The New B2B Buying Journey: Why SEO Is Your Competitive Edge

The B2B buying journey is becoming more complex. And while the number of stakeholders involved in a B2B decision is growing, the majority of buyers prefer the process to be driven digitally. 

In this article, I’ll show you why SEO is an invaluable tool in the B2B buying journey, and why marketing leaders should invest in this channel to support the customer journey.

• Today’s B2B Buying Journey
• So, How Does SEO Fit In?
• Final Thoughts
• Quick Solutions
• FAQ: How does implementing SEO improve the B2B buying journey and strengthen decision-making for businesses?
• About Us

Today’s B2B Buying Journey

B2B sales often involve multiple stakeholders and longer decision-making processes, necessitating more touchpoints than a typical B2C sale.

Despite this, 49% of all B2B spending is online, and it’s expected to rise to 57% by 2028, according to a report by VML.

And where does the buying journey start? VML says 67% begins online.

Gartner echoes this, saying a B2B buyer spends 27% of the time in the purchase journey independently researching online, potentially using at least one search engine during research. 

B2B companies are catching on. Thirty percent of B2B companies invest in SEO as part of their marketing mix, according to Statista.

This is why B2B brands report that organic search drives 19% of their leads, according to SageFrog. That said, in 2023, that number was 34% — much higher — followed by a sharp dip in 2024.

Image credit: SageFrog

This could be due to the fact that many B2Bs are struggling to figure out how to compete in the era of AI search, and technical SEO expertise is needed.

Today’s buyers want proof, want to lower risk and need layers of agreement before they sign anything.

Because most buyers now do the heavy lifting themselves, that flips the vendor’s job from being the starter to the responder.

So if your website can’t be found, you might never get a chance to talk at all.

Related: 

• How SEO Supports the Customer Journey
• How do I position my business to thrive in today’s digital-first B2B market?

So, How Does SEO Fit In?

It’s clear that B2B brands must invest in their online presence, but how SEO fits into the buying journey may not be so clear. 

Gartner reports that 35% of B2B buyers conduct an online search for the B2B supplier, 30% read an article from the supplier and 37% engaged with the supplier’s website.

Image credit: Gartner

These are precisely the moments that a strategic SEO program steps in to serve the content your audience needs to make a decision.

Consider that the modern search results are a multifaceted experience. The blue links are still relevant, but other SERP features dominate the page.

There are AI Overviews, forum answers like Reddit, People Also Ask modules, Knowledge Panels and the list goes on. 

That’s why being visible in the search results today requires a multifaceted approach to showing up where your audience is looking.

It’s a branding issue. 

According to the Dentsu 2024 Superpowers Index, as buyers value trust and expertise in their choice, “B2B companies must strengthen their brand building muscles.”

The number of brands considered as part of the buying journey is up 66% since 2021, Dentsu says. In 2024, buyers ranked being “active thought leaders in their category/sector” as the No. 3 decision driver when choosing a B2B.

Image credit: Dentsu

Gartner (linked earlier) reports a 20% lift in high-quality deals when interactions help buyers understand how to use a solution to improve their job or company performance. 

That lift rises to 30% when interactions exist to help buyers validate that a purchase is right for them. All of this can be done through a strategic SEO program.

And if you’re wondering if AI Overviews has killed your SEO traffic, there’s good news for B2Bs. One study found that 90% of B2B buyers click on AIO citations. 

All of this is to say that SEO is a strategic marketing initiative for B2Bs that want to stand out among the crowd when their target audience is searching online, and to provide helpful resources in the decision-making process. 

Bottom line: SEO can shorten the sales cycle and create more overall satisfaction with the deal.

Related: 

• 3 Simple Ways to Explain SEO to Decision Makers
• How do I make sure my business stands out across all the different types of search results? 

Final Thoughts

In a market where the B2B buying journey is longer, more competitive and increasingly digital, SEO is no longer a “nice to have.”

Brands that show up consistently across online touchpoints and deliver value at every stage of research position themselves as trusted thought leaders. 

By investing in SEO, marketing leaders can influence decision-makers early, guide them through complex purchase paths and ultimately accelerate the sales cycle. 

In other words, when your buyers are searching, the question isn’t whether you can afford to invest in SEO; it’s whether you can afford not to.

Ready to support B2B buyers on their journey to choosing a vendor?

Get a Tailored SEO Consultation!
 

Quick Solutions

• How do I position my business to thrive in today’s digital-first B2B market? 
• How do I make sure my business stands out across all the different types of search results?

FAQ: How does implementing SEO improve the B2B buying journey and strengthen decision-making for businesses?

Search engine optimization is all about making a business visible. It is the most basic way of making a company be found by customers using search engines. 

The most significant advantage of SEO is that it greatly increases a company’s visibility and familiarity. When B2B buyers are looking for products or services, they almost always start their search with online information.

Quite obviously, showing up on the first page of search results is a decent enough indicator of how much you can depend on a brand. It is also an indicator of high-quality marketing.  

Consider the sales funnel with the various stages that prospects move through to reach a state of awareness about your offering, an interest in it and finally a commitment to making a purchase.

Every stage in the purchase journey depends on SEO. B2B transactions benefit from enhanced visibility due to SEO, which also serves to establish authority and generate targeted leads. This is all in furtherance of the buyer’s journey. That’s what B2B SEO is for.

Step-by-Step Guide for B2B SEO Implementation

1. Conduct thorough keyword research. Carry out research on keywords used by buyers in the sector, including long-tail varieties and keywords specific to the different kinds of businesses within the sector to get a clear picture of their search intent.
2. Improve the website’s structure. Guarantee a simple, easily navigable site structure that loads fast, with mobile performance top of mind.
3. Create top-notch content. Author and cultivate blogs, white papers and case studies to educate your intended audience and move them along the buying journey. 
4. Implement on-page SEO. Increase the visibility of your site in search engines. 
5. Implement local SEO. To garner the attention of companies in certain geographic regions, make sure you targeting local results.
6. Improve the user experience. Build a website interface that is fast and easy to use.
7. Make the most of social. Use social networks to spread the message and boost engagement.
8. Optimize for voice search. Develop content targeted to spoken requests and the typical user’s everyday speech.
9. Concentrating on content distribution. Promote your content via different channels to connect with an exponentially larger audience.
10. Use video content. Create videos with the goal of boosting the total time that the viewer interacts with your material.
11. Optimize for AIO. Optimize your content to offer clarity for AI-powered results, such as clear and concise answers, well-written content — and don’t forget to test schema markup. 
12. Assess competitors. Examine competitors’ methods for optimizing search engines to identify opportunities and threats.
13. Evaluate and modify strategies. Examine and alter your marketing techniques as needed.

Today’s B2B marketplace requires that B2B buying journeys be fully integrated with SEO. 

Search engine optimization is an extremely useful tool for B2B companies that want to become more visible and credible.

About Us

Bruce Clay Inc. is a leading provider of SEO services and digital marketing expertise. With decades of experience helping businesses improve online visibility, we are pioneers in the digital marketing industry. Our team specializes in innovative strategies that drive traffic, increase conversions and align with your organizational goals. Learn more about our history, achievements, and services on our About Us page.

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing firm providing search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with him on LinkedIn or through the BruceClay.com website.

See Bruce's author page for links to connect on social media.