What should B2B companies look for in an SEO vendor?

A vendor focused on blog posts and long-tail keywords that will write content for you and combine video, and one that keeps you involved in a tight collaboration, because you know your brand's nuances better than any agency.

Quick Answer

• The SEO market is noisy, so pick a vendor focused on blog posts and long-tail keywords, who will write some of the content for you and combine video.
• Don't expect to hand it off and walk away. The client has to stay actively involved in the collaboration.
• You know your brand's nuances better than any agency, so your feedback is what positions the brand and shows what makes it different.

We've run this play for B2B teams for years. If you want proof before the process, here's what it looked like for a real team.

How to choose an SEO vendor, and why you stay involved

Brenton Thomas, who runs the SEO, GEO, and paid-ads agency Twibi, says the market is crowded enough that you need clear criteria before you sign with anyone. His first filter is what the vendor focuses on and how much of the work they actually do for you.

"There's a lot of options out there, it's a pretty noisy market. What should a B2B customer be looking for in their vendor? The first thing I would say is the vendor needs to be focused on your blog posts. The main parts of the page, the homepage, service level pages, case studies, those are all important. But a lot of the really good traffic is going to be blog posts, long tail keywords about a specific topic. So they need a strong focus on that. Ideally they need to write some of the content for you. And insertion of video definitely helps. A lot of SEO agencies do not work in the video aspect, so if you can combine the two, that's a big advantage." — Brenton Thomas

But the second filter matters just as much: this is not a hand-it-off relationship. Brenton is blunt that the client has to keep an active role, because no agency knows your brand the way you do.

"People really want an SEO partner to just go do it for me, but there has to be more of an active role. In that collaboration between a client and an SEO agency, the client's going to know their brand way better than the SEO agency. There are nuances. The SEO agency might know the industry at a high level, but they don't know the nuances of your exact brand. So the client still needs to be very involved to create that feedback loop of how the brand should be positioned and what makes the brand different within its industry. So a very tight cohesive collaboration is important." — Brenton Thomas

The practical takeaway: pick a vendor who specializes in blog content, will write for you, and combines video. Then commit to a tight feedback loop, because your input on brand nuance is what the agency can't supply on its own.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should a B2B company prioritize when picking an SEO vendor?

Brenton Thomas says to choose a vendor with a strong focus on blog posts and long-tail keywords about specific topics, since that's where a lot of the really good traffic comes from. Homepage, service pages, and case studies matter too, but blog content is the priority.

Should an SEO vendor also handle video?

Yes, if you can find one. Brenton notes that a lot of SEO agencies do not work in the video aspect, so combining SEO and video with one partner is a big advantage.

Can I just hand SEO off to an agency and walk away?

No. Brenton says people want a partner to "just go do it for me," but the client has to stay actively involved. You know the nuances of your exact brand better than the agency, so a tight collaboration and feedback loop is what positions the brand correctly.

If you're weighing this decision, let's pressure-test it together. Grab a time and we'll figure out the right next move. No hard pitch.

Full Clip Transcript

There's a lot of options out there, it's a pretty noisy market. What should a B2B customer be looking for in their vendor? The first thing I would say is the vendor needs to be focused on your blog posts. The main parts of the page, the homepage, service level pages, case studies, those are all important. But a lot of the really good traffic is going to be blog posts, long tail keywords about a specific topic. So they need a strong focus on that. Ideally they need to write some of the content for you. And insertion of video definitely helps. A lot of SEO agencies do not work in the video aspect, so if you can combine the two, that's a big advantage. People really want an SEO partner to just go do it for me, but there has to be more of an active role. In that collaboration between a client and an SEO agency, the client's going to know their brand way better than the SEO agency. There are nuances. The SEO agency might know the industry at a high level, but they don't know the nuances of your exact brand. So the client still needs to be very involved to create that feedback loop of how the brand should be positioned and what makes the brand different within its industry. So a very tight cohesive collaboration is important.