by Kristen Dahlberg BLOG optimization is an important part of website positioning. Content shared on your blog has numerous ways of ...
by Kristen Dahlberg
BLOG optimization is an important part of website positioning. Content shared on your blog has numerous ways of reaching online users, regardless if it’s through social media, email campaigns, social bookmarking, or otherwise.
It is tremendously important to optimize posts and maximize lead generation through this channel. In fact, the reach of your content may be even greater than the reach of your website’s homepage, which has traditionally been a place to engage and convert visitors into customers.
So, lets talk about how to do so.
Understand the lead generation process
The first part of learning how to optimize your blog is really understanding the lead generation process, which begins with a user visiting your page. As the visitor is reading or skimming the content they should notice a CTA (call-to-action). After clicking the CTA, they will be taken to a landing page or an opt-in form. Upon form submission, the visitor officially becomes a lead, meaning you’ve successfully gained a subscriber!
Easy right? Well, there’s more to it than that – as there are many things to consider and planning that needs to take place in order to have the process work.
Think about CTAs
The purpose of Call-To-Actions vary, as some blogs might encourage visitors to download an e-book, sign up for a course, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.
What all CTAs have in common is the intention to maximize the number of CTA clicks in relation to the overall number of page visits. To achieve this with a blog, there are a some things to remember:
- Frequency – Add CTAs into every post
- Positioning – Make sure CTAs are in a prominent place, near the beginning or end of the article.
- Functionality – Make sure CTAs are clickable on all devices. Keep in mind that the number of mobile users is overtaking desktop usage & optimize for mobile accordingly
- Design – Effective CTAs are eye-catching. Add a background color, use an appealing font or include an image to make this actionable step stand out from the rest of your article.
Optimize each blog post
Keeping your blog active by regularly publishing content is a great way to maintain a successful online strategy. That said, in terms of traffic, posting valuable content just isn’t enough to get visitors.
What you really need to think about – and be prepared for – is that online users will find you in a variety of ways. Visitors may reach your website through blog articles that have been shared on social media, or indexed posts shown in search engine results. This type of navigation would bypass the main pages of your site, and bring a viewer directly to a specific blog post.
Now, you may be wondering – what’s the harm in that? Well, what happens if someone visits your site directly through a link to a blog post, and you have not integrated a CTA?
Without an actionable step that directs a reader elsewhere on your site and captures their info – whether it is directly to your opt-in, or to another type of CTA within that individual post – you just lost a potential lead!
To avoid this, each post should be designed to leverage the lead generation potential you can achieve through blogging. Be sure that every visitor sees your CTA, thus increasing the percentage of those who will actually click on it AND take action.
Don’t underestimate text links
Besides prominently featured CTA buttons, text links are also an effective way to encourage clicks and visits to an opt-in or landing page. Not only does this strategy help with optimization of the post for visitors, it is also a good strategy when it comes to search engines.
Since text links are different from CTAs, some users might be more inclined to click on those links instead. Once you have them clicking: keep them engaged for continued clicks, which is when an opt-in CTA can really become effective.
That said, a text link strategy isn’t something to circumvent. Rather, it’s an addition to the process of optimizing your blog. Ultimately, all of this results in greater exposure of your opt-in, and therefore increases lead generation potential.
Test and adjust
While the recommended practices here important to know – and use – when optimizing blog content, you have to understand that each blog is different, in terms of content, topic, audience, and more. Accordingly, strategies should be planned based on what works for your specific blog.
Test these blog optimization tactics to determine what helps maximize lead acquisition. Try variations to see what resonates and adjust based on the results. Try placing CTAs after a first paragraph instead of at the end. Switch out an image, change the font or alter the wording just a bit. Using different approaches helps you compare what works best for your blog.
Once you find that winning strategy – the one that gets the maximum number of leads – keep track of your performance. If you find that interest wanes, and your strategy isn’t achieving the lead generation results you desire: test and adjust again.
Run WITH it
Take these recommendations, implement the version that works for you and keep it up. But, remember: with lead generation you have to be involved. You can’t just create and post content, and then expect everything to run its course. Lead generation simply doesn’t work like that. Make sure you leverage the lead generation potential of your blog through effective CTAs and strategic actionable steps.
Keep in mind that a successful marketing plan involves a journey with many steps. Capture the attention of your visitors, then, establish trust and offer clear value to convert visitors to leads. Remain active and view this process as an ongoing strategy to optimize not only your blog for lead generation, but also optimize your entire business for success.
Over to you: Have you ever tried using CTAs in your own blog to generate more leads? What have you found works best for your own personal lead generation strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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