by Claudia Bruemmer

As the economy improves, industrial suppliers will see a rise in sales as buyers spend more time online researching product/service information for future projects. Global Spec’s whitepaper, “2011 Economic Outlook Survey: Improving Conditions Present Market Opportunity for Suppliers,” shows that key decision makers in industrial organizations prefer search engines when sourcing products, services and information. To a lesser degree, B2B buyers also use supplier websites, online catalogs and peer recommendations on social networks, blogs and forums. The study provides key search marketing tips for B2B marketers.

Below are the four tips suggested in the above study for B2B industrial suppliers to optimize their websites in order to better accommodate the anticipated increase in visits from industry buyers.

1. Optimize Multiple Content Locations within Your Site
You can’t just optimize your product pages because industrial buyers are looking for more than an end solution. Industrial pros want assistance for solving complex problems. The study shows that industry professionals are looking for a wide spectrum of solutions with top priorities on project and technology research.
With the emphasis on research and project development, suppliers can attract more leads by providing value-added content that is optimized for keyword search opportunities. That means case studies, product solution tutorials, white papers, and research studies. Of course, you can and should provide well-optimized product pages as well.
All content should be optimized for relevant keywords using SEO best practices.

• Keyword discovery
• Keyword-optimized HTML titles, descriptions, headers and webpage content
• Cross linking between related products and upsell opportunities
• Social media tags leading to social networks

2. Optimize Landing Pages for Content Marketing Opportunities
Today, B2B industrial marketing is focused less on traditional media and more on the Internet as a means to search for products, services, and suppliers. The above study revealed 58 percent of respondents did not attend a single trade show last year, while nearly half (48 percent) attended webinars, webcasts and online trade shows/conferences.
That provides new opportunities for driving leads and conversions through landing pages that support various content marketing initiatives. As suggested above, you will want to optimize Titles, Descriptions and key statements on your landing pages. Be sure to create a compelling call-to-action and look for secondary conversion opportunities like newsletter sign-ups, social networking tags and the like.

3. Acquire Links by Virtue of Your Industry Expertise
While search engines are a major vehicle for sourcing industrial products and services, other online resources can be used as well. Buyers also rely on supplier sites, trade publications and peer recommendations for sourcing and information gathering. Social networks, B2B search engines, blogs and forums are used as well.
Be on the lookout for content opportunities from third party websites where you might acquire links via your byline or contributor bio. Not only will these links help SEO, but visibility in key industry publications can lead to direct sales and business development opportunities.

4. Acquire Links by Creating Content that Solves Problems
While the economic future is improving, we all know hiring is still slow and each employee is expected to do more. That’s why today’s industrial buyers value the type of content that can help them solve problems. The more problem-solving content you can create, the higher your chances of increasing leads and sales. For instance, you might provide calculators, forecasting tools, cheat sheets, short-reference guides, video tutorials and user-friendly training documents. This is the type of content that can attract links when shared in social networks, blogs and industry forums.

Conclusion: Search Remains the Top Driver of B2B Sales
The Globalspec study reveals industrial buyers are shifting to online resources for buying and researching products and services. Buyers are also looking for information to help solve complex problems. While search is a top driver of industrial supplier sales, B2B buyers also use supplier websites, online catalogs and peer recommendations on social networks, blogs and forums.