We are all guilty of making assumptions, both in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes assumptions are much easier to make than actually digging for the real story, other times our assumptions stop us from improving because we think it can’t be done any other way. Assumptions are especially detrimental to a B2B SEO campaign, which relies on constant evolution and improvement in order to thrive and help your website effectively compete. If you are a B2B marketer, here are three assumptions you should be wary of marking about your B2B SEO.
Conversion Source
A rookie mistake many marketers are guilty of making at one point or another during their B2B SEO strategy is thinking that the last click that brought a visitor to their site is the conversion source. While I understand that it’s incredibly important to prove ROI, don’t be so quick to jump the gun and declare this or that touch point the source of conversion.
For instance, let’s say a visitor clicked over to your site from a guest post published on an industry site. Is that the one and only time they have heard of your brand? Maybe they found that post because they follow your company on Twitter and you tweeted the link as part of your content promotion strategy. Maybe one of their friends or coworkers sent them a link to your company blog and they signed up for your newsletter because of it and were directed to that article. They may have been engaging with your brand for months or years in a variety of ways before actually converting. The point is that there are many potential sources that could be driving targeted traffic to your site with the intent to convert, so don’t be too quick to assume which one it is!
Analytics
Your website’s analytics can be a B2B marketer’s best friend or worst enemy depending on how you use them. Remember, analytics are nothing more than numbers—it’s our job to interpret them and put them into action. Never approach your analytics expecting to see something, as this often leads to twisting the data to suit your expectations. There is nothing wrong with being surprised by the data! Oftentimes the best and most useful insights come when we aren’t expecting them because it forces us to stop assuming we know everything there is to know about our target audience. How are they really searching? What keywords are they using that you aren’t targeting? How are they interacting with your site? Let the data really tell you what IS going on and stop assuming what it SHOULD be saying.
Content Marketing
One of the most common problems facing many B2B marketers is developing a content marketing strategy. Most of the B2B companies I work with as an SEO consultant understand the importance of a content marketing strategy, but they aren’t sure what to write about or think that no one will find their content interesting. While IT services might not be as glamorous to write about as Parisian fashion shows, that doesn’t mean that a B2B content marketing strategy is boring and uninteresting! It all comes down to writing the right content for the right audience. Your target market is interested in what your company has to say because it pertains to them. You can help them solve a problem or find a better way of doing something, so don’t assume that people aren’t interested in reading your business blog or won’t find a whitepaper helpful during the sales process.
About the Author – Nick Stamoulis
Nick Stamoulis is the President and Founder of Brick Marketing, an SEO solutions and social media marketing management company based in Boston, MA. With over 13 years of Internet marketing experience, Nick Stamoulis share his knowledge by contributing posts to the Brick Marketing blog and publishing the Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter, read by over 150,000 opt-in subscribers.
Contact Nick Stamoulis at 781-999-1222 or nick@brickmarketing.com