In ”
“, we introduced the meaning of SEO and a beginner’s guide to SEO for those who are new to SEO.
This time, why do we do SEO measures in the first place? I would like to dig deeper into its importance.
Expanding the number of accesses
SEO measures are one of the upstream lead generation (acquisition of prospective customers) measures in the BtoB marketing process, and in order to increase the number of actions such as inquiries and requests for materials on the company’s website, it is necessary to increase the number of actions such as inquiries and requests for materials on the company’s website. This is done for the purpose of increasing the number of accesses.
Here I would like to introduce some interesting data.
This is
CTR data by Google search ranking
announced last July 2017 (reference: Internet Marketing Ninjas).
CTR is an abbreviation for Click Through Rate, also called click rate, which indicates the ratio of the number of clicks (number of clicks) to the number of impressions displayed on the Internet.
This survey data also shows CTR by BtoB and BtoC, and displays a comparison between the overall figure and the BtoB figure.
As you can see from the table, the CTR of the number one search result is 21-22%, meaning it is clicked on approximately 1 in 5 times.
When it comes to second place, the difference from first place is more than 10 points, and the difference drops to 10 to 12%, which is approximately 1 in 10 times.
From 3rd place onward, both overall and BtoB gradually decline, but BtoB remains superior to the overall numbers.
As you can see from this data, the higher your site ranks in search results, the more access your site will receive.
Especially in BtoB, it is necessary to be in the top 5, which is nearly double the difference compared to the overall comparison, and for that reason SEO measures are important.
approach to target
SEO measures are extremely important not only to increase the number of accesses to your company’s website, but also to approach the target audience for your company’s services and solutions.
There are three main targets.
① Potential customers (lead generation in the BtoB marketing process)
② Prospects (lead nurturing in the BtoB marketing process)
③ Existing customers (corresponds to the CRM phase, not the marketing phase)
Acquiring new customers focuses on how to incorporate (1) potential customers and (2) potential customers into the BtoB marketing process, and finally (3) how to reach as many existing customers as possible. It is natural that the information (content) sought by (1) potential customers and (2) prospective customers will differ.
Specifically, using human resources services as an example, it is as follows.
① Potential customers
[Trends of potential customers] I posted a job offer on a recruitment agency or recruitment website, but I am not getting as many applications as I expected. Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about a recruitment method called direct sourcing.
[Search keywords] Direct sourcing meaning, direct sourcing effects, etc. [Provided content] Direct sourcing that even beginners can understand, promoting applications to your company! What is the new recruitment method? etc.
② Prospects
[Prospective customer trends] I would like to introduce direct sourcing in earnest. There are many companies that offer direct sourcing, but you want to find the one that is best for your company.
[Search keywords] Direct sourcing comparison, direct sourcing fees, etc. [Provided content] Comparison of fees from 10 direct sourcing companies, success stories by direct sourcing industry, etc.
The above is a simple image, but you can imagine that it is important to select keywords suitable for each marketing process and prepare content that will rank high in search results for that keyword.
Today’s SEO measures are so focused on content (=users seeking information come first) that “content marketing” is said to be effective, so we need to select the optimal keywords and content for our company’s target in each marketing process. SEO measures are also important for providing services.
summary
◆It is important to rank high in search results in order to increase the number of accesses to your website
◆The CTR by search ranking is 22% for 1st place and 10% for 2nd place, which is a big difference between 1st and 2nd place.
◆In order to appropriately approach each target marketing process, SEO measures that select optimal keywords and provide content are important.