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Rise and shine, contrarians! Let's turn this Monday into a masterpiece.
It's time for another edition of the Contrarian Marketer, where we challenge conventional wisdom and uncover fresh insights.
Today, we're challenging the status quo of SEO, especially for B2B businesses. If you missed the previous article called Flip Your Conversion Funnel, give it a read. The strategies we'll discuss today tie directly into that concept of funnel optimization.
Top 3 Insights from today's article
1. Focus on bottom-of-funnel, high-intent keywords to drive revenue rather than just traffic.
2. SEO is most effective as a demand capture channel, especially for B2B businesses.
3. Continuously evolve your SEO strategy to match your customers' journey through the sales funnel.
The SEO Trap: Top-Funnel Obsession
Let's start with a common misconception: SEO works best at the top of the funnel. It's tempting to target high-volume, informational keywords like "What is X," thinking it'll drive loads of traffic.
And yes, you may get traffic—but in B2B, traffic alone doesn't equal revenue.
With B2B solutions, you're often dealing with potential clients who want to learn about a topic, not necessarily buy from you—at least, not yet.
While top-funnel SEO can feed into brand awareness, the real power of SEO lies deeper in the funnel, as a demand capture channel.
Shifting Focus to Demand Capture
So, what does this mean for your strategy? It's time to shift away from high-volume, generic search terms and towards bottom-of-the-funnel commercial intent keywords.
These are the searches your dream clients are conducting when they're ready to make a decision, compare competitors, or solve a specific problem.
For example:
"[Solution] pricing" or "best [solution] for [specific problem]" searches signal someone is much further along in the decision process.
Brand-specific or competitor-specific search terms target people who already know what they want but are finalizing their decision. These queries are often less expensive, and the users have higher intent to convert.
How to tell if your ads will perform before you spend any budget
Instead of crossing your fingers the next time you run ads, what if you would know your ad performance before you even go live?
With Neurons AI, you can.
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Global brands like Google, Facebook, and Coca-Cola are already using Neurons to boost their campaigns.
We're talking 73% increases in CTR and 20% jumps in brand awareness.
Prioritizing the Right Keywords
SEO should be designed to catch demand that already exists rather than trying to create it from scratch. For this reason, bottom-of-funnel, long-tail keywords are your best friends when it comes to driving revenue.
Ask yourself:
What terms are potential customers searching when they're close to purchasing?
Are they searching for direct comparisons between you and your competitors?
What pain points are they solving for, and how can your content answer those exact needs?
Prioritize these keywords when building your content and technical SEO strategy. Consider where your potential customers are in their journey when they search for these terms.
Someone searching for your product name + review or product name + alternatives has already done most of the research—they just need validation to make a decision.
Important: SEO is dynamic. Your customers move through the funnel, from top to bottom, and your SEO strategy should move with them.
When planning your SEO, consider:
Implied intent of keywords: Are the people searching ready to buy, or just looking to learn?
Content mapping: Ensure the content you're creating serves each stage of the funnel.
Tracking and evolving: Constantly revisit and refine your SEO tactics based on which keywords are driving actual conversions, not just traffic.
Too many B2B businesses fall into the trap of aiming for top-funnel SEO dominance, only to find it's expensive and unprofitable.
By focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel and high-intent search terms, you can make SEO a demand capture channel, designed to feed leads that are ready to convert into your sales pipeline.
It's time to get smarter, lean into the real value of SEO, and pull the levers that bring in revenue. Your bottom line will thank you!
One Fun Thing
In 1957, Pepsi launched the "Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi" campaign, which was one of the first marketing strategies to focus on lifestyle rather than product attributes. This campaign shifted the focus from the taste or quality of the drink to the social experience of consuming it, revolutionizing the way products were marketed to consumers.
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