a number-one ranking in Google appears. It is an interesting piece of research, and I recommend reviewing it. My two key takeaways were: More Google-specific features, such as advertising and local results, are taking up real estate in Google search results pages. Search marketers need to be looking beyond keyword visibility reports and what is actually displayed in search results for primary keyword targets. The research was timely as it validated keyword searc [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEO

What B2B SEOs Need To Know About Buyer Personas

Feb 20, 2013 at 9:46am ET by Derek Edmond

While buyer personas (user personas) are an established concept in broader B2B marketing discussions, it has taken on new life in recent years. The shift organizations are making to a digital marketing strategy coupled with innovation in technology (should) allow Internet marketers the ability to deliver effective content marketing campaigns across segmented audiences or targeted groups. Developing B2B buyer personas can be an essential part of this, since understanding the goals, needs, and limits of a buyer are important to crafting the right content needed for SEO and social media market [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEO

How To Use Social Networks To Create Laser-Targeted B2B Advertising Campaigns

Feb 13, 2013 at 11:34am ET by David Rodnitzky

The bane of most search marketers’ existence is search query ambiguity. Is a user searching for [one night stand] interested in an illicit affair or a piece of antique oak furniture for his bedroom? Does the query [internet security] reflect the needs of a consumer fed up with viruses or a CIO looking for a $10 million enterprise solution? John Battelle has called a search engine a “database of intentions,” but that database is often fuzzy, to say the least. In many cases, it would be much easier for marketers to know who the user doing the search was, as opposed to for what they w [...]

25 Questions To Ask When Executing B2B Content Marketing Campaigns

Jan 23, 2013 at 12:30pm ET by Derek Edmond

With the new year upon us, search engine marketers are focused on putting the foundation together for campaign execution throughout 2013. Central among the strategies meant to deliver B2B SEO results will be content marketing. Just in time for preparation in the new year, MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute launched their 2013 B2B Content Marketing Report, looking at budgets, benchmarks, and trends to watch for with B2B content marketing. As I reviewed the report, a few key takeaways were important to me, as it pertains to B2B SEO programs we're launching this year. After [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Content

How To Build A Better B2B SEO Strategy In 2013

Dec 27, 2012 at 10:14am ET by Derek Edmond

It's the last week of 2012. If you're reading this column, you are forsaking at least a bit of much needed rest for some serious B2B SEO planning in 2013. For me, the few days ahead are about research, preparation, and getting milestones in place for client initiatives (and probably finishing one or two or three outstanding commitments as well). The tactics designed to support your B2B SEO plan most likely include content marketing, third-party link outreach, and social media development, as well as a few enhancements related to Web development. It's one thing to know these are the importan [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEO

Remarketing As A Branding Tool For B2B

Dec 12, 2012 at 1:26pm ET by Kate Powell

Branding in B2B search engine marketing is a constant topic for debate. All B2B marketers realize that online brand awareness and recognition is extremely important, and most marketers already promote their brand via PPC campaigns and organic optimization programs. To increase the effectiveness of your efforts, I also recommend implementing remarketing. A short B2B remarketing success story is given below. First, what is remarketing? Remarketing Defined Remarketing is a search advertising feature that allows business marketers to reach prospects who have previously visited your site, and [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search | How To: SEM

3 “Big” Web Enhancements B2B SEO’s Should Budget For In 2013

Dec 5, 2012 at 9:20am ET by Derek Edmond

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us, B2B marketers must now focus on wrapping up 2012 and preparing projections and budgets for the upcoming year. A common theme we have seen with our clients is to define a few "big" Web enhancements that will be associated to B2B search engine marketing in the coming year. Website functionality requests are usually a component of B2B SEO that need to be budgeted in larger organizations, since the website is often managed by a different department than marketing. SEO is often a small component of the Web team's overall priorities and responsibilities in [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

Top Ways B2B Marketers Can Best Utilize Rich Snippets

Nov 21, 2012 at 11:29am ET by Susan Kelly

There has been a lot of discussion in the SEO world lately around structured data and rich snippets in the SERPs. If you are not familiar with structured data, it is basically a way to explain the content of your website to the search engines in a trusted (structured) format. You can think back to the good-old-days when all you had to do was update your META tags… until this was abused so much that Google stopped using them. What Is Structured Data & Why Should You Use It? Although Google doesn’t currently use structured markup data for ranking purposes, there are several benefits [...]

To Search Is Human, To Find Is Divine

Oct 24, 2012 at 12:15pm ET by Brad Neelan

As humans, we have always sought to answer our questions. Prior to the inception of the Internet and the rise of the search engine, we had a limited array of solutions when a question arose. We could ask teachers or friends, and as you might imagine, this was a local and inefficient means to securing an exhaustive answer. We were not entirely without our systems, which in their time proved quite useful. One such system was the Dewey decimal system known well as the information retrieval of our public libraries. When it came to speed, accuracy and efficiency, this system was not without its [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

6 Underrated Content Marketing Assets For B2B SEO

Oct 17, 2012 at 4:48pm ET by Derek Edmond

One of the biggest obstacles to B2B search engine optimization is developing new content marketing assets for targeting important keywords and acquiring link assets. While our organization has seen this in client relationships throughout the years, this degree of difficulty was further supported by industry peers in the 2012 MarketingSherpa Search Engine Marketing Report. Even though there are many excellent research tools available for finding new content marketing ideas, sometimes the best resources are right under the B2B marketer's nose. Here are six underrated content marketing assets [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

How B2B Marketers Can Develop A Better Social Media Plan This Fall

Sep 5, 2012 at 10:48am ET by Derek Edmond

As B2B marketers assess the strengths and weaknesses of their SEO programs so far this year, the relationship with social media marketing must come into focus. As I wrote in a column last year, 66% of organizations with a formal SEO process were integrating social media into their overall SEO strategy. But social media plays an even larger role for B2B marketing strategy than SEO support. In BtoB Magazine's latest research report on B2B social media marketing, 71% of B2B marketers polled are moving up to 10% of traditional media budget allocations over to social media; 14% indicated that th [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

A Hiring Checklist To Find The Right B2B Search Marketing Agency

Aug 22, 2012 at 9:53am ET by Kerry Allen

All search marketing programs are not created equally. This rings true most profoundly in the B2B marketing arena where shifting corporate demands, streamlined staffs and reduced budgets produce unique challenges for both B2B companies and the search marketing agencies they hire. Follow this B2B search marketing agency hiring checklist to find a long-term partner that can deliver success, get you noticed online and secure more quality leads. B2B Experts Ensure your search marketing agency understands the nuances of your industry, the complexities behind the long lead cycle, and the demand [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

Concepts Every B2B SEO Needs To Know In Today’s Internet Marketing Environment

Aug 8, 2012 at 2:10pm ET by Derek Edmond

In a recent Forbes article, the popular SEO is Dead / Death of SEO topic took center stage. The article highlighted how questionable SEO tactics (particularly for link building) will no longer be valid. Marketers need to focus on creating truly great content, which in turn earns the right to be shared and searched for. The problem with the article's hypothesis was that it was based on an assumption that SEO tactics only use shortcuts for success. My perspective is that SEO is more than a series of shortcuts, but an evolving Internet marketing discipline. Regardless of what perspective y [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

3 Steps To Understanding When, Where & How In B2B SEM

Aug 1, 2012 at 12:45pm ET by Brad Neelan

In our B2B marketing campaigns, we have the dual challenges of having limited resources and more sophisticated buyers of our services and products. While this is a reality, the good news is that it challenges us to be more creative and effective in our pursuits. This enables us to produce more with less and infuses our efforts with an innate sense of problem solving and solution oriented thinking. In your search campaign, it can be challenging to keep up on all of the latest tactics and strategies. Additionally, depending on the particular area of B2B you focus on, the suggestions might be [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

10 Common Mistakes In B2B Paid Search

Jul 25, 2012 at 5:03pm ET by David Rodnitzky

B2B SEM often feels like the ugly step-sister of B2C SEM, mainly because the budgets for most B2B campaigns are so much smaller than consumer campaigns. The ‘sexy’ side of B2B SEM, however, is in the potential ROI that a company can get out of a great paid search campaign. Imagine a company that has an average order value (AOV) of $1,000,000 – if that company spends $20,000/month and gets only two sales a year as a result of their SEM spend, that’s an incredible return on ad spend (ROAS) of 833%. Try getting that sort of return in B2C marketing! [caption id="attachment_125646" [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

3 Lead Generation Challenges B2B Search Marketers Must Overcome

Jul 11, 2012 at 12:59pm ET by Derek Edmond

B2B search engine marketing performance is based as much on lead generation as it is on traffic, keyword visibility, and production. As B2B organizations become more competent in digital marketing strategy, lead quality becomes just as important as lead quantity. It should not be a surprise that fewer form field requirements generate a greater volume of lead opportunities, as visitors do not usually like to give up more information than they have to. However, fewer requirements may compromise the quality of leads generated. This poses a challenge for B2B marketers. In the Marketingshe [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

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