SEO and lead generation are both powerful strategies that essentially help you bring in more traffic (and hopefully, more sales). Used individually, both can be extremely effective. Used together, they can help you see a significant increase in leads not only arriving on your site but staying long enough to make a conversion possible.
While there is no doubt that SEO and lead generation go hand in hand, many businesses make the mistake of assuming that they can be lumped together. To avoid ruining your SEO results with your lead strategy, it helps to see these two strategies as working better together in a way that is cohesive and integrated.
In this guide, we share some tips that help you drive more SEO leads to your website in an organic, focused way.
How to Use SEO for Better Lead Generation Results
There are a number of ways that SEO can help you see an increase in lead generation conversion. Whether you are aiming to bring in more sales or simply build a mailing list, get more clicks or encourage downloads of specific content, using SEO to bring in leads can deliver plenty of results. To get the most from your strategies, here are some things to keep in mind.
Ensure that your website is responsive
In the current era of Google’s Mobile-First indexing, you can no longer afford to ignore this one. Mobile-friendly websites are not just a gimmick or a ‘nice to have’ – they can make the difference between getting ahead in the SERPs or losing your place to similar websites in your niche that has prepared for the shift with responsive design and user-friendly websites.
If your website is not responsive, you run a greater risk of penalisation in the search results. Mobile websites are a standard that you cannot ignore if you want leads to find you in the first place.
Target longtail keywords
Focusing on too many short keywords can also impact your growth. Longer keyword phrases are typically far more targeted and also often have a lower competition. Trying to compete in a larger industry with short, high competition keywords will result in a very long battle to get ahead and even then, you may struggle to compete with older websites that have been ranking for longer.
Focus on keywords that include at least two words or more. Aim to keep keywords as localised and focused as possible, too. Rather than aiming for something generic for your software selling business, for example, use specific categories, location, products, and terms that customers would naturally use in searches, such as ‘buy windows software in South Africa’, vs ‘windows software’.
Consider Google RankBrain
Another thing that can help you improve SEO lead generation is making use of tools such as Google RankBrain. This algorithm update has played a definite effect on search results and can help you bring in more relevant leads to your website. Although it’s certainly not a new feature, it is under-used by many businesses, despite the advantages it offers. This algorithm helps to measure and analyse the way that users interact with search results on the first page for all keywords, prioritising pages that show a stronger engagement.
SEO analyses
There are a few areas that RankBrain analyses that are especially worth noting:
- Organic Click-Through-Rate (CTR). This focuses on the number of people who click through to your website after seeing your SERP listing online. If you are getting a decent CTR from Google, you would naturally have a better chance of getting a decent CTR once users arrive on your website. You would also rank higher in the SERPs, which, in turn, helps to increase your visibility.
- Bounce Rate. Once that user arrives on your website, do they stay on the site or do they leave very quickly? This is important for many reasons. If you do not have a strong landing page that is designed to capture attention right away from the very first moment visitors arrive, you are missing out on a chance to convert that lead. There are many factors that can influence bounce rates, from design to landing page content or even overall usability and navigation.
- Time On Site. Another important factor for lead generation and SEO is the time spent on your website once potential leads arrive. Even if they do not bounce right away, they may spend a longer time on key pages such as your home page, contact page, about page or product pages. Alternatively, they may spend a minute or two on your blog and then leave again. The longer you keep potential leads on the website, the more chance you have of conversion.
Create additional media alongside content
Long-form content definitely helps you grow your SEO results and can be equally useful for lead nurturing as well if the content is highly targeted and relevant to your audience. Although lead nurturing content will play a vital role in bringing in traffic and potential leads, there are many ways that you can take it even further to optimise your content to the fullest.
Along with blog content, case studies and other resources, you could also include additional media that can be distributed across the web. You can base this type of content on your long-form content to extend its reach. For example, using our software selling business above, content could be created that can be found in image searches, video searches, social media pages, and other channels. You already have all the information in your content, which means that you have all you need to create additional media. Some of the media you could create could include infographics, showing visual steps and information from your content; videos that further help to bring the message across; podcasts that focus on key topics and relevant discussions; guest posts from experts within your industry, and any other interesting and ‘clickable’ content that can be distributed across your networks.
Make use of local search
If you’re not already optimising your local search, now is the time to do so. A large amount of traffic comes from local searches and there are a number of ways that you can improve your local SEO results. Along with checking that your contact details are updated and correct (and that your contact links are working on all pages), you can also use local reviews and testimonials, local keywords, and other similar strategies such as Google My Business. Claiming your page can be a surprisingly useful step for lead generation, helping local leads find you more easily when doing searches online.
Local SEO
To optimise your page, make sure that you have the following in place:
- A unique, clear business description with links to your website
- Relevant categories that represent your business in the best way possible
- High-resolution images that show your business from all angles
- Business address and name that is written exactly the same way on your listing and on your website
- Opening hours that are updated and correct
- Genuine customer reviews
- Consistent information across your Google Business Page and your website
Don’t forget about social media
Although it may not seem to be an important factor for SEO or lead generation, social media plays a role in both, helping to bring in leads and help you grow a broader presence online. It is also a good tool for brand awareness, which, in turn, is also great for attracting leads and increasing conversion.
Search engines have begun to integrate social media content into ranking as well as searches. It may not be quite as important as content and other strategies, but it can help you build a stronger online presence. This will help you bring in leads naturally.
Lead Generation and SEO
Separately, both lead generation and SEO have the power to bring in new business. Used together, these two digital marketing strategies are a powerful team that can help you grow your reach and drive more conversions. An integrated, well-rounded multi-channel approach is almost always effective for all digital marketing, after all, from lead generation to SEO, email marketing and any other channel you may be incorporating into your strategy.
