Need new B2B Content that tickles to Google algorithm?
Today’s B2B purchasing teams (because it is usually a team decision) are self-servers.
- They’re avoiding the traditional sales representative and doing their homework.
- They’re heading online for content before talking to anyone in your sales team.
- They seek out third-party review sites and the views of other customers.
What page are you on?
“Publish or perish” and “Content is King” are two sides of the same coin.
Academia has always been about “Publish or Perish.” Continued academic tenure and funding depend on the output of high-quality research. To not publish is to struggle to survive.
In any B2B business, it’s “Content is King.” Your success depends on high-quality products or services that are visible online. And how do new customers find you online? It all starts with a simple Google search! But if you’re not listed in the first 10 Google search results (…the old page 1) they’ll struggle to find you. Only 6.6% of users scroll down beyond the first 10 results!
The quality of a website’s content drives its position in Google search results.
How will you get there?
How will you stay there?
The self-serve B2B Buyer Behaviour.
Today’s B2B procurement teams (because it’s a team decision) are self-servers. They’re avoiding the traditional sales representative and doing their homework. Like you, they’re heading online for content before talking to anyone in your sales team. They seek out third-party reviews and the views of other customers.
The best you can do is provide the best resources you can on your company’s website. As Vinay Bhagat explains in Gary Drenik’s Forbes article,
“A company’s website is still its most important tool for success. Vendors should be leveraging their websites and marketing materials. They need to make it easy to find accurate, up-to-date information about the product. This includes pricing, features, and feedback from customers.“
However, leveraging your website for success is not easy if you’re not on page 1 in the Google search results.
It's all about E-E-A-T. And this doesn't mean feeding the algorithms…
The solution is not website content overload. It’s quality over quantity. Quantity might draw lots of traffic. But you don’t want to draw lots of school kids doing a class assignment – traffic that doesn’t convert. Quality content draws less traffic, but it will resonate with your target audience. Google puts this type of content ahead of the rest when it deems it to be ‘helpful content‘.
What’s helpful content? Google defines helpful and relevant content as EEAT:
- Experience,
- Expertise,
- Authoritativeness,
- Trustworthiness.
You can deliver this if you set out to do the right thing for your target audience. And the benefit is self-reinforcing. The stronger the EEAT, the more organic quality traffic you attract. The more organic traffic, the better you appear in Google’s estimation.
So what does this mean, and how do you deliver it?
Experience:
- What: The user’s experience when interacting with your website or content.
- How: Optimise your website speed and ease of navigation.
Expertise:
- What: The knowledge and authority your content conveys in its subject matter.
- How: Delivering accurate, well-researched, and insightful content to show your expertise.
Authoritativeness:
- What: The credibility and trustworthiness of your content and website.
- How: Work to establish your site as a reputable source of information within your industry.
Trustworthiness:
- What: The reliability and integrity of your content and website.
- How: Ensuring the transparency and reliability of your content’s information.
The philosophy that underpins EEAT is simple. Genuine content that interests genuine consumers gets ranked at the top of the list. EEAT satisfies the algorithm. The satisfied algorithm rewards you.
But there’s more. If your site makes the Google algorithm happy, it makes the LinkedIn algorithm happy too.
How often do I need to update my website's content?
The key consideration is EEAT-based quality over quantity. EEAT doesn’t advocate turning your website into a sausage factory churning out endless content. At the same time, there’s no magic number.
An EEAT content marketing strategy and content posting schedule are helpful. But Grow & Convert’s Meg Riley gives an interesting insight. Meg’s view is to update content in response to slipping or stalled Google ranking. It’s no secret that Google’s search algorithms change over time. Something that worked yesterday won’t work today. Meg’s advice is to track and maintain the content you have. When you need, update it to improve your site’s Google search results.
Who do I use for fresh content?
If you have a job at home, would you grab your Swiss Army Knife or a precision tool?
The Swiss Army Knife might do the job, but of the same quality? With the same efficiency? With your confidence in delivering the same job as the precision tool?
When you’ve got a message to deliver and need to find someone to say it, who do you use?
A Generalist may be able to put a piece of writing together for you, but will it meet your EEAT criteria? Or will it be jarring to the ear of your target reader – like a pianist hitting the wrong key? Reading something with the awkwardness of a wrong key will reflect on you and your website, not the generalist writer.
To use a Specialist is to use someone who knows the language. They know the pain points. They’ve served in the same trenches as your target audience. Their material will read as authentic. They won’t be hitting the wrong keys.
What page do you need to be on tomorrow?
Quality Content is King, and you must Publish it or Perish.
You’re alone in the B2B marketplace jungle.
You’re only hope of survival is to reach the safety of Page 1.
It’s EEAT or be eaten.
And how will you defend yourself while you fight your way there?
Do you think you’d survive long with a Swiss Army Knife?