Search engine optimization (seo) is an integral part of effective social media marketing. Done well it will drive qualified traffic to your website.  But an increase in traffic means nothing to your business if they're not converting.  Before you spend any more money to drive more traffic to your site, think about what you want your visitors to do and how you can encourage them to convert to a lead. If your traffic is not converting, it's not a numbers game, you need to go back to the planning stage and focus on leads.  Here's some basic pointers on how to convert your traffic to leads.

The first step is to understand your audience, and I mean really know your audience:

1. Who are they?

2. What are their needs, problems?

3. How does your product or service help them?

4. Are they looking for information or are they ready to buy?

The second step is to give them what they're looking for:

1. Make sure the keyword phrase they clicked on takes them to a landing page on your website that is relevant.

2. You have 3 seconds, so make sure the content on the landing page is what they're looking for, easy to read or scan.

The third step is the conversion:

1. Make sure your call to action is clear and easy.

2. If extra information is required provide an option to subscribe to your blog, enewsletter or even download a free ebook.

3. If a free trial of your product would help, offer a free sample, free trial or complimentary consultation.

4. Make it clear for those visitors who are finished researching and are ready to purchase what they need to do. Make the purchase process as easy as possible.

My challenge to you is to focus on leads not traffic, here's what you need to do:

Choose a keyword phrase that represents just one of your products or services, that talks direct to a specific audience and addresses a specific need or problem.  Follow my steps above, test and measure and see if you get a better result in lead conversion.  More than likely your traffic will be much lower, but if you've done your homework the conversion should be higher. Generating leads, not traffic is the start of effective inbound marketing and a successful business. 

If you need some assistance or have a question before you get started, ask me. And don't forget to let me know your results.