As Part 2 in Connections Marketing’s series on website SEO, we’re addressing a positive challenge for any business to confront: building on your website traffic.
You know you’ve reached this stage when you’re getting decent traffic online and want to take advantage of the opportunity. This situation introduces a specific digital marketing challenge. Small but growing businesses must figure out how to tailor their websites to match their intent. This move may include some strategic tactics as well as ongoing efforts, such as steps to improve the resources on the site through content marketing.
First, understand that there are three fundamental ways any business can keep that traffic coming back and convert at higher rates:
- Optimize individual pages for SEO
- Continually offer high-value content
- Establish trust through testimonials, reviews and other content
Step 1: Localize Your SEO
Your website should be optimized to match any local aspect of your business. To that end, design an approach that puts your site on the map, literally and figuratively. Taking steps to do so will help you rank better so that local audiences are more likely to find you when searching online for products and services like yours. A number of tactics can accomplish this:
- Use your city name and what you do as title tags, as well as in the text of your home page.
- Include landing pages for locations in which you operate.
- If applicable, use a store locator tool to direct users to the nearest store location, point of sale or map where they can find your business.
- Integrate local links by joining local industry groups and getting local organizations to link back to your site.
- Crosslink to Google and Yelp listings on your website.
Step 2: Improve Landing Page SEO for User Experience
About those landing pages you just created after reading step one – they should be optimized, as well. To give your business an edge, find out which pages are getting the most traffic and make sure they are designed for user intent. This essentially means that if a visitor lands on a product page, it has to have all the right information, a clear call to action (CTA) and be easy to navigate. Otherwise you could be missing out on new business opportunities without even realizing it!
A couple tips to optimize your landing pages:
- Internal linking: Use strategic internal linking in those pages to guide visitors to other valuable parts of your site. For example, blog posts should link to products or services related to that post.
- Speed and mobile optimization: Ensure the site is fast, especially on mobile. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights allow you to check load times so you know where to make improvements.
Step 3: Create a Strategy for Capturing Leads
You’ve done all this great work, both in your business and on your website. Now you want to keep up the momentum via an ongoing strategy for posting valuable, high-quality content. If you’re already getting decent traffic, there’s likely some interest in your niche. Build on that with targeted content through blog posts, case studies, infographics or videos – whatever combination you believe speaks to your audience’s pain points or interests.
How can you capture new leads?
- Convert visitors: Use lead magnets like free eBooks, checklists, or webinars to convert visitors into email subscribers.
- Follow up on information: Once you have an email list, nurture these leads with personalized content and promotions. A well-placed opt-in form, like a pop-up or sticky bar, can work well to grab attention without being intrusive.
- Consider downloadable content: Some businesses attract people with downloadable upgrades that are specific to a page or blog post. For example, a page on “10 Ways to Improve Your Marketing Strategy” could offer a free template in exchange for an email address.
- Don’t overdo it: Focus on quality over quantity. You want to keep these new fans, not turn them off and waste your efforts.
Step 4: Leverage Social Proof and Testimonials
Social proof is just an expression for ways to show your brand has been vetted and approved by communities that matter. Building trust is also key to converting visitors into customers and clients. Different types of entities can weigh in on a given brand. Tap into ones relevant to your business and show those signs of approval on your site.
- Showcase testimonials and reviews: Feature customer testimonials or case studies prominently on high-traffic pages. Social proof like reviews or ratings (from Trustpilot, Google Reviews, etc.) can make visitors more likely to engage or make purchases.
- Add trust badges and guarantees: Display security badges, such as encrypting technology SSL, secure checkout and any satisfaction guarantees, prominently to ease any concerns.
- User-generated content (UGC): Find ways to encourage customers to generate their own content and share it with you. Getting people to share photos or videos of your product or service on social media is a highly successful way to build an audience.
- Report UGC: Repost those pics and vids on your website. This creates a sense of community and authenticity, qualities that are often more powerful than paid advertising.
Talk to Connections Marketing About Improving Your Company’s Visibility
There are many more ways to build on your website traffic. It’s a lot to think about, which is why we manage this process for so many of our clients. Most small businesses need a digital marketing partner that is in touch with the latest strategies for improving brand visibility and can implement the right changes to make that happen.
Contact the digital marketing specialists at Connections Marketing and find out how to capitalize on your web traffic today.