Leaning on Search Engine Optimization
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 5:28 am
We've tested many different methods for generating leads, but search engines are still the biggest driver of leads for our business. Keeping an eye on our rankings for the long tail and high volume keywords, but primarily focusing on creating good content to acquire the right traffic will turn into qualified leads that are in the purchasing stage of their buyer's journey.
Generating direct traffic
In our scenario, a large volume of direct traffic has been generated band database by merging the websites of businesses we have acquired over the past couple of years into our site. In those cases, the redirection has been key to introducing customers and former clients of the old companies to our name and our brand. The trust they had in those older brands has led to new business opportunities for us. Additionally, we have generated several opportunities and multiple thousands of dollars in recurring monthly revenue through the redirection of those sites and the leads generated by direct traffic from those sources.
Benefitting from industry-relevant referring sites
In our niche of the tech sector, there are a lot of web portals with service provider directories. We have found our listings in these service provider directories to be effective at lead generation for businesses of all sizes, but especially for generating revenue from small business clients. In theory, small businesses likely trust the industry-relevant portal because of its high-quality editorial. If they trust the editorial, then they can also trust the companies listed in the service directory as qualified.
Bentz formerly served as Netrepid's marketing manager, and now serves as the marketing manager at Direct Online Marketing, a top 200 Premier Google Partner helping midmarket and B2B companies grow confidently online using digital ads and SEO. His online marketing expertise has been featured in Magazine, CIO, E-Commerce Times and SEO Chat. You can find him on Twitter @jonathanbentz
Download the Essential Guide to Demand Generation
Jacob Baldwin, Director of Corporate Marketing
I believe the consumer's benefit of the B2B SaaS lead generation model lies in the fact that the user of the product/service never has to download or install any programs to use the service since it's on the web (mobile app counterparts are a different story). They simply pay the fee, and they have instant access.
I look to four primary vehicles for lead generation within the SaaS model.
Offering free trials
A free trial is an amazing tool. It should accomplish the goal of getting users to try your product/service because they can do it for free. Most free trials are bound by some time dimension: "Gain instant access to the Enterprise-level product for 30 days, no credit card information required." The idea is once they use the tool, they will realize the benefit, become a PQL, and (if your price point is in line with expectation), congratulations, you've just scored yourself a customer.
Implementing a freemium model
The freemium model is a twist on the free trial. While the free trial allows unbridled access to the system, the freemium model offers limited access to the entire suite of tools. This iteration of lead generation assumes that for the general population, upgrading to a paid subscription is necessary to maximize the business value that the tool brings to the table. Generally, some core piece of functionality that really delivers massive benefits is not included in the free plan. Instead, it acts as an incentive to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Generating direct traffic
In our scenario, a large volume of direct traffic has been generated band database by merging the websites of businesses we have acquired over the past couple of years into our site. In those cases, the redirection has been key to introducing customers and former clients of the old companies to our name and our brand. The trust they had in those older brands has led to new business opportunities for us. Additionally, we have generated several opportunities and multiple thousands of dollars in recurring monthly revenue through the redirection of those sites and the leads generated by direct traffic from those sources.
Benefitting from industry-relevant referring sites
In our niche of the tech sector, there are a lot of web portals with service provider directories. We have found our listings in these service provider directories to be effective at lead generation for businesses of all sizes, but especially for generating revenue from small business clients. In theory, small businesses likely trust the industry-relevant portal because of its high-quality editorial. If they trust the editorial, then they can also trust the companies listed in the service directory as qualified.
Bentz formerly served as Netrepid's marketing manager, and now serves as the marketing manager at Direct Online Marketing, a top 200 Premier Google Partner helping midmarket and B2B companies grow confidently online using digital ads and SEO. His online marketing expertise has been featured in Magazine, CIO, E-Commerce Times and SEO Chat. You can find him on Twitter @jonathanbentz
Download the Essential Guide to Demand Generation
Jacob Baldwin, Director of Corporate Marketing
I believe the consumer's benefit of the B2B SaaS lead generation model lies in the fact that the user of the product/service never has to download or install any programs to use the service since it's on the web (mobile app counterparts are a different story). They simply pay the fee, and they have instant access.
I look to four primary vehicles for lead generation within the SaaS model.
Offering free trials
A free trial is an amazing tool. It should accomplish the goal of getting users to try your product/service because they can do it for free. Most free trials are bound by some time dimension: "Gain instant access to the Enterprise-level product for 30 days, no credit card information required." The idea is once they use the tool, they will realize the benefit, become a PQL, and (if your price point is in line with expectation), congratulations, you've just scored yourself a customer.
Implementing a freemium model
The freemium model is a twist on the free trial. While the free trial allows unbridled access to the system, the freemium model offers limited access to the entire suite of tools. This iteration of lead generation assumes that for the general population, upgrading to a paid subscription is necessary to maximize the business value that the tool brings to the table. Generally, some core piece of functionality that really delivers massive benefits is not included in the free plan. Instead, it acts as an incentive to upgrade to a paid subscription.