| I was struck by the subject of a recent article titled | | | | So what is the answer? Given there is limited amount |
| How to Optimize B2B Pay Per Click in Just 4 Hours a | | | | of time and in-house resources you need to get help |
| Week (Part 1) by Jon Miller of Marketo. | | | | to at least get the basics done so your website is out |
| What caught my interest wasn't the information on | | | | there working for you. Your ThomasNet Rep (me) or |
| pay per click advertising but the idea that 4 hours a | | | | your web developer, agency, SEO agency, etc. can |
| week was considered a time savings! I speak with | | | | help. |
| small to mid size manufacturers in Connecticut every | | | | THE BASICS |
| day and from what I hear, no one has an extra 4 | | | | 1) Your website MUST be search engine friendly. |
| hours a week to manage a pay per click program. | | | | -Professional Design (quality design is becoming more |
| More often than not I hear, "We really need to update | | | | important than ever) |
| the site but we just can't find the time." | | | | -Fresh Detailed Content |
| Now don't get me wrong, I believe that small to mid | | | | -Keyword Focused Landing Pages |
| sized B2B companies are missing out by not focusing | | | | -Proper Title Tags |
| more on their online marketing strategy but a | | | | 2) High Quality Relevant Backlinks - The search |
| MarketingSherpa study showed that the single | | | | engines evaluate the quality of the backlinks and the |
| greatest obstacle for B2B companies achieving better | | | | relevancy of the backlinks, not just the quantity. |
| optimization is lack of time and in-house resources. | | | | Vertical sites (such as ThomasNet), industry |
| B2C companies are spending many marketing hours | | | | associations, trade journals are excellent sources. If |
| (and $$) blogging, mobile marketing and social | | | | you want to check the quality of a vertical site look at |
| marketing to generate high traffic but B2B companies | | | | the the link popularity or how a site ranks for a |
| are different. Jon Miller points out these differences in | | | | particular keyword. Use online tools such as or Ask the |
| search marketing goals: | | | | company you want to link with to see their site report. |
| B2C Search Marketing Goals: | | | | ThomasNet's site report (download .pdf here) gives |
| High Volume, low value | | | | you the top 500 most frequent users and the top 200 |
| Focus on clicks and transactions | | | | most searched categories for that month. |
| Single decision maker | | | | 3) Get a good tracking tool with an Executive |
| Search with the intent to buy | | | | Dashboard so you can quickly monitor your site's |
| Transactional landing pages | | | | performance. It will take 1 minute to check your activity |
| Purchases immediately | | | | and the keywords. You want to make sure that |
| No hand-off from sales to marketing | | | | companies are finding you under a product or service |
| B2B Search Marketing Goals: | | | | keyword because they are your "new" customers. |
| Low Volume, High Value | | | | People who come to your site after typing in your |
| Focus on conversions and leads | | | | company name already know you. Webtraxs has a |
| Multiple decision makers | | | | great dashboard (download .pdf to see) ThomasNet |
| Search with the intent to research | | | | built sites all come with a Webtraxs tool and all |
| Lead capture landing pages | | | | advertisers with a "content based link package" get |
| Purchase months to weeks later | | | | the tool for free otherwise it is $300 a year. |
| Closed loop lead management | | | | Take the time to get the basics down right so your |
| It is worth repeating...B2B online marketing is not about | | | | internet marketing program is working for you while |
| VOLUME of traffic, it's about the RIGHT traffic. | | | | you are busy handling the 100 other items on your to |
| TARGET, TARGET, TARGET! It is a waste of time | | | | do list. |
| and marketing dollars getting emails and phone calls | | | | If you would like some recommendations on your |
| from contacts that have no chance of ever being a | | | | internet marketing program just give me a call and I'll |
| customer. | | | | be happy to come in and discuss them with you. |