You have optimized your website for search. You are getting a lot of high quality traffic.
But despite the increase in visitors, your sales and leads are still lackluster.
It’s a frustrating situation.
The good news? There are strategies you can implement to convert this traffic into paying customers.
This article explores nine proven methods to help you convert SEO traffic into sales and leads.
1. Improve your site’s user experience (UX).
UX and SEO have been talked about for years and are intrinsically linked, but many sites still haven’t spent time improving UX.
Here are some of the key areas to focus on:
Use white space to clutter up the pages. Add outstanding calls to action. Focus on your page speed – slow sites lose 90% of potential customers. Use responsive design to adapt to all devices. Keep your design consistent. Reduce 404 errors.
You can and should test your site’s user experience from an unbiased source. You may know the ins and outs of your site and sales funnel, but your users don’t.
Test, refine and test again. Over time, you’ll need to revise your tests as visitor behavior changes.
2. Optimize conversions
You have traffic and it’s time to make sales. What is your conversion rate (CVR)? If you are an e-commerce site with a 2.3% or a higher CVR, you are really doing very well.
Optimizing this metric will require you to review key sections of your site:
blog: Your blog may be a traffic magnet, but we convert those visitors into sales. Add calls-to-action to your article, create clear product or service banners, and push your product or service as a solution to your visitor’s problems.
Landing pages: If your landing pages aren’t converting, start A/B testing them. You can add new CTAs, change the design, and copy anything you can to entice visitors to take action.
copy: If traffic leads to product or service pages, your copy may not be clear and concise. You want to work with a copywriter to optimize and test these pages until conversions increase.
If your pages are not optimized for conversions, it can easily lead to SEO traffic that simply isn’t converting.
3. Optimize the first two actions on content pages that aren’t targeting the right keywords
Are you leveraging the value of educational content? You should:
Focus on the first two actions of the blog. Update the pages with the most traffic as a test.
For example, you can add a “Demo” button at the top of your blog post with a strong call to action or provide a demo video above the fold.
Turning traffic into sales is possible with educational content, and it can be as easy as focusing on these two actions on your pages.
4. Improve the quality and relevance of the content
Older companies often have hundreds of blog posts that they never review or update.
What was considered relevant and quality content in the past may be no be today
You want to take an inventory of your articles, starting with the ones that get the most traffic, and start working through them with an audit.
Is the item the quality you want from your business? Is the article relevant to the visitors who land on your page?
If you remove old content, try to look for opportunities to redirect to other content assets that may be of higher quality but still relevant.
Dig Deeper: Improving or Removing Content for SEO: How to do it the right way
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5. Analyze and use data to improve sales
Data is only useful if you analyze it and use it to improve sales. You may have several forms of data to sift through:
The Analytics server records heat maps
If you start reviewing your server logs and notice an increase in 404 errors on your checkout page, you have the reason for your poor conversions. We need to go deeper into these problems.
For example, if you have a heat map on your site, you may find that everyone is looking at the right side of the page, but you have a CTA on the left side.
Use this rich data to find where visitors are “stuck” in your sales funnel and start making changes to address these issues.
6. Boost trust and credibility outside of social proof
Social proof is huge (more on that below), but what other things can you do to improve trust and credibility? You can:
Add your professional license number. Post your warranty or clear warranty information. Add logos or information about membership or professional associations. Publish your prizes. Add links to news articles or posts where you’ve published.
Every industry has its own way of improving trust and credibility. A law firm can display its bar association, awards, settlements, and other data that proves it is a trusted employer.
7. Focus on local SEO (when appropriate)
Brick and mortar businesses can see sales and customers decline due to a lack of focus on local SEO.
Local SEO takes a more strategic and targeted approach to helping businesses improve their visibility in Google’s local search results.
For example, a website for a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles that focuses on general keywords (eg, “sushi restaurant” or “sushi restaurants in California”) may struggle to:
Rank in the search results because the competition is very high. Reach the right people.
This restaurant would be better off focusing on keywords like “sushi restaurant in LA” or even “sushi restaurant in Glendale”. These keywords can be easier to rank for and would put your site in front of your target audience.
Other ways to improve local SEO:
Google Business Profile Page Optimization. Make sure your NAP information is consistent online. Optimizing content and pages for location-based keywords.
Local SEO can help ensure that when local customers search for your business, they find your site.
Dig deeper: Local SEO for new physical locations
8. Leverage A/B testing to maximize conversions
A/B testing can be an effective tool for conversion rate optimization (CRO). The goal is to test two versions of a web page to see which generates a higher conversion rate.
A simple change to your copy or even changing the color of a button can significantly affect conversions.
Using A/B testing, you can experiment with different variations of your pages, choose the version that performs best, and maximize your conversions.
Even a well-optimized site may fail to convert if the design, copy, formatting, and layout are ineffective.
An SEO specialist can help you:
Identify which page elements you want to test (eg headlines, CTA buttons, copy, layout, etc.). Create variants of your pages. Run the test. Measure and analyze results.
A/B testing can be used continuously to improve your conversion rates over time.
9. Improve social proof to generate trust and credibility
Consumers need more than persuasive copy to convince them to buy. Until 87% of purchase decisions start with online research, and 88% of consumers trust both reviews and personal recommendations.
If your sales are suffering but your SEO is on point, you may not be providing the social proof they need to convert.
To build trust and credibility, show your:
reviews: Embed them on product pages and highlight positive reviews on your home page.
witnesses: Display them prominently on your landing pages. Includes photos, videos and names for each witness.
Awards and recognitions: Add award badges to your pages to let potential customers know your business is trusted by industry experts and associations.
Case studies– Add them to your site to show potential customers the results you’ve gotten for other clients or customers.
Influencer Endorsements: Highlight celebrity or influencer endorsements. Their opinions can easily sway prospects.
An SEO specialist can help ensure that your social proof is optimized and displayed prominently on your page.
Work in cross-teams to fine-tune your sales funnel
SEO can drive traffic to your site, but once a potential customer lands on your page, it’s up to your content and UX to convert them.
Optimize content for each stage of your sales funnel.
Great SEO does not automatically translate into higher sales and conversions.
Even with great SEO, sales and leads can suffer if the other pieces of the puzzle aren’t in place. The strategies above can help improve your conversion rates.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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