SEO Strategy

B2C SEO and B2B SEO: What’s the Difference?

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Dmitriy ShelepinFounder & Head of SEO at MiroMind
December 6, 2019· 19 min read

The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work when you’re adapting best SEO marketing practices in targeting vastly different audiences like a business entity (B2B marketing) and a legion of individual consumers (B2C SEO marketing). Knowing the difference helps when you’re designing websites focusing on specific buyer types, and our guide will help you set the rules that power search engine optimization efforts to achieve a quantum leap in productivity while adding ballast to your bottom-line. 

It’s not that B2B and B2C websites are mutually exclusive; some commonality can’t be ignored. 

The CTAs won’t be “Buy This,” “Buy That,” or “Click Here,” “Do That.” Instead, we have unambiguous CTAs leading the buyer directly to the issues that address the buyer’s needs. For example, our CRM solutions provider may like to include the following CTAs that actually voice the innermost needs of buyers:

The objective of SEO best practices is to find and leverage your best social proofs and to use them to project your brightest image. 

The B2C Ecosystem

B2C marketers have successfully deployed social proof to convince the worst fence-sitting consumers and improve conversion rate optimization. Consider the following facts:

  • More than three-quarters of active consumers trigger a purchase decision only after studying product reviews. 
  • The review contributed by a third party is considered to be more reliable than the sales copy or manufacturer’s product description. (another way of saying that you trust an unknown third-party review more than what the manufacturer says in the description).

Social proofing as an ideology is well ingrained in consumer psychology. Otherwise, why would a long line of customers waiting to enter a restaurant encourage us to visit that restaurant? Why do shops display pictures of celebrity endorsements, if only to remind consumers that their products have the highest visibility? Why do clubs and private resorts make you wait an eternity for membership if only to preserve an air of exclusivity? 

The B2C SEO social proofing initiative is easier to sustain by gathering as many product reviews as you can, and by encouraging third parties to comment on products and services in social media. Allow old clients to wax eloquent on the benefits accruing to them from your services. Gradually and inevitably, social proofing begins to accelerate conversions, bringing on a silent revolution that boosts the bottom line. 

Conclusion

When you internalize the subtle and not so subtle differences between B2B and B2C SEO, the realization dawns that you’re becoming a game-changer, and you begin to approach marketing with an altogether different mindset that is finely tuned to the market segment that you are championing. 

Here on, no matter what you do, you will be selling your pitch more effectively because you have a better understanding of the needs and motivations of your target audience. 

Remember to interact and communicate with your customer base regularly, giving them the space to grow and boost the relationship to a higher plane. Allow buyers to decide where they want to take you. Soon, your buyers become partners in your entrepreneurial journey, notching major milestones for you within no time.  

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Written by
Dmitriy Shelepin
Founder & Head of SEO at MiroMind
Dmitriy, founder and CEO of MiroMind, also serves as the Head of SEO. He brings over 15 years of experience with a focus on strategic, in-depth optimization and research into search engine algorithms.
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