- Alexander Belsey
Search Engine Optimisation and Conversion Rate Optimisation - The Perfect Partners
Something I mention to everyone I work with, is that fact that getting more people to their website through search engine optimisation is only a means to an end, not the end in itself.
Many business owners tend to get excited when they think of the concept of SEO; 'Wow!' they say, 'You mean I can get all these people to my website for free, every month, just by ranking near the top of Google? Awesome!'
And indeed, this is awesome, but let's just take a second to remember what the end goal of their online marketing campaigns must be; to generate more sales leads and customers.
Therefore, search engine optimisation is merely the first step in the process, and the next step is getting as many people as possible to convert into sales leads and customers, once they are on your website.
This process is called Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).
CRO can be seen as a set of best practices which will maximise the number of leads a website generates. Whenever I analyse a website, these best practices are always something I look out for, because if they are not present, then the website will be missing out on a number of major opportunities to get as much value from it's audience as it possibly can.
Specifically, some of the things I look for include:
Does the website have the company phone number and email address in a fixed header, which is shown on every page of the website, so potential customers always have these contact details available if they want to get in touch?
Is the company email address an @companydomain.com email address, which builds trust and conveys professionalism, or a generic @gmail/@hotmail etc. one, which doesn't?
Are there quick contact forms displayed throughout the content on every page of the website, so visitors always have the chance to email the company straight from the website and thereby become a sales lead?
Does the button text of these quick contact forms read something other than 'Submit', which is a phrase known to decrease the number of conversions generated by the form?
Does the website utilise testimonials, social proof, accreditation badges and details of any awards won, to build trust in the business?
Does the website have 'About Us', 'Our History' or 'Meet the Team' pages on it, to build trust and rapport with the audience?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, then there is work to be done!
By making some the changes suggested above, I can usually increase quite dramatically the number of sales leads and customers that a client's website generates, and by following these same principles, you should be able to achieve similar results for yourself too.
Also, if you want some help with this, do feel free to get in touch, as I offer a free, no-obligation consultation to everyone who contacts me.
Phone: 07534 360926
