People often misunderstand the role of search engine optimization (SEO), within the context of a broader marketing program. As a result, they are frequently disappointed when SEO fails to accomplish something it’s not designed for, like lead generation.
In this article, we will talk about the close relationship between SEO marketing and website lead generation. Specifically, we will look at some techniques you can use to get more leads from your SEO-generated traffic.
How Long is Your Sales Cycle?
Some businesses can survive on direct sales alone, without the need for lead generation. These are companies with a very short sales cycle. Their products or services are generally on the lower end of the price scale. The customer doesn’t require much information, aside from the price of the item. In such cases, SEO marketing can be used to drive direct sales. The customer arrives on the website from a search engine, finds the product she wants, and clicks to purchase it. A direct sale has been made, without any form of lead generation.
But these types of scenarios are rare. Most companies have a longer sales cycle. For these companies, lead generation becomes more important.
SEO Marketing + Conversion = Website Leads
SEO marketing can bring people to your website. That’s the whole point of a search engine optimization campaign. But your expectations for SEO should end there. Lead generation picks up where SEO leaves off. Each strategy has a separate job to do, a separate goal and purpose.
This is how search engine optimization relates to lead generation.
- SEO is used to improve website visibility and traffic levels.
- SEO is not a lead generation or website-conversion strategy.
- Once people find your website, the job of SEO is done.
- Website traffic alone will not help you grow your business.
- You must use lead-generation techniques to convert visitors into customers.
- You’ll get better results when using multiple lead-generation techniques, as long as they don’t interfere with the usability of your website.
- SEO marketing is the start of the process. Lead generation is the middle. Customer acquisition is the finish. Don’t neglect the middle!
This is how search engine optimization ties into your broader web-marketing strategy. It can be used to shepherd people to your website. SEO is ideally suited for this role.
Lead Generation Techniques Worth Trying
SEO marketing can serve as the start of a web-based sales cycle. It can bring people to your website. But how do you encourage people to reach out to you, once they reach the site? Here are some proven lead-generation strategies you can try:
Forms – In this context, we are talking about web-based forms that allow people to interact with you in some way. Web forms are the tried-and-true workhorse of website marketing. This is an area where you can use your imagination. In addition to having a standard “contact us” form on your website, you can place custom forms in key locations across the site. One example is to place a form at the top of each blog post or article on the company website. Label the form in a way that evokes a response, such as “Do you have questions about this topic?”
Online Chat — Do you have full-time customer service reps who spend the bulk of their days in front of computers? If so, you could integrate a chat tool on your website. Chat is a non-invasive way to connect with your website visitors. You are connecting with them at an ideal time, too, when they are actively researching your products or services. This is another lead-generation strategy that works seamlessly with your SEO marketing program.
Freebies — Professional marketers have been using this technique for decades (as in the common phrase, “Call now for your free report”). This strategy works exceptionally well online. If you offer a strong enough incentive, you could generate a steady stream of leads through your website. Free reports, e-books and “white papers” are all common implementations of this strategy. Your website visitors gets something of value, for free, and you’re able to capture their contact information for follow-up purposes. It’s another way to bridge the gap between SEO marketing and lead generation.
Blog Comments — Blogging is a great way to generate leads. Earlier, we talked about how you might position a form at the top of each blog post, for people who have questions about the subject matter contained in the post. You can also use the built-in commenting feature of your blog to capture leads from the bottom of each post. If one lead-generation form is good, two should work even better. Just make sure you don’t sacrifice usability in the process. If you add too many forms, boxes and chat tools to your pages, it will degrade the user’s experience. This runs contrary to your lead-generation efforts. Keep the site clean and usable.
All of these techniques can be used to pick up where your SEO marketing efforts leave off. Think of it as a series of steps, with each step important in its own way. People find your website as a result of your SEO efforts. They connect with you in some way, as a result of your lead-generation efforts. After that, it’s all about the follow-up. But that’s the subject of another article.
