B2B websites can offer huge opportunities for international traders. This article offers detailed information on how these business to business websites work.
A B2B website serves two parties – the buyer and the seller. These are also known as leads. The main function of this website is to enable visitors to find the leads they want in the shortest possible time. A buyer may be looking for seller leads, and a seller may be looking for buyer leads.
By using the search function, one can easily locate the right type of leads on a B2B website. The search tool will allow a visitor to search by country, and to view only buyer or seller leads. The search starts when the visitor enters a few keywords (likely to be keywords for some product or service), select the required options, and click on the search button. The website will then make a query to the database and return the search results.
Alternatively, a visitor may choose to browse the leads in the business directory. Similarly, he can choose to see leads from a certain country, or only buyer or seller leads. These two simple functions will help the visitor locate the leads that he wants quickly.
To serve the needs of international traders, the better B2B websites even allow freight forwarders to list their services for free. This is important for any import export business. With the information, an online visitor can easily check the charges for using these services when importing from various countries. In addition, you may also expect to see information for trade show events that are posted for free by trade event organizers.
Given the numerous benefits offered by B2B websites, one would expect a listing to be pricey. However, contrary to popular believe, a listing in a B2B website can cost as little as 25 USD a year. Often, B2B also allow businesses to sign up for free. They do so because they want businesses to try out their services, and also because they want to attract as many leads as possible. Active B2B directories with many active business listings are certainly more valuable to international traders.
Sometimes, when visiting a B2B website, you may come across a special feature called “Keyword Auction”. Keyword auction allows businesses to bid for higher positions in the B2B directory. For example, when a user searches using a keyword phrase “phone”, your contact details may be listed at the bottom of the page. As such, the user didn’t have a chance to contact you. For more exposure, you may want to consider using this feature to bid for a higher position. This gives you greater visibility, and will allow you to receive more leads.
Finally, for maximum exposure, you can always buy banner advertising on a B2B website. This is more costly than listing services or keyword auction, but it will attract attention more easily. If the products and services you offer have a more general appeal, this advertising channel may work well for you.
As you can see, there are many ways to advertise your services on a B2B website. Be sure to choose those that will give you the maximum return on investment.