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Doesn’t it feel great when you see a spike in your website traffic? Whether you’re a business owner promoting your products, a freelancer offering your services, or a blogger sharing your passion, you’d always want to see your traffic numbers going up. But what if somebody tells you that website traffic can prove to be a vanity metric? Yes, such a statement will certainly raise eyebrows, but this doesn’t mean there’s no truth in it. Jesse Witham, the founder of Search Marketing Agency, explains why an increase in traffic doesn’t always lead to more revenue.
What is SEO and CRO?
SEO and CRO are two concepts related yet they are different. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search Engine results. However, CRO which is short for Conversion Rate Optimization is the systematic process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take the desired action. These actions may include; filling out of a form, becoming customers, or any other connecting medium.
Jesse Witham, the 35-year-old CEO of Search Marketing Agency has emerged as one of the experts in SEO. He manages $300 million for an SEM client list that includes; Playboy, American Idol, Black + Decker, and StubHub. His sole aim is helping businesses maximize their online presence through Google’s ever-changing algorithm. He has always had a firm stand on what SEO entails He says;
“SEO means you have to have good copywriting, title and meta tags, optimized images, and of course links from other sites. News articles have educated the masses making digital marketing expectations become realistic. I feel like the industry is so much more stable than it was in the first five to ten years.”
The rivalry between SEO and CRO doesn’t go unnoticed by Mr. Witham. He offers services for both Search Engine Optimization and Conversion Rate Optimization because he believes for a credible outcome, both must work together.
CRO in today’s marketplace
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is important in today’s world of digital marketing, yet few companies are investing little or no budget in CRO. It’s a big loss for most marketers whose only focus is on SEO or PPC. Even though your landing page is ranking on Google’s first page, you aren’t generating the ROI that you should from this exposure. As SEO focuses on search engine ranking, CRO has only one goal which is to help the user complete a specific action.
At Search Marketing Agency, Jesse’s team of digital marketing experts start with a comprehensive site audit. The goal is to determine the strong and weak points of their client’s website. In most cases, their clients struggle with getting organic traffic, which is why the agency focuses on creating a content marketing and link building campaign tailored to each specific site.
It’s important to remember that most of the pages on your website should be geared toward adding value to the lives of your target customers. This is achieved by crafting high-quality content that satisfies user intent and gaining authority links from relevant sources. Some of the biggest brands even invest thousands of dollars in crafting content alone because they know that it could be how prospective customers get acquainted with their company.
Optimizing Website Traffic
With plenty of quality content and relevant links, you put your website in a good position to achieve the top spot in the organic search listings. Traffic may start to flow, but you wouldn’t want your website to leak money. Search Marketing Agency now employs CRO strategies to boost a website’s revenue-earning potential.
Keep in mind that optimizing for conversions doesn’t merely involve creating content with “buyer keywords” or adding call-to-action at the end of each post. Site speed, content length, content quality, and even the design elements on your website can all impact your conversions. Jesse’s team takes time in conducting split tests to see the right combination that doesn’t only lead to more traffic but also higher sales.
How Do You Balance Both?
Mr. Witham points out that by increasing the value of the user’s experience, you will increase several metrics that the search engines value also. Make sure that your headlines are simple and clear. Using htags will not only guide a user through your content, but it also tells the search engines exactly what your content is about. Increasing your page loading time is again a boost for both the user experience and a very important metric for Google. Finally, valuable content engages the user, generates social shares, encourages linking from other sites, and validates your page to the search engines.
Conclusion
Both conversion rate optimization and search engine optimization are two important aspects of any successful digital strategy. Traffic without conversions has little value, so they should be planned together. The true test of CRO and SEO working well together is by execution. By combining data from both elements, your website should enjoy greater search engine visibility, more qualified site visitors, and better sales.
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This content is sponsored by Jim Bevin.
Photo provided by the author.