One way to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts is to measure website traffic. Most businesses today keep tabs on their traffic, whether it’s simple numbers of visitors and pageviews or something more sophisticated.
As a marketing professional, you’re likely asking, “How do I increase website traffic?"
There are many methods for increasing B2B website traffic, including blogging, improving SEO, using social media, and creating targeted content.
With B2B marketing, you’re targeting decision-makers working for other companies who may want to use your firm’s products or services. This is different from B2C marketing, which targets the individual consumer.
Business decision-makers and buyers have different processes, and their buying cycle looks quite different. Whereas individual consumers might be easily influenced and make impulsive purchases, business buyers will have formalized processes. They’ll engage in more research beforehand, and they may take months to make a decision and convert to customers.
What will drive B2B website traffic is different from what will attract the individual consumer. B2B buyers are looking for informative, helpful content as they journey through their buying process. To drive traffic, you’ll need to satisfy their needs and show them you have what they’re looking for.
The first step most businesses take in improving their B2B website traffic is search engine optimization (SEO). Optimizing your website makes it easier for potential leads to discover you.
SEO relies on knowing your customers and potential leads. What kinds of things are they searching for? What questions are they asking Google when they conduct research online? If you can optimize your site to turn up when they ask these questions, you’ll have a better chance of being discovered.
Keep in mind SEO is a long game, and the rules are ever-changing.
SEO once relied heavily on the frequency and freshness of content on your website. Blogging was an important part of your SEO strategy, in addition to a staple in any inbound marketing campaign.
Although SEO is changing somewhat, blogging is still an important method of driving B2B website traffic. A blog post could answer the questions your potential customers are asking. It also provides fresh and relevant content for potential buyers as they research solutions to issues they’re experiencing.
When you add blogging to your content creation strategy, take a moment to also consider how you’re targeting your content. Who is the audience for this video or this infographic?
Having different content to appeal to different buyer personas or to decision-makers at various stages of the buying cycle will increase the odds of your content being used, shared, and read among colleagues and peers.
Social media is an excellent tool for driving B2B traffic to your website. Organic social media posts can drive some traffic, but paid advertising options can also increase visibility, drive traffic, and boost your brand.
Social media isn’t just a broadcast platform, however, so you’ll want to follow some tips on using it effectively. While it’s easy to put up a post with a link, keep in mind that it may not drive traffic the way you think it will. Learning to use social media effectively will help you drive more traffic to your website. You’ll also want to use social media sites B2B buyers use, such as LinkedIn, rather than use sites consumers are more likely to use, such as Instagram.
All these tips, taken together, can help you increase B2B traffic to your website. Give one of them a try or adopt all of them and see the difference for yourself.