Imagine how frustrating it must be as a shop owner, only to have 90% of the people enter your store browse, and then leave without ultimately making a purchase. Or for potential customers to waste your time, ask lots of questions, and then say: “Thanks for your time”, before heading next door and buying from one of your competitors.
This is not so different to having a lot of website traffic that doesn’t convert into business. So, what can you do if your website is ‘performing’, though not performing optimally? How can you start attracting the right kind of traffic? Read on and let’s take a closer look…
Invest in high-quality search engine optimization
A misconception is that SEO is all about increasing the traffic to your website. This is not the case. The key to proper, high-quality search engine optimization is not just about getting more traffic, but attracting the right traffic.
So, if you are currently getting lots of website visitors but very few are converting, then you don’t have a traffic problem, you have a communication problem.
The key? Invest in high-quality SEO and work on optimising your online presence to attract the right people. i.e., ‘hot prospects’ who are actively searching for the products and services that you offer. Here’s what you need to do…
1. Optimise your content for the appropriate keywords
The best way to attract the right traffic is to optimise your content and target the appropriate keywords. For example, if you are a service based business and you cater to people in Dubai – or indeed certain suburbs / regions of Dubai, then you need to position yourself accordingly. There’s no good getting website traffic from Abu Dhabi residents if your services are inaccessible to them.
But, it’s not just location that’s important. If you are trying to attract a certain demographic with more money to spend, targeting keywords with “cheap” and “affordable” in them is not the right approach. Instead, you should be looking at “upmarket”, “luxury”, “high-end” and the likes.
2. Create highly targeted landing pages
Particularly if there is a certain demographic you’d like to attract to a certain product / service or promotion, then it’s worth creating and optimising highly targeted landing pages that are dedicated to precisely what a website visitor is looking for.
For example, if an SEO company in Dubai is looking to promote a very specific service (e.g., “a business in a box” service for new start-ups), then they can benefit from creating targeted landing pages with all of the appropriate information and then using proper keyword research to target individuals who want to start a new business but need help with branding, marketing, and building a website from scratch.
3. Craft superior and engaging content
One of the biggest contributing factors for website visitors leaving a site without paying is poor quality content. If you wish to convert that traffic into customers, you need to sell them on your products or services.
What is your USP? Do you effectively identify their pain points and offer clear solutions? Is your value proposition too good to miss out on?
With quality, well-researched, SEO-optimised content, not only will you be able to attract the right traffic to your website, but you’ll also be far more successful with nudging them toward a positive conclusion.
4. Improve the UX of your website
Another big factor to consider is the overall user experience. How intuitive is your website? Does it load quickly or are users staring at a blank screen for 5 seconds before they get anywhere? Is it easy to navigate? Do you have clever internal linking that naturally pushes your readers toward the services that they are looking for / didn’t know they needed?
With a poor UX, your traffic will invariably abandon your website for a competitor. Invest in the experience and keep those prospective customers sticking around for longer!
5. Create targeted ads
There are many ways to advertise online with all manner of useful platforms like Google’s ‘Pay Per Click’, Facebook & Instagram, and more. By developing a solid advertising strategy, you can create highly targeted ads that speak to a very specific audience – and indeed promote a certain product or service.
This is an effective way of attracting the appropriate traffic with a far higher chance of converting into business. Just make sure that you are working on a solid SEO strategy in the background so as to attract organic traffic as well.
Conclusion: Be clear in your messaging
Remember, if you have no idea who you are trying to attract, anyone who ends up on your website is going to be far less likely to buy from you.
The key to converting website traffic is having a crystal clear message and value proposition. So, know your audience, define your USP, highlight those pain points, and provide a ‘no-brainer’ solution so that those who do end up on your website, find your products / services practically impossible to resist!
