Success in the world of B2B marketing is a fusion of art and science, creativity, and data-driven strategy. Your marketing budget must yield a strong return on investment (ROI), and one of the fundamental ways to ensure a healthy return is by employing a proper SEO strategy for your website, landing pages, and any other online assets. At Marketri, we understand the science of modern marketing and the reliance on accurate data to make informed marketing decisions. We help B2B companies achieve predictable, profitable growth through the execution of data-driven marketing strategies.

In this article, we’ll explore the top 5 SEO trends that can be leveraged as part of a successful B2B marketing strategy.

1. AI and Search Generative Experience (SGE)

SEO is undergoing a transformation, driven by AI and Search Generative Experience (SGE). While it might sound complex, you don’t need to be an SEO guru to understand its implications. Simply put, search engines are becoming smarter, tailoring search results to match the unique, detailed queries of users.

SGE allows users to ask questions that are more complex and descriptive while also getting to the gist of a topic faster with more relevant links. The idea is to use AI to make more progress on a topic or a goal in less time, generally by utilizing conversational follow-ups or receiving suggested next steps.

What does this mean for your business? First and foremost, rest assured that traditional SEO remains essential. Focusing on high-quality, relevant content with appropriate keywords, and user-friendly websites continues to be the cornerstone of effective SEO. However, we’re on the brink of a new age where AI-driven search is influencing the way customers find you. It’s a subtle shift that may become more prominent for specific queries.

SGE is still very much on the cutting edge though and will likely need some time to mature before becoming commonplace. In the meantime, it’s definitely something to keep in mind.

2. Building Brand Authority in the Digital World

We all know that a strong brand presence is essential for success. It’s not just about what you sell; it’s equally about how your brand is perceived. Dominating the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for non-branded queries is a clear indicator of an authoritative brand presence. This is fundamentally about building trust. Some great places to start building this trust are by having both a robust and accurate Wikipedia page and a Google Knowledge Graph.

Additionally, these tried-and-true methods are still very much applicable:

• Identify and market to your target segments – Understand your audience, go and be where they are, and craft your messaging specifically to their needs.
• Create knowledgeable, purposeful, and sharable content – Address the questions and concerns of your audience, showcasing your particular expertise. The best results will always come from using compelling storytelling techniques to both entertain and engage.
• Regularly post on social media – Don’t exclusively use your social channels to sell, sell, sell. Be consistent and engaging, utilizing a variety of content types that best fit your business, and always interact with your audience. Social media is intended to be social, after all!
• Associate with other trusted brands – If possible, look to collaborate with other reputable brands, or otherwise institute partnerships where applicable. Joint marketing campaigns can make a big impact on building authority and increasing SEO efforts. Also think along the lines of guest contributions and appropriate citations and references to expose your brand to more prospects that haven’t heard of you yet.
• Expand media channels – Don’t limit yourself to just one content format or platform. Explore various media channels, including podcasts, webinars, and live streams.

All of the above are necessary to establish and build trust in any space, including the digital world, which is what leads to authority and the resulting SEO benefits.

3. Leveraging Video

We live in an age of multimedia. Video content is about connecting with your audience in a way that resonates. While video optimization might sound technical, it’s really just about creating engaging videos that people love to watch.

It’s no secret that Google continues to add more and more videos directly within search results. To begin having your videos show up in these results, follow these basic tips:

• Upload videos in a high-quality file format.
• Host the videos on your company or brand YouTube channel.
• Include appropriate keywords in the video title.
• Use correctly formatted and attractive thumbnail images.
• Have a transcription of the video, which can be read by search engines.
• Be sure to link from the video description to your website and social profiles.

We can’t mention video these days without also bringing up TikTok. This platform functions quite differently from YouTube, and while it’s not yet a go-to for B2B marketing, it’s worth keeping an eye on. Undoubtedly, the day will come that this platform gets leveraged in additional ways that may directly benefit both B2B marketing and SEO.

4. Landing Page Strategy

Some trends never go out of style, as is the case with a solid landing page strategy. The goal of any landing page is to convert visitors into customers. One of the best ways to attract net new visitors is by optimizing the landing page for search engines.

Any SEO-friendly landing page will begin with identification of the relevant keywords. Engaging copy that aligns with these keywords will then be produced, integrating them in throughout.

The next step is to utilize an optimized page title. The page title should include the primary keyword, and a meta description that encourages click-throughs from the search results page where the meta description will be displayed. Don’t forget a user-friendly URL structure, which should be short and descriptive while also including the primary keyword. Finally, ensure the page itself is mobile responsive.

To get the most out of your landing page SEO, you’ll also want to take into account:

• Page speed – pages that load quickly not only improve user experience but are also favored by search engines for ranking purposes.
• Image optimization – compressing and optimizing images increases the aforementioned load time. Also be sure to include descriptive alt text, again including relevant keywords.
• Links – Both internal and external links not only enhance the user experience, but also demonstrate that your content is well-researched and reputable. This strategy can result in quality backlinks which greatly benefit the SEO impact of any website.
• Updates – Search engines do pay attention to how often the content of a website is updated. For the best results, you’ll want to provide regular updates to the content (ideally based on data you’ve gathered from A/B testing or other analytics).

As a final thought on this trend, always ensure your landing page has a clear call to action (CTA) so that your visitors know exactly what you intend for their next step to be. Nothing loses a potential customer faster than them not knowing the appropriate next step to take.

5. Customizing Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) might not be everyone’s favorite tool, but it’s an essential part of understanding your website’s performance. Customization is key to making it user-friendly and insightful, even if you’re not a marketing expert. To begin generating custom reports you must have an Editor Role, then navigate to Library > Create a Collection > and then Publish the Collection. Your custom reports will then appear on your main navigation of GA4.

There are a variety of key aspects to consider when creating GA4 custom reports, from goals and events to enhanced SEO data tracking and user engagement tracking. GA4 can even track things like outbound clicks, internal site searches, and eCommerce transactions.

Despite a significant learning curve, GA4 does allow you to gain significant insights into the impact of your SEO efforts, which consequently empowers you to make data-driven decisions to optimize performance of your efforts.

A Bonus SEO Trend – ChatGPT

ChatGPT is, in its own words: “an AI (Artificial Intelligence) language model designed to generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It can understand and generate text in natural language, making it a versatile tool for a wide range of applications.”

For SEO purposes, ChatGPT can be used to brainstorm ideas or even write actual website copy for you. Think of it as a virtual assistant that can ultimately assist you in a number of your B2B marketing efforts. Keep in mind though, using entirely AI-generated content can actually count against you in SEO. While ChatGPT is a great tool to use for ideation and outlining, there’s still no replacement for old fashioned human productivity.

In conclusion, adaptability and innovation are essential for success. These SEO trends should be immediately implementable and align with your overall B2B marketing strategy and business strategy.

Marketri accelerates predictable, profitable growth for B2B companies by building and executing strategic marketing plans that deliver a high ROI through data-driven strategy and execution. We help identify the right marketing metrics for your business—then track your progress and optimize your execution for the best results.

Schedule a call with Founder & President Deb Andrews to learn how Marketri can help drive more revenue for your business and maximize your marketing ROI.