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When the internet first launched, people bookmarked their favorite blogs and visited sometimes daily, hoping for new posts. Today, things are much different. Content marketing isn’t dead, but most blogs are only read by search engine crawlers and lightly skimmed by people when they discover them in the search results. It’s rare for a blog to develop an authentic, dedicated readership that goes out of their way to read it.
Although it sounds bleak, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Companies with blogs still generate 67% more leads than those that don’t, and leveraging traffic with smart tactics can turn passive readers and skimmers into paying customers. Let’s explore how you can transform your blog into a lead generating powerhouse.
Getting the right eyes on your blog starts with knowing your ideal target market. If you’re writing vague, general content, even if it ranks, don’t be surprised when nobody clicks. To attract qualified traffic and generate real leads, you need to write with intention. That means defining your audience beyond just basic demographics.
What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night? Where do they hang out online, and what type of content do they trust? The more specific you get, the more your content will feel like it was written just for them, and that’s how you generate leads.
· Define detailed personas. Also known as your “avatar,” develop a detailed profile of your ideal buyer that includes their pain points, where they spend time online, and their top objections. Use this to shape your blog posts to speak directly to your ideal market.
· Leverage search intent. Write your blog articles so they match intent with purpose. For example, if the content is informational/educational, target phrases that speak to people who are still researching the topic. For articles designed to generate sales, use keywords and phrases that indicate buying intent.
· Identify existing visitors. Find out who’s already visiting your site and start tailoring your content to those people. For example, you might need to start writing deeper, strategic posts to reach an audience of executives and decision makers.
Remember that not every visitor is worth chasing down. Don’t use your blog to talk to everyone. Focus on attracting people who are most likely to convert. You’ll waste less time and see better ROI.
When building out a lead gen funnel, most business owners create blog content that only speaks to people in one funnel stage – usually the awareness stage. This is a mistake. If your blog only helps people “learn more,” but never gives them a reason to trust, choose, or contact you, you’re leaving money on the table.
According to statistics, 96% of website visitors aren’t ready to buy, and that means they need to be convinced. To generate leads from people who aren’t ready to pull out their credit card, you need blog content that speaks to people at every stage of the customer journey. This helps move potential customers from just curious and browsing to ready to buy.
Here’s a breakdown of how this would look for a roofing company blog:
The awareness stage is where people don’t know they need your product or service or that your company even exists. This is where educational content shines.
Example blog post title:
“How to Know If Your Roof Needs Repairs Before It’s Too Late"
This article would answer common questions homeowners have about problems with their roof, will rank well in the search engines, and introduce people to your brand without sounding like a sales pitch.
The consideration stage is where people know they need a solution and are comparing their options. Your goal here is to build trust and prove your value.
Example blog post title:
“Shingle vs. Metal Roofing: What’s Better for Storm Protection?”
This article would help readers weight the pros and cons of both roofing systems while positioning your company as expert roofers.
The decision stage is where people are ready to buy and all they need is a gentle nudge. This is where testimonials, pricing breakdowns, and guarantees have the most influence.
Example blog post title:
“Why Homeowners in [City] Choose [Your Company] for Roof Replacements (5-Star Reviews Inside)”
This article would build urgency and use social proof to influence the reader to contact you for a free roof inspection (or whatever your offer is).
When you create a blogging strategy that covers all the funnel stages, you end up with a content ecosystem that educates and converts. Whether someone is just starting to learn the basics or is ready to buy, they’ll find relevant content and many will keep moving through your funnel.
The more pages you get indexed in the search engines, the more “nets” you have in the sea of search results to capture leads. According to lead gen statistics, blogging can help you get 434% more pages indexed in search engines. That’s a big deal. But you can’t just focus on search engine optimization and call it a day.
To be effective, your blog posts must satisfy both Google and human readers. Sure, a lot of blog content only serves to rank your site in the search engines, but that content also can get selected for use in Google AI Overviews, and content that ranks will usually get clicks. That means at some point, humans will be reading your content (at least to a degree). If you want to capture leads from those views, here’s how:
· Use semantically-related keywords. Write your blog content around topics with semantically-related keywords. This creates depth and tells Google your content is high-quality. For instance, if you’re a roofer, don’t just discuss “roof repair.” Include other terms like roof inspection, emergency roof repair, roof leak detection, roof coating, etc. Then create internal links to other blog posts that cover those topics more directly.
· Write content for “People Also Ask” (PAA) boxes. You have a better chance at getting featured in Google’s PAA boxes when your blog content answers specific questions. For instance, create a heading in the form of a question and then answer it with a concise paragraph or two.
· Structure content for use in AI Overviews. Content Google considers to be authoritative, credible, and accurate will be used to create AI Overviews. Well-organized content using schema markup appears to be helping even more.
· Use technical best practices. Ensure your pages load fast by optimizing image size and testing mobile responsiveness.
When creating new blog content, keep in mind that Google won’t necessarily index every post you publish. Even if it gets indexed today, it may get dropped at a later time. Google chooses what it considers the best content to index and drops what it considers low-quality pages. With that said, focus first on creating high-quality, authoritative content to maximize the odds of your blog posts staying indexed.
You’ll get better results with calls to action (CTAs) that flow naturally, but don’t be afraid to be direct and tell users to call, click, or buy now. But instead of just inserting your CTA at the end of your content, weave it into the middle of the article naturally where appropriate. For example, you might talk about solutions and then say “Download our free guide” with a link to the download page.
Your CTAs will be more effective when users actually see them, and that’s where pop-ups come into play. In addition to a normal pop-up delivered a few seconds after visiting your page, use exit-intent pop-ups to capture people who might be navigating away from your website. Make sure you tailor your offer with a sweeter deal for people who are about to bounce.
Hopefully, you’re already using lead magnets to capture email addresses and build your list. If not, it’s time to get started with this highly effective strategy. Lead magnets have been around forever, and in 2025, they still work. In fact, 50% of marketers say their lead magnets contribute to higher conversion rates.
Lead magnets, when done right, provide users with a reason to do business with you, whether it’s educating them with a whitepaper that also positions you as an expert, or offering something of value for free.
To build an effective lead magnet, you need to know your market well enough to build an offer they can’t refuse. When you finally figure out what your market wants, you can offer it in a pop-up or on your website that gets seen before any of your content. If your offer is truly irresistible, visitors will sign up for your email list to get your offer.
Some of the best lead magnets include:
· Ebooks and whitepapers. Deep dives do exceptionally well, but keep these materials gated so users must sign up for your email list for access.
· Templates and checklists. Actionable, quick-win downloads like templates and checklists make great lead magnets. And when they’re sharable, your leads can multiply.
· Quizzes and assessments. People love learning something new by taking quizzes, even if it’s not official or accurate. Quizzes are engaging and will hold most people’s attention as long as they’re not too long. For example, a PPC company looking to attract clients might have a quiz that asks “Is your PPC manager doubling budgets?”
When you include lead magnets on your blog post pages, either within the content or on the sidebar for desktop, you’ll start generating more leads. Even if people aren’t reading your blog posts in full, many will glance around and if you can capture their attention, you’ll get leads.
Capturing email addresses is just the first step. Once you start generating leads from your blog, you’ll need to nurture them until they convert. That’s where email marketing automation comes in. Generally speaking, you’ll need an email sequence that automatically drip feeds your list with emails on a pre-determined schedule. Each of these emails should aim to educate, build trust, and invite them to contact you or check out your products and services.
A good portion of your leads may not read your blog, but if your emails are helpful and engaging, you’ll get more opens and click throughs that lead to sales.
Most blogs are boring. Don’t publish boring content just to check a task off your list. Put some time and effort into creating high-quality video content. According to statistics, 58% of B2B marketers say video content is the most effective way to generate leads. If you’re going to publish blog articles, don’t let that real estate go to waste. Put a relevant video at the top that encourages people to sign up for your email list.
People are more likely to watch your video than read your article. When both text and video are present, it works for search engines and human users.
Organic traffic might skim your blog and bounce, but paid ads are more targeted and have a better chance at generating hot leads for your business. With pay-per-click (PPC) ads, you can bid on high-intent keywords and send users directly to your gated lead magnet offers. Or, you can run paid ads to blog posts aimed at people at the top of your funnel. It all depends on your marketing goals.
Ultimately, the blogs that get relevant traffic and generate leads from a loyal readership are the ones that have unique and helpful content. If your blog looks like every other blog in your industry, it’s time to change that. Take some time to figure out how you can dominate your niche and position yourself as an expert to not only rank your blog posts in Google, but to capture the attention of loyal readers who want more of your content.
Ready to start generating revenue from your blog? At Marketer.co, we specialize in turning blog traffic into real revenue with high-converting content, compelling CTAs, and automated email strategies that nurture leads while you sleep. Whether you’re starting from scratch or ready to scale, we’ll help you transform your blog into the lead generating machine it was always meant to be. Reach out to our team today – its time to start capturing the conversions you’ve been missing.
You’ve probably heard people talking about “funnels” like they’re the magic solution to fix your business overnight.
“Just build a funnel.”
“Funnels are how you scale.”
“Funnels generate revenue while you sleep.”
Sure, these statements are true in theory, but if you’ve ever tried building a funnel yourself, you know it’s not that simple. Anyone can set up a lead generation funnel, but actually generating leads takes real strategy.
Although 96% of visitors aren’t ready to make a purchase when they first land on a website, a big percentage are willing to give you their contact information if you have a great offer. But how do you create an offer people actually want? How do you build a lead generation funnel that converts?
Whether you’ve felt too overwhelmed to start, or you’ve built a funnel that just isn’t converting, this guide will explain how it’s done.
You need leads coming through your website every day, otherwise your business will flatline. While you can certainly generate leads from a variety of sources, around 50% of marketers say that web forms convert the most leads. If you don’t have a lead gen funnel, you’re missing out.
There are two main ways to get leads:
· Offer something free. Free offers include access to white papers, case studies, templates, cheat sheets, demos, PDF guides, ebooks, etc. You’ll get more leads this way, but most will be cold, just curious, or looking for freebies. You’ll need to warm them up with a solid email sequence that builds trust, solves micro-problems, and creates a desire to buy.
· Offer a low-ticket product ($10-$50). These are low-cost digital products or physical items. You won’t get as many leads as you would with a freebie, but the ones you’ll get will be far more valuable. They’ve already paid something so they’ve proven they’re willing to spend money, and these leads tend to be more targeted.
Both types of leads are valuable; it just takes more time to warm up the first group.
With this in mind, here’s how to build a high-converting lead generation funnel in five steps:
An effective lead gen funnel speaks directly to the intended market. A highly targeted message will make people take your offer without hesitation. In fact, companies that utilize detailed buyer personas see a 56% increase in high-quality leads and a 73% boost in conversions.
Think about your market. What do they want? What are they afraid of? What keeps them up at night? How does your offer solve their problems?
A well-defined target audience ensures your messaging resonates and your offer appeals to those most likely to convert. If your product or service has multiple markets, separate them so you can market more effectively.
Start by creating a detailed buyer persona. Develop a profile of your ideal customer that encompasses demographics, interests, pain points, and buying behaviors. Use this profile to create your landing page content and ads. The better you know your ideal customer, the easier it is to get them to convert.
No matter how well you think you know your target market, start searching online for discussions to get insight into their desires, fears, and hopes. Reddit is a great resource for market research along with Facebook groups. It also helps to engage with your market through surveys, feedback forms, and conversation to derive insights into their needs and preferences. Don’t start building your funnel until you’ve nailed your buyer persona.
If you’ve never built a lead generation funnel and you’re trying to do it manually, the learning curve can be pretty sharp. While it’s easy to connect a simple web form to an existing email marketing system, there’s far more to successful lead generation.
When you try to build lead gen funnels manually, you have to build all of your landing pages from scratch, and that’s where things get tough. Even if you’re using a templated content management system like WordPress, you’ll need design and coding customization to create effective landing pages. Doing it this way can take weeks and thousands of dollars to launch. And if you want to add in upsells and order bumps, you’ll have to pay even more.
When you use software specifically designed for building online funnels, you can launch in hours, not weeks or months. Integrations are easy, and you’ll get built-in analytics and split testing.
Where price is concerned, software is budget-friendly. Instead of paying someone an hourly rate for manual funnel building, software comes with a set monthly fee. The best part is most funnel building software comes with conversion-optimized templates so you won’t need to build your landing pages from scratch and hope they work – just apply the template and fill in the content.
A lead gen funnel is more than just a landing page with a sign-up form. At minimum, you’ll need the following:
· A traffic source (organic posts, referrals, PPC ads, etc.)
· A landing page
· A thank-you page
· Email automation
· Follow-up emails
You can use more advanced strategies, but it’s not necessary. Even a basic funnel has the power to bring in thousands of leads if it’s highly targeted. The good news is – with a few exceptions – most popular funnel building applications include everything you need to build and launch high-converting lead gen funnels. Not sure which one to choose? Here’s an overview of the the top 6 funnel building applications:
· ClickFunnels. Designed for entrepreneurs and small business owners, ClickFunnels is the easiest way to build lead generation funnels. The drag-and-drop editor is easy to use even for beginners, and if you get stuck, there’s a help button inside the builder that will take you to a knowledge base or let you chat with an agent. While the templates inside the builder aren’t the greatest, they offer better lead gen templates on their blog. If you search Google, you’ll find plenty of templates created by third-parties that you can install with a couple of clicks.
The pricing is a little higher than other options, but it comes with email marketing and unlimited contacts even with the basic plan. You can create landing pages, regular website pages (like your terms of use and contact pages), storefronts, courses, a community, and more.
· Leadpages. Leadpages has been around for a long time and offers some of the best conversion-optimized templates. However, they don’t offer email marketing. The standard plan from Leadpages is more affordable than other options, but once you go pro and above, you’ll be paying about the same as applications that have more to offer.
· GetResponse. GetResponse is one of the oldest lead generation applications around, and offers a complete funnel building solution with easy-to-use templates. You can create social media campaigns, landing pages, courses, and webinars, and it comes with an email marketing service. Many people with Shopify stores use GetResponse to manage their email marketing campaigns.
The downside is having to pay more as your contact list grows. However, that’s pretty standard across the board for email marketing applications (with a few exceptions).
· GoHighLevel. GoHighLevel (GHL) is an all-in-one solution that makes it easy to build your website, landing pages, full funnels, and more. It combines the functionality of a CRM, email marketing, and funnel builder all in one place. The monthly cost is comparable to other options, but the learning curve is a bit steep.
· HubSpot. In addition to customer relationship management (CRM), HubSpot can be used to build your sales funnels with the landing page and form builders. There are a variety of plans available with fees that range from free to $4,300 per month.
· Thrive. Thrive is an all-in-one package that comes with a WordPress website builder and lets you create membership sites, online courses, and quizzes. Of course, you also get plenty of lead generation features.
Thrive is relatively cheaper than other options, but does have some big downsides. It doesn’t come with email marketing, and if you want to move your website to another host, you won’t be able to keep your theme. Thrive only offers their themes to monthly members.
Choose your platform wisely because if you need to switch companies, you’ll need to build your funnels again from scratch. There is one exception: ClickFunnels has a browser extension called Barnum PT that allows you to import your GoHighLevel funnels into ClickFunnels. However, you’ll need an active GHL account to complete the transfer.
A successful lead generation funnel begins with an irresistible offer. Visitors need a good reason to give you their email address and/or phone number. Email fatigue is real, and weak offers like checklists and infographics won’t always cut it. An irresistible offer consists of the following elements:
· Clear value. It should take no longer than three seconds for someone to see the value in your offer. It shouldn’t be just another advertisement for your bigger ticket products. Your offer needs to stand on its own with inherent value.
· Meets a specific need. Rather than creating an offer and then trying to get your market to bite, it’s more effective to find out what your target market wants and then craft a compelling offer specifically tailored to their needs.
· Specificity. Instead of vague statements like, “grow your business,” get specific with phrases like, “Get 25 qualified leads in 30 days or less.”
· Emotional hook. Even with your lead generation offer, you’re not selling the offer – you’re selling what it will do for your market. Appeal to desires, status, security, freedom, or belonging. Emotion sells, while logic just makes people think.
· Solutions. A good offer will solve a specific problem you know your market experiences.
· Urgency. People need a reason to act now. If there’s no urgency to act, many people will bounce and forget about you.
· Stacked bonuses. Multiple bonuses increase the value of an offer, but they can’t be basic. Each bonus should provide as much value (or more) as the original offer.
· Social proof. Landing pages with social proof convert up to 34% higher. If you have case studies, testimonials, media mentions, or reviews, reference those in your copy. People are more likely to do business with you if they can see that others are already happy with their experience.
You can offer just about anything as long as it’s deliverable, people want it, and it meets the above criteria. For example, you might ask visitors to sign up for your email list in exchange for providing a downloadable PDF file or mailing them a physical book.
Although the most common lead magnet is a free download, lead magnets don’t need to be free to be effective. In fact, depending on what you’re selling, paid lead magnets can qualify your prospects and weed out tire kickers. For example, if you’re selling ecommerce strategy coaching, you want leads who already have an ecommerce business. You don’t want to attract people who need to be walked through building a business from scratch. By offering a book packed with strategies for existing businesses – and asking leads to pay $10 for shipping and handling – you’ll generate targeted leads.
Copy is where most people lose their power. They write what sounds “professional” instead of what works. Effective copy feels like a real person is talking to a friend. Not a college English professor or marketing robot. Here’s what that looks like:
· The hook. This captures attention and stops people from scrolling. For example, “Why do some freelancers get 10 clients a month while others struggle to get just one?”
· The body. This is where you hit your target market’s pain and show the payoff. For example, “Most freelancers don’t know how to package their services. That’s why they’re stuck writing $30 blog posts. This free training fixes that.”
· The CTA. Your CTA tells them what to do. For example, “Click to get instant access.”
Make the desired action clear: what do you want people to do? Download a lead magnet? Buy a $27 mini-course? Book a call? Stick to one call-to-action (CTA) and make it clear and obvious. If there’s more than one CTA, people will be confused, and confused people don’t convert. If you want to provide multiple offers, use separate landing pages for each one.
No matter how you build your lead generation funnel, you’ll need to generate traffic to start getting leads. You can:
· Run paid ads on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Google, and YouTube
· Write content and get it ranked in the search engines using search engine optimization (SEO)
· Partner with other organizations for cross-promotion
· Borrow attention through guest posts, podcasts
· Use influencer marketing
All of these methods will generate traffic to your funnel, but make sure your messaging and back-end demographics specifically target your ideal leads. For example, if you’re offering a beginner’s guide to managing a remote team, don’t target freelancers with no team. Make sure you target managers, small business owners, and startup founders.
A high-converting lead generation funnel isn’t something you want to leave to change. The truth is, most funnels fail because they were thrown together without a solid strategy or compelling offer. But your funnel doesn’t have to follow this fate.
If you’re serious about generating quality leads and growing your business, we can help. At Marketer.co, we don’t just build funnels – we engineer customer journeys that convert leads into raving fans. Whether you need help fine-tuning your buyer personal, writing persuasive landing page copy, or anything else, we’ve got you covered.
Contact us now for a free consultation and let’s build a funnel that brings in qualified leads and turns them into paying customers.
It’s 2025 and you can’t afford to waste money on strategies and tactics that don’t generate qualified, hot leads who want to buy from you. With attention spans getting shorter than TikTok videos and competition lurking around every corner, it’s critical to use effective lead generation tools.
Not every tool, tactic, strategy, or platform will get results for every business. The key is knowing what tools will work for your business and learning how to use them right. Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 lead gen tools that small businesses are using to generate qualified leads in 2025.
CRM software has been around for a while now, but it continues to be a key component in lead generation for small businesses. Without it, it’s extremely difficult to capture leads, let alone follow up with them and close deals.
There are a handful of great CRMs out there, and each one offers a different set of features and benefits. However, in general, they typically provide a way to capture leads through web forms, tag your leads to segment your audience, and then nurture your leads through email over time, which is where the real money is.
CRMs also allow you to schedule and document sales calls, manage your pipelines, set reminders for follow-up calls, assign tasks, and your sales reps can see what each customer has already purchased or expressed interest in to make sales calls more effective.
Some CRM tools provide more extensive features than others, but most businesses don’t need anything overly complex. Businesses that make full use of a CRM – even on a small plan – tend to see an increase in lead conversion within the first six months.
· HubSpot CRM. Many people love HubSpot’s CRM and for good reason. It’s an easy, user-friendly system that allows you to collect and manage leads, automate email marketing, and build lead generating landing pages all in one. In fact, the entry-level plan offers all of these features for free. If you outgrow the free plan at any time, you can buy add-ons to grow as needed. It’s ideal for small to medium sized businesses who are just beginning to automate their marketing and sales.
· Salesforce. Salesforce has been around for a long time, and it’s considered the gold standard in CRM software by many. It’s extremely customizable and built for businesses serious about scaling. However, it’s highly complex.
This CRM is ideal for companies with complex sales cycles, big teams, and enterprise-level data. The system collects an impressive amount of data and has a beautiful dashboard to make sense of it all. The learning curve for Salesforce is steep, but it’s worth the cost for growing businesses that need access to deep analytics and AI forecasting.
· Keap. Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) has long been the go-to for CRM software, but it’s pricey and the learning curve is steep. However, it’s not as hard to learn as Salesforce. To help small business owners get access to all the best CRM features without the extra complexity, the company now offers two user-friendly versions for those who aren’t IT savvy: Keap Pro and Keap Max. The more complex application formerly known as Infusionsoft is now called Keap Ultimate.
You can do just about everything with this CRM, including build web forms, capture, segment, and manage leads, run advanced email marketing campaigns, sell products, and manage your sales pipelines. Keap is ideal for service-based businesses and entrepreneurs who want to scale without hiring a team.
· GoHighLevel. GoHighLevel (GHL) combines a basic CRM with email and SMS marketing, a funnel and website builder, appointment scheduling, and several additional features you can’t get with other applications. Similar to other funnel building apps, you can sell physical or digital products with order bumps and upsells.
If you want to earn even more monthly revenue, you can white label the GHL software, brand it as your own, and charge your clients a monthly fee to use it.
GHL is great for digital marketing agencies, entrepreneurs, infomarketers, and service providers with multiple clients.
· ClickFunnels. Similar to GoHighLevel, ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder with an intuitive visual interface that makes it easy to build sales pages and move people through your funnels with order bumps and upsells, whether you’re offering physical or digital products. You can also sell courses and memberships.
Like all the other CRMs discussed here, email marketing is included. It’s ideal for just about anyone who needs to capture and nurture leads, including infomarketers, coaches, and even course creators.
Email marketing alone isn’t enough. When you use a CRM, you’re building and managing relationships, nurturing leads, tracking every interaction, and fine-tuning your conversions based on what you know about your leads. A CRM truly gives you the upper hand in all your lead generation and nurturing efforts.
For B2B small businesses, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a game-changer in lead generation. It’s a premium tool designed to help business owners find, track, and engage with potential leads and decision makers. You can filter your searches to target specific keywords, job titles, company size, industry, geographic location, and someone’s seniority level and/or years in their current role.
When you use this tool, LinkedIn will recommend potential leads and allow you to save leads you like and get notified when they change jobs, post content, or engage with your content. Liking or commenting on a potential lead’s posts warms them up a bit and eliminates ice-cold outreach.
With Sales Navigator, you also get access to InMail messaging to reach out to people outside of your network without having to initiate a connection request. InMail open rates are between 18-25%, which is far better than standard 3% seen with email marketing.
When it comes to integrations, Sales Navigator syncs with HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, and many other CRM and marketing applications. If you’re in B2B sales and still using standard LinkedIn, you’ll get the advantage with Sales Navigator.
Anyone who says popups don’t work is misinformed. Popups absolutely work, but they need to be done professionally and strategically. The truth is, when people want what you have to offer, they will give you their email address if you ask. Most businesses offer a valuable freebie in exchange for a user’s contact information, like a PDF guide, white paper, discount, or even a physical book sent through the mail.
Although you can display popups when a visitor first lands on your website, the most effective popups are triggered by behavior, like exit intent and scroll depth popups that only show up when a user performs certain actions. These types of popups convert better than ones that bombard a user with a barrier to the content they’re trying to access. Data shows that click-triggered popups have the highest conversion rates at around 22-29%, while exit intent popups convert at around 15%.
For ecommerce brands, exit intent popups with discount codes or free shipping offers are especially helpful in getting people to make a purchase. You can program popups to be triggered by just about any user action, like clicking on something, scrolling to a certain point, hovering over an element, or even adding something to their cart.
When people come to your website, many of them have pre-purchase questions. If you don’t have a chatbot to tackle those questions, most people will bounce and never come back. However, when you make a chatbot available, people can ask questions and get the information they need to make a purchase decision.
A chatbot can also help you generate leads by asking users to provide their email address so someone can get back to them as soon as possible. This turns passive visitors into prospects, even outside of business hours.
More than half of business owners say chatbots help them generate higher quality leads. That’s a big deal since low quality leads don’t convert as well and can be problematic with higher refund requests.
Chatbots can also help you filter out irrelevant leads by providing all kinds of information to your visitors, including answers to questions and even price quotes. It works well because a lot of people would rather type into a chatbot than make a phone call. As a result, many small businesses are able to generate 20+ new leads per week just through a chatbot. Having a chatbot is like having a 24/7 digital sales rep on call who doesn’t need any coffee breaks.
Nothing beats word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers, but you can level up even more by automating this process with an app. For instance, ReferralCandy helps ecommerce businesses create and manage referral programs effortlessly. Customers are automatically invited to join your referral program after making a purchase and are given a personalized referral link to share with their network. When a purchase is made through their referral link, they’ll get some kind of reward, like cash, a gift card, a prize, or anything else that makes sense in your market.
Referral programs integrate seamlessly with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce for easy implementation. The best part is you can monitor key metrics, like referral sales and social shares to see who is getting the best results and where.
Although it’s simple, website builders like Wix have built-in lead capture forms that can be implemented with a drag-and-drop action. You can use these forms to calculate custom quotes, offer free downloads or paid offers, provide discounts, and more. This simple feature works great for small business owners who don’t have the budget for a full CRM application and are running a simple website.
If you haven’t started using quizzes, it’s time to start. Businesses that use quizzes for lead generation get higher conversion rates (40-50%) compared to traditional lead magnets (20-25%) when the quiz funnels are well-designed.
Quizzes tap into people’s curiosity and people love learning new things about themselves, even if it’s just something silly like what type of bird they were in a past life. However, when your quiz aligns with your product or service, it doesn’t just entertain people – it qualifies your leads.
Here’s how it works: You create a quiz (e.g., “What’s Your Ideal Marketing Strategy?” or “Which Wellness Routine Fits Your Personality?”), promote it on social media or through ads, and then collect email addresses at the end to reveal results. Once you have a list of leads, you can create personalized follow-up content and offers based on their answers. As long as it’s fun, relevant, and immediately rewarding, quizzes are an interactive source of engagement that can help you build a list full of conversion-ready leads.
You don’t have time or money to waste generating poor leads that don’t convert. Thankfully, when you start using the tools outlined in this article, your lead generation game will be leaner, smarter, and more effective than ever before. Whether you’re nurturing leads through emails, talking to them with a chatbot, or catching them before they bounce, the right tools can be one of the best investments you’ll ever make in your business.
Whether you need a custom CRM solution, support with email marketing, a high-converting quiz funnel, or a chatbot that generates leads while you’re asleep, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. At Marketer.co, we specialize in building effective, smart, scalable lead generation systems using all the best tools in the industry to help you attract the right people at the right time.
Stop chasing cold leads and start converting warm ones. Contact us right now and let’s build your lead generation machine.
In the competitive world of financial services, attracting and keeping clients is integral for long-term success.
But here’s the thing: Effective lead generation isn’t just about quantity – it’s about finding the right prospects who align with your services and have the potential to become loyal, long-term clients.
And, if we’re being honest, generating leads is only half the battle. You also need to build trust, nurture relationships, and deliver consistent value to retain those clients.
With this in mind, let this resource serve as a comprehensive guide to help you master lead generation and retention strategies tailored specifically for financial services.
In financial services, one size doesn’t fit all. If you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll end up resonating with no one. That’s why understanding your target audience is essential, and more importantly, why niching down can be the game-changer you’re looking for.
When you niche down, you focus your efforts on serving a specific group of people with unique needs. This approach allows you to become an expert in their pain points, goals, and challenges, positioning yourself as the go-to financial advisor for that audience.
A well-defined niche allows you to craft marketing messages that speak directly to your audience. Instead of using generic language like “We help with financial planning,” you can say, “We specialize in helping tech professionals maximize their stock options and build wealth.” This specificity captures attention and builds trust, as your audience feels like you truly understand their unique circumstances.
Niching down also helps you differentiate yourself in a sea of generalists. (And, let’s be honest, there are thousands of generalists in this field.) When you focus on a particular group, your expertise becomes your selling point. For example, if you specialize in serving physicians, your knowledge of their unique financial challenges – like managing medical school debt or navigating complex tax codes – sets you apart from advisors who take a more general approach.
To identify your niche, start by analyzing your current client base. Look for patterns in the types of clients you enjoy working with and those who bring the most value to your business. Consider factors like:
Once you identify your niche, dive deep into their world. What are their biggest financial pain points? What are their aspirations? What challenges do they face that you can solve? The more you understand, the better equipped you’ll be to offer tailored services and build trust.
Your website should act as a hub for your services. It should provide valuable content and help you capture leads through well-placed calls to action (CTAs). And if you’re going to win with digital marketing, you need to show a commitment to the following:
Investing in digital marketing not only brings in leads but also ensures that you stay top-of-mind for clients actively seeking financial services.
Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram can be powerful tools for connecting with potential clients. However, the key is to use these platforms strategically.
On LinkedIn, for example, you can position yourself as an expert by sharing articles, posting updates, and engaging with your network. On Facebook and Instagram, visual content like infographics or success stories can resonate with followers.
You can also leverage social media ads to target specific audiences. For instance, if you specialize in retirement planning, you can run targeted campaigns aimed at individuals aged 50 and older with specific income levels.
Clients in the financial services industry often approach providers with skepticism. To overcome this, you need to build trust by providing value before asking for anything in return.
One effective strategy is to offer free resources like:
These resources demonstrate your expertise and give potential clients a taste of the value you can offer. For example, a free guide titled “10 Steps to Maximize Your Retirement Savings” can attract leads who are actively seeking help in this area.
Referrals are another effective way to generate high-quality leads. A referral from a trusted source carries more weight than any marketing campaign, as it comes with a built-in level of trust.
Encourage your existing clients to refer friends, family, or colleagues by offering incentives like discounts, gift cards, or complimentary consultations. On top of this, you’ll want to build relationships with other professionals in your industry, such as accountants, attorneys, or real estate agents, who can refer clients to your services.
If your lead capture process is clunky or complicated, you risk losing potential clients before they even have a chance to connect with you. Make it easy for prospects to reach out by:
A streamlined lead capture process ensures that interested prospects can take the next step without frustration.
Not every lead will convert immediately. Some prospects may need time to evaluate their options or build trust in your services. Email marketing is an excellent way to stay connected with leads over time.
Create an email nurture sequence that provides consistent value, such as:
The goal is to keep your brand top-of-mind so that when the prospect is ready to act, they think of you first.
While lead generation is important, retaining existing clients is equally – if not more – critical. Satisfied clients are more likely to refer others and expand their use of your services over time.
There are hundreds of different techniques and strategies you can use to strengthen your client retention; however, here are a few of our favorites:
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Regularly evaluate the performance of your lead generation and retention strategies to see what’s working and what needs adjustment.
Use tools like Google Analytics, email marketing platforms, and CRM software to track key metrics such as:
Sometimes, the best way to improve your lead generation and retention efforts is to bring in outside expertise. Partnering with marketing agencies, consultants, or software providers specializing in financial services can help you implement more effective strategies.
At Marketer, this is where we come in. We actively partner with businesses and brands that are looking to implement sound digital marketing strategies that produce high-quality leads that result in sales. Interested in learning more about what a partnership would look like? Please contact us today!
Running an e-commerce business means constantly looking for ways to drive more traffic, convert leads into sales, and turn one-time buyers into loyal customers. But it’s not just about getting people to your site. You also have to capture their interest, engage them with value, and build relationships that last. Lead generation is the backbone of this process, and when done right, it can take your ecomm business to new heights.
Here are some actionable tips to help you generate leads, drive sales, and foster customer loyalty in your e-commerce business.
A lead magnet is something valuable you offer in exchange for a customer’s contact information. For an e-commerce store, this could be a discount code, a free guide, or exclusive access to sales. The key is to make the offer so compelling that potential customers can’t resist signing up.
For example, if you sell fitness gear, offer a free e-book on “10 Quick Workouts for Busy Professionals” when customers sign up for your email list. Or, if you specialize in beauty products, provide a 15 percent discount code for new subscribers.
Make sure your lead magnet is easy to claim and aligns with your audience’s interests. Once you have their email, you can nurture the relationship and encourage them to make a purchase.
Your website is the central hub for your e-commerce business, and if it’s not optimized for lead capture, you’re leaving money on the table. Every visitor to your site is a potential customer, but without the right tools and strategies in place, they may leave without taking any action.
To turn visitors into leads, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to engage with your brand and share their information.
Don’t underestimate the power of timing. Exit-intent pop-ups are an effective way to capture leads just before visitors leave your site. These pop-ups detect when someone is about to close the page or navigate away and present an enticing offer, such as “Wait! Here’s 10% off your first order – sign up now!” This last-minute effort can convert hesitant visitors into leads.
A clean, user-friendly design also plays a big role. Use clear headings, concise descriptions, and visually appealing layouts that draw attention to your forms. A prominent call-to-action (CTA) like “Subscribe Now” or “Get My Discount” should guide users to take the next step.
The key is to ensure your offer aligns with the interests and needs of your audience. For example, if you sell skincare products, offer a free guide to building a skincare routine or a sample-size product for new subscribers.
Adding social proof near your lead capture forms can also boost credibility. For example, include testimonials or a statement like “Join over 10,000 happy subscribers!” to show that others trust your brand.
Consider incorporating visuals like icons, images, or videos that enhance the appeal of your lead capture efforts. For example, a short video explaining the benefits of subscribing can add a personal touch that resonates with visitors.
For example, if your exit-intent pop-ups have a low conversion rate, try tweaking the offer or design. If your homepage form isn’t performing well, consider moving it to a more prominent location or simplifying the sign-up process.
Social media platforms are goldmines for finding and engaging potential customers. Create content that resonates with your target audience and drives them to your site.
Run contests or giveaways that require participants to provide their email addresses. Promote your lead magnets through ads or organic posts, and use CTAs to direct followers to landing pages where they can sign up.
Interactive content like polls, quizzes, and live Q&A sessions can also help you engage with your audience while collecting valuable information. Don’t forget to include links to your website and sign-up forms in your profiles and posts.
Paid ads can supercharge your lead generation efforts if used correctly. Platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram allow you to target specific demographics, making it easier to reach people who are most likely to be interested in your products.
Focus on creating ads that highlight your lead magnets or special offers. For example, run a Facebook ad promoting a limited-time discount for email subscribers. Use retargeting ads to re-engage visitors who’ve browsed your site but didn’t make a purchase.
(As an aside, always monitor your ad performance and adjust your strategy based on what works best for your audience. Ad effectiveness ebbs and flows and it’s easy for a profitable ad to turn sour without much notice. By staying on top of the analytics, you can quickly pivot and evolve.)
Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools in your e-commerce arsenal. It allows you to connect with leads and customers directly in their inbox, where they’re most likely to engage with your brand on a personal level. But for email marketing to work effectively, it needs to provide real value – not just promotions and sales pitches.
Start by segmenting your email list based on customer behaviors, interests, and purchasing history. For instance, if someone signed up after downloading a free guide, you might send them follow-up emails that offer related products or helpful tips aligned with that guide. Personalization is key to making your emails feel relevant and engaging.
Once you’ve segmented your audience, focus on delivering content that resonates with their needs and interests. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, send recipes, how-to guides, or cleaning hacks alongside product recommendations. These value-packed emails build trust and establish your brand as a helpful resource, increasing the likelihood that recipients will open future emails and make purchases.
Welcome emails are a critical first step in building a connection. When someone signs up for your email list, greet them with a friendly and informative message. Introduce your brand, share your unique selling points, and include an incentive like a discount code to encourage their first purchase.
Consistency matters just as much as content. Develop a regular email cadence to stay on your audience’s radar without overwhelming them. Weekly or bi-weekly updates are a good starting point, but always prioritize quality over quantity. Use email to highlight new arrivals, exclusive promotions, and seasonal sales, but balance these with content that feels genuinely helpful or entertaining.
Automation can take your email marketing to the next level by ensuring timely, relevant communication. For example, set up automated workflows for abandoned cart emails to remind customers about items they left behind, or post-purchase emails to thank them for their order and suggest complementary products. These touchpoints keep your brand top-of-mind while encouraging repeat business.
Finally, don’t forget to include strong calls-to-action (CTAs) in every email. Whether it’s “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” or “Claim Your Discount,” make it clear what the recipient should do next. Pair these CTAs with visually appealing designs and mobile-friendly layouts to ensure a seamless experience.
Trust is a critical factor in lead generation. People are more likely to engage with your business if they see proof that others have had positive experiences.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and testimonials on your website, social media, or third-party platforms like Yelp or Trustpilot. Feature these reviews prominently on your site, especially near CTAs or lead capture forms.
Video testimonials or user-generated content showcasing real customers using your products can be particularly persuasive. The more authentic and relatable the feedback, the more likely potential leads are to trust your brand.
A smooth shopping experience is essential for turning leads into customers. If your site is difficult to navigate, slow, or buggy, you’ll lose potential buyers.
Optimize your website for speed and mobile devices, as many users shop on their phones. Make the checkout process as straightforward as possible – avoid requiring account creation, minimize the number of steps, and offer multiple payment options. By removing friction from the shopping process, you’ll improve conversion rates and encourage repeat business.
Lead generation doesn’t stop at the first sale. Building loyalty is equally important for long-term success. Implement a loyalty program that rewards customers for repeat purchases, referrals, or social media engagement.
For example, offer points for every dollar spent that can be redeemed for discounts or free products. Create exclusive perks for loyal customers, such as early access to new arrivals or special promotions.
Loyalty programs not only encourage repeat business but also turn satisfied customers into brand ambassadors who promote your business to others.
Lead generation is not a one-size-fits-all process. What works for one business might not work for another, so it’s essential to continuously analyze your results and refine your approach.
Use tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and email marketing software to track metrics such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and engagement levels. Identify what’s working and what isn’t, and adjust your campaigns accordingly.
Experiment with different lead magnets, CTAs, and content formats to find the most effective combination for your audience.
Ultimately, the goal of lead generation is not just to make a sale but to build lasting relationships with your customers. Treat every lead as a person, not just a potential transaction.
Engage with your audience authentically – respond to comments and messages, personalize your communications, and show genuine appreciation for their support. When you commit to fostering trust and loyalty, you’ll turn one-time buyers into lifelong advocates for your brand.
At Marketer.co, our team of experienced e-commerce digital marketing professionals and creatives want to work with you to create a cohesive marketing strategy for your e-commerce business so that you can scale with ease. Contact us today to learn more!
Creating a high-converting landing page is an important component of any digital marketing strategy.
This step-by-step guide outlines the process for crafting and optimizing websites that generate higher clickthrough rates, conversions, leads, and sales. We’ll cover everything from identifying goals to understanding your target audience to designing a compelling call-to-action (CTA).
We'll also go over how to craft messages with impactful language; select eye-catching visuals; include social proof elements such as reviews or case studies; optimize mobile useability and loading speed performance—and more!
Finally, we will discuss testing your site so you can gather data on its effectiveness in order to further tweak it until it's just right.
By following our tips and recommended best practices carefully, marketers can create user experiences across all devices through an effective combination of content.
When creating a landing page, the first step is to identify and define its primary goal. This should be done in order to create an effective plan of action that moves viewers toward desired outcomes such as conversions or contact form submissions.
It’s critical for marketers to have a clear understanding of how they want their visitors to respond after viewing the content on their landing pages so they can craft messages with clarity and purpose. Identifying your primary goals will help make sure you are conveying this message effectively throughout each element on your page from visuals, headlines/subheads to CTAs (Call-to-Action).
When creating a high-converting landing page, understanding the target audience you are trying to reach is key. Identifying their needs and pain points will help inform your overall messaging strategy.
Researching competitor websites or using consumer surveys can provide insights into what problems your potential customers have that need solving and how they might perceive solutions in terms of cost/benefit analysis.
Asking open-ended questions about topics related to the goal of your landing page can also be beneficial for further understanding customer interests as well as any challenges or frustrations often experienced with current product offerings on the market today.
The headline and subheading of a landing page are arguably its most important elements. They need to be attention-grabbing, eye-catching, and capture the audience’s interest in order for them to click through.
The headline should clearly explain what visitors can expect from the offer/product as well as establish an emotional connection with readers by creating curiosity or using words that evoke action.
Subheadings allow you to add additional detail regarding your product or service without overwhelming users with too much information at once.
Both headlines and subheadings must provide enough explanation so individuals know exactly why they should take further action on it—this encourages clicks which leads more people to take part in whatever goal is set out by this specific landing page!
When crafting an effective headline and subheading, it is important to focus on simplicity yet clarity. Keep both headlines short and concise since visitors often skim rather than read web pages in full. Using active words that can evoke emotion also helps make the headline memorable - aim for something that makes your audience stop scrolling so they actually consider reading further into the page instead of moving onto another website or article without a thought.
Additionally, adding numbers within your headline encourages people to click as well; specific figures suggest you have factual proof about what you are offering which causes readership rates to swell proportionately!
Having a clear and concise message on your landing page is essential in conveying the value of what you are offering to visitors. With millions of competing products and services out there, it's important that users instantly understand why they should invest their time or money into yours. A well-written message can significantly impact your landing page conversion rate by simplifying complex information while communicating the unique qualities that make your product stand out from its competitors.
Crafting an effective call-to-action (CTA) also relies on having a single, easy-to-understand main point for visitors to take action upon—which is one of the landing page best practices and requires strong messaging upfront.
Writing a clear and concise message to appeal to your target audience is key to creating an effective landing page, especially when you're spending money for paid ads. You should make sure that you understand what the needs, pain points, or challenges of this group are so you can craft a relatable message that contributes to your landing page's success.
Make use of storytelling elements, as they tend to evoke stronger emotions from readers, helping them connect with the content better than dry facts could do alone.
For converting landing pages, incorporate supporting data (surveys, studies, etc.) where necessary for extra credibility, but don’t let it overtake details such as anecdotes or quotes that add humanity and relatability inside complex messages about products/services. Reviewing landing page examples and considering whether longer landing pages might better suit your audience can also make a big difference.
Using visuals on your landing page is essential for capturing attention and communicating key messages. High-quality visuals can help to enhance the user experience, emphasize important information, break up blocks of text, and add a sense of professionalism.
Visuals such as images, videos, or infographics can make it easier for users to understand what’s being offered quickly without taking much mental effort which encourages them to opt into their offer faster.
In addition, research shows that using relevant imagery within content increases engagement by 94%. Therefore high-quality visual elements should always be included in any successful landing page design.
When it comes to choosing visuals for your landing page it’s important to pick eye-catching ones that will resonate with the target audience and add value. Select images related specifically to what you are offering, as general stock photos can be off-putting.
Additionally, make sure all the visuals used on the site look professional and represent your brand well.
You should also optimize visual content items such as videos, gifs, or infographics in a way that encourages user engagement while providing valuable information about products/services being promoted on the landing page; include captions when needed so users understand them quickly and easily.
When creating an entire landing page, it is important to include social proof and other credibility indicators. This helps build users’ trust in your business or product, as well as conveys that the offer and value proposition you are presenting on your website has been validated by actual customers or partners of yours.
Examples of including social proof could be customer testimonials, case studies showcasing successes with clients related to what is being offered, or awards/badges from trusted sources showing validity (like BBB accreditations), etc. All these should align with your overall goal defined for this particular landing page—ultimately boosting your landing page conversion rate and converting more site visitors into paying customers!
Including social proof and credibility indicators on a great landing page is essential for building trust with the target audience. Utilizing customer testimonials, case studies, and trust badges are effective ways to boost an organization’s reputation among its customers.
Customer testimonials showcase how satisfied individuals have been with their purchase or experience while working with your company—building up potential leads' confidence in doing business with you as well. Case studies provide detailed insight into what results were achieved from using your product or service, which can turn first-time visitors into loyal customers.
And finally, utilizing industry-standard trust seals, such as BBB accreditation, signals safety when making online transactions and adds overall legitimacy and authority to brand websites. These elements are particularly effective when used across design landing pages or even entertainment landing pages, ensuring consistency and credibility across categories.
Creating a clear and prominent call-to-action (CTA) on your landing page is essential to its success. A CTA should be easy for visitors to spot, understand, and act upon. Without it, no conversions can takeplace.
By making the CTA highly visible through clever design or placement – such as using large buttons with contrasting colors that stand out from other elements of the page – users will know exactly what action they are supposed to perform next in order to get closer to achieving their goal(s).
When designing a call-to-action for your landing page, the goal should always be to create one that aligns with and reinforces the primary purpose of the page.
To do this effectively, you’ll need to make sure it stands out from other elements on the page and clearly delivers what action visitors are expected to take.
Using contrasting colors as well as smaller bits of graphics or icons can help draw attention without overwhelming people—though don’t skimp on copy either; explaining why they should act is just important!
Mobile devices have become the go-to way to search and explore content online. Having a landing page that is optimized for mobile users ensures an enjoyable user experience which can mean the difference between keeping or losing potential customers.
Optimizing your landing pages also helps with the overall performance of the website, making sure it loads quickly in order to reduce frustration on behalf of visitors waiting too long for the content they requested. Fast loading times are essential not just from a usability standpoint, but from ranking signals perspective as well - Google takes into consideration how fast webpages load in their Search Engine Results Pages (SEO).
Focusing efforts towards optimizing page speed will benefit both desktop and mobile audiences alike since most modern websites nowadays employ responsive designs capable of accurately adapting themselves according having different device specifics like screen size etc.
When optimizing a landing page for mobile devices, it's important to have a responsive design that automatically adjusts the content layout and images so they display properly on all screen sizes. Additionally, make sure buttons are large enough to be accurately tapped on touchscreens.
To reduce page load time — which is essential since most visitors will abandon your site if it takes too long to fully download– use smaller image files (which can easily be done using online tools like TinyPNG) as well as caching methods such as browser or server-side caching; this store's certain elements of website data in order speed up refresh times.
Furthermore, leverage Content Delivery Networks – networks of servers dedicated solely to delivering web content - and remove any unnecessary homepages and plugins from the site architecture before launch!
Testing and measuring the effectiveness of your landing page is an essential step in creating a high-converting one. By testing different versions on how the elements such as visuals, headlines, message copy, etc.--are placed within it you can make well-informed decisions when making necessary changes to enhance its performance.
from related factors–traffic sources, visitor clicks & dwell time –you will be able to gain insights into user behavior that inform which aspects are successful for improving conversion rates so that your efforts remain focused towards driving more leads effectively resulting in increased ROI.
Testing and measuring your landing page is crucial for establishing its effectiveness. A/B testing tools are a great way to test different versions of the same design in order to determine which one produces the best results.
It’s also helpful to review analytics data such as click-through rate, bounce rate, conversion rates, etc., so you can see how visitors interact with each version of your page.
You should always be looking for ways in which you can optimize based on what works and eliminate elements that don’t help reach goals or engage customers.
Consistent testing and optimization efforts like this over time will allow for creating an efficient high-converting funnel from the start (landing page) through the finish (transaction).
Creating a high-converting landing page is essential for the success of any online marketing campaign.
It’s important if you take these points into consideration it leads to increase conversions significantly. Keep in mind that what works best may be different from business to business – always experiment until optimal performance levels are achieved!
Google does not index every site on the internet.
The year-over-year percentage of the web that is indexed continues to decline.
With nearly 2 billion websites on the internet, it would prove excessively costly and make little business sense to index every possible page the internet has to offer.
Especially when nearly 10% of internet sites are scams at worst and spammy at best.
For the web's most competitive search terms, most users still don't scroll past the first page on Google.
Would it even make sense to have more than 100 indexed little blue links for a single query?
Not really, especially when 90% of clicks will go to the first few results above the fold.
Hence, the latest trend in Google's arsenal is the deindexation of low-quality, low-discoverability content.
Here's what that looks like in Google Search Console (GSC) under Indexing>> Pages:
In an effort to fight spam, search engines are cracking down on:
The latest trend to scale up content using AI (without much human intervention) reminds me of a brilliant statement made by Syndrome from The Incredibles:
The latest Helpful Content Update (or the Unhelpful Content Demotion as we like to call it) and SpamBrain update are the perfect combos to help fight what Google sees as a massive garbling of internet content devoid of true quality inputs to encourage active human consumption.
In other words, they're fighting content created for search engines and not for humans.
The ranking algorithm's new regime is especially deleterious to marketers who engage in heavy link building campaigns.
As Google and other search engines continue to deindex pages they deem irrelevant or spammy, the link building efforts of even some high-profile sites are likely to see a negative downward pressure on some sites' rankings due to search results indexing issues and redirect errors.
Think about how it would look in practice:
A site with hundreds of low-quality backlinks suddenly experiences a massive deindexation of a large percentage of its link graph, pushing its rankings down.
Adding insult to injury, pages in similar neighborhoods as other deindexed pages are more likely to also experience similar deindexation issues due to dynamic page requests, server errors, and bad or empty URLs, as their content is marked as irrelevant and bumped out of the index.
The good news is that Google is also kind enough to show you where your deficiencies lie so you can adapt accordingly.
Examples from GSC include:
Most of the issues listed above are simple fixes for a knowledgeable webmaster.
The two bolded are a bit more nuanced and worth further discussion.
While the chart above might get your cortisol levels rising, there are solutions to both avoiding deindexation and reversing the tide of existing deindexation across your website.
When you submit a brand new sitemap to Google, the web crawlers may take some time before they crawl your sitemap.
When your sitemap is crawled, the search spiders will notice pages to be crawled, but they will likely only crawl a small portion of your overall sitemap with each subsequent pass.
A site can have pages that are in a sitemap (which is a clear indication a webmaster would prefer to have them crawled and indexed in search), but that doesn't necessarily mean that:
The following two graphs are from the same site listed above, just for continuity.
Even when the search engines DO crawl, they may choose not to index your pages:
GSC will show you exactly which pages have been crawled but not indexed.
Any solution always starts with the quality of your content assets.
You may need a content quality audit which could use one or more of the following tools:
While some tools are meant to be AI plagiarism checkers, others are better at finding what keywords may be missing in the body of your text that would make them comparable and uniquely created.
Cora and Surfer do a great job of providing prompts for inputting the right LSI (latent semantic Indexing) and entity keywords that will be critical for a particular page to be statistically on par with other pages in top positions.
Furthermore, these and other software tools can show you other ways in which your page may be deficient compared to higher-ranking competitors.
We outline the most statistically significant factors here.
But the most important on-site factors to consider are:
If you have been using an AI tool to help generate pages, you will need to perform some human upgrades, but not necessarily a full rewrite of the content itself.
Robots (and even people) can tell when content has been created using GPT-3 and other natural language processing or machine learning tools.
Machine learning algorithms may not be able to discover the internet's ghostwriting problems, but they can discover AI-generated content.
A good content editor or editing team can also be incredibly helpful in upgrading your content, making edits, and otherwise improving.
There is a fun manual scan tool in the Google Search Console.
When you are done upgrading and updating your content, be sure to show the precise URL as a prompt in GSC for Google to add to the priority crawl queue.
While your sitemap will post any newly updated items to the top of the list when bots come to recrawl the site, this is more likely to speed up the time to get a recrawl and reassessment of the quality of your content.
Your content needs to be discoverable to search engine crawlers.
If you're not giving them the right signals, you will continue to have pages that are not indexed or fall out of the index. Build more links using relevant anchor text to the most important pages of your site, particularly those you want to have discovered, crawled, indexed, and ranked. It's that simple.
Just because a page or post is in your sitemap doesn't mean search engines feel it's worth ranking. You need to show them what is important through the proper use of search words, redirect URLs, and an efficient indexing process.
When users search for a particular search word, you want your category pages to be prominent in the search results. Simply having a page listed in your sitemap doesn't guarantee its importance to search engines—you need to indicate clearly which pages matter most.
Get the word out to industry-specific influencers, writers, and promoters about the value of your content and your site.
Notice this heading did not say, "Go out and build links.
"While link building can be helpful, it's also a double-edged sword when it comes to promotion, and the power of links continues to wane.
Yes, link building is a subset of your promotion efforts, but you should remain very picky about where and how your inbound links are acquired.
Other reputation management techniques, like cleaning up negative Google reviews can have an ancillary benefit as well.
The question you ultimately need to ask is, "Is my content truly an asset, or is it a liability?"
In some cases, and depending on search intent, long-form skyscraper content is completely dead.
Focus on answering a specific query, solving a real-life problem for someone's online search, and doing it better than your competitors, and you will win traffic.
If you want to rank for competitive terms, you will need to work page by painstaking page.
Offering search engine optimization (SEO) services to your clients could be lucrative.
You help them rank higher in search engines, so they attract tons of organic traffic.
They pay you a few thousand dollars per month.
Sounds like a win-win, no? Well, as many ambitious content marketing agency owners can attest, executing the necessary work to make an SEO campaign successful can be challenging.
You need the right resources. You need the right tools. You need knowledge and experience. You need dozens of different specialists in fields like link building, mobile optimization, keyword research, and even data or Google analytics.
If you offer all these things yourself, you'll need to hire a full team, which can greatly increase your costs and jeopardize your profitability.
But there's another option – using a white-label SEO service.
What exactly is white label SEO? How does white label SEO strategy differ from white label marketing? And is it really as good as it seems?
A white label product is one that is figuratively "white labeled," meaning it's not branded by the company that produces it. Instead, it's branded and marketed by a second company, which typically masquerades as the product's originator.
In the specific case of white label SEO, this means another agency is going to do all the search optimization work on behalf of your clients. Depending on the arrangement, that could include keyword research, strategic consulting, content generation, link building, and even reporting and analytics.
Your client will never meet with the white label SEO reseller, nor will they see their brand or know they exist. Instead, they'll see all the work branded with your identity. You get to claim this work as your own.
White label SEO reseller services will charge you a fee (usually a retainer or a per-project fee) for their work. You can mark this up and charge your client whatever you think is appropriate. In exchange for simply passing information back and forth and monitoring the campaign to make sure it's being executed properly, you can make a handsome profit.
These are some of the best advantages of using white label SEO services:
Regardless of how much experience you personally have in search optimization, working with a white label agency gives you access to true experts. You don't need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Google algorithm updates, nor do you need to offer sage-like wisdom about which keywords to target; instead, you can lean on people who have decades of combined experience and rest assured that your campaigns are going to be managed well. Additionally, because you'll be working with some of the best people in the industry, your clients will likely see better results than they would otherwise.
Whether you're interested in diversifying your overall digital marketing offerings or focusing exclusively on SEO services, you'll be pleased to know that working with a white label provider typically gives you significant flexibility. You can hire this agency for a couple of pieces of content, years' worth of ongoing efforts, or anything in between. If you lose a client, you can terminate your arrangement with the white label services agency. If you gain a client, you can expand your arrangement.
One of the downsides of building your in-house team is that you're fundamentally limiting the resources you can expend on SEO campaign services for your clients. If you only have a few people on your team, you'll have an upper limit of clients you can take on; once you reach that threshold, you'll be forced to either hire more people or stop growing. But with a white label agency, this isn't the case, as white label SEO providers are designed to be scalable. These institutions have access to tons of experts and resources, so they can easily grow with you. There's practically no limit to the work you can send their way.
Speaking of hiring, if you're working exclusively with a white label SEO agency, you won't have to worry about hiring at all. You don't have to worry about creating job descriptions, interviewing new candidates, or training people for a role that they're going to leave in just a few years. All that work is done for you, so you can just sit back and let those experts do what they do best.
Partnering with a white label SEO reseller could mean increased revenue opportunities for your company. If you're currently offering a suite of digital marketing services, but SEO is a weak point, you can now upsell all your existing clients on SEO tools and services – and appeal to new clients as well. And as previously stated, there's no upper limit to how much you can use your white label agency, so as long as you keep finding new SEO clients, you can keep growing.
Do you know the best tools to do research on your competitors? If you had to calculate your domain authority right now, would you be able to do it? Could you figure out where you're ranking for a variety of target keywords and use that information to devise SEO strategies for your campaign? Your white label agency can answer these questions confidently because they have the specialized tools and resources necessary to make their campaigns successful. These are highly specialized, highly experienced groups of people, so they have access to some of the best technologies and resources in the industry.
Salespeople spend a meager 30 percent of their time on selling SEO services. They spend the rest of their time answering emails, attending meetings, and tackling other administrative jobs that aren't relevant to their main responsibilities. If you take on new SEO clients, doing the work yourself, you and your employees are going to be forced to dedicate time to those SEO campaigns. But if you have a white label agency take care of everything on your behalf, suddenly, all that time becomes freed up. You can spend that time on much more important responsibilities, like investing in the business, making critical decisions, tackling core responsibilities, or even just taking a break if your schedule is already overloaded.
Some companies appreciate white label SEO packages because it makes them look amazing. When you report to your clients that you've helped them achieve rank one for some of their most lucrative target keywords, and when you let them know that you've doubled their domain authority in a relatively short amount of time, they're going to be ecstatic. They're going to see your own brand as a bigger, more impressive authority in the digital marketing space, and as a result, they're probably going to spend more with you. Whether you're interested in scaling up your SEO efforts, upselling your clients on different marketing services, or generating more referrals from your existing clientele, this is a net benefit.
If you were going to do all the SEO work yourself, would you be able to prove the value that your organization is adding? One of the perks of working with a white label SEO firm is that they take care of the reporting, analytics, and strategic decisions for you.
They'll give you a breakdown of all the work they did and the results they were able to achieve; they'll also make suggestions for how you can improve these campaigns in the future. It's up to you how you want to use this information.
So far, white label SEO solutions sound like a great deal.
But there are some disadvantages you'll need to consider.
The results of your campaigns are going to be heavily dependent on the quality of the white label agency you hire. While you may be able to do some of the SEO work yourself, the whole point of hiring a white label agency is to support a hands-off approach. If your agency isn't competent, if they don't have available resources, or if they simply misunderstand the goals of the campaign, it can work against you. However, this isn't necessarily an indictment of white label SEO in general; instead, it's a warning that you need to do your diligence before bringing on a white label SEO partner.
Some digital marketing leaders hate the idea of using white label services because they have less direct control. You'll be communicating with your clients constantly throughout this process, so if they ask you a tough question or if they criticize some of the techniques used in their campaign, you might not be able to answer directly. Additionally, depending on the partner you choose, you may not have much control or say in how the agency runs a particular campaign (e.g., link building or local SEO). If you want to see a different style of content marketing or if you have a different strategic philosophy altogether, you may need to find a different white label SEO partner or cope with the fact that this isn't your preference.
Most excellent white label SEO companies make transparency a priority. They openly communicate about their SEO philosophies, tactics, and approaches. They also openly report on their results, acknowledge their failures, and boast about their biggest successes. Even so, by its very nature, this relationship is never fully transparent. You probably won't be seeing or communicating with all the people behind your campaign, and you won't be able to granularly analyze every minor change to your client's web presence.
Working with a white label partner can also introduce some communication issues, especially if you don't have a clear line of contact with an account manager at that agency. If you accidentally misrepresent your client's goals or if your white-label agency misinterprets something you said, it could lead to problematic developments. Still, if both parties are committed to effective communication and some redundant measures to prevent these types of disasters, it shouldn't be a major concern.
You can technically charge whatever you'd like for the SEO services you offer your clients, but if you charge too much, your clients aren't going to pay it. Accordingly, most digital marketing agencies only charge a small markup on top of the core price of white label SEO services. If you compare this to what you could make if you offered all your services in-house, you might be disappointed.
There's no question that reselling SEO services, rather than doing the work internally, is going to lead to reduced profitability on a per-client basis – at least, if you're accounting for a perfect in-house scenario. The math works out very differently if you're forced to hire tons of new people, if you struggle with scaling, or if you aren't able to give your clients results that motivate them to stay with you.
Is a white label SEO provider the right move for your digital marketing agency?
That all depends. If you don't have the SEO experts to do the work in-house, if you're trying to maximize profitability while minimizing effort, or if you just want your clients to have access to the best experts in the industry, white label SEO is a no-brainer.
If you're concerned about transparency or if you want to maintain direct control over your clients' campaigns, white label SEO may not be a good fit.
For everyone else, you're probably somewhere in the middle. If you're feeling uncertain, or if you just want to be sure your white label partner is going to operate effectively, your best bet is to talk directly to a white label SEO company so you can get a better feel for what they do.
Ready to get started with a white label SEO plan? Or do you have a few questions before you're ready to jump in?
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