Generating leads online can be difficult. For businesses in particular fields, it can be a real struggle to ensure users are turned into paying customers. How do you turn that around so that you improve the lead generation on your website? 

Simple. 

You maximize and use the following SEO tips: 

Optimize Your Homepage 

Optimization is a big part of SEO. So naturally, you have to use it to get the most out of your website. And while optimizing your whole site is necessary, your homepage is the most important page on your website. It’s the face of your business, entails everything you do, and it hooks in your customers. This is how you should go about optimizing your homepage, so it drives leads: 

• Make the main keyword of your research the lead word for your homepage. For example, if it’s “coffee Vancouver,” make sure it’s the focus as it will narrow down your audience’s search. You should also include long-tail keywords to help your main one.  
• Include your primary keyword in all on-site and off-site SEO, including page title and H1 tags, headers, URLs, meta description. This will really narrow down your search. You should also use your keyword in all the images ‘Alt’ titles to maximize their potential. 
• Create engaging content for your audience which includes your keywords. Make sure you aim for 1000+ words on the homepage to make it effective. 
• Include all relevant information about your business, including address, number phone and email address. 
• Additionally, include a Google Map with your business’ point marked, so it makes it more professional and helps users find directions to it. 

Localized Your SEO 

Did you know that the majority of SEO traffic comes from local sources? It’s because people are searching for products or services around their local area or city. If you want to take advantage of those leads, then you have to maximize your local SEO. Here is how you can do about doing it successfully: 

• Make sure content on your website targets local areas or cities – such as “coffee Vancouver.” Areas and cities can really help Google narrow down searches.  
• Ensure that your NAP (name, address, phone number) is correct across all your local links to sites. Actually, while you’re at it, make sure that you create profiles on local directories. 
• Get trusted reviews and testimonials from happy customers posted on your Google My Business page. 

Now your Google My Business page is an essential factor for your local SEO. So much like your homepage, you have to optimize it, so it links to your website and works in tandem. 

• Describe your business with a unique description that includes the keywords. 
• Make sure you include a link back to your website to help build your SEO. 
• Ensure that your NAP is correct on the GMB (this is especially important as Google wants to verify that you’re a real business). 
• Upload as many high-resolution photos as possible. This will help engage your audience and boost your SEO as you’re “active.” 
• Get real reviews from real customers, using their Google accounts.
• Add all relevant open times and days (once again, helps with professionalism). 
• Be consistent with the information you place on your GMB. Ensure that the same content is on your website, particularly your homepage. 

By focusing your local SEO, you can bring in more local users to your website and therefore increase your lead generation. 

Build Valuable Links

Link building is a crucial part of SEO, which in turn will enhance your lead generation. 

Linking your homepage or specific site pages to outside websites is crucial for building strong domain authority and enhancing your online reputation. 

Post your link to social media accounts, Google My Business, Yelp and anything you’re on. This will help keep interest in your website flowing and boost your SEO. 

The more powerful your website, the better you’ll rank, which ultimately leads to more conversions. 

Get Your Speed Up To Par 

Customers love to see fast websites. The quicker they load, the quicker they can get active on it. So that means you have to make sure your website’s load time is short and fast. The longer it takes to load, the more likely your customers will leave your site. That has two side-effects: 

1. Your bounce rate, which is a measurement that determines how long users stay on your website, will increase. The higher it is, the less valuable your website is. Google will see this as a problem and demote your SEO, as clearly, users are not interested in staying on your website. 
2. Your lead conversions will slow down dramatically. How can customers get active on your site if it’s too slow for them to do anything? Faster service means faster lead conversions.  

Make sure that you keep your website speed at its fastest possible. Remove plugins, reduce image sizes and remove links that are slowing down your speed. You can try a free page speed tester to determine how fast your site is performing. 

Not Having A Reliable Call-To-Action Button 

Not having a call-to-action button on your website is a huge mistake. It’s one that will deter your users from becoming paying customers. Whether it’s an online form, or a “Contact Us Now!” button that directs them to the contact page, you need something there to encourage them to get active.

The more call-to-action buttons you have on your website and the way you present them will push users to reach out to you, thereby increasing your lead generation. 

Avoid Common SEO Mistakes

As well as ensuring that you do the right thing for your website, you also have to avoid the wrong things. There are plenty of common SEO mistakes that can deter your lead generation from improving. Here is what you should avoid: 

• Not overstuffing your content with too many keywords or having content that has no keywords at all (you need a delicate balance) 
• Publishing content that isn’t original or yours (plagiarism will see you get punished from Google) 
• No links to other sources (didn’t we mention how vital link building was?) 
• No crosslinks throughout your own website (such as linking from your homepage to a particular service on another page)
• Not optimizing your site to be mobile friendly (it’s 2020 – everyone looks at their phones) 

Overall, if you want to increase your lead generation, implementing these SEO techniques are necessary. You might not see results right away, but over time, and with the right SEO, you’ll experience more profits and increased sales.