Following the SEMDays conference which was held in Bucharest between 24th -25th of September, we sat down with Pete Campbell who advised us on how to implement the right SEO tactics while finding ways to overcome the challenges.
Beaglecat: What do you think are the main challenges when you’re doing SEO for a B2B site, in contrast to a regular or e-commerce one?
Pete Campbell: Typically in B2B, the product value can be much higher – as a result a customer is unlikely to purchase off the back of doing one search on Google. There will need to interact several times, and mapping out what that customer acquisition journey looks like and how SEO can help is a different, but exciting challenge.
More often than not now, we’re advising clients on setting up B2B Lead Generation campaigns via content marketing, developing whitepapers and webinars and using those as a source of leads rather than ‘Traditional’ SEO
BC: Which SEO tactics do you think are underrated? Which one are overrated ?
P.C.: Nearly 25% of Organic SERPs now feature a Knowledge Graph panel (Source: Moz) yet the vast majority of websites (66% according to SimilarTech.com) use no form of Schema.org micro-data. Schema.org is massively under-rated.
I can’t be specific on a overrated tactic as SEO signals work together in harmony, and very few ‘stand out’ on their own.
BC: When considering guest blogging, what factors influence your decision towards a certain website?
P.C.: For me the key factor is if the client’s target audience reads that publication, and will us being covered on this site actually generate leads and sales for my client. To us, the link is second and we’re very careful about when we do guest posts for a client – if at all.
BC: How would you say content marketing and PR should work together?
P.C.: PR drives the content marketing strategy for our clients. Before we begin production of a piece we question who is the target audience? who will we outreach too? what’s the reason someone would link to this? Unless we have a good answer to these questions, then the content will not be successful.
BC: What is your secret to staying original whenever you’ve been writing for the same customer for years?
P.C.: Raising the bar when it comes to the format. Our content marketing started with just articles, then infographics, interactive content, tools and now 6000+ word pieces that feature data visualisation and tools.
Pete is the founder of Kaizen, which helps businesses big and small deliver SEO, PPC and Content Marketing strategies.
