Why Your Blog Doesn’t Convert (And What to Do About It)

Before you publish another blog post, hear me out. 

There are a million good reasons why your business should be blogging regularly, but it's likely that lead generation is at the top of your list.

However, just because your recognize the importance of it, doesn't mean that you're doing it right. 

If your blog isn't converting like you want it to, it's probably a result of your inability to appeal to the right audience.

Don't place your efforts in your sidebar if your reader's aren't even looking there. Don't put a static CTA at the end of your blog post if it doesn't apply to your audience. Don't bombard them with pop-ups if they're just going to exit out of them anyway. 

Doing these things just for the sake of doing them is precisely why your blog isn't performing well.

In order to persuade people to take action, you have to put CTAs in place that speak to their specific needs and behaviors. CTAs that make sense. 

We've detailed 4 tips to help you use a better variation of CTAs that appeal to specific stages of the sales process as well as multiple personas to get your conversion rates up and going. 

Make them smart

With the level of content saturation we're being faced with today, a "one-size-fits all" marketing message doesn't carry much weight.

The marketers who recognize the need for more dynamic, personalized content are the ones who are going to catch the attention of their ideal customer. 

If you're a HubSpot user, Smart CTAs serves as a way to provide your audience with that rich, contextual experience.

By providing blog visitors and subscribers with a unique display based on the criteria that you determine, you're improving the chance that the content will strike a chord with them, and ultimately drive them to convert.

Where a static CTA has the ability to attract and potentially convert a more skewed segment of your audience, Smart CTAs open up more opportunities for conversion, and improve the overall blog experience.

Replace old offers

If you're beating the same 3 "bottom-of-the-post" CTAs to a pulp, it's likely that they are eventually going to begin to lose their effectiveness. 

Rather than continue to watch the number of conversions decline, start brainstorming concepts for new offers.

While we understand that it's impossible for you to build an entire library of resources overnight, each new offer you create will provide you with a fresh lead generation opportunity.

Additionally, the more offers you have to call upon, the more likely you'll be to find an offer that seamlessly aligns with the subject of your blog post. This type of strategic alignment has the ability to boost your conversion rates because it allows you to present a visitor with additional relevant resources while you already have their attention. 

Incorporate a form

I'd be lying if I said that getting blog visitors and subscribers to convert was a walk in the park. It's not.

The goal is to find a way to provide them with exactly what they're looking for so that they don't have to look any further. This means not only making it as simple as possible to decide that your content is the solution to their problem, but also making the conversion experience seemingly effortless.

So what better way to encourage more conversions than to shorten the conversion path?

In an effort to do just that, we've recently incorporated "in-line" CTAs into the bottom of our blog posts. 

Unlike your ordinary call to action, these CTAs are a bit bigger, and contain an actual form for visitors and leads to convert on. 

This provides us with an opportunity to present an offer and a direct conversion opportunity without even having to leave the blog post.

Make them slide-in

Did you notice that CTA that ever so smoothly slipped in from the right side of the screen?

Rather than disrupting your view like a pop-up, the slide-in CTA serves as a less invasive way to provide your readers with another opportunity to convert or take a desired action.

Pretty cool concept, but do they actually work?

According to HubSpot, their slide-in CTA saw a 192% higher CTR and generated 27% more submissions over the course of a one-month test period. 

So to answer your question. Yes. 

While results may vary depending on your offering, the alignment, and your audience, there is no harm in testing these bad boys out on your blog.

Obviously there's more that goes into driving more traffic to your blog. Fill out the form below to access our free tutorial guide.