A Practical Way for Small B2B Companies to Use Search and Content Without Hiring a Big Agency

Most content marketing advice is written for companies with marketing teams and budgets. But what if you're a 10-person industrial company with no marketing department? Here's a practical approach.

The Reality for Small B2B Companies

You probably don't have:

• A dedicated marketing person (let alone a team)
• Budget for a $10k/month agency retainer
• Time to write 4 blog posts per week
• Interest in becoming a "content machine"

But you do have:

• Deep expertise in your industry
• Real customers with real problems
• A website that could be working harder
• Competitors who probably aren't doing much better

The Minimum Effective Approach

Instead of trying to "do content marketing," focus on three things:

1. Fix Your Foundation First

Before creating new content, make sure your core pages work:

• Does your homepage clearly explain what you do?
• Do your product/service pages answer the questions buyers have?
• Can someone easily contact you or request a quote?
• Does your site work on mobile?

This is where most small B2B companies should start. A clear, functional website beats a mediocre blog.

2. Answer the Questions You Already Get

You know the questions your prospects ask during sales calls. Write pages that answer those questions publicly.

This isn't "content marketing" in the traditional sense—it's just making useful information available on your website. Benefits:

• You already know the content (no research needed)
• These are questions real buyers have
• The answers can rank in search and bring in qualified traffic
• It saves time in sales conversations

3. Make Your Technical Knowledge Findable

B2B and industrial companies often have deep technical knowledge that's locked in the heads of engineers or sales reps. Get some of it on your website:

• How-to guides for common applications
• Comparison pages (when to use product A vs. B)
• Specification sheets and data tables
• Case studies from actual projects

This content attracts people who are actively looking for solutions—your best prospects.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Instead of: Publishing 4 blog posts per month on industry trends

Do this: Spend that time creating 1-2 genuinely useful technical pages per quarter

Instead of: Hiring an agency to "do SEO"

Do this: Make sure your core pages have clear titles, useful content, and answer real questions

Instead of: Building a social media presence from scratch

Do this: Focus on being findable when people search for what you sell

The Compounding Effect

Here's what makes this work over time:

1. Each useful page you create becomes a permanent asset
2. Good pages attract links naturally (especially technical content)
3. More pages = more search visibility = more traffic = more leads
4. Your competitors probably aren't doing this, so the bar is low

Getting Started

If you want to try this approach:

1. List the 10 most common questions you get from prospects
2. Check if any of those questions are answered on your website
3. Pick the most important one and create a page that answers it thoroughly
4. Repeat

That's it. No content calendar, no editorial process, no marketing department needed. Just useful information about what you do, made available to people who are looking for it.