A blog is one of the best channels to attract traffic. But as far as the bottom line is concerned, it’s not enough. As a SaaS business, you should be able to convert blog traffic into sign-ups and trials to get tangible results from all the effort.
However, the journey from traffic to leads is a long one. The average blog conversion rate is merely over 5%.
If you’re looking for proven ways to convert blog traffic and drive higher users, I’ve got you covered.
5 Ways to Convert Blog Traffic & Improve Sign Ups
1. Choose proper topics and keywords
An average person spends about 36 seconds reading a blog. But what happens when they don’t find the topic interesting? You get poor CTRs and no conversions.
Choosing the right topics is as crucial as the type of content you decide to publish. It doesn’t matter if your content is well-researched and actionable. If your blog topics don’t resonate with the audience, they might get the eyeballs but never the clicks. Here’s how to avoid this.
- Solve audience pain points: Pick topics focused on solving their problems and solutions.
- Look at your competitors: Take inspiration from your competitors. Know what they are doing and see how you can do it better.
- Leverage marketing tools: Today, there are plenty of tools to help you optimize conversion rates. One such tool is Buzzsumo, which can help you perform deep research and come up with relevant topics along with keywords to target.
Source: Buzzsumo
2. Make blog headlines irresistible
Did you know that only over 20% of people make it past your headline? That means over 80% of people do not even click to read your blog. Fortunately, not all is lost. A headline that can make your blog stand out can increase traffic by a whopping 500%!!!!!!
To stay creative with your titles while keeping search intent in mind, you can try the following styles:
Source: CoSchedule
- Use statistics: There’s nothing more trustworthy than a hard fact to get people to act and click on the blog. For example, the title, ‘Science says it’s best to wake up at 4 AM’, has a much higher chance of getting clicked and read than a title like ‘Why Everyone Should Wake Up at 4 AM.’
- Include personal experiences: You might have noticed video titles like ‘What my 80 years of life taught me’ springing up everywhere. You can replicate the same with blog titles, as audiences generally show a positive inclination to personal narratives.
- Attach a number: Do you want to increase your click rate by 15%? Then, use add a number to your title. This specificity will help readers know exactly what they’ll learn before they even read your blog.
That said, a single headline won’t get you the conversion rate you need. Your blog content should match the benefit the headline promises.
3. Optimizing your written content
B2B buyers are always on the lookout for more information to help with their purchases. And, this is where you enter. By providing helpful information to address their immediate concerns, you can prove helpful and encourage them to sign up.
- Start by working on your brand voice. How do your marketing messages sound? Do they sound empathetic to the reader’s pains?
- Connect with your audience by being more humane. For example, using the second person can make it feel like you’re directly talking to your readers, which can keep them engaged.
- Most of all, don’t come off as too pushy. While your end goal might be getting them to sign up, being salesy will only hurt your prospects. To maintain balance, you can keep the ratio of education content to pitch 70:30 or 80:20, so your potential customers don’t feel like they’re being sold to.
4. Make your CTAs compelling
Your call-to-action button is the primary driver of your conversion rate. When created right, it can make you see better results and, thus, should be a priority.
Ideally, CTAs should be relevant to the topic at hand and placed strategically through a content piece. For example, if a blog is about how a particular feature of your product solves a reader’s pain point, then your CTA can ask the reader to start a trial.
So how do you make a CTA that converts?
- First, it should be intuitive, meaning readers shouldn’t think twice about taking action. For example, ‘Get Started Now’ can give readers context to move to the next step.
- Second, your CTA length should be concise. It is recommended to keep it between two to five words. Other simple ways to get users to take action is to make your CTA stand out from the rest of your text and accentuate it with colors.
5. Bring them in, and make them stay
Getting users to sign up for your products can be challenging, but do you know what’s more challenging? Getting them to become a customer. Without previous knowledge of your brand, they might still be skeptical about purchasing your product. So what do you do to make people stay once they start a trial?
Source: Wyzowl
The solution lies at the heart of human transactions: trust. Get in touch with your favourite customers and ask them to provide testimonials.
In your blog, you can provide this trust by offering relevant case studies and customer success stories. From being an unknown company to a potentially trustable business, you’re one step closer to making them your customer.
What comes after conversion?
Your blogging efforts won’t end once you get people to become users. Customer engagement and retention is a whole other ballgame that will require attention.
Around 81% of customers try to fix a problem before contacting customer support. That means your blogging efforts can now focus on product guides, FAQs, and training documents.
By focusing on your potential customers’ entire journey, you can continue to keep those conversion rates coming. Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. So, try to stay creative and experiment a lot, and more importantly, have fun while you’re at it.