SEO is vital for B2B marketing as it boosts the visibility of your website and hopefully attracts more businesses who need your products or services. Within the broad umbrella of SEO, however, there are many nuances that are often unexplored but can be incredibly beneficial.
One such area is the use of long-tail keywords and we look at how they can help B2B companies tap into niche markets below.
What are Long-Tail Keywords?
- When a B2B SEO agency discusses keywords we use two different phrases – short-term and long-tail. Short-term keywords are more generic and typically contain only one or two words. An example could be a graphic design company using the short-term keyword “logo design”.
- Short-term keywords are characterized by a much higher search volume, but because of this they are harder to rank for due to more competition.
- Long-tail keywords are more detailed and usually form a short phrase of three or more words. In the same example, a graphic design company might use the long-tail keyword “logo design for small businesses”.
- This is much more specific and we start to see some of the intent behind the user’s search – they want a logo made for their small business. Long-tail keywords are characterized by a lower search volume but they are usually easier to compete for.
Why are Long-Tail Keywords Beneficial for B2B SEO?
Long-tail keywords can be incredibly potent for B2B but you must be aware that they have a much lower search volume compared to short-tail keywords. This means that less businesses will search for that phrase.
To offset that, they have the following benefits:
– They often result in more qualified leads.
– They can lead to higher conversion rates.
– They are easier to rank for.
If a business is taking the time to type a long-tail keyword then you know that they have put more thought into the process and are serious about their query. This results in a higher conversion rate percentage – in fact, long-tail keywords typically have an average conversion rate of 36% which is much higher than short-term keywords.
Most businesses try to rank for short-term keywords because they appeal to a wider audience, which means Long-tail keywords are often easier to rank for. You can put in less effort, therefore, and still get decent results due to the higher conversion rates.
For B2B, you can use long-tail keywords to tap into those customers who really need your products or services and perhaps capitalize on SEO strategies that your competitors are not utilizing. Market research also shows that many B2B buyers today are turning to long-tail keywords and becoming more specific when they search.
How to Implement Long-Tail Keywords into Your SEO Strategy
To successfully implement long-tail keywords you need a keen understanding of your business and its niche. This includes things like your target demographic, regional variations, and localized selling. Do you sell to businesses in a specific part of the UK? Maybe you sell to a specific industry or sector within an industry?
First, know your product and/or service and find the niches that could be used to create long-tail keywords. For example, if your B2B company sells predominantly to businesses in London you could create long-tail keywords that incorporate that.
With these niches in-mind, try and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What do you think they would search for? What would their train of thought be when using Google?
If you can create a “journey” for your ideal business customer you should be able to create long-tail keywords from this combined with the niches you have previously identified. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can also help identify long-tail keywords specific to your business and show important metrics like their search volume.
With a selection of niche-specific long-tail keywords you can start to implement them into your SEO strategy. A B2B SEO agency can help with this but there are simple things you can do initially.
These include adding keywords to your META title and description tags, inserting keywords into your web content such as headings and paragraph text, and using the keywords in URL slugs.
When doing this, it’s important not to lose sight of your short-term keywords too, however. The best B2B SEO strategies use a mix of short-term and long-tail keywords to cover all bases.
Get Better Results With Niche Marketing Via Long-Tail Keywords
B2B marketing can be tough so using a varied approach with different strategies is essential. A simple way to do this is to look for niches and hone in on your target businesses using long-tail keywords. By mixing long-tail keywords into your SEO strategy you can hopefully get better results and higher conversions for those businesses that are searching for specific things.
