Is your website designed for B2B interactions?

A B2B website is not designed the same as a B2C website.  They’re cousins, maybe even siblings, but they have different goals and different expectations.

Selling to other businesses means you need a website that can support multiple audiences – from decision makers to users – and accommodate a much longer sales process.  Gartner did a study in 2021 that found 43% of B2B buyers don’t want to rely on a sales rep to make a purchase.  If you’re targeting millennials, that number goes up to 54%.  This tells us that your website is an important player and is responsible for more than you might give it credit for.  It’s more likely to reach its full potential if it designed for B2B interactions.

How a B2B website is different than B2C

What makes a B2B website different?  Here are the main things to consider:

1. When people buy a pair of shoes or go to a coffee shop, they usually make the decision on their own. When you’re selling products or services to a business, you have to appeal to many people with different problems and questions.  Users, buyers, finance, C-suite.  They all have a role to play and are looking for something different.  You need messaging for each of them and a single page can’t do it all.

• Generally, websites are designed to identify new leads and nurture them through the sales funnel. But you also need to nurture existing leads (qualified and unqualified), hot leads, old leads that have gone cold etc.
• Some components of your site should be designed for current customers, building loyalty, and helping with customer retention.
• If you want to attract top talent, speak to them on your site as well. Help them understand what they can expect if they join your team.

2. Your site needs to focus on educating your audience with content that answers top of funnel through to bottom of funnel questions. Everything your prospects might be researching should be answered on your site.  You’ll need diverse forms of content from blogs and landing pages, to case studies guides, explainer videos, and more.
3. B2C can take full advantage of impulse buying – B2B usually can’t. Your site needs to accommodate a long sales process with a reason to come back.
4. Your call to action may not be “Buy Now” – or at least not at every stage.
5. Provide clarity on your pricing, especially if it’s complex.
6. Make the buying process crystal clear. Unless you’re selling process is a simple “place in cart and check out” model, set the expectations for your prospects.  Be clear about free demos, free trials, extensive onboarding, shipping, etc.
7. Help buyers understand fit. Do you meet their minimum requirements?  Do they meet yours?  This includes regulatory issues, prerequisites, integrations, etc.

Does your website meet the needs of your B2B customers?

Check your Google Analytics data for the 10 – 20 pages that receive the most traffic.  Look at each of them and document who they target and at what stage of their buying process.  A simple table like the one below can be used to keep track.  If, at the end of the exercise, you see that the most popular pages on your site hit the mark with a diverse mix of users, you’re probably doing alright.  But if it’s clear you’ve been leaving out whole segments of your audience, it’s time to think about a bigger picture website audit.