How does SEO lead to sales? It’s a common question that often crops up during discussions of search engine optimization.
Let me first say there are many ways SEO leads to sales; it all depends on your company and how you use it. We will look at some of these methods in this article.
We know about search engines because they send more traffic than any other medium, including Google AdWords, Facebook, and social media combined; it’s also bang time for the customer looking for exactly what your business provides. So why aren’t more companies using the system to bring in sales?
We all know that SEO is a long-term game and requires some investment to get started with. The cash might be better spent elsewhere in the short term, though, so we need to see how the traffic you generate can be converted into leads and sales. In this post, I will cover 16 ways to use SEO as a tool for your business. So now let’s have a look at those ways…
1) Long Term Branding
One of the most significant advantages for small businesses using search engine optimisation for their company is building a brand from the outset, which many larger companies find hard to do (and much more expensive once they start). Building a brand is also cheaper and more accessible than it has ever been. The payoff can be huge if you keep at it.
So how does this work? Firstly, your SEO will help your site become number 1 or 2 in Google for keywords relevant to your business… soon, people are calling you by name rather than the company name, so you’re known as John’s plumber, not Just plumbing, Joseph’s mobile phone repairs, not just any old mobile repair shop.
You can use these key terms on all of your websites and off-site content, such as article sites that provide backlinks. This helps build up trust and authority with search engines over time and brings in more traffic and higher rankings for your site. In addition, this allows you to build a strong brand that can help customers recognize your business by name.
As more and more people come to your site using search engines, you can capture their details, start getting leads, and keep them coming back based on quality content they will find nowhere else. Of course, ensure you regularly update the content on your site, too (which should be part of an SEO campaign anyway). All this adds up to more sales over time.
2) Targeting Keyword Phrases that lead to sales
The second way that SEO can bring in sales is by targeting specific keyword phrases relevant to what your business offers. At first, this may seem strange but bear with me as I will explain how this is a great way to expand your business.
The keyword phrases you choose need to be related but different, they all need to be relevant, but they all need to have their volume and competition level. The trick with these is that each one needs to be worth pursuing individually, not just as filler content on your site or blog.
You can use the following types of keywords (in varying levels of competitive difficulty) if you are in any of these industries:
– Sales – Accountant – Dentist – Plumber – An insurance company – Graphic designer – Freelance writer/editor – Bar/restaurant owner, etc.…
It’s easy for people looking for plumbers in a town or city in the surrounding areas (10-50 K.M.) to find you, but what about the other surrounding towns and cities? What if your services are also in demand further away. You could go national or even international. Let’s look at these areas in more detail:
- Local Keyword Phrases – Find out the relevant keywords/phrases for your business and make sure that content is on your website and off-site (make a plan for this). Make sure each keyword phrase has links to pages and posts on your website with unique content related directly to that keyword, do not rehash old posts.
- National Keyword Phrases – Once you have started building up trust locally, it’s time to move on to targeting nationwide searches. Do this by adding content relevant to national searches that you are able to rank for (don’t do a full website revamp just yet).
- International Keyword Phrases – Now expand your business internationally even further than before, start adding content and links on other websites. You will now have the money and time to really get the word out about your business, something which is difficult and/or expensive for smaller companies.
Here’s how Amazon does it:
Amazon has millions of customer on their site every day looking for things they want. The key is making sure that when people search for a product or service, there is an advert displayed instantly from Google showing them exactly what they’re looking for and leading directly to the site where the product is for sale. This creates a massive amount of sales for amazon just from people who are looking at something they want, which can then be fulfilled on delivery.
I’m sure you think that you could never do this, but with a little thought outside of the box, I’m sure it’s possible to get your business up and running, earning money almost instantly (and remember – we’re not just talking about one measly sale per day/week, etc. here) but potentially millions every year. Just think how often you click ads when browsing online or how many products would have caught your eye if they were in an advert. If only there was some way to show them relevant content that was related directly to what someone was looking for – and then show them directly to the website where that product was for sale…
4) Expanding Your S.E.O. Efforts
If you have been able to achieve what I have described above, then your business is really starting to expand, and hopefully earning consistent sales every day/week/month, etc… it’s important now that you continue adding content related to the keywords for which you are ranking. What this achieves is a solid foundation, something which can then be built upon easily as more time and money becomes available.
Your company can now grow consistently through word-of-mouth recommendations or even social media shares (if possible), all because of the work you put in at the early stages.
5) Building an Authority Website
Before moving onto other areas of SEO, remember that webpages will need to be updated regularly and links added to relevant pages.
The best time to do this is when you are targeting new keywords, it costs no extra money or time, and once done, and the links will begin working for all other relevant keywords as well. These will be the driving force behind more organic traffic coming to your site (which already has a solid foundation at this point), which will then lead to sales. SEO lead to Sales
6) Ranking for Other Longtail Keyword Phrases
It’s time now for you to really start pushing those rankings into top positions for other long-tail keyword phrases related directly to your business. This can be done in a similar way to how we have been doing things so far, by updating content on your website with more information about people’s searches, etc. However, at the same time, you should be actively building links to your website with relevant anchor text.
7) Expand and Profit
You are now an authority in your field, a true leader who has taken their business from just an idea to a full-fledged marketing machine that is bringing in tens of thousands (if not millions) every year through online sales. With all of this extra money/time that you have earned, it’s time now for you to move on to other aspects of SEO, such as local targeting, or migration onto better hosting providers, or even creating an authority site within another niche that will draw regular organic traffic back to your main site.
8) Keep Growing
Now that you have a strong foundation of information and experience within SEO, it’s time to expand your reach even further so that you are constantly building up an online presence and using this presence to bring in more customers.
9) Expand Into Social Media
Use your business Facebook page or Twitter account along with any other relevant social media accounts to promote each new piece of content, such as a blog post or sale leading people back to the authority site which has been working for you for the past X months (or years). Although these might seem like small pieces of work, they can all add up if done regularly, eventually bringing in hundreds every day/week/month, etc… Using social media will help SEO lead to Sales
10) Provide Top Quality Content
It’s really important at this point that you remember to keep providing top-quality content on all of your social media accounts, blog posts pages, etc… Remember, SEO lead to Sales. People are not just following/liking because they want to be salesmen for your company. They are doing this because they enjoy the content that is being provided. Therefore regularly publishing new interesting pieces on a consistent basis will keep people coming back and engaging with you (and, by extension, engaging with any offers which come up). It’s important at this point to also be building links from authority websites.
11) It’s Not Over Yet
Your business has now taken off and is making loads of money every day, but remember, SEO is an ongoing process. There will always be new things happening in your business, new updates to website content, etc… So you must be proactive in making sure that these changes are reflected in SEO.
12) Refine and Update
It’s time now for you to sit down and look at everything you have done to date, learning from any mistakes made along the way. Then begin refining everything which has been done so far with an eye towards constant improvements, such as refining keywords being targeted or changing out old links for newer, more authoritative links, which will help your business grow even further.
13) Don’t Stop Growing SEO leads
There is always something left to do online, always another opportunity for growth within a niche, and it’s important not to simply stop at one point then move on (or even worse, quit). Remember to always be thinking of new opportunities for your business and ways in which you can make them a reality.
14) Stay In The Game
SEO will change rapidly over the next few months/years as Google continues to change the way that they rank websites, so it’s important to stay up to date with these changes. Similarly, social media platforms will come and go or change their algorithms, so it’s important at this point to not only keep marketing but also have contingency plans ready in case a platform like Facebook suddenly decides one day that they don’t want your posts being shared anymore.
15) Maintain Some Affiliates
You have now built an online following through organic traffic, social media & external links leading people back towards your main site, so you need to keep feeding that following, ensuring that the money keeps coming in. Even though things may still be going well at this point it’s important not to rest on your laurels, but rather constantly strive to stay fresh and relevant in the eyes of your online audience.
16) Be Bold: SEO lead to Sales
Finally, don’t waste time trying to sit behind a computer and monopolise all information about a topic or niche. Remember that Google isn’t truly rating websites based purely on content quality these days (although it is still an important factor ). Instead, they are looking for authority sites that appear authoritative by providing up-to-date information across multiple platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, etc… So there is no reason why you can’t create a YouTube channel, a Facebook page for your business, and a Twitter account which you use to share interesting news or articles with your audience. I’ve done all of these things in the past and have seen they can add quite a lot of traffic to your main site over time (if used correctly).
However you spend your time, remember this – you are now a true SEO expert, so get out there and teach others what you have learned!
Some Other Helpful SEO lead to sales Tips:
- It’s vital to note that the work is not limited to just one page initially, but be sure to also take in other pages on your site. These will help build up an authority/ranking profile online, which can then be used as an anchor for even more links from external sites.
- When building links, it’s important to do it appropriately… if possible, try to avoid using automated tools or those that break any of Google’s rules, etc. For a start, this often causes negative results (no rankings), and secondly, many people learn from such mistakes when spammy or fake links are used.
- Content should be updated regularly but do not try to make it too long-winded… visitors usually want to get straight to the important details and will have a short attention span, so it’s best if you can give them this.
I hope that was helpful, I would love feedback on my blog: SEO lead to Sales