How to Turn Blog Posts Into Lead Generation Tools

Everyone knows having a regularly updated blog is great for SEO. It helps your website perform better in search results and it creates more entry points for your audience to get to you. But what happens once a visitor lands on your blog? Are they sticking around or are they just leaving after they’ve read the post? If you start thinking about your blog post as more than just food for the hungry search algorithm, you’ll start to see a lot more value from the work you put in. So how do you take your blog posts from stagnant content to a cog in your lead generation machine? Below are some key tips on how to bring calls to action (CTAs) front and center throughout your blog.

Add Relevant Links Throughout Your Post

When you think of CTAs you may be thinking of buttons and forms, but simple links can get the job done too. Adding some hyperlink CTAs throughout your post can help lead visitors to more content or even products that would be of interest to them. For example, if you were writing a post (like this one) on optimizing blog posts, you may want to link specific text to another related post (like we just did).  

Offer Exclusive Content in Exchange for Information

If someone is reading your blog, it means they’re already interested in what you have to say or the topic at hand. Create a piece of more in-depth content or useful resource like a guide or white paper and promote it alongside your post. This is a tactic used all the time on sites like Hubspot, and it’s one we even use ourselves.  

Use Slide in CTAs

You may be wondering the best way to promote that exclusive content with your post. We highly recommend the slide in CTA. You’ve likely run into them before as you’re scrolling on a site when you get a deal or offer in the corner of the screen. This kind of CTA does what pop ups aimed to do without disrupting the user experience. The slide-in CTA will literally slide in from the side of the screen after the visitors has scrolled to mid-page. Not sure where to start with implementing these? We recommend the Sumo plugin, which offers a free account and many options for customization.  

Use That Sidebar

Your sidebar is another great spot to pop in a banner for email subscription, or content downloads. However, remember that for sidebars less is more so keep it between 1-3 items. If you pack the sidebar too much, it could become too busy and result in all CTAs being ignored.  

Use Hello Bar, or a Similar CTA Service like Sumo

One of the simplest CTAs that should be all over your blog is an email signup. You can do this in a couple ways (see side bar, slide-in CTAs above), but we personally like something like Hello Bar, that appears at the top of your site and pulls attention without being annoying. You can also use this same part to promote other CTAs like exclusive content.  

Use Exit Pop-Ups

One of our favorite marketing resources, Neil Patel’s Blog, uses this one a lot and it’s a genius way of grabbing the attention of your visitor right before they leave. Whether you want to encourage them to sign up for your emails, or “like” your company on Facebook, it’s a great way to engage one last time before you lose your visitor. Now take a look at your blog. Is it doing any of these things? If not, start thinking about what kind of content and calls to action you can add to your own posts. The best part is, once you set them up they do all the work for you!   [templatera id=”10396″]