7 Techniques for Enhancing Traffic and Leads Through Content Marketing

The key to business success today, more than ever before, lies in the ability to grow traffic and leads through content marketing.

With so much noise and competition online, creating valuable, high-quality content immediately sets you apart. It allows you to connect with your audience and position your brand as an authority, in the process converting your readers into leads. 

But how do you create content that attracts, engages and converts your audience?

From creating useful content to optimizing for SEO, I’ll discuss all the handy techniques you need to successfully grow traffic and leads through content marketing.

7 successful techniques to grow traffic and leads through content marketing

An effective content marketing strategy can make the difference between a stagnant online presence and a flourishing one. The following techniques can help you get started: 

1. Create content that answers your audience’s questions

One of the most effective ways to grow traffic and leads through content marketing is to create content that directly answers your audience’s most common questions. 

By providing the information your audience is already looking for, you can position your brand as a helpful resource and authority they can trust. Some tips for creating content that answers audience questions:

• Research your audience: Gather insights into their pain points, challenges, and frequently asked questions. Monitor forums, social media, and conversations to identify what they’re struggling with.
• Brainstorm related questions: Once you understand your audience’s needs, brainstorm more specific questions they might have around those topics. Look at your competitor’s content to see the gaps you could fill, or how to best them.
• Answer directly in content: Create blog posts, FAQs, eBooks, and other content formats that provide clear, valuable answers to your audience’s key questions. Use SEO tools and Google’s “People Also Ask” feature to identify any relevant keywords that apply.

Image source: Google

By providing your audience with the answers they’re looking for, you can organically attract more of your ideal traffic and leads over time.

2. Write about evergreen topics

Creating evergreen content is a powerful way to continually grow traffic and leads through content marketing. Unlike trending topics that come and go, evergreen content stays relevant and valuable over time. This means it can attract an audience year after year.

When it comes to identifying and creating evergreen content, you want to:

• Consider basic processes: Process-focused topics like “how to change a tire” provide enduring advice and tips. Since they remain relevant regardless of the times, they can position you as a reliable source of timeless guidance.
• Create foundational educational content: Content that serves as a foundational resource includes “how-to” guides, historical overviews, and comprehensive tutorials. These provide immense value while establishing you as a repository of knowledge.
• Look at broad industry challenges: Content addressing common pain points has a long shelf life. By sharing your insights and analyses, you can become a go-to resource for audiences seeking a deeper understanding of your field.
• Refresh old evergreen content: Say you’ve written a comparison post about Zendesk vs Salesforce. You need to update it regularly to ensure your information stays current and relevant. This keeps it appealing to your audience.

Hone in on evergreen topics that always hold value for your audience and you’ll continually attract traffic and leads with your content long after publication. 

3. Include calls-to-action in your content to drive lead generation

To turn readers into leads, include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) in your content. A CTA is an invitation for readers to take necessary actions, such as downloading an ebook, requesting a product demo, or subscribing to your newsletter. In any case, you need to get them to give their email address to you through the CTA.

If you don’t add them in the right manner, you’d be making a major content marketing mistake as it could reduce your lead generation dramatically.

CTAs can take several distinct formats:

• Text links: These are links in the content body that can be clicked.
• Buttons: These are icons with catchy phrases that can drive action. Chipotle uses this to urge visitors to take specific actions.

Source: Chipotle

• Forms:These require users to fill up a few fields and click on a button to submit their information to you. Typically, you use them with a lead magnet like an ebook or case study. For example, HubSpot uses this CTA format to prompt readers to download their free resource related to the article it appears on.

Image via HubSpot

• Banners: CTA banner on a page’s side, top, or bottom.
• Pop-up CTA: This is a small window that comes up on a page prompting visitors to take a certain action. It’ll likely feature a headline and a short description.

Source: Glossier

So, how do you incorporate powerful CTAs into your content? Here are some tips:

• Place CTAs prominently in your content, such as at the beginning, middle, and end of posts. Repeat them for the best results.
• Choose an eye-catching button or text color for your CTA. Make it stand out from the rest of the content using color, size, or design.
• Offer something of value in exchange for contact information. For example, an informational guide, checklist, or free trial. This gives readers an incentive to click through.
• Be specific in what you are asking readers to do. For example, rather than a generic “Contact us now!”, use “Request your free demo today!”.
• Track the performance of different CTAs to determine which ones are most effective. Then, optimize your content and placement accordingly.
• Once a lead opts in, follow up promptly via email or phone. Their interest is piqued, so engage with them right away to move them further down the sales funnel.

With strategic CTAs placed throughout your content, you will gain more qualified leads to fuel your sales pipeline. 

4. Optimize content for search engine optimization

To grow traffic and leads through content marketing, you need to distribute your content well, and the best way of doing it is through search engines.

Employing an effective SEO strategy can help optimize your content for enhanced discoverability, which ultimately leads to increased traffic and conversions. 

Here are some tips to optimize your content for SEO:

• Focus on using relevant keywords in your page titles, headers, and content. Try using long-tail keywords for best results as they’ll have lower competition levels than short and generic keywords.

Source: Backlinko

Identify what terms your target audience is likely searching for and naturally incorporate them into your writing:

• Create compelling meta descriptions that incorporate keywords. Also, keep them to a maximum of 160 characters with spaces for best results. Else, they’ll get cut off by the search engine.
• Structure your content with clear subheadings. Make sure you use keywords in your subheadings well.
• Link to other relevant content. Internal links connect your pages and external links can be used to cite high-authority sources. Both help search engines determine content relevance.
• Ensure fast load times and mobile-friendliness. Google prefers fast, mobile-optimized content.

5. Promote your content on social media to reach new audiences

Social media platforms are ideal for promoting your content to new potential readers and customers.

Share your content on the platforms where your target audience spends the most time. For example, promote how-to blog posts on Pinterest, share data-driven infographics on LinkedIn, and tweet one-line content teasers on Twitter.

Use content distribution tools to plan and develop compelling content that captures attention.

Planable is a great example of a content distribution platform with tools for social media content collaboration, planning and synchronization on multiple social media accounts.

You should also engage with your followers by replying to their comments on your posts. With AI commenting solutions, you can automate this content interaction process as well. It can help you build a community and boost loyalty. 

What’s more?

Consider using hashtags to make your content more discoverable. Research popular hashtags used by influencers in your industry. But do not overdo it, as using more than a couple of hashtags per post can seem spammy to some users.

You can also leverage the power of influencer marketing by strategically collaborating with influencers who resonate with your target audience. They can boost your reach and drive traffic to your website.

The best part about using social media for driving traffic and leads is that it also enables you to position your brand as a thought leader in your field. 

6. Repurpose content into multiple formats

To grow traffic and leads through content marketing, you should take advantage of the power of multimedia content.

Repurposing your content into multiple formats, such as video and infographics, is an effective way to reach more potential customers and generate additional traffic. 

A well-received blog post can be transformed into an infographic, podcast episode, video tutorials, or even a series of social media posts to expose your content to new audiences. You can easily add QR codes to it for driving traffic to your website. For instance, you’ve got an agriculture website, you can grow agricultural marketing with it.

And the best part—it saves you the hassle of brainstorming new content ideas. 

Instead, the same content can be used to cater to diverse audience preferences, capturing the attention of those who prefer visual, auditory, or interactive content.

For example, Canva’s design tips blog series was repurposed into a collection of short explainer videos on YouTube.

Image via YouTube

As you can see, repurposing written content into eye-catching infographics and videos presents data, concepts, and information in an easy-to-understand visual format. 

It also enables you to share your message across various channels, reaching audiences on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more. 

This not only extends your reach but also enhances brand visibility and authority in diverse online spaces.

7. Leverage content marketing automation tools

Last but not least, you can streamline and maximize your efforts to grow traffic and leads through content marketing by using automation software.  

Content automation tools can help you create, distribute, and optimize your content across various channels and platforms. These tools can also save you time on repetitive tasks, provide insights through analytics, and help convert website visitors into leads.

For example, leveraging tools like OptinMonster and others featured in this lead generation software list by Attrock can help you automatically capture contacts from your content. You can then nurture these visitors with tailored follow-up messages with tools like MailChimp and ConvertKit. 

Final thoughts

As you can see, there are many impactful techniques you can leverage to grow traffic and leads through an optimized content marketing strategy. 

By focusing on creating high-quality, valuable content tailored to your audience, promoting it across channels, and automating workflows, you can position your brand as a top resource in your industry. 

The key is having a comprehensive plan that incorporates these best practices. With a strategic approach, content marketing can become one of your most powerful tools for sustainably growing your business.