Search Engine Optimization is a useful practice that helps us to maximize the website’s organic traffic reach. However, the methods used to improve SEO can sometimes be at odds with our CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) strategy. Fortunately, most modern SEO methods are fully compatible with CRO, in fact, some SEO methods can actually make it easier to convert your leads into customers. This article will cover some of the SEO methods that will make your website convert like crazy.
Page Load Time
Page load time is a very important metric for both SEO and conversion. Slow page loading will significantly impact your SEO, and the customers hate it too. When the page takes too long to load, customers are very likely to abandon it. Page load time plays a vital role in the overall user experience of the website.
Search engines like Google heavily punish slow load times which is why it’s important to work on this. Google approximates a 3 second load time before the visitors get annoyed with the website and thus decide to leave. Many things can impact your page load time, including your server host. You can also improve it by compressing your files, decreasing HTTP requests, enabling caching, fixing your on-page SEO, and more.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed dev tool to analyze your page load time.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is related to SEO elements of your own website. It plays a crucial role in boosting your sales so it’s important to incorporate it. Good on-page SEO will make your website more user-friendly, thus increasing conversion rates while also appealing to search engines.
You can start with the basics, optimizing your headings and keywords, adding descriptions, creating unique title and image tags, incorporating internal links, writing meta descriptions, and more. You can access all of this in the admin panel of your website. It may take some time to fix this depending on the amount of content you have, but it will be well worth it. Your SEO metrics will improve and you can also expect a significant conversion rate increase.
Video Content
Most websites rely on written content and image visuals to do the trick. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s still important to incorporate some Video content into the mix. The reason why Video content works so well is that it captures attention, increasing the user’s dwell time on the website.
In technical terms, dwell-time is incredibly important for both SEO and conversion. The more time they spend on your website, the more likely they are to buy your products. Video content can be utilized for better SEO but it also helps turn warm leads into customers.
Landing Page Message
Here’s the thing: you can do everything in your power to improve your SEO/CRO, but it won’t matter unless your ‘message’ matches it.
The landing page is what makes your website convert, which is why you must make sure it matches the overall message of your brand. When thinking about your SEO strategy, make sure it fits into the landing page copy and your leads will always turn into customers.
Local SEO
If you have a business that operates locally then you need to pay particular attention to local SEO. In general, most local businesses will see far more benefits from local SEO than anything else since it leads to pretty much direct customers. Although it has a smaller scope, local SEO converts like crazy which is why it is so important.
Optimize your website for local searches and make sure you sign up for Google My Business. If you have multiple locations or you really want to go in-depth with this, you can utilize a VPN service to snoop on your competitors or find out how local search works in other locations.
Long-tail Keywords
Internet users often use very specific search queries. Someone looking to feed their pet might search for ‘pet food’ but it is far more likely that they will search for something like ‘organic cat food Philadelphia’. That’s why it’s important to incorporate and optimize as many long-tail keywords as possible into your website.
Long-tail keywords are connected to basic keywords like ‘pet food’, except they also contain a few specific words. These keywords will have a huge impact on your SEO as well as your conversion rate thanks to the specific input. Leads that follow specific long-tail keywords are way more likely to become customers. There are many tools you can use to find long-tail keywords for your website, such as ahrefs and Google’s keyword planner.
Dynamic Content
Both SEO and CRO have the ultimate goal of improving the user experience. Tailoring the online experience of your users to best meet their needs can be done using dynamic content. Dynamic content is the latest development in SEO that aims to personalize the website’s content to each individual user.
There are multiple ways to utilize dynamic content for your website. Usually, these methods are based on geography or geo-targeting. For example, your standard website would show additional content to US visitors that are visiting during holidays such as Thanksgiving. This kind of content has a tremendous conversion rate and it also positively impacts your SEO.
Integrated CRM software such as HubSpot comes with a built-in dynamic functionality but feel free to browse around for more tools that can help you to install dynamic content on your website.
High-quality Links
We all know how important backlinks are to our SEO metrics. Our website needs links pointing to it in order to thrive, but you must focus on quality over quantity. Having a lot of backlinks is great, but it doesn’t necessarily turn leads into customers. Your conversion rate can be improved with high-quality links from trusted sources.
You see, users are way more likely to turn into customers when they follow up on high-quality links from trusted websites. One high-quality piece of content at the right place can have an enormous impact on your SEO and conversion. Quality matters and the customers agree.
SEO A/B Testing
Search Engine Optimization is still widely unexplored, hiding behind Google’s secret algorithms. Even though we know what the best practices are, we can never be 100% sure that some methods will work. That’s why it’s important to test your SEO strategy using simple A/B tests. If you’re unsure whether one thing will work better than another, you can always implement an A/B test and wait for the results.
A/B testing is rather unpopular in the SEO world, but it can be a useful method in determining what SEO strategy works the best for converting leads into customers.
Incorporate Social Media
You might be surprised to find social media on this list, but social can be a powerful tool for both SEO and conversion. Using social channels to drive traffic to your website will have a positive impact on your metrics. Having an established social page also helps because users love to buy from brands that they follow.
Most of the website content can be repurposed for social media, which can lead to turning leads into potential customers. If you have a well-detailed content strategy, you might as well add social media into the mix for the best results.
All of these SEO methods will help you to turn leads into customers so feel free to give it a shot. You should try them all, and although it requires some effort, it will be well worth it in the end. Give it a shot and see what happens.