Savvy inbound marketers know the value of SEO for lead generation. This comes with the importance of aligning your customers’ needs with responsive design that’s optimised for usage to improve your visibility, drive traffic, and get the desired results.
For inbound marketers especially, websites should offer more than just a profile of your company and a few relevant blogs with eye-catching images – it should encapsulate your entire marketing strategy. Search engine rankings may change, but if you are posting quality content to the right people and at the right time, it will drive a steady stream of traffic to your pages.
If your website is not generating quality leads, it’s time to get back to the drawing board to ensure it’s up to SEO-friendly speed. This checklist will help you determine whether you’re meeting requirements and staying on track – or if you need to call in expert help.
Does it have a clear value proposition?Can a visitor, at a glance, understand your key message? Can they see what your company does and the service it provides? Content on an inbound website is designed for converting traffic to leads – but your message is lost if it has no defined target. Define your buyer personas and target markets, then ensure that the content you create targets them by focusing on their needs.
Is it optimised for specific keywords?
The more unique content you have, the more likely search engines will rank your website’s pages highly in the search index. But the quality of that content will determine whether visitors will stay to browse. Understanding the search intent of your keywords is, literally, the key to your success here. Blogs are the ideal medium to deliver fresh, compelling content on a regular basis. Boost your site and posts with relevant keywords, link-building with others, and creating backlinks with content that is easily sharable on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.
Do you have Content-Specific CTAs?
A call to action (CTA) can take many forms, from offers of free educational content such as eBooks, white papers, podcasts (the list is endless) – in exchange for some personal information. It’s an essential component of inbound marketing, as it boosts lead generation and allows marketers to guide interested leads through the buyer’s journey on your site. But it will only deliver the results you want if your offers are directed at specific targets. Make sure each page on your site has a CTA directly related to the content on that page, or your visitor will get lost – and you’ll miss out on many lead conversion opportunities.
Are your pages focused on your personas’ pain points?
Marketers define the various steps and personas in the buying cycles as: Learners at the top of the funnel (awareness stage), Shoppers in the middle (consideration stage), and Buyers at the bottom (decision stage). Inbound marketing relies on core content that takes a lead from top of funnel to bottom of funnel, with content aimed at meeting every need at every buyer stage. In other words: context is as important as content. Address your persona’s pain points by ensuring that your SEO meets their needs; it’s a great way to nurture prospects and convert leads with your various CTA tools.
Is your website performance being tracked?
Optimising your site to generate leads will get you nowhere if you don’t nurture the leads you get, and monitor your results. Various SEO tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help you learn more about visitors to your site and see which keywords are driving traffic, and which ones are leading to sales.
Is your user experience (UX) foolproof and responsive to mobile devices and tablet devices?
Navigation should not only be painless – it should be a pleasure. Uncluttered landing pages, clear menus, footer links to additional content, and anchor text within your content can all add to the user experience and drive them deeper into your site. Keep them there by ensuring that your site is responsive to the various screen sizes of desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. This is critical, as studies show that one in four Google searches is on a mobile device – and tablet users spend 50% more money than smartphone users.
Your website should be your most powerful marketing tool. For more information on Inbound Marketing and lead generation, download our guide
