Fixing Super Common B2B SEO Mistakes (Easy Successful Tips)

The business-to-business (B2B) sales process is more tedious and intensive than the business-to-customer (B2C) process. Because of this, B2B marketers are more prone to making common search engine optimization (SEO) mistakes.

This article focuses on the most common B2B SEO errors, and the easy, successful tips for fixing them.

• Ignoring SEO audits
• Not using customer-relevant keywords
• Having outdated site content
• Forgetting proper keyword placement
• Overlooking local SEO strategies

By partnering with an experienced B2B SEO agency, B2B managers and business owners can focus on more critical aspects of their business. Learn about these mistakes today. Let's go!

Want to learn more about the Digital Authority Partners approach to SEO? Watch this video!

Ignoring SEO Audits

An SEO audit helps identify issues on the website that could hinder its ranking on search engines. But despite their importance, some marketers ignore audits because they can be tedious. B2B businesses do not know that they are missing out on valuable opportunities to improve their website's visibility and attract more organic traffic.

B2B companies operate in a highly competitive market, and optimizing their websites for search engines can give them an edge over competitors. By ignoring SEO audits, businesses may be giving their competitors an advantage, thus losing potential customers.

An SEO audit is one of the winning strategies of an expert B2B SEO agency. Here are some key steps in an effective SEO audit:

• Identify and prioritize keywords based on their relevance to the target audience, competition level, and search volume.
• Analyze website structure, including site architecture, navigation, and URL structure. Ensure the website is easy to navigate, with clear categories and subcategories.
• Check website speed and performance using Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
• Review on-page elements, including meta descriptions, title tags, header tags, image alt tags, and internal linking. Optimize these for relevant keywords and clearly describe the page's content.
• Analyze the website's content to ensure that it is relevant, valuable, and optimized for keywords.
• Check for technical issues affecting website performance, such as broken links, crawl errors, and duplicate content.
• Analyze B2B link building and ensure that the backlink profile is diverse and high-quality. Look for toxic links that may be harming the website's ranking.
• Check mobile-friendliness to ensure that the website is mobile-friendly. Use tools such as Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.

Not Using Customer-Relevant Keywords

Another common mistake is using keywords that are irrelevant to the target audience. The right keywords help web pages rank, and using keywords unrelated to your customers means you are not targeting the right audience. You are, therefore, missing out on the possibilities to attract targeted traffic that is more likely to convert to customers.

When B2B customers search for a particular keyword, they expect to find content that is relevant to their search. If the content they see is inapplicable, they will likely move to another website, leading to a higher bounce rate, which negatively impacts search engine rankings.

In addition, using generic keywords that are unimportant to B2B customers means you will compete with a broader range of websites for those keywords. This increases competition and makes ranking higher in on-page search engine results more challenging.

Learn to find customer-relevant keywords to fix this common error. These strategies can help:

• Research B2B customers' needs, pain points, and search behaviors. Conduct surveys and interviews, and analyze data from customer interactions.
• Analyze competitors to see what keywords they use in their content, by using SEMrush and Ahrefs.
• Use keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, and Ubersuggest to identify appropriate keywords that your customers use to search. 

Having Outdated Site Content

If a B2B website's content is outdated, it may no longer be appealing to its audience's needs and search queries. This can lead to a decrease in organic traffic, as search engines prioritize fresh and relevant content.

Old or dated content can reduce user engagement, decreasing the amount of time spent on your website. It can also lead to a higher bounce rate. 

Having content that is not current causes B2B businesses to miss opportunities to attract new customers and retain existing ones, while competitors may provide more meaningful and up-to-date information. Update B2B site content using these techniques:

• Identify outdated content on your website, blog posts, product descriptions, service pages, and other content.
• Conduct a content audit. Analyze website content performance in terms of traffic, engagement, and conversion rates.
• Research relevant keywords and use them to update content and improve its importance to your audience's needs and search queries.
• Update the visuals on your website to make them more appealing and engaging. This includes images, videos, infographics, and other visual content.
• Publish fresh content regularly, such as blog posts, industry news, case studies, etc., to showcase expertise and thought leadership.

Forgetting Proper Keyword Placement

Search engines use algorithms to analyze the content of websites and rank them based on relevance and quality. Keyword placement plays a vital role in helping search engines understand the content of a web page and its significance to a particular search query.

Incorrect or excessive keywords can adversely impact the applicability of the content to the search query. This can result in a lower ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Overusing keywords on a web page to manipulate search engine rankings can result in penalties from search engines, such as reduced ranking and organic traffic.

Misplaced keywords also result in content that is challenging to read or understand. Finally, poor keyword placement can cause B2B companies to fail to attract compatible traffic for generating leads. Avoid this common mistake by:

• Using keywords in page titles and meta descriptions, to help people and search engines understand the content of web pages.
• Adding keywords in headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) allows search engines to make sense of the structure of your content, and users to navigate your content more easily.
• Naturally incorporate primary and related keywords throughout your website content naturally.
• Include primary keywords in image alt tags, to help search engines understand images and other visual content.

Overlooking Local SEO Strategies

Ignoring local SEO is an immense mistake for B2B companies with area businesses. Without local SEO, B2B companies may have reduced visibility in local search results, making it more difficult for potential customers to find them. This can result in lower region-specific sales and revenue.

Local B2B companies may face increased competition from other businesses ranking higher in geographical search results. Optimizing local SEO ensures that clients get updated information about the business' contact details, such as its address, phone number, and hours of operation.

Overlooking local SEO can make it harder for clients to find nearby shops that might have products or services that will benefit them. To avoid these issues, companies with an office in the vicinity should use B2B SEO techniques for local searches, by:

• Creating and optimizing a Google Business Profile (GBP) can help increase visibility in local search results and provide accurate information about the business.
• Incorporating location-specific keywords into website content and metadata to help search engines identify the pertinence of the content to local search.
• Building local citations and backlinks increases visibility in search results and improves local SEO rankings.
• Encouraging customers to leave reviews on GBP and other review sites to increase visibility and credibility in search results.

Summing Up B2B Marketing

Avoid common B2B SEO mistakes, such as ignoring SEO audits, not using customer-relevant keywords, having outdated site content, forgetting proper keyword placement, and overlooking local SEO strategies. These mistakes may be common, but they can lead to costly results if not fixed in a timely manner.

Partner with an experienced B2B SEO agency to fix SEO issues. Contact Digital Authority Partners now.