How to Turn Your Blog Visitors Into Customers

Driving organic traffic to your site is not an accomplishment. The primary aim of running a business blog is to develop a steady funnel of customer acquisition. 

While traffic is important, it renders meaningless if the conversion rate is not up to the mark. To build a successful and sustainable business, it’s imperative to convert those visitors into customers and accelerate sales. 

But how do you convince a first-time visitor to trust your brand and opt for your product or services? The answer lies in curating an effective marketing strategy with proactive steps. 

This article aims to bridge the gap between blog visitors and leads, ultimately turning them into customers.

Guide to Turning Your Blog Visitors Into Customers

Here are 13 simple steps to build a customer base from your site visitors. 

1. Understand your audience

To increase conversion rates, you need to curate highly targeted content. Your blog needs to serve a purpose and add value. The more relatable your content is the higher your chance of converting a visitor to a customer.

The only way to create content that appeals to your target market is to understand your ideal customers thoroughly. So, before settling on a content marketing strategy, conduct proper research. Find out who you are creating content for. Remember, you can’t appeal to everyone. For example, if you sell artisan stationery, you can’t possibly direct your content to the entire market.

Hence, you need to understand your ideal customer’s pain points and how your product solves their problem. Your content must reflect these answers to be more target specific. This makes your blog go source-to-source and makes it easier to sell your brand to your audience in the future.

Scrape Google and find out what questions people ask on platforms like Quora, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Once you identify your target audience’s needs, you will curate better content and accommodate your services to their liking. 

2. Determine your unique selling point

The market across industries is very competitive. For every product, there are hundreds of alternatives available. So how do you stand out in such a cutthroat landscape? By clearly reflecting your unique selling point within your blogs. 

The secret here is a balance of information. Too much of it may overwhelm your prospect, while too little information may not be enough to grab their attention. So, ensure you express your USP in your blog by solving the reader’s problem instead of overwhelming them with a sales pitch. 

Take Ahrefs blog as an example of aligning with the JTBD (Job-To-Be-Done) framework that shows its USP in the content. Their content is designed to break down SEO topics and provide clear, actionable solutions using their tool that help people get the desired job done.

How do they do it? They know where their uniqueness lies. They effectively communicate this to your visitors through properly structured content. Like them, your product USP must also reflect in your blog content.

You can check in the below example how Patrick Stox, Ahrefs Product Advisor, explains the process of performing a competitor link analysis and identifying competitors using Ahrefs. 

Source: Ahrefs

3. Create an email list

Source: Maciek

Growing your email list can be a great way to keep your audience informed about future blogs and product releases.

You can create a sticky sign-up form on your blog, exit pop-ups, Hellobars, and other lead magnets where visitors can join your mailing list. You can also include a call-to-action in your blog posts.

In addition, you can offer incentives such as exclusive discounts or early access to new products to encourage people to join your mailing list.

Once you have built a strong email list, you can use it to send regular updates to your audience about your latest blog posts and product releases. This helps keep your audience interested in your content and helps drive traffic to your website.

Here’s how you can turn your blog visitors into email subscribers:

• Design a visible opt-in form
• Have a distinct CTA
• Add a sticky bar to each blog page

For example, Hunter offers a free cold email course on its blog. Since their target audience sends cold emails, and their offer matches search intent, it’s more likely to bring in qualified leads. Further, their subscribers receive details on what they will learn in the 5-day course. They will do this using their tool. These subscribers might even turn into customers at the end of the course.

Darshan Somashekar, who runs Unscrambled Words, suggests reducing as much friction as possible when collecting emails. “We implemented Google one click sign in, and our email collection drastically improved. Users just have to click a button to give us their emails.” 

4. Offer a freebie

Lead magnets are an excellent way to reward your audience for trusting your brand. When an individual visits your blog, this can be a very appealing way of transforming that visit into a lead.

The idea here is to present something only available for a limited time. Creating a sense of urgency can drive many customers to sign up or purchase on a whim.

Keep them hooked through gated content that is solution oriented and rich in research. Once you do that, acquiring their email address and following up with attractive freebies becomes easier. 

You can also give them a token of appreciation for giving their valuable time and providing their email. For example, you can highlight a lead magnet when they share their email address with you. This can include free one or two sessions of an online course, a free ebook, or a discount code. 

Another smart way to attract relevant leads is to offer a free webinar on a topic your target audience cares about. Most professional webinar platforms include customizable registration forms and lead capturing and gathering the leads into a list. 

A business that executes this strategy well is Hootsuite. At the end of their blogs, they share templates to help their audience execute the tips they share in their blogs.

Source: Hootsuite

5. Use widgets

Adding widgets is a unique way of adding extra value to your website. These can showcase relevant information or functionality like text boxes to write on or something to click on.

However, you won’t benefit from any random widget. It needs to be relevant to your brand and irs services, like testimonial widgets and lead generation widgets.

Testimonial widgets are a great way to showcase your existing customer’s experiences on your website. Widgets like the in-page carousel, wall of love, and review showcase with filters can up your conversion game by several notches.  

Developing them on your own is not always effective. That’s where Trustmary widgets can come to your aid. The platform has many widgets for lead generation and social proof and is constantly adding new widgets to its collection. You can also request them for any that are missing.

6. Map your content to user intent

Mapping user search intent is important for creating effective content and turning blog visitors into customers. 

Search intent refers to the reason a user is searching for something online. It can be classified into four main categories: 

• Informational (for learning)
• Navigational (to reach a specific page)
• Transactional (to purchase)
• Commercial (for interest in products or services)

For the top of the funnel (ToFu), the primary focus should be providing informational content that helps users learn about a topic or solve a problem. This could include blog posts, articles, and videos that provide valuable information to users.

In the middle of the funnel (MoFu), the focus should shift to providing more specific, in-depth content that helps users decide. This could include product reviews, case studies, and comparison blogs that help users understand the benefits and drawbacks of different options.

At the bottom of the funnel (BoFu), the focus should be on providing content that helps users make a purchase or take some other action, such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading an app. This could include email newsletters, calls to action, and high purchase intent articles encouraging users to take the next step.

Mapping user search intent when creating content for a blog will help you create content that educates your audience at different stages of the buying journey. 

You can improve the chances of converting users into customers by providing the right content at the right time.

7. Build a blog page

Blogs are informative and remain popular among modern internet-dwelling customers. Build a blog page as an additional medium to address your customers. 

You can showcase your solution-oriented approach and establish authority in your niche on the blog page. When you address your target market’s pain points, offer them knowledge, and showcase your products as potential solutions. It helps you build trust in your services. 

For example, with Trustmary’s blog, we provide dedicated categories to simplify search and ensure we add valuable information throughout each section.

The more information and value you can give your visitors, the more you will convince them of your ability. Regular blogs also pave the way for constant interaction. It makes your business seem active, welcoming, and trustworthy. Blog pages also help you subtly push effective CTAs.

8. Create custom landing pages

Approximately 68% of B2B businesses use landing pages to generate leads for future conversions. 

Creating custom landing pages is a great way to redirect blog visitors to high-intent pages and move them down the content funnel. This can be a highly effective strategy for converting blog visitors into customers or clients.

To create a custom landing page, follow these steps:

• Identify the goal of the landing page. This could be to collect email addresses, generate leads, or make a sale.
• Create a compelling headline that captures the reader’s attention and communicates the page’s value.
• Include a clear call-to-action that tells the reader what to do next, such as “Sign up now” or “Learn more.”
• Use images, videos, and other visual elements to grab the reader’s attention and keep them engaged.
• Make sure the page is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate on all devices.

By redirecting blog visitors to high-intent pages, you can move them further down the content funnel and increase the likelihood of conversions. This can help you generate more leads and sales from your blog traffic.

It also improves your SEO structure and gives your brand a more prominent online presence. 

9. Use social proof

Most buyer relies on the experience of others to make their own choices. Hence, marketers use social proof for conversion rate optimization by easing the minds of worried customers. 

It could be a simple and effective persuasion technique that reduces friction in customers’ buying journey. It helps them take that ultimate step towards conversion is social proof.

When a visitor sees customer testimonials and positive online reviews, they create a good image of your brand. It shows you as a reliable service provider. 

Ensure you have elements of the social proof elements front and center on your website. Highlight your best products while you are at them.

Source: Trustmary blog

In our blog, we aim to include client testimonials and reviews within the CTA.

10. Make targeted pop-ups

While it seems risky, strategically placing targeted pop-ups can boost your conversion rate. It effectively creates urgency in your audience and makes them consider closing the deal before it’s gone. For example, you can include an exit intent pop-up with a small discount and a ticking clock to set a deadline.

A good pop-up plugin can target specific articles. Create pop-ups relevant to the subject of particular content. Ensure you do not overwhelm your customers with too many and frequent pop-up ads. 

Sprout Social uses the exit intent popup to offer a free trial to its blog visitors. Unlike most other exit popups that spread across the entire screen, it slides from the left. This makes them stand out without distracting the main content.

11. Nurture the leads into customers

The actual struggle of conversion starts after you get leads. That’s when you need to nurture them proactively. 

Your reader has given you their email address. That fact alone reflects their interest. However, they might lack confidence in opting for a new brand. Ensure you stay in touch with your leads through a well-mapped-out, highly personalized, and consistent email marketing strategy. 

Avoid direct sales pitches. Instead, build trust by giving them more great content in a weekly newsletter, roundups, or building an email course with educational content. This is to establish that they have made the right choice by providing you with their emails. 

12. Retarget the audience

If your analytics show that you have quality traffic on key blogs and landing pages, but most don’t convert, it’s time to re-target them. 

Re-marketing pushes ads that follow your audience as they browse. The aim is to bring them back to your site. They are important on your blog because they can help to bring back visitors who have previously engaged with your content but may not have converted. 

Retargeting display ads can increase brand awareness and recognition among your target audience. By consistently showing your ads to potential customers, you can build trust and credibility and reinforce the value of your brand.

Furthermore, retargeting display ads can help improve your blog’s performance by driving more traffic and engagement. This can ultimately lead to more conversions and revenue from your blog, making retargeting a valuable marketing strategy for your business.

A good example is Hunter’s cold email course. Visitors who don’t opt for the free course use Facebook retargeting ads to grab their attention. 

13. Boost site speed

No matter how well you plan your marketing and content, a poor website speed won’t account for much. Did you know that just a second delay in loading speed can lower customer satisfaction by 16%? People don’t have time to spare just to wait for your site to load — they are simply going to click away. 

The loading speed is especially challenging for eCommerce websites where many elements load simultaneously. So, as the last layer of preparation, ensure your website loads properly and quickly. Establishing your business as a professional and reliable service provider is crucial. Hence, invest in your website speed and performance.

Conclusion

Turning visitors into customers is not a quick process. It requires a methodical and proactive approach to see a real and steady conversion rate. Acquiring the email of a visitor is just one element. 

To work, you must plan out your entire blog content strategy by keeping conversion in mind. Start by structuring a strategy that’s customer oriented. Focus on understanding your customer’s needs, pain points, desires, and expectations from your industry. 

Take measures to build trust. You convert traffic into leads when you deliver value, provide solutions to pain points, and give a simple but rewarding experience.

Written in collaboration with Alain Glaeser, the co-founder of BrowseDev.