Strategies for Improving Organic Traffic Conversion

Successfully drawing quality traffic to your website and associated platforms is indeed a commendable achievement in the world of SEO. Take a moment to acknowledge your proficiency in areas like keyword research, metadata, and UX that contributed to boosting those traffic figures!

However, it's time to shift gears from celebration to evaluation. The critical question now is: How much of that traffic is actually translating into conversions?

Unlike other digital marketers, SEOs can't solely focus on transactional keywords or rely solely on landing pages geared toward direct responses. A substantial portion of the content we generate or optimize revolves around education and awareness—think opinion pieces, guides, and instructional blog posts. Consequently, conversion rates often trail behind those of paid traffic sources.

Yet, this isn't a justification for accepting subpar numbers. Savvy brands (or clients, for those in agency roles) will challenge you to improve your conversion rates. For astute SEOs, this challenge is an opportunity to implement the following nine strategies and drive more meaningful results. In this digital marketing blog article, we will explore strategies for improving organic traffic conversion.

Experiment with various in-content CTAs

Diversify your options, whether it's a landing page delving into product or service details or a blog post covering a secondary topic. Test different factors such as language, design, placement, and style. For instance, try embedding text-based CTAs near the top of a blog post, placing image-based CTAs midway, or incorporating button CTAs at various points in your content. Establish a clear testing strategy and determine what proves most effective in driving actual acquisition.

Explore different offers

You don't have to opt for a hard sell, although that's an option worth exploring. For example, consider offering alerts for price drops with sign-ups on a product page. Alternatively, a softer lead magnet or giveaway can attract numerous email addresses. Experiment with giveaways like newsletters, event guides, etc., especially those relevant to the content on the page.

Align CTAs with content

Linking CTAs directly to the content can be highly effective. For instance, if a user lands on a blog article related to product A, create a CTA specific to that product (e.g., "Register to receive the 2024 buyer's guide for {product category}").

Experiment with out-of-content CTAs

While in-line CTAs can be effective, it's beneficial to test placements beyond the content itself, such as the sidebar, top-nav drop-down, top-of-page banner, or take-over. An essential consideration here is to monitor both the conversion rate and bounce rate. If there's minimal improvement in the former at the expense of the latter, don't hesitate to conclude the test early and proceed to the next one.

Prolong the content journey

Especially for educational content, it can be more impactful to encourage visitors to explore other sections of the site before requesting any information. If your content marks the beginning of the buyer's journey, guide users to mid- or lower-funnel pieces before seeking any input. If users naturally progress down the funnel, it's a positive indicator that they're more inclined to provide information. For top-of-funnel content, consider creating maps of related content, reaching a couple of steps deep, to gently guide users towards taking action.

Foster engagement prior to the conversion event

Engage and warm up users by providing avenues for interaction, fostering a sense of investment in your product or service. This engagement can significantly impact future acquisition activity. Surveys prove to be effective tools in this regard, offering a quick transition from "interested in seeing the survey results? Drop your email here" if the survey collects valuable data and insights.

Use heatmaps

Harness the power of heatmapping tools like Hotjar and FullStory to gain valuable insights into how your traffic interacts with the site beyond the primary content. Identify key engagement areas on your homepage, navigation, service pages, top blogs, etc., and ensure users have opportunities to convert.

Apply insights from your higher-converting content

Delve into Google Analytics to pinpoint posts or properties with relatively low traffic but high conversion rates. Analyze what these pages offer that leads to conversions—whether it's the language, product information, or CTA type—and consider implementing similar elements on more popular pages. As a bonus, explore ways to further optimize your high-converting pages to increase both traffic and conversions.

Conduct qualitative research

Collecting anecdotal insights from current and loyal users can offer valuable perspectives. Pose questions to uncover the elements that capture their attention, the product attributes that resonate most, and the offers that would motivate them to sign up. This qualitative approach provides unique ideas for testing that may not be apparent in rows of data.

Enhancing your website's conversion rates

I have extensively discussed with Enterprise SEO Expert the importance of measuring SEO efforts in terms of business impact, moving beyond mere keyword ranking, impressions, and clicks. If you've successfully attracted substantial traffic to your owned properties, you've laid a solid foundation for positioning SEO as a significant growth driver. However, it's crucial to remember that the purpose of building a base is to continually expand.

Implementing the strategies outlined above will amplify SEO's impact throughout the funnel, aligning with the ultimate goal. Elevating the pipeline or securing revenue gains directly linked to SEO is a powerful method to establish your team's reputation as a growth resource within the broader organization.

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