koleary

M Posted 7 years 7 months ago

t 9 min read

In the B2B world, the hectic atmosphere that dominates the retail sector between Thanksgiving and New Year does not gain as much attention. Businesses in B2B have to coax prospects through longer sales cycles, and typically their clients end up signing longer contracts, both of which help to lessen the scramble that comes throughout the fourth quarter for B2C brands. That does not mean, however, there are no opportunities for B2B Q4 optimization.

An increasing number of brands in this sector have begun to notice that they should not overlook this period altogether. Advertisers saw a year-over-year growth during Q4 for those in B2B. Ad spend increased by 21%, clicks by 4%, and the CPC went up by 16 percent. Although the end-of-the-year scramble might look different for those in B2B, they can still leverage untapped potential throughout the holiday season.

Taking the right steps now to start preparing and mapping out a strategy can not only help you increase your Q4 revenue, but it can also set you up for a strong start in the New Year. If you are in B2B, here are 5 steps we suggest you take to prepare your organization for success.

1. Holiday keyword opportunities important in B2B Q4 optimization

Around the holidays, search, and buying patterns likely change. As you continue to develop and publish content during Q4, you want to make sure to remain abreast of the opportunities that may arise.

Begin by looking at your own Page Reporting and Keyword Reporting analytics. See if any particular pages become more popular (more visits, conversions, search volume, etc.) as the end of the year begins to approach. You can use this insight to guide the material you publish throughout the quarter as well as the material you post about on your social media sites.

Similarly, use the Data Cube to find more keywords that may pertain to your customers during the holiday season. See if any keywords relate to holiday themes that might offer you ideas about what your audience will be most interested in searching for during the upcoming weeks. Build a content campaign focused on these holiday-themed interests and keywords.

You can also use the keywords you uncover through your research to bolster your paid search strategy. Paid search can be an excellent way to drive additional traffic towards new content, particularly seasonal content that you want to rank highly very quickly before it becomes obsolete. By incorporating more themed keywords into your PPC ads, you will also increase the appeal of your ads and increase the chances of uncovering potential customers on the SERP.

2. Watch for competitor weaknesses with B2B Q4 optimization

B2B Q4 optimization and ranking highly on the SERP is a zero-sum game. In order for you to do well, you must outpace your competitors -- not everyone can be a winner. Keeping a close eye on competitors’ strategies, therefore, can give you an edge.

Using a capability like Data Cube, you can monitor the content strategies of your competitors, and see which keywords they rank highly for. This information can then be used to build your own strategies, maximizing your rankings. You can compare their high-ranking keywords with your own list and determine where your best opportunities will be to grow your share of voice for the fourth quarter. You can also then monitor your progress with BrightEdge Share of Voice to see how well the strategy helps you to outpace your competition.

3. Note changes in content engagement

You may notice some changes in content engagement during the holiday season. For example, your audience may find themselves taking more half days to spend time with family, long weekends to visit relatives, or otherwise taking a step back from their work responsibilities. If this impacts your content audience, you may notice differences in your traffic patterns.

Take these changes into account for B2B Q4 optimization as you post material. You may be able to improve your engagement by posting more towards the middle of the week and the morning rather than the afternoon, for example. Keep these insights in mind not only for your site but also for your brand presence on social media.

4. Build excitement for next year with B2B Q4 optimization

For the people who have depleted their budget for 2018 and will not be making any major purchases, your biggest goal will be to build their excitement for next year. You can do this using a few B2B Q4 optimization strategies.

Step 1. Focus on the human connection. Many people find themselves in a festive mood this time of year. Between the company parties, seeing family, vacations, and a more relaxed atmosphere at work, they appreciate more lighthearted material. Tap into this need with your posts on social media and your site. For example, taking holiday-themed pictures of your products or services, posting a few (tasteful!) pictures from company holiday parties, or otherwise building the human connection with your audience can work well.

Step 2. Continue to write fresh, engaging content that coaxes people into the sales funnel. Using those keywords you research, continue to produce new, fresh content to keep people engaged with your site. Do not be afraid to add some holiday flavor to your material, but continue to produce high-value content that people appreciate.

Step 3. Write about successes you have seen over the past year. Now that the year begins to wrap up, look back over the past year and the accomplishments of your brand.

Consider producing a few posts with the help of pleased customers who can discuss what they were able to accomplish with your product or service over the past year. This can help to grow people’s enthusiasm about your brand as they prepare for a budget review and company meetings when they kick off the new year.

5. Capture people’s end-of-year budget with holiday-themed offers

Of course, with your holiday keywords, posts, and competitive strategies, you want to really try and capture any of the end-of-year budgets your clients still have and put it words B2B Q4 optimization. Complement your material with some holiday-themed sales and promotions.

Remember that although in the B2B world you offer a product or service that will help a business, making the sale is still about that personal connection. For the people making the buying decisions, enticing promotions and sales, such as Free Shipping Through the Holiday Season, can be as enticing on business purchases as it is on personal ones. Consider the promotions you can run to bolster your end-of-the-year numbers.

The end of the year can be a challenge for B2B brands as they try to maximize their earnings for the fiscal year, but also have to deal with customers who have finished their yearly budget. Focusing on a B2B Q4 optimization strategy that works to find a competitive edge to gather that last bit of leftover budget while also building excitement for next year will help set you up for a strong fourth quarter and a happy new year.

maspillera

M Posted 7 years 7 months ago

t 9 min read

Our latest research at BrightEdge indicates that for those in higher education, 61% of their site traffic comes from organic search. The research from our individual partners aligns well with these numbers, as UC Davis told us that 56% of their traffic arrives from organic search, and Education Management II reported 50%.

The importance of a strong online presence for higher education SEO can also be seen within the target audience. In 2018, an estimated 12.3 million college and university students will be under the age of 25. This young demographic profile means that a large percentage of the intended audience has grown up with technology. This explains why three quarters of high school juniors and seniors report that college websites influence how they see institutions. Prospective students expect colleges and universities to meet and engage with them online.

To build a strong online presence, educational organizations can use a variety of BrightEdge platform functions to improve their optimization and content production. Here is what you need to know about higher education SEO and the BrightEdge platform.

The importance of site optimization for higher education SEO

Recall the statistics on the importance of higher education SEO for colleges and universities. BrightEdge partner Education Management II reports that not only does organic search drive half of its traffic, but it is also responsible for 40% of their site conversions.

“SEO is a key piece of our digital marketing strategies as Organic Search comprises almost 50% of our site traffic and 40% of site conversion volume.” - Tim Kane, Education Management II

Those in higher education need to optimize content for organic search to ensure that their material can be easily found on the SERP. Higher education SEO in the current age requires brands to carefully plan their strategies around audience interests and technical site requirements.

On the BrightEdge platform, higher education SEO clients have access to the powerful Data Cube technology. The Data Cube can be used for keyword research. At UC Davis, our partners report using this feature to develop their strategies and to find new opportunities.

“I spend about 90 percent of my time on Data Cube, it was basically the main reason we bought BrightEdge. It is very helpful. We use it in our strategies and to find opportunities. It is critical in our content work and in competitive analysis.” - Adam Napolitan, UC Davis

They have been working on projects related to topics such as "health." To successfully reach their higher education SEO goals in these areas, they will need research related to keywords in these areas that also apply to their university.

On the Data Cube, you can investigate different keywords and see the types of content that appear on the SERP. For example, higher education organizations will find that there are an estimated 3,000 keywords that appear related to "college diploma." They can then use this insight to find the keywords that appeal most to their audience and develop a content strategy based upon user intent.

To further optimize their content, higher education organizations can also employ ContentIQ. As UC Davis said, this feature can be very valuable in the technical areas of SEO. By helping companies pinpoint essential higher education SEO aspects such as h1 tags and page load speed, they will make it easier for Google algorithms to understand their content and see its value.

Similarly, the Recommendations feature will help organizations uncover potential problems on their site and organize them according to importance. This technical SEO helps them remain on par with what incoming students will expect from their institutions of choice.

Watching the competition

As of 2012, 3,026 four-year schools and 1,700 two-year schools competed for the attention and enrollment of students interested in higher education. This intense competition means that for these schools to build a strong digital presence, they must also keep a careful eye on higher education SEO.

The Data Cube also plays a helpful role in this part of the digital strategy. Data Cube will show schools the keywords that their competitors rank for but they do not, thus empowering them to develop content that will fill these gaps. They will gain a more complete picture of how the other schools perform and what they need to do to maintain-- and increase-- their standings online.

The BrightEdge platform also contains Share of Voice. With Share of Voice, organizations can compare their standings to their major competitors. They will receive a visual representation of the percentage of the internet space they dominate, versus how much the biggest competitors for that space do.

With Share of Voice, schools gain valuable information about which schools they need to pay the closest attention to. For example, they may realize that a school they had not even considered was their biggest competitor for keywords related to a significant degree program. This will empower schools to focus their higher education SEO strategies with a higher degree of precision. They can build strategies to counter the competition that poses the largest threat.

The information gained here can also play a valuable role in other ways. UC Davis SEOs, for example, can use it to show others at the institution “the light.” They can see how higher education SEO efforts allow their school to start gaining on--or even outpacing--the competition in important areas.

Gauging progress with higher education SEO

As schools begin to build and improve their digital presence, you will want to monitor your progress and clearly see the impact that your efforts have had on your visibility and traffic. StoryBuilder on BrightEdge will provide you with this advantage.

“It [StoryBuilder] is great for metrics and keeping an eye on things.” - Adam Napolitan, UC Davis

StoryBuilder makes it easy to customized dashboards to focus on the metrics that matter the most to you and your leadership at your institution. You can gauge KPIs, such as how many pages rank on page 1, allowing you to easily see your progress. You can also build customized dashboards that can be used when speaking with leadership, utilizing the metrics that capture their attention.

Our partners in higher education also mention using Keyword Reporting and Page Reporting regularly to further gauge their progress. They can monitor how keyword rankings respond to their optimization efforts on an individual level.

For BrightEdge partners in higher education, our platform offers the resources they need to compete and attract the attention of an increasingly digital audience. As our partners use the various features on the platform, they build a stronger digital presence and attract the site visitors and interest that allows their institution to thrive.