Search engine optimization or SEO is still one of the most used digital marketing strategies today. Latest statistics show that SEO efforts drive more organic traffic than social media strategies by over 1000%.
However, note that not all traffic can be converted into successful sales or purchasing customers. That is why a sales funnel is an integral part of every marketing campaign.
A sales funnel refers to the journey your potential clients go through from the moment they have been made aware of your brand to making a successful purchase. Building a relationship with these successful customers is also part of the sales funnel as you try to build their loyalty to your brand.
Having appropriate knowledge on every stage of your sales funnel will help you maximize the returns of your marketing strategies. Therefore, it is crucial to know your SEO sales funnel and how you can improve your strategies for each stage.
Below, let us talk about everything you need to know about the SEO sales funnel and the best practices you can apply.
In this article
- SEO Sales Funnel Definition
- 5 Stages of the SEO Sales Funnel
- SEO Sales Funnel Best Practices
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- The Takeaway
- Similar Posts
SEO Sales Funnel Definition
SEO sales funnel is basically just the same as any other sales funnel marketers use. The difference lies in the types of marketing strategies used to attract, convert, and retain clients.
Basically, the SEO sales funnel aims to attract more organic traffic to improve the conversion rate. The first stage is where the majority of clients come in and the number normally decreases as you move along the following stages of the journey; we can imagine this as funnel-shaped, hence the term.
An SEO sales funnel will help you determine the following:
- What to say to your clients (content)
- When to say it (which stage in the funnel)
- Where to say it (platforms)
- How to say it (content format)
5 Stages of the SEO Sales Funnel
Now that we know what an SEO sales funnel is. Let us shed light on the different stages involved and how to improve your strategies under each stage.
1. Awareness
This stage is when a potential client gets introduced to your brand and the products and services you are offering. This stage is the widest portion of your funnel. The aim is to attract as much organic traffic as you can using different types of content.
The audience under this stage are first-time visitors of your website or social media pages. They are usually the ones looking for answers or specific items.
At the awareness stage, you must ensure that you create enough interest upon their first exposure to your brand. This interest will fuel them to move on to the next stage of the funnel and one stage closer to a successful purchase.
Here are some of the content formats applicable for the awareness stage:
- Blog Post
Blog posts are one of the easiest content to produce nowadays. Today, ideal blog posts range from 1,200 to 2,000 words. A length long enough to answer questions in a detailed way but also not too long to bore your readers. Through blog posts, you can address or target a client’s pain points by providing insights or direct answers.
When publishing a blog post, always remember that the topic should be highly-relevant to your brand. This way, you can also showcase your knowledge in your industry.
- Social Media Posts
Today, around 72% of the public uses social media. This figure makes social media platforms a good avenue to introduce your brand. Unlike blog posts, social media content contains a shorter copy of what you are trying to convey. The trick is to publish a copy that is easy-to-read but ticks the reader’s curiosity.
- How-To Videos
As the awareness stage is best done by solving your consumers’ problems, a how-to video is also an ideal content to publish. If you are a marketing agency, you can work around marketing tips such as “how to do a backlink audit” or “how to do a keyword search”.
2. Interest
Once the clients are aware of the existence of your brand, you have to develop their interest in your business even further. Under this stage in the SEO sales funnel, you can provide more information to prove your credibility in offering the products and services you have.
In the interest stage, you can encourage your clients to take actions such as following you on different social media platforms or subscribing to your email list.
This is where the proper placement of your call-to-action buttons will matter. Your CTAs should be easy to find so that your clients can easily access them.
3. Decision
The decision stage is where your clients actively look for the best solution to their problem. This factors in their budget and needs. They may have shortlisted a few brands that can meet their needs so the challenge is to stand out.
Under this stage, you can offer the following:
- Free trial
- Consultations
- Discount coupons
These kinds of offerings will help you attract your clients into choosing your brand.
4. Action
This is where the conversion happens. Under the action stage, your clients finally decide to purchase from your brand. To make sure that they successfully purchase from you, offer a website or e-commerce site that is easy to navigate.
Buttons such as “Add to Cart” and payment methods should be strategically placed.
5. Loyalty
The SEO sales funnel does not end after one successful purchase. The process includes making sure that your clients build loyalty to the brand. In the marketing space, this is more commonly referred to as the repurchase rate.
Repeat clients are easier to target as they have an already established trust in your brand. The challenge comes in making sure that they come back for more or do not find better alternatives.
Under this stage, you can give incentives such as discount coupons or free items.
SEO Sales Funnel Best Practices
Here are some of the best practices you can apply to your SEO sales funnel techniques to increase your conversion rate.
Determine Your Target Audience
You can categorize your audience by gender, location, age, or even interests. These different categories will serve as your guide during content planning and creation. These will also help you avoid any errors such as culturally unacceptable words or phrases.
One of the most important parts of creating content is to know your target audience. A company aimlessly publishing content such as blog posts or social media posts with no target audience is just wasting their resources.
When you know who you are writing for, it is easier to think of a topic and frame your content. This way, you can appeal to your target audience and improve the chances of them responding to your message.
Consistent Branding
As noted, the SEOs sales funnel consists of different stages. The sales funnel aims to deliver the audience from awareness to a successful conversion. In all of these stages, it is critical that you deliver consistent branding on all platforms at all times. Consistent branding means ensuring that the way you present your company or organization and everything it stands for holds out across all marketing channels.
A consistent branding will help you convince the client to buy your product or services.
Be Straightforward
Your content should provide straightforward yet accurate answers to customers’ queries or problems. With the number of competitors surrounding you, most clients do not have the time to read lengthy and repetitive content.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which part of the SEO sales funnel is the most important?
All stages of the funnel are important as they have different purposes. The awareness stage is critical as this is where you get your traffic and potential conversions. Successful conversions happen when these stages are done correctly.
2. Is an SEO sales funnel applicable to B2B?
A sales funnel is applicable to business-to-customer and business-to-business types of marketing. That makes an SEO sales funnel also applicable to a B2B business.
Even if you are selling products or services intended for other businesses, you can track and improve their purchasing journey using an SEO sales funnel. The strategies and techniques used in B2C are just the same as those you would use for B2B marketing.
3. How to improve conversion rates?
Conversion happens when you have successfully turned your traffic into paying clients or sales. By guiding your traffic from the moment they were introduced to your brand to the purchasing stage, you turn them into successful conversions.
The Takeaway
An SEO sales funnel is a detailed and effective guide to improve your brand’s conversion rates. This process can serve as a guide to know what kind of SEO marketing is appropriate to launch in the different stages of marketing. In addition, a well-planned marketing campaign ensures that you make the most out of the resources you will be using.
