SEO Lead Generation
Case study & how to guide
- June 18, 2024
When you talk to clients, one thing that comes out very clearly is: they all want to generate leads from SEO. Not just traffic. But leads. It’s not surprising. After all true SEO moves the needle on the business bottom line. It’s not enough to bring traffic, this traffic needs to be quality traffic that converts 🏆
This case study of our work with Qlic IT illustrates how targeted SEO strategies can drive high-quality leads as well as enhance brand authority and increase traffic. By understanding the nuances of the charity IT sector and implementing innovative SEO techniques, we achieved remarkable results.
Bringing the client not just traffic, but also quality leads.
In this post
A case study in SEO lead generation
Summary
Our SEO work with Qlic IT has achieved excellent results over the last six months, significantly enhancing the company’s lead generation efforts and brand authority in the charity IT sector. This case study details how we collaborated with Qlic IT’s niche website to reach a specific audience, focusing on generating high-quality leads through targeted SEO strategies.
Objective
The primary objective of our SEO campaign for Qlic IT was to drive organic traffic and generate high-quality leads within the charity IT sector. We aimed to improve Qlic IT’s lead generation capabilities and establish the company as a trusted authority in its niche market. Our six-month objectives included:
Increase organic traffic by 50%
Increase conversions by 20%
Research and Planning
Given Qlic IT’s unique position in the charity IT sector, thorough research and meticulous planning were essential. Despite a modest budget of £1650 per month, the campaign included market research to understand the sector’s challenges and opportunities. This involved analysing competitors and audiences and understanding audience search behaviours to enhance SEO lead generation.
We leveraged low-cost methods and AI-supported SEO tools for initial data gathering, ensuring that our approach was both efficient and effective. Additionally, the client was advised to record sales conversations, which were reviewed by the Vixen SEO team.
We also held persona and journey workshops with the Qlic multi-departmental team. This research allowed us to craft a tailored SEO campaign that resonated with Qlic IT’s audience, focusing on generating quality leads rather than sheer traffic volume.
Creativity and Innovation
Creativity and innovation were at the core of our campaign. We incorporated AI into the content creation process in an ethical and search-friendly manner. Armed with the research conducted in the planning process, AI was used to assist with both the research and the delivery stage while ensuring a balance between automation and human expertise.
Our strategy included targeting searches that were highly relevant to Qlic IT’s audience, regardless of monthly search volume. The aim was quality rather than quantity. By focusing on these specific search terms, we attracted highly relevant traffic likely to convert into quality leads. Additionally, we developed a unique content workflow that balanced AI assistance with human oversight. AI was fed with detailed SEO briefs and elements of subject matter expertise taken from Qlic webinars and sales material. This ensured all content met high standards of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT). Once written, the content was reviewed by the Vixen team for any further
Methods of SEO Lead Generation
Our strategy was multi-faceted and involved several key components:
Topic, Subtopics and Keyword Selection
Utilizing SEO tools and manual research, we identified topics, subtopics, and finally, keywords. The aim was to identify the topical areas for the business that have a higher chance of converting to leads and evaluate the market opportunity in each area to prioritize. Volume, intent, persona, and keyword density were part of the equation. For example, Microsoft 365 had the biggest market opportunity. Within this, we explored semantically relevant subtopics and keywords and created helpful content that hit the user intent.
Content Creation and Optimization:
We developed a content calendar tailored to our target audience and in line with the topical research. Grounded in detailed SEO briefs, AI-assisted tools helped streamline content creation. The final content always passed through rigorous human review for enrichment and to ensure alignment with search intent and quality standards.
Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustment:
Continuous monitoring of our SEO efforts using various analytics tools allowed us to adjust our strategies based on data insights, ensuring sustained growth and adaptability to changing search engine algorithms. The results, where possible, were blended into a live Looker Studio dashboard.
Tools Used for SEO Lead Generation
We used a number of standard SEO tools to set up this strategy. Some of them included:
- Google Analytics: For tracking traffic and conversions.
- Ahrefs: For keyword research and backlink analysis.
- SEMrush: For competitor analysis and SEO audits.
- Google Search Console: For monitoring search performance and indexing issues.
- Surfer SEO: For content optimization and on-page SEO.
Results
As a result, over the last six months of the campaign, we managed to hit and surpass our targets:
✅ We increased organic traffic by 74% – above the 50% target.
✅ We increased conversions by 39.5% – above the 20% target.
Consistently publishing valuable, well-researched content established Qlic IT as a thought leader in the charity IT sector, significantly enhancing SEO lead generation and reinforcing brand authority. The campaign’s success led to increased client satisfaction and trust. Qlic IT increased their monthly SEO budget to £2200 and engaged Vixen Digital for additional projects. The website is now being redeveloped to enhance user experience further, focusing on maintaining and improving current search rankings.
Continuous optimization and strategic adjustments ensured that the improvements were not just temporary but sustained over the long term. Qlic IT’s online presence remains strong, continuing to benefit from high-quality leads and increased market visibility.
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What is SEO Lead Generation?
What is SEO lead generation in the first place? As the name itself suggests, SEO lead generation is all about getting leads through SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Rather than focusing just on traffic, the focus is to get traffic that converts – quality traffic.
In practice, SEO lead generation means optimising your website and content to attract visitors who are likely to convert into leads. This includes very careful topic, subtopic and keyword research with user intent at the heart, strategic link building and careful monitoring and reporting. Your SEO will drive leads if you create valuable content that is aimed at increasing organic traffic AND conversions.
Top tips for SEO lead generation 🚀
Anyone truly doing SEO the right away is by default also focusing on SEO lead generation. Your traffic should not be all about number of page views. The real value is in do these page views bring you conversions. While the area of SEO lead generation is wide and as always there is a lot of “IT DEPENDS” in there, here are some basic things you can do to bring not just visits but leads to your websites using SEO:
👉 Understand your audience
This is key: start with understanding your audience. Often the forgotten step and yet the most important. Our Qlic success is owed to really getting to grips with their target audience. It is not difficult to at least do some market research to identify your target audience’s needs and search behaviors.
👉 Move beyond volume when doing your topic, subtopic and keyword research
Don’t get stuck on how much volume a keyword has. Instead think about the whole buyer journey. Think about the topics and subtopics they are interested in and then find those golden high-intent keywords that will not just bring you traffic but get you leads.
👉 Create high-quality content
This one is a no-brainer: make sure you content is high quality and that you cater to people across your buyer journey. Make sure your content addresses your audience’s pain points and search intent.
👉 Optimise on-page elements
Ensure your website is optimised for SEO. But don’t over-optimise your content and hit the intent right away. Long cumbersome articles that don’t hit intent off the bat are a killer for conversions!
👉 Build quality backlinks
Ignore backlinks pushers on LinkedIn and build links that are actually worth building. Instead of focusing only on how high the domain authority of a website is, focus on whether they are talking to a similar audience. If your audience is on their website then a link is worth while regardless of the DA.
👉 Make sure your technical SEO is sound
Nothing kills conversions more than a bad technical set up. In fact, technical SEO issues can stop leads from ever reaching your website. From the basics such as accidentally not even indexing a page to more complex JavaScript issues that prevent Google from crawling, you need to make sure no technical mishaps are preventing you from getting the traffic in the first place. And, once the traffic hits your page make sure that UX is the best it can be. Slow websites are detrimental to SEO lead generation!
👉 Monitor and adjust
You cant do SEO lead generation if you are only tracking traffic. Make sure your analytics tools track conversion performance as well! Otherwise, how will you be able to adjust your strategies based on data insights?
Final Thoughts
SEO lead generation is a powerful tool for driving high-quality leads and establishing brand authority. Our work with Qlic IT demonstrates how a well-researched, innovative, and strategically implemented SEO campaign can achieve remarkable results even with a modest budget.
The aim of SEO should in reality always include lead generation considerations. After all, the goal is moving the dial on real business impacts. With malicious planning and continues optimisations businesses can not only bring traffic to their websites with SEO, they can bring high-quality leads.
