SEO lead generation, just like any other effort to generate qualified leads for a business, requires a lot of tactic, a lot of strategy over time. There is actually a huge pressure on businesses to change tack as people are moving towards a more personalized experience when they are on the Internet.

It doesn’t matter if you have been in the business for ten years or a year, the actual strategies for lead generation have to puck a punch, they need to create a genuine connection with people.

1. Be a thought leader

On the Internet where there are just too many dodgy sources of information, to find a brand that acts doubly as a thought leader is a boon.

For one, it puts customers at ease and makes them feel immediately that they are in good hands. The process begins when you start curating the best possible content in your area, as this helps create a solid groundwork for different kinds of campaigns.

This particular groundwork (i.e. being a thought leader and providing consistent, thought-provoking content) forms the ‘crust’ of what would later become the space where customers and the public, in general, will begin to trust you and your brand more and more.

Do statistics actually back up our claims? Yes. In one study, it was discovered that 37% of decision-makers in different businesses and 41% of high-level executives were largely swayed or influenced by thought leaders.

Furthermore, another 48% stated that their exposure to thought leaders and the brands that they gave rise to these thought leaders determined whether or not they would actually close a deal or not.

What kind of content is best?

There are so many types of content that you can choose from when positioning yourself as a thought leader in the SEO industry.

The most basic would be the electronic report or ebook. While interest in ebooks has declined in recent years, the decline does not spell its death. Just imagine executives and other decision makers looking for something substantial on your website.

How do you convince these people that you are the real deal? You show them that you can publish ebooks on your website whenever you have something valuable to offer your customers.

Since you are in the SEO industry, it would also do you some good to offer informative content like articles with bylines, industry whitepapers, and even infographics.

What is great about this type of content is that people can actually cite or reference your page or website and you can easily get quality backlinks for your website by offering vital industry information or data to your customers. It is imperative that you promote all your new offerings through all your available channels, especially those on social media.

Remember: the availability of knowledge is directly linked to customers’ trust level. Every step of the decision-making process is influenced by what you offer as a thought leader in your industry. If you are tired of having to always depend on costly sales cycles and you want people to really come to you simply because you are a thought leader, you know what to do.

2. Use website features that count

Positioning yourself as a thought leader is just step one of the efforts in generating better, qualified SEO leads. This is the part when things become really exciting (and challenging) – tweaking or modifying website features so your website is actively contributing to increasing conversions and generating leads.

Calls to action

The call to action or CTA is hands down one of the most important features of a website. Writing poor copy and executing bad design for your CTAs will kill your campaigns. Luckily, we know how to make those CTAs shine like gold:

– The CTA button should be as personalized as possible. Forget about “click here.” The button should be absolutely tantalizing to the reader. It should be associated with what is being offered, and should appear to be the logical decision while browsing your website.

When CTAs are personalized based on what you know of your customers, you can actually double your leads immediately. Why? Because you are willing to apply customer psychology at a level that simply works. Don’t forget to use A/B testing on your CTAs and be sure never to use templates on different campaigns. Customize and personalize – these are the routes to success!

– CTAs should be action-oriented, so it’s imperative that you create CTAs that begin with a verb. The higher limit should be about 40 characters, and a CTA should always be as straightforward as possible. You need to be able to convey the message fast and efficiently. Here are some examples:

“Run a flagging website? Let’s get that traffic up ASAP.”
“Promoting yourself hoarse without the results? Download this report now.”
“Want better leads for your SEO business? Find them here.”

– As much as possible, calls to action should evoke emotion in your readers. Sometimes, any kind of emotion helps, because it hooks in people and actually creates a somewhat hypnotic state, which makes it easier for the message to push through.

CTAs should also be enthusiastic like you are providing something of immense value that they simply need to have. However, we need to warn digital marketers everywhere that being enthusiastic does not mean you are free to deceive anyone. Your CTAs can be dressed up in a million different ways, but one thing they should never be is a lie. Don’t make an offer for something that does not exist. Do not overpromise in your campaigns either, because they are going to eventually find out and you are going to regret it later on.

– Give your readers at least one good reason to take your offer. This reason has to be tied integrally to what you are actually offering and what they need at the moment. They need to feel that they might be missing out on something, and they need to grab the offer because they are going to regret it if they don’t.

What about testimonials?

Social validation is huge on the Internet. More than half of people wouldn’t even consider signing up for a new service if they don’t see at least any kind of validation that the business is providing excellent service.

On average, it has been estimated that online users consult at least ten different sources or reviews before even trying a new company. This simply means that if your business does not have the leverage offered by testimonials, there is going to be struggling. Ditto if you have been reading bad reviews on other websites and there is no way to remove those reviews because of transparency policies.

As testimonials are important and will have a direct effect on people when they decide (or not) to hire you as an SEO company, it is important to get the best possible testimonials. Here’s how you can do that:

– Consider the best, satisfied clients from your target niche/s that are more than happy to share how your company has helped them. Not every client will have that drive or motivation to write about their experiences. Gauge who among your clients are the best, and work from there. Once you have identified your ideal clients, simply ask them for a testimonial. Testimonials don’t have to be overly long, but if a client can provide a detailed and easy to read a testimonial that goes into the heart of why you are the best SEO company for the job, then by all means, ask for it.

– Testimonials are actually best written right after the satisfactory close of a project. What we need to tap is their positive emotions, and if you have delivered the goods, you can expect those positive emotions to be simply overflowing. This is the perfect time to shoot that email and ask for a testimonial, and we are sure that they would be more than happy to give it, provided that you fulfilled your promises to your client.

– One of the easiest ways to ‘capture’ a testimonial is by adding a testimonial section to the satisfaction survey. Satisfaction surveys are done digitally, and clients are usually cooperative to the degree that they will write at least a paragraph of how your company has helped them. Other times they may shy away from it, in which case you should be able to get a testimonial if you ask it from them personally.

– If you feel that your clients are struggling with words, then provide them with a list of questions or guideposts so they can create the testimonial for you. Among the things that they can focus on are:

– Providing a rating for your customer service efforts.
– Measuring and grading the response time of your company.
– Just how much do they love your services after these were rendered?
– What did the customer feel when the project begin? What did the customer feel after everything was completed?