Many B2B sites are focused on search engine optimization and for good reason. If you can’t be found, then you can’t do business. Search engine marketing is just as important and shouldn’t be ignored. SEO and SEM are often lumped together, but they are not the same thing. If you’re ready to take your site to the next level, then here’s how you can use SEM to your advantage.
1. Become a Super Spy
Having your keyword data is useful, but having the keyword data that your competition is using will help you begin to dominate your niche. When you are tracking everything that everyone is doing, you’ll get a lot of data that shows you where and why traffic is headed in certain directions. This gives your SEM a boost because you’ll be able to stop guessing at what keywords you should be using for your campaigns and start targeting specific user dynamics.
2. Show Me Yours
Links have always been an integral part of the SEM world, but evolution has happened and many sites have missing links that lead to errors, blank pages, and zero value. Don’t be a missing link. All of your incoming and outgoing links have to be cleaner than clean to pass inspection today. This includes your organically generated links as well. If there is even a hint of odor coming from them that is negative, then it is going to drive down the value of the site.
If you can’t get rid of links, then use Google’s disavow tool. It will become your best friend in the coming days.
3. It’s an Expensive Bottle
The traditional method of marketing is usually some form of wining and dining. A little luxury, some free value, and POOF! You’re supposed to get results. It’s a tried and true method that works, but it works in the SEM world when there is some form of personal contact. Many businesses are using a pay per click method of marketing that brings people to a specific landing page. That’s a great goal, right?
Maybe not. Having someone click on a link to create a phone call to your sales department is a better option. Mobile SEM is going to dominate this industry in the near future and you need to be prepared. Adapting to mobile SEM now is like buying an expensive bottle of wine. It’s a little risky, but it almost always creates the right impression.
4. An Outstanding Author
Marketing is all about standing out from the rest of the competition, right? So if this is the case, why are so many blog posts and website pages titled in the exact same way? And why does industry ad copy all say the same thing? The problem with SEM is that when something works, everyone latches onto it like a hungry lead-sucking leech and they’ll all compete for the same potential results. The biggest sucker, the thinking goes, gets the most leads.
Except all of the leeches look the same. You can’t tell one apart from the other. When everything looks the same, your B2B customer will be naturally attracted to what is different. If your copy is different, it doesn’t have to always be better. As long as you communicate value, you’ll be successful.
5. A Walk Around the Neighborhood
Sometimes you can’t play in the same playground as the bigger kids in the SEM world. You’ve got to find your own way in the world and find a way for people to come to you instead of you trying to go to them. That’s why smaller to medium-sized businesses will benefit from focusing on local SEM efforts rather than a generalized large campaign.
Local SEM puts a business in direct contact with B2B leads that are within a specific geographical area. This will help you focus on targeted keywords that make sense for you without having to compete on a mass market. You still might rank below someone national, but you might just find your business on a map that shows up next to the results as well.
6. It’s Not a Google World
Just about everyone focuses on Google. They might hold a majority of the search market, but they don’t hold all of it. If your B2B SEM efforts don’t seem to be generating results, then go forward on a different site to see what could happen.
Search engine marketing will help you get noticed by your B2B leads. With the right strategy, tools, and tips like these, you will be able to dominate your niche.
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.