Sofia Tyson
We’re joined today by Sofia Tyson, senior content manager at Juro, a B2B SaaS company that provides AI-enabled contract automation for in-house legal and business teams. Sofia looks after the organic search strategy and its execution. Juro’s clients include Trustpilot, Deliveroo and Remote. Sofia has agency side experience with B2B and B2C clients. She’s a judge for the global content awards and contributor to the state of technology SEO report. She’s also featured in Startups Magazine and writes about B2B content and SEO.
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Who is Sofia Tyson?
Sofia Tyson grew up in England, just north of London. Her childhood was not easy, with a violent home life. These experiences made her want to become a lawyer so she could provide affordable legal services to family and friends.
From Law to Marketing
Sofia studied law at university, found the subject hard but interesting. But in her second year she realised being a lawyer wasn’t for her. This led her to look into a career in marketing instead.
Early Marketing Experience
Sofia knew she needed to get marketing experience fast so she started a blog and began writing for Student Heart. This early experience gave her writing and broader marketing skills while she was still studying law.
What Sofia is Working On
Currently Sofia is working on a content expansion project for Juro’s website. She says:
“We are going through a content expansion phase at the moment. We go through this phase a lot but this is supercharged at the moment. I think I have like eight projects on the go at the moment and I’m executing on them.”
Sofia loves the instant results:
“Sometimes the same day, I published something yesterday and it was on page one, two hours later. For me, that direct impact and being able to publish a lot and then see the results so quickly, that’s really exciting.”
Tactical and Strategic SEO Advice from Sofia
Keyword Research for B2B Companies
Sofia emphasizes the importance of going beyond traditional keyword research tools for B2B companies:
- Utilize sales and customer support teams for insights
- Consider keywords with lower search volumes
- Focus on high-intent keywords that may not show up in traditional tools
She explains, “We lean really heavily on our sales team and our CS team. They give us insights on what’s actually being searched because we have experienced where something has told us it’s got like zero keyword volume, and we have like six conversions from that page a month to demo requests.”
Content Strategy for B2B Companies
Sofia recommends a comprehensive content strategy that addresses various stages of the buying process:
- Create content for every stage of the buyer’s journey
- Use pillar pages and topic clusters
- Focus on quality over quantity
- Consider using skyscraper content as a starting point
She elaborates on the pillar page concept: “A pillar page, I kind of like to think of it as like a web and it’s the most strong in the middle. So you’ve got like this middle bit of the web and then you’ve got all of the cluster pages kind of coming off of it.”
Link Building for B2B Companies
Sofia discusses several link-building strategies for B2B companies:
- Guest posting on behalf of executives
- Using tools like Featured.com (formerly Turkle) for expert comments
- Leveraging PR opportunities (e.g., funding rounds, product releases, hires)
She notes, “If you had to ask me what my ideal way to build links would be, it’d be the way that I don’t have to do it, which is to outsource it to a digital PR agency where they get really great backlinks and create really engaging content assets on your website as a result.”
Technical SEO for B2B Websites
Sofia emphasizes the importance of website hygiene in technical SEO:
- Ensure all links work properly
- Avoid broken links and redirect chains
- Optimize for user experience
- Manage indexation and canonical tags
On page speed, Sofia offers a balanced perspective: “I think it’s important, like I do what I can to kind of compress our images and make sure we’ve got things that are lazy load and stuff like that, but sometimes there’s only so much I can do, and our pages still rank well.”
Conducting an SEO Audit for B2B Companies
Sofia outlines her approach to SEO audits:
- Pull all URLs and their associated data
- Check for duplicate content
- Analyze URL structure and keyword relevance
- Assess page performance and rankings
- Prioritize underperforming pages for improvement
She advises, “I would filter it into like a few different stages. For a website like ours, I would pull the URLs and then we pulled the performance data so we could see how they were performing. And that was a really quick way to be like, okay, this page isn’t really ranking for anything.”
Where Does Sofia See the Future of SEO Going?
While Sofia doesn’t explicitly discuss the future of SEO in the transcript, she does touch on some emerging trends and challenges:
- The potential impact of AI-generated content on SEO strategies
- The increasing importance of topical authority
- The need for more nuanced and specific content to compete with AI-generated overviews
She notes, “I think although we’re probably going to see some kind of departure from what people know as skyscraper method, where like you have like an ultimate guide to this topic in every, every section.”
How to Get in Contact with Sofia
Sofia welcomes connections and inquiries through her LinkedIn profile. She mentions:
“Yeah, so on my LinkedIn, Sofia Tyson. To be honest with you, that’s my only like main social media platform. I’m going to be talking at Bright Locals, um, Local SEO for Good event in later this year, September, I think. And that’ll be about cross-functional collaboration. So yeah, let me know if you have any questions in general.”
Additional SEO Insights for B2B Companies
The Importance of Understanding the B2B Buying Process
One of the key differences between B2B and B2C SEO strategies lies in understanding the unique characteristics of the B2B buying process. Sofia emphasizes this point throughout the interview:
“The B2B buy-in process is very different to the B2C buy-in process. Typically, obviously, it can vary quite a lot. It tends to be longer, more stakeholders involved, and also more opportunities to kind of educate throughout the buy-in process because it is so complex, and I guess the contract values tend to be a little bit higher.”
This understanding should inform every aspect of your SEO strategy, from keyword selection to content creation and conversion optimization.
Leveraging Long-Form Content in B2B SEO
While Sofia discusses the potential shift away from traditional “skyscraper” content, she still acknowledges its value, especially for B2B companies:
“I think, starting with, I don’t know if this might be controversial, starting with a skyscraper piece of content is still helpful as a starting point, as long as you get in first and foremost what you really need to get in to make it convert well as well.”
Long-form content can be particularly effective in B2B SEO because:
- It allows for in-depth exploration of complex topics
- It provides opportunities to target multiple related keywords
- It can serve as a comprehensive resource for potential clients at various stages of the buying process
However, Sofia also notes the importance of breaking down these comprehensive pieces into more specific, targeted content over time:
“I think what you could probably do in the interim is create blogs that you briefly touch on those topics, and then you can kind of see how do we rank right now when we include this in this page. And then if you kind of think in the future, you’ve got time to separate that into like more detailed and specific content on that separate topic.”
The Role of Trust Signals in B2B SEO
Sofia highlights the critical importance of trust signals for B2B websites:
“I think the trust signals are extremely, extremely important again, because if you think about the kind of people in a B2B buying process, maybe if it’s software, you might see the legal teams are often involved from a privacy perspective. For example, you’ll see probably finance checking that those dollars are being spent effectively and you would also see often like procurement teams brought in.”
She suggests several ways to incorporate trust signals:
- Displaying industry-specific badges (e.g., G2 badges for software companies)
- Showcasing security credentials
- Including detailed author profiles
- Implementing structured data for logos and other trust indicators
These elements not only contribute to SEO but also address the specific concerns of various stakeholders in the B2B buying process.
Balancing SEO Efforts with Resource Constraints
Throughout the interview, Sofia acknowledges the challenges of implementing comprehensive SEO strategies with limited resources, a common issue for many B2B companies. She offers several tips for managing this:
- Prioritize efforts based on potential impact: “You really have to be brutal in that prioritization in an audit.”
- Start with core keywords and gradually expand: “I would start with, what’s the one thing you really, really want to be found for?”
- Don’t be afraid to start small: “Don’t put it off. I know it’s hard in a small business, especially like a startup where the targets are aggressive… But first, you have to actually start.”
- Leverage existing resources creatively: For example, using sales team insights for keyword research or repurposing existing content into more specific pieces.
The Intersection of SEO and User Experience
A recurring theme in Sofia’s advice is the close relationship between SEO and user experience. This is particularly relevant for B2B companies, where the user journey can be complex and involve multiple decision-makers. She notes:
“I actually think of technical SEO through the lens of, like user experience on your website a lot of the time.”
This perspective can guide various aspects of B2B SEO:
- Site structure and navigation
- Content organization and presentation
- Page load speed and mobile optimization
- Clear calls-to-action and conversion paths
By prioritizing user experience in SEO efforts, B2B companies can not only improve their search rankings but also enhance the overall effectiveness of their websites in converting visitors into leads and customers.
Measuring SEO Success in B2B Contexts
Sofia discusses the challenges and approaches to measuring SEO success for B2B companies. While she acknowledges the complexity of attribution, especially in longer B2B sales cycles, she emphasizes the importance of tying SEO efforts to bottom-line metrics:
“Put it simply for us, it’s how much new business revenue is generated from organic search, and that could be like we still would we see a deal come through.”
However, she also notes the value of tracking other metrics:
- Pipeline value generated from organic search
- Customer acquisition costs compared to other channels
- Organic traffic growth to specific high-value pages
- Improvements in rankings for key terms
Sofia also highlights the importance of recognizing the value of content that doesn’t directly generate revenue but contributes to the overall buyer’s journey:
“I think it’s also important to, like, recognize the value of content that doesn’t generate that dollar though, like, that mid intent or low intent content that pushes people to that high intent stage.”
Adapting to Emerging Trends in B2B SEO
While not explicitly discussing future trends, Sofia’s comments touch on several areas where B2B SEO is likely to evolve:
- AI and Machine Learning: As search engines become more sophisticated in understanding user intent and content quality, B2B companies will need to focus even more on creating truly valuable, in-depth content.
- Voice Search: With the rise of voice-activated devices, B2B companies may need to optimize for more conversational, long-tail keywords.
- Mobile-First Indexing: Ensuring B2B websites are fully optimized for mobile devices will continue to be crucial.
- Video Content: As video becomes increasingly important in search results, B2B companies may need to incorporate more video content into their SEO strategies.
- E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Given the complex nature of many B2B products and services, demonstrating E-A-T will likely become even more critical for success in B2B SEO.
Final Thoughts on B2B SEO Strategy
Sofia’s insights underscore the unique challenges and opportunities in B2B SEO. Success in this area requires a deep understanding of the B2B buying process, a commitment to creating high-quality, targeted content, and a willingness to continuously adapt and refine strategies based on data and emerging trends.
By focusing on these key areas and maintaining a balance between technical optimization and user-focused content creation, B2B companies can leverage SEO as a powerful tool for generating leads, building brand authority, and ultimately driving business growth.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, staying informed about SEO best practices and industry trends will be crucial for B2B companies looking to maintain and improve their organic search performance. Regular audits, ongoing optimization, and a willingness to experiment with new strategies will help ensure that B2B companies can continue to effectively reach and engage their target audiences through search engines.
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