![\"Converting](\"http:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shutterstock_524193610.jpg\")
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Search engine traffic is one of the hardest customer acquisition channels to understand, especially for small business owners. Generally, these are the reactions I see from small business owners when they first have Google Analytics installed correctly and learn how to segment the channels down to search engine traffic:<\/p>\n
Generally, what happens from here, is they either blame their website, their content, or their consultant\/agency who manages or built their website for any shortcomings in getting them new customers.<\/p>\n
However, the issues normally don\u2019t have anything to do with any of those. Instead, it is how small business owners look at search engine traffic and how they are converting them into customers. It is very difficult to get a customer from the search engine and immediately convert them into a customer. Generally, the average conversion rate on websites is around 2 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, this can be a little different for small businesses. Let\u2019s say that someone is searching for a local oil change location. In that case, searchers are more likely to convert. However, it is not that far off because, at the end of the day, customers have two different intents:<\/p>\n So, when you take those two intents into consideration, it really isn\u2019t a stretch to think that a 2 percent conversion rate isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing. Searchers get a ton of different options when they search Google. They might not choose you, or they might not be ready to buy from you. So, it\u2019s important to capture the 98 percent of those that don\u2019t convert into a customer immediately from their search and try to get them to convert later on down the road. Sounds easy, right? Not exactly. But, don\u2019t worry — here are some tips on converting search engine traffic to help:<\/p>\n One issue that you might be experiencing has to do with the customers that you are targeting. If you are running AdWords, and you buy short phrases such as \u201cPizza Place,\u201d it might be too generic to convert them. However, if you buy \u201cThe Best Mushroom Pizza in (Your City),\u201d then you are going to be more likely to convert.<\/p>\n When running your AdWords campaigns, focus on the long-tailed keyword phrase<\/a> and capture them, as they are more likely to convert.<\/p>\n Similar to above, you want to make sure that you are optimizing for your physical location<\/a>. Check your Google local page(s) to ensure that they have the correct information and that the directories have the same information as Yelp, YellowPages, etc. The worst thing that you can do is have the wrong local information that takes potential customers to the wrong location.<\/p>\n With regards to AdWords, one gigantic <\/strong>mistake that I tend to see a lot is not using the right location settings. It is absolutely critical <\/strong>that you use the correct settings below to make sure you target the right areas if you are trying to use AdWords to acquire local customers. Make sure you set it to \u201cpeople in my targeting location\u201d for both of those location options below.<\/p>\n Another fatal mistake that I see a lot is when small business owners make it extremely hard for website visitors to convert. Usually, this is done in three ways:<\/p>\n If you are a potential searcher, and you have 4 different local businesses to choose from, you will choose the one that stands out. If you want to be eliminated quickly from the content set, then do one of the five options above.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t want to be eliminated, make sure you don\u2019t make it hard for a customer to do business with you. Make your website inviting and easy to use, and have differentiators of why they should choose you. Were you named #1 Pest Control business in your city? If so, say that your website. It makes you stand out from your competition.<\/p>\n This one should be a no-brainer for a small business owner. If you are not, please, please start retargeting campaigns<\/a> now. Ninety-eight percent\u00a0of customers do not convert on the first click. Getting them back and staying on top of their mind is critical.<\/p>\n Luckily, it is easier than ever before to use tools like AdRoll or create retargeting ads yourself. By doing so, you will get website visitors to come back and, it is hoped, buy when they are ready. I firmly believe offering discounts or other various incentives in your retargeting ads will help convert them into customers.<\/p>\n Similar to retargeting, it can be very difficult to convert searchers into customers immediately because they need to be warmed up. This can be very apparent in small businesses with a high revenue per purchase, such as automotive or housing businesses.<\/p>\n If you are having trouble converting them immediately, I would suggest trying to capture their email addresses<\/a> and sending them an email chain to stay on top of their minds. In addition, you can build trust by giving them valuable content. I personally use SUMOMe and Active Campaign for this.<\/p>\n Using SUMOMe, I use content popups and other various content in order to get their email addresses. From there, they get the content, and they go into my Active Campaign account. Through this, they get a 12-email series, which tries to get them to convert within the next 3-4 months.<\/p>\n If you are in the automotive business, you could use popups with content such as \u201c12 Mistakes Our Customers Make When Buying.\u201d These guides that show mistakes, failures, or pitfalls when making a large purchase are attention grabbing and will surely convert at a higher rate than your standalone web pages. Then your email chain will continue to build trust and value.<\/p>\n If you are eCommerce retailers or sell products in retails stores, you can also have calls to action<\/a> in your content. When writing compelling blog content<\/a> solving researching questions, you can also include calls to action when you mention your products\/services.<\/p>\n You can include items such as \u201cclick here for 10 percent off\u201d or other various monetary discounts to give them the urgency to convert into a customer. You can also induce urgency by saying things such as \u201cvery limited inventory\u201d or other various phrases to show them that they should buy so they do not get left out.<\/p>\n These are the top ways to convert the \u201ctop of the funnel<\/a>\u201d search engine traffic that has traditionally been a \u201clow conversion rate\u201d source of traffic. If you have any suggestions or any to add, let me know in the comments!<\/p>\n Search<\/a> Photo via Shutterstock<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n This article, “Converting Search Engine Traffic to Customers<\/a>” was first published on Small Business Trends<\/a><\/p>\n Search traffic is a hard customer acquisition channel for small businesses to master. To help, here are 6 tips for converting search engine traffic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Tips for Converting Search Engine Traffic to Sales<\/h2>\n
Focus on the Long Tail<\/h3>\n
Optimize Your Campaigns<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nMake it Easy to Convert<\/h3>\n
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Retarget Campaigns<\/h3>\n
Use Content and Email Gathering<\/h3>\n
Employ Calls to Action in Content<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
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