What business owner doesn't dream of ranking first on Google?
In our line of work as digital marketing experts, this is undoubtedly THE NUMBER ONE GOAL pursued by our clients. While this may seem “obvious” in the B2C sector, it is even more so in the B2B sector, where the majority of our SME clients operate.
While setting goals is easy, achieving them requires time, thought, structure, precision, and above all, hard work along with a winning SEO strategy.
Understanding Search Engine Algorithms
The concept of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) dates back to the early days of the Internet. Originally, search engine ranking algorithms were relatively simple and often relied on criteria such as the frequency of keywords on a page.
With the rapid expansion of the web and the increase in the number of websites, search engines have had to develop more sophisticated algorithms to help users find relevant information.
Simply put, search engines take the following factors into account:
- The relevance of the page's content to the search query;
- The quality of the content: is it informative and original;
- The number and quality of other websites that have links (backlinks) to your own page;
- The page's structure and its mobile accessibility.
Today, algorithms use AI to help them better understand the context behind users' search queries so they can provide the most relevant content.
Develop a content strategy
Relevant content is the foundation of SEO. When you know your target audience (buyer personas), you can speak to them using the right words and messages and provide them with the answers they expect and are looking for.
This way, you’ll develop a content strategy that reaches your audience, combining blog posts, videos, infographics, or other formats with the sole goal of providing them with what they’re looking for and want to receive.
If your content manages to capture your target audience’s interest while also being technically optimized, it will be relevant from an SEO perspective, and search engines will inevitably take it into account.
Optimize Your Website from a Technical Perspective
Even though AI makes it possible to provide more context for search queries, search engines are still machines that operate based on code and specific, technical rules.
It is therefore still crucialto optimize the technical aspects of your website:
- Make sure your website is well-structured, easy to navigate, and loads quickly;
- Optimize your HTML tags, and this will make it easier for search engines to crawl your site;
- Make sure your website is fully compatible and loads quickly on mobile devices;
- Eliminate technical errors that could negatively impact the user experience.
The speed and responsiveness of your website
Specifically, Google measures this speed and smoothness using the Core Web Vitals: loading speed (LCP, under 2.5 seconds), responsiveness (INP, under 200 milliseconds), and visual stability (CLS, under 0.1).
While these aren't the number-one criteria—content and authority remain the top priorities—they often make the difference between two otherwise equivalent pages. Another point to keep in mind: Google now evaluates performance across your entire site, rather than on a page-by-page basis. A few slow or outdated pages can therefore negatively impact your overall SEO, including your best-optimized pages.
We explore this topic in detail—using measurement tools—in our article “UX & SEO: Why Google Favors Fast and Accessible B2B Sites.”
Add links wherever you can
Now that you have a consistent content SEO strategy, don't hesitate to "link" your various pieces of content to one another.
When writing a new post on your blog, feel free to include links to other posts that have discussed or explored the same topic or a specific aspect you’re referring to.
These links will not only increase the time visitors spend on your site but also enhance the visitor experience—visitors will be eager to learn more about the topics that interest them—and improve your SEO.
If the structure appears coherent, search engines will take that into account as well and promote your content. That’s how you get closer to the top of the search results.
Similarly, any external link pointing to your site is welcome. And the better the reputation of the referring site, the more beneficial it will be in building or strengthening your own site’s reputation. It’s somewhat similar to the practice of mentioning partners, clients, or suppliers, which is common on many websites.
The primary purpose of these links is to highlight the existing business relationship. But these internal links also help maintain your website’s visibility and provide visitors with opportunities for interaction.
the European Accessibility Act (EAA)
Since June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) has required a large number of private companies in Belgium that offer online services to consumers to comply with digital accessibility standards. Strictly B2B websites, which do not offer self-service sales to the general public, are often exempt from these strict requirements, but accessibility remains an underutilized business opportunity: only 6% of Belgian websites are currently considered truly accessible. Yet clean HTML structure, sufficient contrast, and text alternatives serve a dual purpose for your visitors… and for Google’s web crawler, which relies on the same technical fundamentals to understand your content.
Writing Effective Titles and Descriptions
When you buy a book, you first read the title and the summary. It’s the same online. Based on a simple title and an introductory sentence, you’ll decide whether or not you want to keep reading.You need to win people over right from the title.
Be sure, however, to follow SEO best practices. A title tag must be unique; the words you use will determine your website’s ranking in organic search results.
The meta description should be compelling. It should explain exactly what information the user will find on the page and encourage them to click on it.
Don't hesitate to run A/B tests to find out which description works best, meaning which one generates more interest (clicks).
Update your content regularly
Think of a search engine algorithm as a little robot that regularly scans all websites. Its goal is to identify everything that has been added or changed since its last visit.
A website's activity is a very important factor for search engines.
When redesigning a website, you think about all the things you want to improve, change, or remove. You want to create the best version of your site and don't want to forget anything or leave anything to chance.
What people often don’t realize is that once a website is live, even the most beautiful and comprehensive one needs to stay active. You have to show search engine bots that the site is dynamic and constantly maintained. That’s one of the reasons why so many websites feature a blog, so they can consistently demonstrate that they’re active.
Search engines not only like new content, but they also rank older content higherwhen it's updated.
Failing to update old content sends a negative signal to search engines, which then consider it “outdated” or obsolete. This can have a negative impact on your ranking in the coveted search results.
This content update is often overlooked or even simply ignored. However, it is an element that should be incorporated into your SEO strategy.
Analyze the Competition
Knowing and keeping track of what others are doing in terms of SEO is important; it can be very informative for:
- understand winning strategies;
- identify unexplored keywords;
- measure up to industry standards;
- enhance your content strategy.
It also identifies high-quality backlinks to target, helps anticipate trends, and highlights technical improvements that need to be made.
Targeting Strategic "Keywords"
Adding a semantic dimension to your SEO approach reinforces the idea that targeting every keyword is unrealistic, given limited resources in terms of time, budget, and staff.
By strategically targeting specific keywords and their associated semantic contexts, you can optimize the use of these resources while improving your return on investment. Semantics enriches your strategy by enabling you to create content that is relevant not only to a targeted selection of keywords but also to their variations and related topics, thereby increasing alignment with users’ diverse search intentions.
Creating content that covers a broad semantic spectrum around specific keywords is a challenge that requires a deep understanding of the topics covered to maintain quality and expertise. Carefully selecting relevant keywords and semantic concepts is crucial.
Given the constant evolution of search algorithms, which increasingly prioritize context and semantic relevance, developing an SEO strategy that incorporates semantic analysis of selected keywords has become essential for achieving optimal visibility.
Voice Search and AI Responses
With the rise of voice assistants (Alexa, Google Gemini) and, above all, AI-powered answer engines like Google AI Mode, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity, structuring content so that it is understood and cited has become a key SEO challenge in its own right. These tools prioritize content that directly and clearly answers a question, rather than purely promotional text.
To optimize your content with this in mind:
- Use long-tail keywords that reflect natural questions ("How do I...?", "What is the best...?").
- Organize your pages with FAQs that directly answer these questions.
- Improve your website's loading speed and mobile compatibility—a prerequisite for both voice search and indexing by generative AI.
- Aim for featured snippets, which are still widely used by voice assistants and AI-powered search engines.
By adapting your strategy to these new search habits, you’ll improve your visibility and reach a wider audience—including those who never click on a blue link anymore.
As you can see, technically speaking, it’s entirely possible to rank first on search engines. But it’s not just a matter of buying all the ingredients—you have to get the recipe right.
A healthy dose of common sense, a clear and precise vision of your goals and targets… that’s the magic formula that will allow you to master the rules of search engines.
If you’re a B2B SME, Maia Consulting can help you increase your digital visibility. We can help you define and implement your SEO strategy. Feel free to contact us to learn more about our approach.