4 steps to convert blog readers into paying customers

Blog posts are a great marketing tool for driving new customers to your website through Google – and without the constant competition that exists on social media.

Countless blog posts are published every day, the majority of which do not increase the sales of the respective company. While not every blog post has to be promotional, they should still aim to attract new customers.

But how do you write a blog post like this?

1. It’s all about the content

Whether or not sales are generated through the blog depends, as with the rest of the content marketing strategy, on the content created. However, since creating a blog post takes significantly longer than producing a TikTok video, for example, it’s especially important to get it right from the start.

Most importantly, content should not be aimed only at the ideal customers and readers. After all, enjoyment is not synonymous with sales.

All content should be appealing to potential customers, but that alone is not a selling point. Blog posts that attract customers must first and foremost be relevant to the existing offering.

2. Optimise blog posts for search

While blog posts are great for attracting new customers and driving your marketing strategy, they are relatively ineffective without SEO. Search engine optimisation is where the full potential of blogging lies: Google can send leads to your website 24/7.

Mistake no. 1: falling back on the muscle memory of academic writing instead of acquiring the necessary skills and learning how to write for search engines.

SEO is not a dirty word. It’s not about ‘hacking’ the algorithm, but about making your article stand out so that Google recognises when it should be displayed to the searcher.

SEO visibility is one of the prioritised marketing activities of German small business owners. According to a study by GoDaddy, 47 per cent of respondents plan to invest in this. A blog post, no matter how well written, only realises its full potential when it appears on page 1 of Google. Here are the basics for making that happen.

Excursus: The basics of website SEO

Keywords are at the heart of search engine optimisation. These are terms that people type into Google when searching. The main keyword that the article is targeting is called the start keyword. In addition, there are many other keywords in the text that provide context and help Google to better understand the content.

For example, an article about Paris needs a lot of context before Google really understands what it is about. It could be about Paris in France, Paris Hilton or the Public Assistance Information System (PARIS).

The keywords that add context to the main keyword are called related keywords. In its simplest form, search engine optimisation consists of using the starting keyword and related keywords in the right places so that the content is well ranked on Google.

Some of these important places are:

• Blog title
• Blog headlines (H2s, H3s)
• The first 100 words of the article
• Throughout the article
• Image names and alt text

Using these keywords correctly helps search engines to better understand the article and place it on the front pages of search results.

3. Build trust with potential customers

Once readers have arrived on the website, it’s time to woo them. You don’t do that by jumping straight into the sales process. There are two main reasons for this:

1. New readers don’t yet have enough trust to complete a purchase.
2. Readers have come to the website for a reason, and that reason needs to be fulfilled.

To convert new readers into customers, they must first be convinced of the expertise. This is not achieved, of course, by hiding the knowledge behind a paywall or by asking readers to sign up for an email list.

Readers who come to the site via Google need to immediately recognise that the writers of the article know what they are talking about and can help with the problem at hand. Otherwise, there is a very high risk that new readers will quickly go back to Google and look for help from the competition.

Trust in the expertise is immediately undermined if companies only write about themselves in their blog. Customers don’t want to read a 2,000-word article about the company. The texts must always be about the needs and interests of the readers.

4. The way to the offers

Once readers have come to the website via Google and found the solution to their problem, the next step is to discover the offers.

The most common mistake: assuming that readers will come across the offers on their own. New customers must be led there in a targeted way.

Many companies lose customers because they don’t present their offers in different ways. A single mention of the products or services is not enough. Buyers need to be made aware of the offer through multiple brand touchpoints. This is best done through various presentation methods in each blog post.

• Inline invitations in the middle of your blog post inviting users to download a free offer
• Timed pop-ups that redirect users to a service page or the shop
• Banners at the top or bottom of the webpage
• Calls to action (CTAs) in the footer
• Graphics in the sidebar

These different approaches ensure that readers are made aware of offers and ultimately become customers.

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson ist Marketing Director Germany bei GoDaddy und seit mehr als zehn Jahren als Marketingexpertin in der IT-Branche tätig. Seit sechs Jahren kümmert sie sich speziell um den Anbieter GoDaddy in Deutschland, mit besonderem Fokus auf digitales Marketing. Ein besonderes Anliegen ist ihr die Digitalisierung von Mikro- und Kleinunternehmer:innen.