Your Guide to a Smart B2B Website Strategy in 2020

Just like digital marketing, web design has its own trends to follow if you want to stay current. But a successful web strategy doesn’t end at your website. The discussion can take many different forms and include topics ranging from navigation to user experience to ongoing content creation.

Right now, since your customers likely can’t meet with you in person, your web strategy, which includes your website and your online marketing presence, is more important than ever. In fact, in you haven’t already, you should take proactive steps to adjust your B2B marketing strategy in a crisis to inform your target audience about how the crisis is impacting your business and how you can help them now.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss what a web strategy is and outline the most important factors to focus on, so you can have a successful strategy in place for the remainder of 2020—and beyond.

What is a Web Strategy?

A web strategy is a strategic action plan to get your website from where it is now, to where you want it to be in the future. Your web strategy will determine how you’ll launch (or overhaul) your website so you can increase traffic, which will result in more conversions, and ultimately, more customers.

Your website strategy starts with your website, but also incorporates:

• Technological advancements
• User behaviors and experience
• Trends affecting how people use the internet as a whole

Don’t think of your web strategy as a one-and-done to-do list, but more of an ongoing work in progress that grows and changes alongside your business and industry.

Start with Mobile and User Experience in Mind

If you haven’t already, now is the time to start focusing on responsive, mobile-first designs that scale appropriately for each device they’re viewed on.

When you approach copywriting, website design, and conversion optimization from a mobile-first perspective, the desktop version of your website will naturally improve too. You will, in effect, be forced to use copy that’s clearer, more concise, and ultimately, more creative on your website. Want to grab the attention of your audience? Keep it short, sweet, and simple.

While having a mobile-first approach and a responsive design is a great starting point, you also need to consider the overall user experience (UX). If your website’s UX is poor, people will quickly bounce off of your site. To keep users on your website and maximize the number of conversions, you need to make sure that they can get to where they need to with the least amount of clicks possible.

To determine whether or not you’re offering an ideal UX, start by asking questions like:

• Is the website’s navigation clutter-free and easy to understand?
• Does the site architecture make sense?
• Are hyperlinks easy to identify?
• Are there more features we can add to appeal to a wider user base?
• Are all of our pages optimized to bring in the highest possible conversions?

Then, Work to Understand Users’ Intent

In 2020, web strategy success looks like determining what’s best for your audience—not forcing them to do what you think they should. If the only contact method you’re currently using is a “Contact Us” form, it’s time to rethink that approach. What you should think about instead is: how does my audience want to interact with my company?

With stay-at-home orders still in place in many states, people are spending even more time online, and users are looking to have their needs met in different ways. They don’t have the time to submit a form and wait to see if they ever receive a follow-up email.

It’s not enough to lump all users into one bucket and assume that a simple “Contact Us” form will suffice. Depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey, different users will have different needs and intent behind visiting your website. Instead of providing them with only one option, why not try a few different methods of communication?

Here are a few you can start with:

• Add a phone number or other contact information to the page your form is on
• Add a chat feature or chatbot (we love Drift!)
• Add a calendar feature and allow users to book their own consultations or appointments
• Add an option for users to instantly view a pre-recorded demo of your software or product

Re-evaluate Your Budget

Once you’ve combed through your website and ensured that it’s as mobile and user-friendly as possible, it’s time to think about your budget.

With COVID-19 bringing about an economic downturn for many companies, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate your budget and determine if your spending and priorities are aligned. If your company is lucky enough to be immune from the economic impact of the pandemic, you can at least expect your customers’ buying patterns to change.

Increase Traffic with Content Marketing

If you want to drive as much traffic and convert as many users as possible on your website, you need to put great content front and center. You need to accurately and consistently convey your message and tell your story, all while inspiring users to take action.

The key to successful content marketing is to provide your audience with content and resources that are truly helpful to them. You’ll want to provide a range of content that includes blogs, videos, PDF downloads, and eBooks, knowing that not every user consumes content the same way.

Once you’ve begun developing content, you’re going to want to invest in a content management system, or CMS, such as HubSpot. Having a content management system in place will allow you to easily self-publish, store, manage, update, and customize the content on your website—without having to ask your developer to make every single update manually.

Perform an SEO Competitor Analysis

Another way you can drive traffic to your website is through search engine optimization (SEO). There are many different aspects of SEO—but one of the most important to your web strategy is auditing what your competitors are doing.

Using a tool like ahrefs, or SEMRush, you can perform a site comparison between your website (in its current state) and your top competitors, or have your content marketing agency handle it for you. You’ll find answers to questions like:

• What keywords are they ranking for?
• What are their most trafficked pages?
• What reliable sources are linking back to them?
• Do any of their pages have 404 errors or other status codes?

Use this information to inform your SEO strategy and you’ll be most of the way there.

Shoot for Web Strategy Success

A successful web strategy takes many things into account. Focusing on technological advancements, changes to user behavior, and design trends, you’ll ensure your website is well-designed, user-friendly, and features exciting new technology to keep users engaged.

Focus on mastering these facets in your web strategy, and you’ll be set up for success for the remainder of 2020—and well beyond.