MENUMENU
  • Services
    • Services
      • Search Engine Optimization
      • International Search Marketing
      • Local Search Marketing
      • Pay Per Click Advertising
      • Social Media Marketing
      • Email Marketing
      • Conversion Rate Optimization
      • Public Relations
      • Website Design & Development
      • Reporting & Analytics
      • Amazon Marketing Services
      • Digital Marketing Strategy
      • Franchise Marketing
  • Case Studies
  • About Us
    • About Ignite Visibility
      • Our Story
      • Clients
      • Our Values
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Our Team
      • UCSD Extension Courses
      • Careers
  • Thought Leadership
      • Our Blog
      • Podcast
      • SEO: The Movie
      • Social Media Marketing: The Movie
      • Book: The Forecaster Method
      • Attend Our Next Digital Marketing Event
  • Contact
  • 619.752.1955
Home / Conversion Rate Optimization / How to Set Up Blog Posts That Drive Conversions (Part 4 of 4)

How to Set Up Blog Posts That Drive Conversions (Part 4 of 4)

April 3, 2020 By John E Lincoln

In this last post in the series, we’ll look at how to drive conversions from a blog post. Blog post optimization is a bit different than the other three pages we’ve covered thus far.

So, unlike a product page or a traditional landing page where conversions are measured by purchases or trial sign-ups, blog posts typically target lower-hanging conversions like newsletter sign-ups or downloads.

Below, I’ll cover some key things to include to ensure your blog post is built for conversions.

How to optimize your blog posts

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to structure your blog posts
  • What are “social share” buttons
  • How to use related articles section
  • The benefits of having a sidebar on your blog
  • How to use newsletters or lead magnets
  • Why you should be linking to your top blog posts

So, How Do You Structure a Blog Post to Drive Conversions?

Blog posts tend to follow a pretty specific format–a compelling headline, H2/H3 subheadlines, images/videos throughout, and plenty of white space.

This graphic from Business2Community does a nice job mapping out how to format a blog post for readability–and driving internal clicks and shares.

How to structure an article or blog post

Source

Social Share Buttons

Social share posts encourage your visitors to, well, share your content with their followers. The core benefit is, they’re an easy way to get more traffic to your site.

Related Articles

While I already mentioned including internal links throughout the body, adding another section for recommended content presents an additional opportunity to drive clicks.

When you have related articles down at the bottom, that makes it so when somebody reads it, it’ll increase the time on site, encourage clicks on internal links, and improve the overall usability of your website.

Ignites use of "related articles" on their blog pages help boost conversions

Additionally, highlighting top categories is another way to drive traffic internally by helping readers find more content related to their interests.

Sidebar

Every blog, if possible, should include a sidebar.

Here’s why:

Let’s say someone performs a search and lands on your site–they might have no idea where they are on the internet.

Here’s an example from the video. If you Google “what is SEO,” you might see the following snippet from the Ignite Visibility site.

Google search results for "what is SEO"

When you click the snippet, here’s what you’ll see:

Screenshot of Ignite Visibility's sidebar on a blog page

The sidebar brings context into the mix, giving new visitors a bit of information about your brand.

I like to think of this as the elevator pitch for Ignite–so no matter what, even if this person leaves without taking action, they now know a bit about the company.

Additionally, you might include ads in your sidebar to support your “macro-level goals” and actually convert from your blog page.

Newsletter or Lead Magnet

Another classic blog optimization tactic is getting people to sign up for a newsletter or some sort of lead magnet. If they put in something–and by something, I mean their email, they get something back.

Hubspot promotes both the newsletter signup at the top of the page and a related download that scrolls with you as you read the blog (notice, too, how the article is about CTAs and the download offers 28 CTA templates):

A screenshot of how Hubspot promotes newsletters and lead management on their blog

Source

And, here’s another example from OptinMonster promoting an e-book. What’s nice about this one is, it promises twelve actionable tips for driving revenue from website traffic:

An example of OptinMonster promoting an e-book on their website

Source

In any case, there are a couple of things to keep in mind about lead magnets.

  • It doesn’t matter if it’s a template, checklist, e-book, or a full-on content library–it needs to be valuable to your audience.
  • It should promise a “quick win.” What does this resource help your audience achieve?
  • It needs to match the stage in the buyer’s journey. Save the e-book downloads for the middle or bottom of the funnel when audiences are actively researching solutions. Early on–make it short, digestible, and related to the original blog post.

Surface Valuable Resources

Another idea is to link to your top posts of all time. We’ve done this on the Ignite site, offering 100s of free marketing courses, links to our podcast, tons of resources.

While this isn’t an official “lead capture” method, it is an effective way to increase page views by offering valuable resources. For example, if you look at that “How Long Does SEO Take” post again, I’ve included links in the sidebar to all of these other resources:

An example of how Ignite Visibility uses the sidebar to display recent blog posts

Wrapping Up

Ultimately, driving conversions from your blog posts is all about creating multiple opportunities for readers to learn more about your brand–whether that’s reading more blog posts, downloading a lead magnet, or just learning that you exist.

This post wraps up the 4-part CRO series–I hope you found these helpful!

About John E Lincoln

John Lincoln (MBA) is CEO of Ignite Visibility (a 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Inc. 5000 company) a highly sought-after digital marketing strategist, industry speaker and author of two books, "The Forecaster Method" and "Digital Influencer." Over the course of his career, Lincoln has worked with over 1,000 online businesses ranging from small startups to amazing clients such as Office Depot, Tony Robbins, Morgan Stanley, Fox, USA Today, COX and The Knot World Wide. John Lincoln is the editor of the Ignite Visibility blog. While he is a contributor, he does not write all of the articles and in many cases he is supported to ensure timely content.

You may also like:


  • Ad Fatigue: How to Recognize It & Avoid It

  • What is Pay-Per-Click? How Does PPC Work? (2023 Guide)

  • Quality Over Quantity: The Word Count Debate for Content Length
  • how to create a content calendar
    How to Create a Content Calendar

Search Here

NEWSLETTER // SIGN UP NOW

About The Editor

John E Lincoln, CEO

John Lincoln is CEO of Ignite Visibility, one of the top digital marketing agencies in the nation and a 6x Inc. 5,000 company. Lincoln is consistently named one of the top marketing experts in the industry. He has been recipient of the Search Engine Land "Search Marketer of the Year" award, named the #1 SEO consultant in the USA by Clutch.co, most admired CEO and 40 under 40. Lincoln has written two books (The Forecaster Method and Digital Influencer) and made two movies (SEO: The Movie and Social Media Marketing: The Movie) on digital marketing. He is a digital marketing strategy adviser to some of the biggest names in business. John Lincoln is the editor of the Ignite Visibility blog. While he is a major contributor, he does not write all of the articles.

LEARN MORE ABOUT JOHN

Contact Us. Let’s Chat!

  • Hidden

Marketing Guides

SEO In 2020: How To Prepare For Major Disruption

"SEO: The Movie" - Have You Seen Our Film? Watch Now

"Social Media Marketing: The Movie" - Have You Seen Our Film? Watch Now

Amazon Seller Central vs Vendor Central

Listen To The Podcast Featuring The Best Minds In Marketing

John Lincoln Interviews Global Director of Digital Marketing & Strategy at Qualcomm, Jessica Jensen

Check Out 227 Free Online Marketing Classes

The 2020 Guide To Dominating SEO With Advanced Schema

Learn More About Our Digital Marketing Agency

Learn More About Our SEO Services

Learn More About Our Paid Media Services

SELECT CATEGORY

Become A Contributor

Interested in writing for Ignite Visibility?

APPLY NOW

Services

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Pay Per Click Management
  • Conversion Rate Optimization
  • Website Design & Development
  • Social Media Company
  • Public Relations
  • Amazon Marketing Services
  • Franchise Marketing
  • International Services
  • Digital Marketing Agency Services

About

  • Our Team
  • Our Values
  • Clients
  • Reviews
  • UCSD Extension Courses
  • Careers
  • Tools & Resources
  • Sitemap

Contact

4250 Executive Square, Suite 100
La Jolla, California 92037

619.752.1955

Join The Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest from Ignite Visibility.

google parther logo

©2022 Ignite Visibility. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy