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May 2007
The Importance of Search Engine Optimisation / Search Engine Marketing in business to business services.
Is Search Engine Marketing cost effective enough to increase profits for B2B marketers? As you know, B2B transactions differ from most consumer transactions because these decisions require coordination between a number of different personnel before the final transaction is made. Therefore, the process requires a period of time between researching the product and placing the order. It’s an ongoing rather than snap decision.
“The Role of Search in Business to Business Buying Decisions” is a well-designed study of approximately 1500 participants responding to a 40-question survey that was validated with pre-testing before implementation. You can download the entire report for free, and here are a few highlights:
• When participants were asked to indicate how they would go about making a B2B purchase, 93.2 percent said they would research the purchase online.
• When asked if they would use a search engine at some point in this task, 95.5 percent of participants indicated that they would.
• When asked where they would start their search for information, 63.9 percent of participants chose a search engine over consumer review sites, e-commerce sites, manufacturer’s sites, and industry portals.
• When taking budget into consideration, manufacturer’s sites and industry portals were the chosen starting place as budgets increased. However, 86.9 percent of participants said they would visit a search engine after visiting those sites.
The study is rich with too many details to cover in this article, but following are some important conclusions:
• Search engines play a dominant role in B2B purchases.
• Search engines are used in the early or mid research phase in the buying cycle.
• Google is favored over other search engines.
• Search engine research takes place at least one to two months before the buying decision.
• Good balance between organic and paid search is necessary. Organic SEO gets over 70 percent of the clicks.
• Position is a factor, with over 60 percent clicking on the top 3 listings.
• Most users decide which listing to click on in seconds upon scanning the page.
With all this qualified traffic originating from search engines, it is more important than ever for B2B marketers, wholesalers, and B2B exchanges to ensure their Web sites are correctly optimised for good positioning in search results. There is also great value in SEO as a user-friendly marketing tool.
The Uniqueness of Search Engine Marketing
Search engine traffic is highly targeted. That's because potential buyers who find your B2B offerings through search engines are looking for your products and services on their own, so they are predisposed to hear your marketing message. You can’t find a more qualified prospect than that. Here’s what distinguishes search engine marketing from other types of advertising:
1. Non-Intrusive: Search marketing is a non-intrusive marketing tool. Most advertising, both online and offline, interrupts consumer behavior. If a user goes to a web site for info, up pops an intrusive ad. Reading a newspaper? Ads dominate and force articles to be continued on another page. With search engine marketing, the user is actively seeking your products, services, and information. They are delighted to be driven to your site.
2. Voluntary: Search marketing is the result of user-originated behavior. Your visitors from search engines and directories have voluntarily clicked on your listing rather than any competitors, thus they are motivated to explore your offerings.
March 2007
WebWatch UK Makes an Impact in London
Sutton Coldfield based professional website solutions company, WebWatch UK is celebrating after recently conducting a successful business seminar in Central London which has resulted a number of new business contacts, for the evolving firm.
The seminar, which was held at the prestigious Chartered Accountants Hall, addressed the growing culture of e-commerce and illustrated the various ways in which businesses can unlock their full e-potential.
Split into two separate sessions, during the morning and afternoon, the seminar attracted a total of more than 40 attendees.
Local London accountants gathered together to listen to the informative presentation delivered by WebWatch partner and e-marketing expert Jo Edwards.
The two-hour presentation provided an extensive synopsis of the various ways in which businesses can fully utilise the benefits available via the Internet in order to stand out from competitors, maximise exposure, increase client retention and gain new interest, thereby reaching their full e-potential.
Jo Edwards of WebWatch UK comments: "Seminars are a great way to generate new interest, educate people about the services that you provide them and obviously establish new contacts.
"Having previously conducted the same seminar in our own local area, we generated a lot of new interest and gained three new clients as a direct result.
"As such, it seemed the obvious next step to take the seminar to London to show more people what WebWatch is all about.
"We were really pleased with the turn-out on the day and have since received a number of new enquiries from business owners who attended the event."
For more information please contact WebWatch UK on 0121 355 4774.
July 2006
Window Dressing
Your website is like your shop window, advertising your firms wares.. But do you require help tempting new and existing clients into your store?
Not all website are created equal. Some firms keep their websites basic and use them as online brochures offereig contact details and a brief list of available services. Others use their sites more imaginatively, supplementing these details with information such as fact sheets and tax tables, along with relevant business news. More ambitious firms also offer interactive options such as online accounting or Secure Online Document Exchange ...
