SEO Lead Generation: 9 Steps to Make It Work for Any Business

Leads… That sweet word.

It seems like over the years, marketers have come up with millions of different strategies to keep prospects flowing. Yet, even with all the options out there, SEO leads are still considered some of the best ones.

After all, it isn’t that surprising. In a world where there is always another bigger brand with deeper pockets competing with you for the same customers, you have to find more affordable ways.

This is exactly the moment when most businesses are asking how to get SEO leads.

Consider this your lucky day, as we’ll share all the most effective strategies you can use to get tangible results without waiting till your team’s hair turns gray.

Why use SEO for lead generation?

If anything, time has proven that SEO and lead generation go hand in hand. Yes, there are many other ways to generate leads. But if there is one most cost-effective strategy in the long term, it is SEO, and nothing can really compete with it.

Imagine being able to get tons of traffic and convert it to leads even years after you stop investing in promotion. Could PPC do that? Hah, as if! That’s the power that isn’t available to many, but SEO has it. And guess what? Data proves the same thing:

• SEO drives the most traffic. About 1000% more than social media, to be exact. This makes sense since most people who hop online start off their journey with a search engine. That’s why investing in SEO tactics can help you get some of that traffic, which also means more inbound leads for you.
• Impressive conversion rates. Compared to other traditional marketing techniques, SEO has the highest conversion rate at 14.6%. Why? Because high-quality content shows your expertise. Plus, users often find that content when they’re already actively searching for services or products like yours.
• Highly effective lead gen. More than half of B2B marketers (81%) say that SEO generates more leads than other marketing strategies, especially PPC. And if the majority carries the vote, then clearly, SEO is the winner here.

Source: DataBox

Now, does it seem like SEO lead generation strategies are at least something you could consider? We thought so. Still, don’t get too excited because search engine optimization takes time, especially when you’re in a competitive niche.

So, if you’re serious about getting leads from this channel, you want to build a comprehensive strategy. This includes everything from technical optimization and content marketing to guest posting and link insertions.

If you don’t know where to start, these are nine steps that will help.

How to generate leads through SEO in 9 steps

Truth be told, SEO lead generation techniques can get overwhelming for the complete newbie. Luckily, there are many great tips and tricks out there, which we’ve summarized below.

1. Identify your target market

When learning how to generate leads with SEO, it is very important to do your research and get as much information as you can. Before anything, you should focus on gathering intel on who your target audience is, their pain points, and their desired outcomes.

When you have all that data, try to segment it all into a couple of different customer personas. If you feel like that’s a bit too complicated, start by grouping all your target clients based on their geography, behavior, media they use, etc.

Source: Semrush

When you know who your people are, it becomes easier to learn about their pain points and desires. You can find many of these answers in online communities, forums, and social media posts.

But don’t stop there. You can go beyond the typical means — even competitor analysis can sometimes give you solid insights into what your target audience likes.

Besides, don’t forget about keyword research that helps you understand your customer’s search intent. This brings us right to the next section.

2. Find your niche keywords and map their intent

There is no talking about SEO generation of leads without mentioning keyword research. Let’s backtrack a bit. Know how we said you should try to learn about your audience's pain points? Keyword research is one of the best ways to do this.

But you want to go beyond just knowing which phrases they are using to google you and similar services/products online. You want to sort them into:

• High-intent keywords that attract people who are ready to buy or hire you right away.
• Keywords with low competition that can help you rank higher quickly.
• Long-tail keywords that give you a hint of their specific needs.
• How-to keywords that help you understand their pain points.

Beyond these categories, the goal is to understand the ‘why’ behind each keyword.

Source: WordStream

Here is another important detail — you need keywords that not only have the potential to attract customers but can also meet their needs. This would help you create content that matches what your target audience is actually searching for.

3. Create content that attracts

Content is at the heart of most SEO lead-generation tactics, and this explains why most marketers own blogs. In fact, companies that publish blog posts get 67% more leads than those that don’t. So, maybe it’s time for you to consider doing the same?

Your content needs to be centered around your products or services. The more niche-relevant they are, the more likely you are to attract people interested in your offerings.

You can publish articles that align with your clients’ journeys wherever they are in the sales funnel. Luckily, many experts have already shared their best hacks on how to do this, and you can simply learn from them.

Source: Facebook

The goal is to give the right information when it’s needed and gently build trust with your readers. For this, you’ll have to go beyond blog posts to include demo videos, tutorials, testimonials, and case studies. Plus, a couple of infographics won’t hurt either.

It’s important to update your content from time to time since today’s big data can become outdated tomorrow. Keep in mind that each piece of content you share has to be:

• Easy to understand;
• Filled with relatable examples and variable data;
• Accompanied with high-quality images;
• Optimized with keywords;
• Well-structured with appealing bite-sized actionable steps that are easy to implement.

One more thing: you have to be clear about the goals you want to achieve. This could be attracting more traffic, getting people to stay longer on your website, or even publishing more relevant content. This will make it easier to measure your efforts and track your progress.

4. Know the value of your product or service better than others

Every product/service out there is designed to fill a need or solve a problem. How well does yours fill that gap? What specific features in your product or service actually address your audience's pain points?

You have to be able to answer these questions if you hope to be convincing enough to get people to want it. Besides, figure out what your unique value proposition is — what is the stuff that makes you better than the competition?

If you aren’t sure what your value proposition is or if it is way too generic, you can use the value proposition canvas to refine it.

Source: Interaction Design Foundation

In case the whole canvas thing is new to you, here is a short explainer video:

Embed this video Strategyzer's Value Proposition Canvas Explained

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Once you know what your point of differentiation is, make sure you communicate it constantly — whether it’s your socials, website, ads, etc. The important thing is to make your brand more attractive and get the customers excited about choosing you over the competition.

5. Consider investing in local SEO lead generation

Local SEO lead generation should be high on your list if you're marketing to a specific region. Lots of people searching for products or services online are actually performing “near me” searches. 88% of them eventually go on to visit the stores within a day!

Source: Ahrefs

So, how do you get in on that action? That’s exactly what local SEO is all about. It’s designed to help you get more local visibility, so it's easier for people to find you online. But first, you need to:

• Find local trending keywords that can help you get noticed.
• Fix your Google Business profile — make sure the name, address, and contact details are accurate. Besides, pay attention to the operating hours, images, and other information. Trust us — by keeping your profile updated, you do yourself a favor.
• Reach out to relevant local businesses and organizations for local citations. This will help you gain more credibility from both customers and search engines.
• Create content that your local community will actually find useful.
• Encourage your clients to share their reviews.
• Sponsor local events and charities if you can. For example, you can support a local sports event to promote your product in front of your target audience.

Doing all of these will help your website rank higher in search engine results, increasing leads from local SEO.

6. Technical SEO is still a priority

Anyone looking to learn how to generate SEO leads must also be interested in how to make their website more responsive and faster.

Source: Jaro Education

Conversion rates are 3x higher for websites that load in one second. After all is said and done, technical SEO is really one of the most critical yet underrated aspects of your marketing efforts. So, don’t ignore it.

Instead, take the time to check how your website is doing. SEO audit tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs are designed to make this process easier. While GSC is entirely free, other tools also have some free auditing options, so test all of them.

Overall, you should be looking out for your:

• Page load speed. If it’s slow, consider compressing videos and images and minifying your code. If you use too many plugins or have lots of ads, consider reducing them.
• Mobile responsiveness. 79% of people who have a bad experience with the mobile version of your site likely won’t ever return. Now, think about how many people actually use your website from their smartphone. Exactly! Besides, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites as well. So, it’s simply a must.
• Performance metrics. You should take a look at user behavior on your site. If you notice that many people are exiting your page, it’s a sign that your web page calls for some change. The earlier you fix things, the better it is for your SEO lead-generation abilities.
• XML sitemaps. You’ll need to submit an XML sitemap that makes it easier for search engine crawlers to find, crawl, and index your sites without issues.
• Broken links. This is one of the most common SEO mistakes. But the good thing is that it is really easy to fix. And you better do that ASAP because links that do not work properly can seriously reduce the quality of user experience and increase bounce rates.

7. Gain links to build bridges that attract targeted traffic

Websites that have backlinks are more likely to appear on the first page of search results pages. That’s because all those links are basically signaling to the search algorithm that your content is trustworthy and helpful.

Since Google is all about quality, helpful content, it pushes that to the top where more people can see it.

While link building might be quite challenging, you have to master it at some point if you are still wondering how to generate leads through SEO. You can start by doing the following:

• Publish guest posts on niche-related websites with stable, high traffic.
• Create linkable assets and free resources that are shareable. People will use these in their articles or SM posts, and many will link to you.
• Leverage platforms like Qwoted, SourceBottle, etc., to find journalists looking for expert opinions. The idea is simple — journalists link back to you in exchange for your expert insight.

Source: X

Of course, all of this takes a lot of time and effort. So, you might want to find a partner who can help you gain quality backlinks. If you decide to buy backlinks, though, there are a couple of things you have to be aware of — we’ve listed all of them in this guide.

8. Know when it’s time to get professional help

There will be moments when you won’t be able to do it all by yourself. Maybe there’s a new launch, the deadline is too close, or your team is overloaded.

In situations like this, you need to consider hiring an SEO service to help you. But there is a trick to this step. You can’t just do a Google search for an ‘SEO service’ and hire the first one that pops up in SERPs.

You need to research the companies, check reviews, and hop on a couple of intro calls to see if you’re a match.

Besides, search engine optimization can be broad, so not every agency will offer everything you need. For example, some will specialize in links, others in technical SEO, and some will be a content creation powerhouse.

Then, even if they seem like cool people, you still have to check whether they’re using white-hat, black-hat, or grey-hat tactics. You are better off going with an agency that utilizes Google-compliant strategies, even if someone else promises a lower price or faster results.

And when you find the perfect professional help, and you click well, hold on to them. It might take a while to find another relationship like that.

9. Keep an eye on how your site is doing in search results

Almost all SEO lead generation tips end with this particular advice — track everything. You need all the data you can get your hands on to make good marketing decisions. There is a good reason why. With all things SEO, everything can drastically change within a very short time.

For example, trends that are all the rage now can become ineffective in just a couple of months (if not weeks). Hot topics today can become overflogged tomorrow. A current SEO best practice can become a serious “no-no” worthy of attracting a Google penalty later on.

So, you have to keep up with SEO changes and track your online performance metrics. When you notice your traffic or time on the page curving downward, it’s a sign that something is off.

Maybe your content needs an update. Maybe there is a problem with the page. Whatever that is, make sure to address it as fast as you can to avoid losing those potential leads.

Conclusion

Doing any of the steps above can help you finally start doing lead generation through SEO. But most times, this won’t happen overnight. So be patient. Try one or two tactics, and then add more as you go.

Trying to do everything at once makes no sense. This will only make you feel stressed and burned out. So, start small, stick with it, and you will definitely enjoy the benefits of using SEO for lead gen.