When you Google something, have you ever thought about how each of your search results are ranked? Why is a certain company ranked first and another company ranked fourth? It’s not a game of luck; there isn’t a magical SEO god who’s tossing sites into a raffle wheel. Rather, Google carries an algorithm that encompasses a multitude of ranking factors. These factors determine how much visibility your site and business deserve, which ultimately influences the amount of traffic and leads you get. 

The trickiest part: the algorithm is constantly changing which requires persistent research, experimentation, and vigilance by none other than yourself and your team. Simply put, you have to become an SEO (search engine optimization) marketing expert. And why wouldn’t you if it means getting all the traffic and leads needed to preserve the long-term viability of your business? 

So keep reading, as we hash out the impact SEO can have on your business and how to get more traffic and leads with SEO. 

For more help converting the right traffic, check out the following:

The Impact of SEO: What You Need to Know

SEO is the art of promoting your services online to get organic, or unpaid, traffic from the search engine results page (SERP). If you’ve read through our 20 reasons every business needs SEO, then you know the way you rank on Google directly influences your visibility, market share, and traffic.

Right now, there are a ton of people looking for services and products just like yours. A good SEO strategy can help you identify ways to climb the Google ranks and get seen by potential customers. After all, 94% percent of all web traffic starts with a search query. By leveraging the contents of your site with SEO, not only can you attract a ton of visitors to your site, but you can nurture them into loyal customers. 

Here’s the lowdown on SEO: 

  • SEO helps you gain valuable real estate on Google. Showing up on the first page of search results exposes you to 71% of search traffic clicks. If you’re on the second page, you basically don’t exist—75% of users don’t go past the first page. Therefore, being on page one is crucial. Otherwise, you’re just losing clicks, leads, and sales to your competitors.
  • SEO helps your team win qualified leads. After all, why would SEO even matter if it doesn’t feed your bottom line? Seventy percent of marketers report seeing more traffic, leads, and sales from SEO than pay-per-click (PPC) methods. Not to mention, qualified sales leads have a higher return on investment (ROI) and a higher close rate.
  • SEO builds your online credibility. When people see you on the first page, they will be more apt to trust you and click through to your site. Trust is everything when it comes to driving traffic and leads. And when Google grants you a high and mighty ranking spot in its search results, you’ll become THE business in your industry people will recognize and vouch for.
  • SEO puts you in front of people who are actually searching for what you offer. Aka your target audience. Because c’mon, connecting with individuals who aren’t in need of your services is a waste of time…and money! You want to invest all of your time and effort into nurturing your target audience and SEO helps with just that. It lays the right groundwork for generating qualified leads. In fact, SEO leads have a 14.6% average conversion rate whereas outbound leads (leads who come from traditional forms of marketing like TV and radio ads) have a 1.7% average conversion rate.

5 Tips on Getting More Traffic and Leads with SEO

So how exactly do you get more traffic and leads with SEO? Here are five ways to get started today.

1. Choose Your Keywords Wisely

Take a look at your competitors. What keywords are they currently ranking for? Which of these keywords are relevant to your products and services? Pick those and use them to create targeted content.  

You may want to expand on some of these keywords to make them long-tail keywords. As the name implies, long-tail keywords are key phrases that are longer and generally more specific than your standard keywords. For example, instead of “buy shampoos”, you might want to target “buy safe and organic shampoos.” 

The longer and more specific keywords are, the easier it is to rank for them. Not to mention, nearly 70% of search queries contain four words or more, so you want to match these searches as closely as you can. 

2. Blog Regularly

Seventy-two percent of online marketers believe content creation is their most effective SEO tactic. Search engines want high-quality pages on the SERP, or content that is worth sharing. A great way to produce content that’s helpful and shareable? Blogging. 

Blogging helps boost your brand awareness that attracts people to your business. Brands that post more blog posts each month garner 4.5 times more leads.

So what exactly is “high-quality” content? 

  • Content that is relevant to what searchers are looking for. It provides real answers to real people’s questions. Say you’re a floor removal business. During your keyword research, you notice your target audience has been looking up ways on how to remove wooden floors. You might want to start putting together a blog article that fleshes out the entire process.
  • Content that is reliable and trustworthy and makes people want to share. Blogging is a valuable method to gain credibility. If one person finds your blog post to be helpful, they will want to share it with their social circles. You don’t simply want to focus on the what, but how and why. And don’t forget to cross-reference your sources to ensure you’re providing accurate and up-to-date information. 
  • Content that houses your keywords. As we mentioned earlier, keywords are a major factor to your business’ search engine rankings. When you marry SEO keywords to your content marketing efforts you’re 13 times more likely to generate a positive ROI. So be sure to naturally weave in your keywords throughout your content wherever possible. Avoid keyword stuffing.
  • Content that goes in-depth. Start creating more long-form content if you haven’t already. The average word count of a blog post on the first page of Google is 1,890 words. While word count isn’t a Google ranking factor, providing comprehensive information that simmers down your customers’ pain points is crucial in winning Google’s trust, which will then help you reel in those leads. 

3. Clean up Your Site

Let’s be real, people are shallow creatures. When they see a messy, unattractive, slow site, they’re going to want to bail immediately. And before you know it, your bounce rates will skyrocket, and your traffic rates will plummet. 

Here are a few pointers to avoid such a catastrophe: 

  • Make sure it’s mobile-friendly: So you’ve got a clean and pretty website that’s easy to navigate through. Great! But how’s it looking on mobile? If your site isn’t adapted for mobile, you’re missing out on 52.5% of website traffic worldwide and numerous potential leads. As our rapidly evolving digital world relies more on mobile devices, it’s crucial to keep up with these changes.
  • Build a good structure: If your site is easy to navigate, leading users to the right places, you’re creating a positive user experience. And a stellar experience is appealing to search engines. Google’s algorithm looks into searchers to rank your site. A high click-through rate and dwell time will help you rank well in the SERP. So perform a site audit to ensure that your navigation is seamless.
  • Improve site speed: Let’s be real — a slow site is frustrating. In fact, 40% of users will leave a site that takes “more than three seconds to load.” So on top of being easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing, make sure your site is quick.

4. Build High-Quality Links

What would the web be without links? Links play an important role in spreading awareness of your brand and boosting your site’s authority. Not to mention, they’re crucial when it comes to conversion rate optimization—creating on-site experiences that encourage conversions.

  • Internal links: Once you’ve built a decent catalog of content, you can link your blogs to relevant content on your website and vice versa. This will help make the on-site experience smooth and seamless and encourage your visitors to take the actions you want them to take. 
  • Backlinks: Ask your clients, members, and partners to link to your site. When these backlinks, or incoming links, come from other trustworthy sites, your site becomes more authoritative. And the greater authority you have, the more likely search engines will begin eyeing your website. 

5. Optimize for Your Readers—Not Search Engines

You need to understand your buyer persona. What are some characteristics of your best potential customers? By crafting educational content that provides value to your target audience, you’ll naturally improve your SEO, traffic rates, and leads. 

Optimizing for search engines alone is pointless. You’ll just end up having content that’s stuffed with keywords and unnatural language that will have your audience scratching their heads. So whenever you’re making changes to your site and brand, think back to your customers. Will these updates be of value to them? 

Become a Lead-Generating Machine with Big Leap

With numerous businesses vying for the attention of your target market, it’s crucial to stay current and relevant in the online landscape. Big Leap can help you leverage the key SEO tools to help your business stay ahead of the game. So reach out to us to see how you can get started.  

And if you’re on the fence about SEO, talk to us. We’re happy to answer your questions and get to know your business.

Janet Lee
Latest posts by Janet Lee (see all)