Modern SEO – Google Wants You to Think Lead Generation and Conversion

Google’s algorithm changes go a long way in levelling the competitive playing ground after organizations with the right technical expertise (in-house or purchased) dominated search engine results with code tweaks and keyword stuffing.

Although technical expertise still matters a lot, getting your SEO right today requires finer content production skills than ever. You may have been told many times how you need to create high-quality content and meet visitor needs, but just how do you go about that?

Think lead generation and conversion

One mistake businesses make with SEO is viewing it as an effort targeting Google. The recent algorithm changes make it clear, however, that Google is itself targeting users. Creating fresh, original, quality content and meeting visitor needs ideally result in:

• Attracting visitors
• Reducing bounce rates
• Encouraging click-through
• Increasing the chances of return visits.

And, these form the core of Google’s modern SEO campaign.

To achieve these, you must satisfy the needs of your visitors at each stage of purchase which is basically lead generation and conversion.

The stages are:

• Awareness: This is where a potential customer realizes the existence of a problem and looks to understand that full nature of the problem, and possible ways to solve the problem.

Tip: At this stage, you will need to create high-quality, educative but brief posts and infographics to provide the right kind of information to the visitor.

• Research: The user at this stage requires extensive information on the various solutions available for their problem, the value they can get from each solution, and how the solutions can best meet their considerations.

Tip: Create extensive, up-to-date, and original content that demonstrate your expertise on the subject. Whitepapers, journals and research publications are all great options here.

Be objective. Make it less about you and more about the problem at hand, and the possible solutions available. Professional services firms KPMG and PWC truly set the pace here.

• Decision on solution: This is where the buyer has decided on a particular solution or product but not on the vendor. The potential customer is comparing solution providers and what they offer.

Tip: Understand the nature, needs and considerations of the potential customers in your niche and create content that show you are the best option. Practical proof through testimonials, reviews and case studies are vital here.

• Decision to buy: Make the buying process simple and fast with your landing page.

By doing these effectively, you will have met visitor needs, established yourself as an authority, reduced bounce rates, encouraged click-through, encouraged return visits and referrals, and bolstered customer loyalty.

This requires great copywriting and content marketing skills. If you don’t have a quality in-house writing team, you can always outsource. There are a few excellent content productions out there; big players like Daily Posts use a large, worldwide network to deliver great copy for different industries and localities.

SEO and business objectives are more closely tied today than ever. When you focus on serving your customers at each stage of purchase, you will have met most of the significant requirements of modern SEO with little fuss.