Weeks, if not months of work go into putting a new version of your website live. And after all the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into the latest version of your website, you suddenly find yourself in the hot seat two months down the line, facing questions like:
- “Why hasn’t our traffic increased?”
- “Why aren’t we seeing any rise in sales leads?”
- “I can’t find us when I search on Google. What’s going on?”
The simple answer? SEO is an afterthought for most B2B websites.
Many B2B companies (particularly SaaS businesses) are so focused on creating attractive website pages that show off their sleek product that they overlook this crucial factor.
Believe me when I say this: your website IS an SEO project. Because if your target audience can’t find it in search engines, what’s the point?
But before I dive in, there’s one mistake that B2B businesses make over and over again…
The Biggest Website SEO Mistake B2B SaaS Businesses Make
One of the biggest mistakes B2B SaaS businesses make when they start focusing on SEO? They write blog posts that address their persona’s pain points.
Yes, you read that right — but hear me out…
Sure, a lot of B2B marketers constantly preach the importance of creating awareness – and they’re not wrong! Building trust is essential to winning customers over1, and awareness lies at the core of it.
But let me paint you a more nuanced picture. You’ve got a SaaS product with tons of features. Each feature (or group of features) is a solution to a problem and presumably a solution people are searching for.
So, the first thing I’d do is create a page for each of the solutions that have any kind of search volumes tied to them. You can then optimise them for the relevant intent-led searches. That way, you meet existing demand by drawing high-intent traffic faster than you would have by solely relying on publishing articles.
By doing that, you lay down solid foundations for when you do create top of funnel pieces of content later (like articles!) And you’ll use those pieces to educate prospects about their challenges, so when they realise they need a solution like yours and start searching, guess who’s on page 1? And guess who’s already heard of you?
B2B SEO (and any B2B marketing really) should focus on finding the fastest route to revenue, and then build structured journeys that can scale that success.
So with that out the way, here’s how I’d approach a B2B SEO strategy. Let’s dive in.
Planning your B2B Website SEO
Successful SEO needs to act as the very DNA throughout your website’s structure right from the start. You should map out an old vs. new site structure before doing anything else. What pages are you keeping, and which ones need updating? What pages are you killing? What new pages need to be created? Find the gaps in your content and cut the dead wood.
You need to consider both SEO and user journeys when planning your website’s structure. Be clear who you’re for, be niche, and be buyer-centric. Website content creation that follows these principles will not only boost domain authority but also better resonate with your audience.
As already mentioned your user journeys are critical too. Your website should mirror your sales process and have all the natural steps a buyer would take — after all, today, 95% of the B2B sales process is happening before a prospect speaks to sales.
Think about a proposal you take your prospects through — this is the information that needs to be on your site and not hidden away in sales decks. If there’s one page that should be your number one priority to have on your site, it’s pricing. It’s crazy that so many B2B websites don’t have this when it’s such a crucial part of the decision-making process.
That aside, once you’ve mapped out your site structure it’s time to move on to keyword research.
Keyword Research
Every successful B2B website SEO strategy hinges on strategic and well-executed keyword research. Decide what you want your pages to rank for — remember, this is where you’re selling your story, so make sure they’re aligned to capturing demand. Ultimately, you want to drive high-intent traffic to your core website pages, not people searching ‘what is’ queries.
Consider what each page is ranking for today, too, and potential losses in visibility for keywords (and whether you care — but remember expectations are set internally).
This exercise involves more than just cataloguing popular organic search terms. It requires a deep dive into understanding what potential customers are truly seeking2. What problems can be solved with your products or services? Which questions can you answer related to your niche? This information gives you a launchpad to start researching relevant keywords that connect high-intent traffic directly to your website.
It’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean blog posts, case studies and other types of content disappear from your content strategy. You just need to think about the different landing pages you are directing people to, the action you want them to take, and the intent of the search that is most suitable to drive that action. You want to make sure your organic traffic is relevant.
Writing Copy
When it comes to actually creating your pages, however, messaging has to come first.
Messaging is an essential pillar when building pages for your website. A lot of B2B marketers think they have problems with tactics or channels when they’re not getting desired outcomes, when the root cause is often messaging.
My advice? Write down everything you want to say on the page with no thought about structure. Consider factors like what potential customers want during the sales process and how you fulfil that demand.
Once you’ve drawn out this raw material, structure it into a story that presents an interesting point of view and highlights the advantages of choosing your solution. What’s unique about your perspective? What sets your offerings apart from others? Focus on highlighting these elements.
Only after that comes the role of SEO. You can tweak and edit your message by optimising it with high-intent keywords, but never at the cost of watering down your core message.
Once in-life, get feedback! Talk to your customers and prospects about the messaging, does it resonate with them? Are there challenges they face that you’ve not mentioned? Did your solution bring in-life benefits that they didn’t originally engage you to solve? All of this can feed into your ever-evolving messaging.
User Experience
Perfect harmony exists where your site’s content and story meet great user experience (UX). You could be attracting lots of relevant traffic, however, without user-friendly interactions on your website, conversion rates might not meet your expectations.
You need attention to detail to eliminate friction that prevents smooth site navigation. Simple menus, quick page speeds, mobile-friendly designs — every little improvement counts. And these enhancements keep users coming back for more.
When a potential customer lands on your website, what journey do you want them to take? Who are they, and what will keep them engaged? Cut down barriers; make it easy for them. Make sure you have entry points for everyone. And as you’re optimising UX, don’t forget your SEO efforts, too.
Technical SEO
I talk to 10-20 prospects per week, and one of the things that consistently comes up in the free growth audit’s we run, is the lack of technical SEO fundamentals. I’ve already touched on page speeds and this is consistently a big letdown for B2B websites.
On-page SEO is also key. Page titles and headings need to be well structured and optimised with keywords where possible. Likewise, meta descriptions and title tags play a big part in overall site hygiene, which in turn help push your SEO rankings up. Finally, alt tags should always be there to augment image visibility on search engine results and enhance website accessibility.
Of course, I’m only skimming the surface here. Technical SEO is an entirely different beast of its own, but it’s important to stay on top of the ever-changing algorithms and updates that affect your website’s performance. Keep up with Google’s Core Web Vitals and make sure your site is optimised for speed and usability.
To Summarise
SEO for B2B tech websites is about strategic storytelling supported by high-intent keywords and a robust technical framework. A solid SEO roadmap starts with prioritising core website pages and creating content aligned to sales funnels.
Navigating B2B website SEO can be taxing but highly rewarding when done right, and you don’t have to walk this path alone. Gripped’s team of experts is prepared to assist in crafting an effective SEO strategy tailored to your business — check out our B2B SEO agency services here.
