SEO Best Practices for B2B Companies Looking to Rank in 2025

SEO is always changing and evolving. Because of this, B2B marketers need to keep up with SEO best practices in order to keep up. Unlike B2C businesses, which often focus on high-volume, low-commitment transactions, B2B SEO requires a more strategic approach. Decision-makers take longer to convert, content must be highly authoritative, and visibility in search results is more critical than ever. Understanding the latest SEO best practices ensures your company remains relevant, attracts high-quality leads, and ultimately drives revenue.

Understanding B2B SEO in 2025

SEO isn’t just about what keywords that you use. With the rise of AI-driven search, voice search, and personalized content, it’s more important than ever to focus on quality over quantity. Additionally, Google’s algorithm is more advanced than ever, prioritizing expertise, trustworthiness, and user experience. This idea makes it crucial that companies leverage high-quality unique content that answers questions that your audience may be searching. Now, let’s get back to some basic SEO best practices that your company should be prioritizing.

Keyword Research

While keywords are not everything when it comes to SEO, they are a good place to start when trying to figure out what content to create.

Long-Tail and Intent-Driven Keywords

Gone are the days of simple keyword stuffing. In 2025, B2B companies need to prioritize long-tail keywords that align with user intent. Buyers are searching for highly specific solutions, so it’s critical to target phrases that reflect that. Instead of just “lead generation,” a better focus would be “lead generation software for B2B SMBs.”. While broad keywords can be helpful at generating top-of-funnel awareness, more specific and long-tail keywords can yield higher quality traffic. 

AI Keyword Research Tools

When you are trying to figure out what keywords to write content for, tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console are very helpful. These tools have implemented AI and machine learning to predict keyword trends based on previous search results. For example, on SEMrush, if you have a short-tail keyword that you want to expand upon, you can enter that in, and see the questions that people are searching based on that keyword. This can help you create content for long-tail keywords and grow your presence on search results.

Content Marketing

Once you figure out the keywords that you want to rank for, it’s time to get to creating content to rank for those keywords.

Thought Leadership

Google prioritizes content that demonstrates expertise, and in B2B industries, this is non-negotiable. Long form blog content with unique examples, stats, and thoroughness is a great way to publish authoritative content that Google wants to rank. Publishing research-backed insights not only helps SEO but also strengthens brand credibility among decision-makers. Include images, videos, and CTAs throughout your content can help your audience learn even more about the topic.

AI-Generated Content Considerations

AI-powered tools like Jasper and ChatGPT have made content generation easier, but simply relying on automation won’t cut it. Google’s Helpful Content Update ensures that AI-generated content needs to be edited, personalized, and valuable to rank well. B2B companies should use AI as an assistant, not a replacement, ensuring every piece of content aligns with business goals. Take a look at our article, AI-Generate Blog Content: The Pros and Cons, to learn more about this tricky topic.

Technical SEO

What a lot of marketers leave out of their SEO strategy is technical SEO. While creating content is an important part of SEO, if your website is not optimized, even if your content is amazing, it may not rank.

Site Speed and Core Website Vitals

Page speed remains a critical ranking factor, especially for B2B websites that rely on lead generation. Google’s Core Web Vitals emphasize loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Investing in a fast hosting provider, compressing images, and leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs) like Cloudflare can dramatically improve site performance. If you’re looking to learn more about your core website vitals, try using Google Lighthouse to crawl your site to identify any issues.

Mobile-First Indexing

Google now indexes the mobile version of a site before the desktop version, meaning B2B websites need to be fully optimized for mobile. Even though B2B buyers often work from desktops, Google still prioritizes mobile-friendliness when determining rankings. If you look through your Google Analytics, you’d probably be surprised what percent of visitors are mobile users.

Structured Data for B2B Websites

Schema markup helps search engines understand the content on your site, which can improve rich snippets and featured results. Using structured data for FAQs, how-to guides, and product pages can boost visibility and engagement. Google’s Search Console provides insights into how well your structured data is performing and where improvements can be made.

Link Building

After you have created content and fixed any technical issues, it’s time to get some backlinks to prove that your website is a reputable source of information.

Earning Backlinks

In 2025, spammy link-building tactics are completely obsolete. B2B companies should focus on earning high-quality backlinks from reputable industry publications, partners, and thought leaders. Contributing guest articles to respected websites, getting featured in news articles, and leveraging PR strategies all contribute to a strong backlink profile.

Brand Mentions

Even unlinked brand mentions contribute to SEO. Google’s algorithm can recognize brand authority based on mentions across the web, meaning being referenced in industry reports, podcasts, and social media conversations can boost SEO even if no direct backlink is included. Below is an example of a search for “What is the best CRM”. In the search results, you can see that multiple YouTube videos have shown up, mentioning brands by their name. This is an example of how your brand can grow awareness externally, and still rank for competitive keywords like “best CRM”.

Local SEO

While B2B companies often operate on a national or global scale, local SEO still plays a role.

Google My Business Profile Optimization

Optimizing Google Business Profiles ensures that local offices or service areas rank in searches, especially when potential clients search for industry solutions near them. Ensure that your location, description, photos, and other listing information are up-to-date. Additionally, try to collect positive reviews from your happy clients to further improve your ranking.

Directories and Listings

Being listed in relevant industry directories, like G2, Clutch, or Capterra, can improve credibility and local rankings. Consistency in business name, address, and phone number (NAP) across all directories is essential. Again, getting reviews on these platforms can improve how you rank.

AI and Automation

In the last few years, marketers have been trying to figure out how to implement AI into their SEO strategies. 

AI-Powered SEO Tools

Tools like Clearscope and SurferSEO analyze top-performing content and suggest improvements based on real-time data. AI-powered chatbots can also enhance user engagement, which indirectly affects SEO by improving on-site behavior metrics. There are a number of AI-powered SEO tools based on what exactly you’re trying to achieve and improve on, so once you figure out your goals, you can implement them from there.

Voice Search Optimization

With the increasing use of AI-powered assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, voice search optimization is essential. B2B companies should structure content in a way that answers conversational queries clearly and concisely, increasing their chances of appearing in voice search results. Again, SEMrush is a great tool to figure out frequently asked questions based on specific keywords that you want to rank for.

Measurement

The final key part of following SEO best practices is measurement and adapting to changes.

Tracking Key Metrics

Companies always need to track and adapt their SEO strategies. Using tools like Google Analytics 4, Search Console, and third-party platforms like Moz helps businesses understand what’s working and what needs improvement. Key metrics include organic traffic, keyword rankings, bounce rates, and conversion rates. Track these metrics when you launch a new SEO strategy to benchmark past versus future metrics.

Identify Your Website Visitors

When working on your SEO, you’re probably hoping to increase your website traffic. But, an increase in organic traffic only does so much if you don’t know who is visiting your website. With the help of Visitor Queue, you can identify the companies that visit your website, along with how they were acquired, pages they visited, and how long they spent on each page. Plus, we provide employee contact information to help you reach out and ensure they found what they were looking for. Try Visitor Queue for free today and stop losing leads.

Continuous Adaptation

Unfortunately or fortunately, SEO is always changing. Google updates its algorithm frequently, and user behaviors shift. A strategy that worked in 2024 might be outdated in 2025. Regular SEO audits, content refreshes, and technical optimizations keep your site competitive. Ensure that you regularly review your strategy, as well as your competitors, to make sure that you are creating the best possible SEO strategy.

What’s Next?

Companies that invest in these SEO best practices will not only improve their search visibility but also establish themselves as trusted authorities in their industries. As search engines continue to evolve, those who stay proactive will lead the way in search results. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about using Visitor Queue to generate leads.