Google most important source of referral traffic for B2B sites

Google continues to be the single biggest source of referral traffic for B2B websites, despite the growth that has been seen in social media.

The 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark report from Optify revealed Google is responsible for 36 per cent of traffic to B2B websites.?

In total, organic search contributes 41 per cent of traffic to B2B websites, significantly more than paid search, which accounts for just four per cent of traffic.

Google was found to be responsible for 90 per cent of organic search traffic, however the research revealed traffic from Bing recorded more page views per visit and better conversion rates than Google.

Organic search was also revealed as the second biggest source for leads at 26 per cent, behind direct traffic with 34 per cent.

With organic search forming such a major part of traffic to B2B websites, it's essential companies have a comprehensive SEO strategy in place which recognises the importance of high quality content in achieving a high search ranking.

B2B trends in social media

Optify's research also assessed the impact of social media on B2B websites. On average social media sites were found to contribute less than five per cent of traffic and leads.

Twitter is the strongest social network for generating leads, accounting for 82 per cent of social media leads and outperforming professional social network LinkedIn.

Email marketing was found to generate lower levels of traffic (0.8 per cent), but a higher proportion of leads. Email was found to deliver both high engagement rates and high conversion rates.

However, the importance of social media for brand building and word-of-mouth recommendations should not be overlooked.

Research from Nielsen found 77 per cent of people believe recommendations from friends and family when looking to try a new product or service, higher than the number who say searching for a product online or television advertising influenced their decision.?

Source: http://www.newsreach.co.uk/seo/google-most-important-source-of-referral-traffic-for-b2b-sites

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