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A Step by Step Guide to Generating Leads Through SEO

The cold, hard truth for website owners is that the vast majority of websites just sit there, doing nothing. They don’t get organic trafficOrganic search traffic (sometimes called natural or unpaid search) is the traffic that's driven to a website because of unpaid placement on a search engine results page., they don’t generate quality SEO…
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The cold, hard truth for website owners is that the vast majority of websites just sit there, doing nothing. They don’t get organic traffic, they don’t generate quality SEO leads, and they don’t convert. Building a successful website isn’t easy, but it is attainable if you follow the right steps and put the hard work in.

To put this in numbers, roughly 91% of all web pages get precisely 0 visitors a month from Google. Now, there are lots of different ways to get visitors to your site, but those free, organic clicks from Google are surely one of the most important and the majority of sites just aren’t getting any.

If your website can turn those double- or triple-digit numbers into 4,5, or 6-digit numbers for monthly visitors then this can’t fail to have a massive effect on your SEO lead generation. The great thing about SEO is that it allows you to do exactly this, all you’ve got to do is follow the rules.

seo strategy illustration

1.    Start with a Plan

Just like any other endeavour, if you want to be successful in SEO, then you’ve got to carefully plan your success when it concerns how to generate SEO leads.

  • Understand what you want your website to achieve
  • Set goals
  • Find the right keywords
  • Create a content schedule
  • Be consistent

Have a Focus

If you’re not clear on what you want to achieve with your website, then your visitors aren’t going to know what you want to achieve and they’re less likely to take the actions you want them to take.

You need to have clear goals and a clear pathway to achieving those goals. Understand what actions you want your visitors to take on your website and guide them in the direction you want them to take.

semrush keyword research tool

Find the Right Balance of Keywords

Choosing the right keywords can be the difference between a 1% chance of ranking and an 80% chance of ranking – they’re that important.

You want to find the right balance between keywords where you have a realistic chance of ranking but have enough searches to make them worth your time. For websites that aren’t currently seeing organic traffic at the moment, long-tail keywords are often the best way to make your first in-roads into the rankings.

Be Consistent

One of the difficult things about SEO is being patient. You don’t simply rank overnight. Instead, you earn visitors through consistent work and continually doing a lot of things right. If you don’t have the resources to consistently work on your SEO strategy, then an SEO management company could be what you need to take your SEO lead generation a step further.

Your ability to rank quickly gets much better as your website becomes more established, but especially at the beginning, it can take time to see the results of your work. Don’t be put off, stay consistent and keep working hard.

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2.    Always Add Value

Ask yourself this, why would Google rank you on page 1 if your content isn’t one of the best ten pieces of content on that keyword? People often treat SEO like it’s a crazy science, but much of it is simple. If you have the very best content, then you’re likely to rank well, so find out what already ranks for your keywords and find ways to add value to it.

Build Trust

Good SEO and increased lead generation go hand in hand because they have so many things in common. The way to the top of the rankings is by offering more value to the reader than everyone else, but this is also a great way to build the trust that is needed to turn a click into a lead, and a lead into a customer.

You are an expert in your field so let this show through in your content. Demonstrate your expertise to your visitors by giving them something for nothing and allow them to see the benefits of your knowledge.

See it as a Trade

You might be thinking “well, if I give people all my knowledge for free then what use do they have for my services?” The thing is, people only want to do so much themselves, there comes a point where they decide it’s time to call in an expert – and guess who they’re going to call when they need one?

Trade your expertise for brand awareness and when people realise they need the help of an expert you’re going to be the first person they think of and you’ve earned a valuable lead.

3.    Speak the Search Engines’ Language

The search engines are smart. They almost always understand your questions and give you the results that answer those questions. However, they still can’t interpret web pages in the same way humans do.

This means that you can write the best article of all time on “the migration patterns of Herons,” it can be universally accepted by humans as an amazing piece of content, but if you don’t signal to the search engines in the right way then it won’t rank.

You have to be able to take care of at least the basic aspects of SEO, otherwise you’re going to struggle to rank, and you’re going to struggle to generate leads.

PageSpeed Test

Optimise Your Pages

Don’t leave SEO to chance. You have to optimise your pages in an organised way and know that you’re doing the basic things right.

  • Keywords
  • Structure
  • Meta Descriptions
  • Image Alt Text
  • Page Speed
  • Mobile Friendliness

There are around 200 ranking factors that Google uses, some are more complex than others, but there are a number of key ones you can make sure you’re getting right every time.

Often times, people get the wrong balance, either focusing too much on content and not enough on SEO, or too much on SEO and not enough on content, but at the end of the day, you can’t have one without the other, they go hand in hand. Working with SEO lead generation companies will ensure that you get a perfect balance between the two. This minimises the loss of your time and money.

Build Links

You’ve written a 2,000-word article on “the migration pattern of Herons,” but how does Google know that you know what you’re talking about? For all Google knows, you might not know a Heron from an Egret, but it has its own way of figuring this out.

Google figures out how trustworthy you are by taking cues from websites it already knows to be trustworthy. If Google sees that the American Ornithological Society is linking to your article about Herons, then it’s going to see this as a good indicator that you know what you’re talking about.

The more of these high-quality links you can build from websites in your niche, the more Google is going to trust you, and the more likely it is to feature your pages high up in its search results.

Working with SEO content writing services, you can start working on your link building strategy and show Google you’re an expert in your field and if you can effectively establish this fact then you’re going to see more organic traffic, leading to more SEO sales leads.

ahrefs backlinks analysis

Eliminate Barriers to Generating SEO Leads for Sale

Much of SEO lead generation is about putting other considerations before your ultimate goal of generating a lead but you’ve still got to keep your goal in mind. You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to become a lead and you can’t do that if you’re constantly putting barriers up and blocking this outcome.

If not consciously, then it needs to be subconsciously obvious what actions you want your visitors to take. People aren’t mind readers so you need to show them that you want to get their email or get them to sign up for your newsletter, or call for a quote, or whatever your goal might be.

Give People a Reason to Take Action

Generating a lead isn’t an easy thing to get people to consider filling out your form. You’ve put in a lot of hard work already, so make sure that hard work is rewarded by pushing the deal over the line.

Give someone a reason to become a lead. What can you offer them that’s going to get them to complete the action you want them to take? The internet gives you so many options in this area, you’ve just got to find the ones that work for you.

One of the best reasons you can give someone to take the actions you want is that it’s simple. If you make becoming a lead a difficult process then people have a reason not to take action, but if you make it a simple process and outline the benefits then they have a reason to become a lead.

cta stats

Be Respectful of Peoples’ Data

People are careful about who they hand their data over to and what forms they fill out because lots of companies haven’t been respectful with their data in the past. People are used to spammy emails and nuisance calls and they’re tired of it. Has this made SEO lead generation more difficult? Perhaps, but it’s certainly something you can overcome.

When designing your forms (and website in general) be aware of the fact that people are protective about their details and work on building that trust from the moment people click onto your site. Ensure that your paid social management is handled by a reputable SEO lead generation services so that you can find SEO leads.

Show them how you’re going to take care of their details and what they can expect after they’ve completed the action you want them to take.

Successfully getting people to take the last step and become a lead is all about removing barriers, and if you can overcome peoples’ reluctance to share their details, then you’re going to see an increase in the number of leads you generate.

Simon Brisk, Co-Founder and Commercial Director
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