do customers want? The 7 essentials of a B2B site

Your website is one of the most important marketing communication tools. Your website is the ideal “owned media”, infinitely flexible with global reach, and easy to maintain.

Several years ago, when I was teaching in Buenos Aires with a grad class, I was surprised to hear that “we don’t go on company websites anymore.” Social media provides us with all the information we need. Hmmm… Am I a boomer out of touch? Maybe.

On this subject, however, no. I still believe in the old saying, “If you do not have a site, you do not have a business.” I’m also surprised at how many B2B businesses ignore features and functions that could improve their websites’ effectiveness.

When did you build your website? When was it last updated? In this fast-paced world, I suggest a rethink of your website from a strategic to a tactical perspective. Let’s begin.

What are the goals of your website?

Start by focusing on the end goal. What is the goal of your website? This question will help you decide on the best features and functions for your site.

B2B companies typically aim to achieve a combination of these things with their websites:

• Find qualified prospects.
• Show expertise and reliability.
• Stand out in the crowd.
• Explain how your products and services solve problems for business.
• Motivate interaction.
• Capture visitor data.
• Manage your partner relationships.
• Customer service is essential.
• Lead generation is a great way to generate leads.
• Sell, close.

What do your customers and prospects want?

Over the years we have learned many things about what business owners need to know in order to make an informed purchase decision. Specifically:

• Relevant content to their immediate needs.
• Experience in the industry.
• Find what you are looking for easily and quickly.
• Pricing details.
• Information about the competition
• Testimonials and case studies are examples of proof.
• No obstacles, like long web forms.

Discrepancies are apparent

Observe how sometimes our goals do not align with the needs and wants of our audience. Pricing is an obvious example. It’s rare for a B2B firm to have fixed pricing that it makes public. Clients want to know if a vendor will fit into their budget.

In 2021, Andy Crestodina conducted some helpful research on this issue. What were some of the interesting differences they found? Visitors were more concerned about site design than marketers, but they cared less about a compelling story about the brand.

Websites are essential for B2B Marketing Today

Here is a list with the most important elements for a high-quality B2B site in today’s marketplace. Compare your website to this list. Make any necessary changes.

The home page should have a clear message

Avoid using buzzwords and brand speak. Avoid buzzwords or brand talk. Describe your benefits to visitors and why they should care. You’d be amazed at how few B2B websites provide their value propositions on the homepage.

2: Fast loading

They’ll leave. They’ll leave.

Education content

Fill your website with non-salesy, useful information about the category you represent and the problems that your customers want to solve. It’s a classic example of content marketing where you offer libraries with case studies, reports, presentations and archived webinars. You can also provide blog posts, videos, and other information to help your visitors learn.

Find the content easily. Try out different search engines and organizational options. Reorganize your site based upon visitor tracking data to meet the needs of top prospects. Wherever possible, include testimonials in your content strategy.

Dig deep: A B2B Marketer’s Guide to Long-Form Content

4: Mobile optimization

Most likely, your visitors will be using a mobile phone. Give them a positive experience.

Interactivity. Brochures are no longer necessary. Make it simple for your visitors to contact you. Do not bury contact information in the footer; instead, place it at the top of every page.

Install a chatbot that can answer questions in real time and collect visitor data. If necessary, have a person back it up.

Add an offer to your home page, as well as a call-to-action and a landing form. If your offer is compelling enough, a small percentage of site visitors will fill out the data-capture form.

Use the data to qualify and nurture your leads. Add similar deals to your website, and adjust the offer according to the content.

Install software that identifies IP addresses to learn the domain names of visitors. Although you won’t be able to identify their names, you can learn the companies they represent.

You can either do the lookup manually or with automated processes provided by providers such as NetFactor. Your team can offer assistance once you identify which companies are searching for information on your website.

Ecommerce is the fifth step

The buying habits of younger people are changing fast. They expect to be able to do everything online, and want an intuitive and fast experience.

Look at your customers’ purchasing processes to identify areas that could be automated. Although you may not be selling end-to-end online, there are still many pieces that can be automated. These include quotes, purchase order, contract pricing and support for channel partners, order approvals, upsells and cross-sells, renewals, licensing, reactivation or winback. You have more options than you think.

Ecommerce works well for low-margin products, warranties and financing solutions. Make sure your technology is compatible with multiple currencies, languages, and tax laws.

Community

Community has become a popular topic for B2B and is worth considering. The more you help buyers learn from each other, the better you will do.

The benefits of building or sponsoring your own community are numerous. Community can be formed as small groups with invitations only or large public forums. They can serve as a platform for peer-sharing, networking or education.

Management and Maintenance

Website decision-making is a major headache for any large firm. Is headquarters responsible for managing the website worldwide? Does the website come from marketing, corporate communications or sales or both? What about the foreign divisions of your company? It is important to address these questions at the beginning.

Regular maintenance is vital. Assign specific people to the calendar and their respective responsibilities. Make sure that they check the copy to see if there are any strategic or updated changes.

Fix broken links. Ask constituents to provide feedback. Use site traffic data to continuously improve navigation and content.

Dig deep: 5 ways AI can be harnessed in B2B content development

Marketers get the message

According to Demand Gen Report’s Benchmark survey, more B2B marketers are planning to invest in websites than any other marketing activities this year. This includes retargeting and social media. Let’s get started!

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