Keyword research is one of the most important SEO activities, since it allows us to know the search intentions of our target audience and optimize our content to meet their needs.

However, keyword research for a B2B business has some peculiarities that differentiate it from one for a B2C market. In this post, we explain How to do keyword research for B2B step by step and we'll give you some tips for choosing the best keywords.

What is the difference between keyword research for B2B and one for B2C?

When we talk about keyword research for B2B, we refer to the process of identifying and analyzing those keywords used by potential customers of a business that offers products or services to other companies.

Although they share common bases, the keyword search process for the B2B sector presents important differences compared to the process for the B2C sector.

First, the audience of a B2C business is usually larger and more heterogeneous; most users are looking for more commercial and general information.

Keyword research for B2B, on the other hand, focuses on a more specific and smaller segment of the population, with more complex and well-defined needs and motivations.

In addition, it should be noted that the buying process in the B2B sector is usually longer, companies usually involve different profiles before making the final decision. That's why it's important take into account the different stages of the buyer's journey or buyer's journey and adapt the content to each one.

Before explaining how to carry out keyword research for B2B, it is important to know that it is one of the most effective techniques for attracting and capturing leads, and if you want to know other essential techniques, we invite you to watch the following webinar:

How to do keyword research for B2B?

Now that we know the Main differences between a keyword search for B2B and one for B2C, let's see how to carry out the process in the most effective way.

1. Study the niche and buyer persona you are targeting

The first thing you should do, even before thinking about any keyword, is to know your niche market:

• What type of companies are your potential customers
• What size are they
• What industries do they operate in
• What problems do they have
• How you can help them with your product or service

You must also identify who the decision makers within those companies. For this, it is necessary to take into account:

• What roles do they play
• What hierarchical level do they have
• What information are they looking for
• What criteria do they use to evaluate available options

This will allow you to create buyer personas who represent your ideal customers and segment them according to their demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics.

2. Make a list of “seed keywords”

Las seed keywords are the general terms that describe your product or service and the main topic of your content. For example, if you sell project management software for companies, some keywords for your business that should appear in the keyword research could be:

• Project Management Software
• Project Management
• Project management tools
• Project Management Solutions

To find these keywords you can use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, which will show you the estimated monthly search volume, the difficulty of positioning and other relevant metrics.

You can also resort to internal sources such as your sales team or your current customers to learn the language they use when talking about your product or service.

These terms will only be the starting point for developing your keyword research for your B2B business.

3. Benchmark your competitors

The next step in finding good keywords for your B2B keyword research is analyze what your direct and indirect competitors are doing. To do this, you can use the tools mentioned above (such as SEMrush or Ahrefs) that will allow you to know the words your competitors are ranking for, how much traffic those words generate and how their content is structured.

However, relying on tools alone is not enough to get quality results. The benchmarking process comprises an in-depth analysis of competitors, during which not only the keywords used are analyzed, but also the type of content, search intent what they are targeting, their position in the SERP and many more factors.

This process will allow you to identify opportunities to improve what they offer or to meet needs that they are currently not meeting.

4. Focus on the user's search intent.

When we talk about the user's search intent, we refer to what the user wants to find when searching on Google or any other search engine. I mean, what is your question? or what problem do you want to solve with your query?

Here, we must differentiate between 4 types of search intentions:

• Informational intent: The user wants to know or to investigate a topic such as, for example, “What is SEO”. In this case, you must provide content that answers their questions in a clear and complete way. You can use formats such as articles, guides, tutorials, or videos.
• Navigational intent: The user already Do you know exactly which website you want to access. For example, “second world war wikipedia” or “facebook login”. In this case, you should facilitate access to your website and optimize your brand and domain by including navigational keywords in your landing pages, home pages or category pages.
• Business Intent: The user is Thinking about whether to buy or not the product, and for this reason you want to compare the different options before placing the order. For example, “better PIM software” or “Umbraco vs. Sitecore” they could perfectly be commercial-type keywords. In this case, you must show the benefits and features of your offer, as well as build trust and credibility. You can use content in formats such as comparisons, reviews, testimonials or success stories.
• Transactional Intent: This can be considered as The next step to commercial intent. The user decided to buy the product he needs. What you need to do is decide where to buy it. Some examples of transactional keywords can be “hire an SEO service in Barcelona” or “book a hotel in Madrid”.

Las transactional keywords are perhaps the most important when it comes to achieving conversions on your website, as soon as they respond to the needs of a user who is already in the middle of your sales funnel. This is why they should be your priority when it comes to optimizing the service or product pages of your online business.

Important: to respond as best as possible to the search intentions of users, base your B2B keyword research strategy on keywords Long Tail The one with the long tail.

6. Expand your list of keywords

Once you have your first sketch of the list of keywords that you obtained through brainstorming, benchmarking and analysis of search intentions, it's time to expand it with more related words or terms.

For this part of keyword research for the B2B sector, those tools that we mentioned earlier, such as Semrush and Ahrefs, are back in the game. Start by entering the list of keywords in one of these tools to verify that they are terms that users are actually searching for.

To do this, focus on data such as the search volume and the difficulty of SEO positioning, two values that will give you a more accurate view of the effectiveness of the keyword. In addition, with SEO tools, you can find alternatives to the terms on your list, alternatives that may offer a higher search volume and are easier to position.

7. Monitor the keywords of your keyword research

Keyword research for B2B doesn't end with the implementation of keywords in the texts of your website. There is a successive step to this that is vitally important for know if your new keywords are having the expected results or if they need to be optimized.

Software such as Semrush or Ahrefs have the possibility to create projects in which to include the lists of keywords that you obtained from your keyword research to be able to monitor their performance over time. This way you can know precisely which terms are having the most results in your organic positioning and which are not working.

Conclusions about the Keyword research process for B2B

As we have already mentioned, different decision-making profiles are involved in a B2B business, which can make it difficult to carry out keyword research that offers concrete results. This is a highly competitive environment in which it is not easy to find keywords that are not being used by the competition. But don't despair, it's not an impossible job and having the support of a specialist is the best first step.

At Novicell we have a team of professionals who are experts in SEO positioning issues for the B2B sector who will be happy to help you find all those strategic keywords with high potential and that you are not yet taking advantage of.

Do you need help with your B2B keyword research?

Contact us, we'll help you improve the positioning of your online business.