SEO for small B2B niches: strategies for more visibility

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In the SEO-B2B environment, there are often separate rules of the game. These SEO strategies make the leap to more visibility and new inquiries – even for small B2B niches.

B2B search engine optimization is a digital marketing strategy designed to help B2B companies rank higher in search engines like Google. In particular, providers from small B2B niches are faced with the great challenge of placing what is usually a very specialized offer, which requires explanation, visibly in search engines with the help of effective SEO strategies.

However, if you know the specifics of B2B SEO and the ideal strategic approach, you can build up targeted organic visibility for products, services or even entire subject areas.

Is SEO different in B2B than in B2C? In a way, yes. If you look at the Google ranking factors, SEO has no rules of its own in the B2B context – in other words: There is no “B2B algorithm” or special optimizations that B2B pages need in order to rank in the top positions on Google.

In theory, the same SEO best practices apply to B2B companies as to B2C companies. In practice, B2B SEO is actually very different. The most important SEO characteristics in the B2B environment:

• Keywords usually have a very low search volume.
• Keywords usually have high CPC.
• Content is aimed at decision-makers in companies instead of the general public.
• Content is primarily informational and less emotional.

The precise analysis of the target group is of particular importance for B2B SEO strategies. Because we want to reach a small group of decision-makers with our content, the definition of a buyer persona is helpful in identifying the right search terms.

Buyer personas are models of idealized desired customers and help us to understand how our B2B target group thinks, acts, what goals and motivations they pursue and how they research problems that we can solve with our offer. The more personalized we can tailor the content to our small target group, the higher the probability of delivering the right information, setting the right impulses and creating the right points of contact.

A persona can be created manually or using a tool. Hubspot, for example, offers a free toolto create buyer personas for our B2B SEO strategy quickly, easily and clearly.

Once we have defined our B2B target group in more detail, it is important to research the relevant keywords for our SEO strategy. We should align the keyword research with the buyer journey of our target group. This means that we map our keywords to the respective phase that our target group goes through during the buyer journey.

Since the buyer journey can best be visualized as a funnel, we structure the keyword research analogously. To put it simply, we subdivide our traffic-generating keywords into “Top of the Funnel” (informational keywords: target group researches the problem and its solution) and “Bottom of the Funnel” (buyer keywords: target group researches the specific solution). This approach is particularly relevant for niche B2B topics. Often only product and service pages are optimized for search engines – i.e. for buyer keywords. However, if we offer niche products that require explanation, for example diaphragm metering pumps, we should already meet our target group when researching the problem, for example with “correctly dose chemicals”, and generate visibility through blog and advice content.

As a B2B company, we should do SEO according to the funnel principle and

1. Find “bottom of the funnel” keywords – keywords that people search for when they are ready (or almost ready) to buy;
2. Find “Top of the Funnel” keywords – that is, search terms that people search for who have a specific problem or need and want to find out more.

Why is “Top of the Funnel” content so important for B2B companies? First, “Top of the Funnel” keywords usually have a much higher search volume, so more people can be reached. Example: An IT service provider offers the “ERP consulting” service (buyer keyword – monthly search volume of 160). The service provider also has a blog post on the subject of “ERP systems definition” (informational keyword – monthly search volume of 2,500). Despite a small B2B niche with a low search volume, many potential customers can be reached who do not yet know that they need ERP consulting.

This brings us to point two: “Top of the Funnel” search queries can be turned into customers. Instead of wanting to sell our niche product directly, we provide information, position ourselves as experts and can, for example, collect the e-mail addresses of our target group. In this way, we create essential points of contact with potential customers, sensitize them to our product and can then move more people from the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel. This is how successful B2B SEO works according to the funnel principle.

Search engines like Google reward websites that have prepared content in the most comprehensive and detailed form for certain subject areas. The aim should therefore not only be to optimize individual sub-pages for different keywords, but also to map content in a broad range of so-called topic silos.

For our B2B niche, this means that we first find all the relevant search terms relating to our topic through keyword research. Then we plan and create the corresponding content and implement the content with a logical structure and categorization on our website in order to give Google clear signals that we have mastered the topics in terms of content and should be seen as an authority in our niche.

When siloing, it should be ensured that the contents are linked to each other in a meaningful way and that they are logically implemented on the website using a directory structure. As a result, we not only offer our users an excellent user experience, as they can easily find everything they need to know on our website, but also nourish the authority of the individual subpages by passing on valuable link juices from external backlinks.

A simplified example of a silo structure for a B2B service provider in the field of data protection:

Meinewebsite.de/datenschutz/dsgvo
Meinewebsite.de/datenschutz/ordersdatenverarbeitung
Meinewebsite.de/datenschutz/datenschutzrecht

Through a holistic coverage of the topic of data protection with a corresponding URL structure and meaningful links, the website can establish itself as an authority in the long term and achieve good Google rankings.

By consistently applying the strategies mentioned, B2B companies can also build up considerable visibility on Google in smaller niches and thus continuously generate leads through search engine optimization.

But before you get started and create personas, a content funnel or topic silos, you should make sure that the SEO basics are right. The first step should be to check whether the technical SEO fits, the first backlinks have been built and the user experience of the company website is ideal.

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