Anyone who has built and launched a website has likely encountered an oft-repeated acronym: SEO (search engine optimization). And while you might not have ever done SEO yourself, you've benefited from it in the past: Every day, search engines like Google employ complex algorithms to sift through more than 400 billion web pages and deliver the most relevant results.
Website owners like you use SEO techniques and strategies to get their websites to the top of the search results for relevant user queries. But SEO is not a one-time endeavor — Google and other search engines change often, and ongoing SEO ensures your website stays in front of the people you want to reach. Just as a physical storefront requires regular maintenance and updates to stay competitive, your website needs ongoing SEO to remain visible amidst the ever-changing digital landscape.
The ABCs of SEO: What is Ongoing SEO and Why Does It Matter?
Don't let the techy jargon intimidate you. HubSpot — considered one of the gold standards for SEO and digital marketing advice — defines SEO as simply a collection of strategies and tips that "expand a company’s visibility in organic search results'' and help "drive more visitors to the company’s website, increasing their chances for more conversions which leads to more customers and more revenue."
SEO Connects the Search Engine Algorithms With Your Website's Content
Regardless of your website's goal or industry niche, all SEO techniques have one thing in common: They look at ways to optimize your website's content, keywords, and links to help search engines rank your website higher in the search results when someone searches for something related to your keywords, content, or brand name.
According to HubSpot, SEO needs to address the key factors that all search engines use to determine the value of your website's content — and therefore how high in the search results your website or specific landing page should appear:
- The intent or meaning behind why someone is searching for a specific term or question
- The relevance between what someone searches for, and the content on your website
- The quality of your content (for instance, a website about physical exercise written by certified personal trainers is deemed by Google to be higher quality than a website where the articles are written by non-experts)
- The performance of your website, such as how long it takes a page to load and whether it works well on mobile devices
Static SEO Versus Ongoing SEO: Why It Matters to Stay Fresh and Keep Your SEO Updates Current
As users' web behavior changes and technology evolves, search engines proactively adjust their algorithms.
If you aren't conducting ongoing SEO maintenance and upgrades, a well-optimized website today can quickly become obsolete tomorrow, causing your search rankings to drop and attracting fewer organic visitors. Google itself updates its algorithms several thousand times per year, including significant "major" changes every few months that dramatically change how it crawls and ranks content. For example, Google's infamous Panda update changed how it ranked how-to lifestyle content on the Internet, causing one major content publisher to lose a whopping $6.4 million of traffic and advertising nearly overnight.
How Ongoing SEO Influences Your Website Strategy
Staying abreast of changes to SEO techniques and strategies provides important guidance to your content, marketing, and overarching website strategy. For example, it can dictate or influence:
- How much content you publish, and the content's format, length, and focus
- How you incorporate other forms of media on your website, including images, video, and audio
- How you organize content on your site, including landing page layouts and your site's navigation
- What keywords and target users your website focuses on
Embrace the Power of Ongoing SEO
Caroline Forsey, an expert in thought leadership and marketing content, looked at the survey results from more than 400 of the world's leading web analysts to predict the biggest SEO trends of 2024. According to her data, some of the top changes in SEO strategies this year include:
- A heavier emphasis on expertise, meaning the content on your website should come from experts in your related field (including bylines and author bios that demonstrate the author's credentials and experience on the topic they're writing about)
- A renewed emphasis on first-person, credible content, especially as more websites generate high volumes of low-quality AI content (Google itself has announced upcoming changes to tackle low-value articles created by AI)
- A priority on websites that are deemed trustworthy, such as e-commerce sites with well-rated customer service, or content sites that do a good job of citing trustworthy research and statistics
- Bonus points on content that is creative and original and doesn't simply rehash content found on other sites
Of course, these SEO trends will inevitably change every year, and ongoing SEO will keep you competitive no matter what Google, Bing, and other search engines do. No matter your website's industry or content strategy, ongoing SEO requires that you:
- Focus on keeping your content fresh and high quality, including new blog posts or regularly refreshing and updating old product descriptions or articles
- Conduct keyword research often, since the terms or phrases that your core audience uses will evolve over time
- Maintain your website's overarching performance, such as mobile-friendliness as mobile devices evolve, and page load speed
- Build a diverse portfolio of high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites within your niche, which may include outreach campaigns, getting others in your industry to write guest blogs, and participating in online forums or communities
- Keep on top of technical and performance metrics, such as scanning your site for broken links (and fixing the links you uncover) and using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track organic traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates, and conversion rates
- Stay on top of algorithm changes so you can adapt your SEO strategy in real-time
Some website owners think of SEO as the first step of their promotional strategy. But it's less a first step, and more an ongoing journey to ensure you, your brand, and your content stay relevant in such a competitive atmosphere. Whether you choose to go it alone and take a DIY approach to SEO, or you choose to consult with a digital marketing and SEO agency, check in often and make sure your SEO evolves as the world around you evolves.
A website's user experience (UX) is crucial in web design for B2B customers. Providing a seamless and intuitive UX is essential for any website. Creating a user-friendly website should always be a top priority for businesses. To ensure your B2B website reaches its full potential, avoiding the top five UX fails is crucial. These UX failures could be anything from poor navigation to confusing layouts, and taking care of them can significantly improve your website's effectiveness.
Complex Navigation
A complex and confusing navigation structure can be a significant obstacle for users trying to access the information they need on a B2B website. This is especially true for websites containing vast amounts of data, which can quickly overwhelm users if improperly organized.
To avoid this, it's crucial to have straightforward and intuitive primary navigation with drop-down menus, clear headings and subheadings, and a well-designed search bar. By providing easy-to-use navigation, visitors can quickly and easily locate the content they need, which can help increase engagement and conversion rates.
In addition to primary navigation, it's also important to have secondary navigation that supports the primary navigation and helps users find related content. This can include links to relevant pages, categories, or tags that are not immediately obvious from the primary navigation.
Lack of Clear Value Proposition
In today's competitive business environment, B2B buyers constantly search for solutions to help their businesses succeed. If you fail to communicate your value proposition on your website, you may attract visitors who are not interested in your business and do not return to your site. You must create a clear and concise statement highlighting your products' or services' benefits and features to differentiate your company from your competitors.
Your value proposition should clearly explain why your products or services are better than your competitors and what sets you apart. This will help potential customers understand your value and how you can help them achieve their business goals. To increase the persuasiveness of your value proposition, you can include social proof such as customer testimonials or case studies.
Attracting customers by communicating your value proposition on your website can help you stand out. So, take the time to craft a compelling value proposition that showcases your products or services' unique benefits and features, highlighting what sets you apart in the market.
Inadequate Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization is an essential component of today's digital landscape. With most internet users accessing the web using mobile devices, businesses must prioritize mobile optimization. This is especially true for B2B buyers, who often use their smartphones or tablets to research and make purchasing decisions.
You can lose customers if your website isn't optimized for mobile devices. For one, it can lead to a frustrating user experience, resulting in high bounce rates and lost opportunities. Additionally, Google prefers mobile-friendly websites in its search results, which means neglecting mobile optimization can negatively impact your search engine rankings.
Ensuring your website looks good and is easy to use on all devices, including smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, is crucial. Optimizing your website for mobile devices can yield many positive results, including a better user experience, improved search engine rankings, and increased business. Therefore, ensure your website loads quickly and is fully optimized for all devices.
Overwhelming Content
When communicating in the B2B context, it's vital to provide detailed information to help establish trust and build a strong foundation for long-term business relationships. However, ensuring the data is presented clearly and concisely is equally crucial so the target audience can easily understand.
One common pitfall in B2B communication is overwhelming users with too much content. The result is cognitive overload, which can impede users' ability to absorb information. To avoid this, break down the data into easily digestible sections. Using bullet points, headings, and images can help enhance readability and make the content more scannable.
Another essential aspect to consider is the language used in the communication. Jargon-filled language can be intimidating and make it harder for users to understand the content. Instead, use concise terminology that the target audience can easily comprehend. Doing so can ensure you convey your message effectively and build trust with your audience.
Ignoring User Feedback and Testing
Finally, failing to collect and act upon user feedback is a major UX failure that can significantly impact the success of a B2B website. B2B websites should be updated with current trends to ensure a positive user experience.
One way to do this is to conduct regular user testing, collect feedback, and analyze website analytics. Doing so lets you find pain points and improve areas that may hinder the user experience. This feedback can inform website updates and redesigns that address user concerns and make the website more user-friendly.
Regularly iterating and enhancing your website based on user insights, rather than relying on assumptions or guesswork, is essential. By doing so, you can ensure visitors have an optimal experience on your website, leading to increased engagement, conversions, and customer satisfaction.
In the competitive B2B space, a website with excellent user experience can make or break your business. You can create an intuitive, informative, and engaging website for potential customers by avoiding these familiar UX fails. Remember, a seamless user experience enhances your company's credibility, increases conversions, and fosters long-term business relationships.