5 ways you can ensure your website attracts your ideal customers
When you’re focusing on making your website top-notch, you’ll want to ensure that it’s optimized to attract your ideal audience. This will consist of the people you’re trying to sell your products or services to.
You’ll want to consider every aspect of your typical customer’s journey, from how they usually come across your business, to what they’re likely to be looking for on your website. This will help you to get a better idea of how you can grab the attention of the most relevant people, and then hold their hand through the process of making a purchase.
In this article, I’m going to outline some of my top tips for ensuring that your website is going to attract your target customers. Read on to find out more.
Always target the most relevant keywords with your copy
Targeting the right keywords with your website copy and content will help ensure your website ranks for the right queries on search engines. In turn, this will give you a better chance of your website reaching the most suitable people.
Start by coming up with a list of topics that your ideal customers might be interested in learning more about. What do people come to your website for? What does your business offer that’s better than anyone else? Then start plugging these topics and terms into keyword research tools to see if anyone is actually typing them into search engines.
Google Keyword Planner is a great tool to start with. It will provide you with a series of suggested keywords, as well as their average monthly search volumes and their levels of competitiveness. Try to choose keywords that aren’t too competitive, but that still receive a decent amount of search — finding the right balance is important. While it can be tempting to target the most searched and relevant keywords, if they’re too competitive you’re going to really struggle to rank for them. So, it’s often best to target more specific and long-tail keywords that you’re more likely to appear on the first page of Google for.
Once you have a list of keywords you would like to target, assign each one to a web page or content idea that you have. Then weave them into your page titles, headings, and body copy as naturally as possible.
Create content that addresses the questions your customers are asking
If you can anticipate your customers’ questions and answer them with your content, you’ll be sure to attract more of your ideal audience to your site. Plus, when they arrive, they’re bound to feel more connected to your business, as they’ll know you understand them. This can then lead to more sales.
So, where do you find common customer questions? Start by checking in with your customer service team. Creating website content based on any FAQs they get is a great way to not only save your employees time, but it will also help attract prospective customers who are looking for the answers.
Keyword research can help you with this as well. Go back to your list of brainstormed topics that are relevant to your website and, if you plug them into Answer the Public, you will be provided with a list of questions people tend to have about your products, services, or area of expertise.
If you’re not sure where to start with creating content that will help to answer common questions and attract your ideal audience, let’s take a look at some examples for inspiration. The companies below are already doing a fantastic job of using this tactic.
For instance, AKD Law is a personal injury law firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and they do a great job of answering common legal questions on their blog. Take their post about when an expert witness might be needed in a car accident case, for example.
In this guide, they answer this common question, and also cover everything a prospective client could possibly want to know about this topic. They explain what an expert witness is, when they might be used in court, and more. This is incredibly relevant to the firm’s target audience base, who are people that have been involved in a traffic accident. If these people are doing their own research about this subject, they could well come across AKD Law’s website and, after reading this guide, they’ll trust and feel a connection with the company. This is how content marketing can help you to secure more sales.
Take a leaf out of the firm’s book and start creating expert blog posts about different areas of your work. It won’t be long before your website starts to attract more of your ideal customers.
BetterHelp, an online counselling and therapy platform, is another business that does a great job of answering audience questions with its website content. For example, they have a post about the difference between a psychiatrist and a therapist, which is something a lot of their ideal audience members might have questions about.
If people are interested in this topic, they are likely trying to find the right type of mental health services for themselves or someone they care about. By writing these types of blog posts, BetterHelp provides assistance for its ideal clients and will build a sense of trust early on in the customer journey. Because getting mental health help can be a very personal (and sometimes scary) experience, content like this is especially important for businesses like BetterHelp.
To attract the right audience, all companies should be creating content that addresses their questions. But, if your goal is to help people with something as important as their health or finances, this is even more important.
Design free but valuable tools your target audience will love
Free resources are like magnets when it comes to attracting your ideal customers. This is because, if you’re able to provide your audience with value without them having to spend a penny, they’ll be more likely to trust and feel a connection with your business. This can then lead to more sales.
Think about what your audience needs help with and what you could create to assist them. For instance, if you run a finance-related website, you could put together a calculator that helps a viewer figure out what tax bracket they’re in. If you’ve created a lot of blog content around a particular topic, consider collating it into an ebook people can download and refer to. Or, if you offer a type of software, think about whether you could provide a free trial so your ideal customers can try before they buy. All of this could lead to people spending money with you down the road.
Let’s take a look at some examples for inspiration.
For instance, take a look at one of the many free calculators TurboTax offers to its website visitors. Their Tax Bracket Calculator allows you to pick a tax year and plug in your information. You’ll then be provided with your estimated tax rate. People searching for a tax bracket calculator are likely to want other tax filing information and tools as well, which they’ll be able to find on the same site. This is what makes their series of tax tools so effective — they attract the people that might be interested in doing business with the company.
On the other hand, Ulta, a cosmetics retailer, targets their ideal customers using their online foundation shade finder. Buying the right makeup online can be pretty tricky, and finding the right shade of foundation is important to anyone who
People searching for a new foundation might not know where to begin, but Ulta’s tool helps them find the right brand, formula, coverage, and finish to achieve their desired look. This is a great way to draw in new customers. If people are already on the website, they’ll be far more likely to buy their recommended foundation there and then. They might even pick up a few extra products while they’re at it, so this tool can work wonders for attracting the right people and generating sales.
Ensure you’re active on social media
Being active on social media is a necessity in 2021. If you’re active, you’ll make your business a lot more visible online and attract more of your ideal customers.
To start, figure out what platforms you want to focus your energy on. Different social media platforms have different audiences, so you’ll need to approach each one in a unique way. Facebook tends to attract all demographics, although it’s particularly popular among the older generations, and it has the biggest user base. LinkedIn is more of a professional site and is going to be a great choice if you run a B2B business. If your company is very visual-focused — for example, you might sell clothing or makeup — Instagram or Pinterest are great options, as they’re all about the imagery. And, if you’re looking for an option that’s more text-based and that makes it easy for you to link to your website content, Twitter might be for you.
There are lots of ways you can engage with your ideal customers on social media and send them to your website. No matter the platform, dig through your social media direct messages and mentions. On Instagram, for instance, people might tag you in a photo if they are using your product or service. You could comment on their image to thank them for their support and let all of their followers know where they can find more information about you.
You can also attract your ideal customers by interacting with other businesses in your niche. If their followers like what they’re posting, they should like you too, right? Don’t be afraid to leave comments, like, and share the posts of other leaders in your industry. This strategy will help get more eyes on your website.
Produce content that addresses your customers’ pain points
If you can address your ideal customers’ pain points with your website content, you’ll attract more qualified traffic. Similar to anticipating the questions your customers are asking, addressing their pain points will help customers feel like you understand them, which will earn you their trust and lead to more sales.
Check in with your customer service team and see if there is a subject that your customers need help with a lot. You can create how-to pieces, buying guides, webinars to share your wisdom, or even an ultimate guide on a subject you’re an expert on to give them a deep understanding of the topic.
Take a look at how Backlinko addresses customer pain points in their definitive guide to copywriting. Backlinko is an SEO training and link-building service, so many of their customers will likely need help with the creative and technical aspects of copywriting, as it’s such a huge part of SEO.
By providing their customers with a free guide to copywriting, they can attract a lot of people who might be interested in their services down the line. This could be marketers, business owners, or writers looking to brush up on some things. This means this kind of content is great for attracting the right audience.
FreshBooks, an online accounting software provider that’s targeting freelancers and small business owners, also does a great job of addressing a pain point of its target audience with its guide to writing invoice letters.
A lot of their target customers are likely to do a significant portion of their bookkeeping themselves, so it makes sense that they might be looking for advice on writing invoice letters — especially if they’re just starting out. So, with content like this, FreshBooks can attract the right people and earn their trust. Then, down the line, the same people might come back to pay for their services because they know the brand.
Think about what problems your customers might have, and how your expertise could help them. Then create content with this in mind to attract your ideal audience and earn more sales along the way.
Summary
Attracting the right customers can be tricky, but it’s possible with the right strategy. If you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to attracting your ideal customers and ultimately getting more sales.
Engage with them on social media and be active. Create smart, high-quality content that addresses their questions and pain points. Target the questions and keywords that they’re searching for all over your website. And don’t be afraid to throw them something for free, like a tool or resource. Everyone likes free stuff!
If you need more help with getting more sales for your business, Clickworker can help you out. Their eCommerce services are solution-based and help boost your earnings with the help of fresh unique content for SEO and data insights. What are you waiting for? See what they have to offer.
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Author bio & headshot:
Alex Ratynski is a Content Strategist at Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner that works with agencies and marketers. The company focuses on helping businesses to improve their online visibility, so they can grow and reach their goals. If you enjoyed this article, visit the Loganix blog for more expert advice.
