How to use squarespace SEO to increase lead magnet conversions and grow your email list.jpg

When it comes to running a successful website, online business or e-commerce store, email lists are KING/QUEEN.

Anyone with even an ounce of online marketing savvy is going to dedicate a huge amount of their time and efforts into growing their email lists because they know that it’s the most effective way to reach, and sell to, potential clients and customers..

If you’re new to the game, you might not yet realize the insane value in a large & healthy email list - that’s okay, we all start somewhere!

But at the end of the day, the reason why everyone’s trying to grow their email lists is because ultimately more newsletter subscribers means a larger audience to sell your products, services and offerings to. It’s crazy hard to run a successful and long-lasting business without a healthy email list, trust me on this one.

There are lots of different ways to go about growing your email list but one of the best tried & true methods is to offer some sort of lead magnet or content upgrade in exchange for a person’s email address.

That’s what today’s blog post is going to explore: How to use SEO strategies to drive high-converting traffic to your lead magnets so that you can grow your email list.

We’re moving beyond a half-hearted list of “ways to promote your freebie!” and instead we are going to cover actionable SEO strategies that you can implement starting today on your own Squarespace website.

Buckle up, let’s dive right in!

First off, let’s get back to basics and make sure we all know what we’re talking about here.

Lead magnets, content upgrades, freebies, opt-ins. They’re all pretty much the same thing! Same same but different, ya digg?

Lead magnets are all about giving your ideal audience something that they find valuable/interesting/desirable... in exchange for their email address.

This could be anything from a promo/discount code (e.g., 10% off your first order!) to a checklist (like my world-famous Squarespace SEO Checklist), workbook, e-book, swipe files, done-for-you templates, email course, video challenge, WHATEVER. Basically, anything that your target audience is interested in enough to give you their email address.

Ideally, your lead magnet will be related to the products/services/offerings you sell so that you can then place these new email subscribers into a funnel and kick off the online marketing process.

The truth is, no one wants to join your random newsletter or email list without a good reason. Our inboxes are valuable spaces and we pay wayyyy more attention to who we let show up in our inboxes that we do with who we follow on social media or whatever. So you can’t just slap a “join my email list!” call-to-action on your website and expect that it’ll be enough to get people to want to sign up.

Trust me, that’s not going to cut it.

Lead magnets incentivize people into giving you their email addresses and allowing you to contact them moving forward. Without lead magnets, it’s going to be hella hard to grow your email list and move casual website visitors through your marketing funnel.

Let’s look at that a little further

FOCUS ON THE FUNNEL!

After you’ve created your lead magnet, you have to put it in high-traffic locations so that it can attract as many quality leads and potential clients & customers as possible.

The marketing funnel process goes something like this:

Awareness > consideration > decision.

In other words, someone comes across you and your website. They want your lead magnet so they opt in and join your email list. You then start them on an automated email campaign that introduces them to you, your brand, your offerings, etc. This builds the like, know & trust factor. After a while they decide they like your vibe and go from being just a basic subscriber to a new client/customer.

See how it all build on itself? Lead magnets are truly the bridge between random internet person and customer/client.

You draw people in with a desirable lead magnet and they warm them up to doing business with you via email. Whether you offer products, services, offerings, blog and affiliate content, whatever - it’s the same process.

Now that we’ve covered what lead magnets are and why they are so important in helping you to grow your email list, let’s move on to the actual Squarespace SEO strategies you can use to increase traffic and conversion rates!

SQUARESPACE SEO SERIES

I have so many tips to share on the subject that it would have been crazy to put it all in one article! There are many misconceptions about Squarespace SEO which is why I've dedicate so many posts to this topic. Enjoy!

Click to view all posts in the Squarespace SEO Series

Visit my Squarespace SEO page for lots more resources.

1. Create a landing page for each lead magnet

Alright, you’ve created a kick-a$$ lead magnet that you know your audience is going to love and it naturally leads itself into your products/services. Perfect, you’ve mastered the very first step.

The next thing you MUST do is create a dedicated landing page for each and every lead magnet.

For example, here’s the landing page for my Squarespace SEO Checklist. As you can see, there’s only one action a person can take when they get to this page: opt-in via email. There’s no distractions, no menu to click on or way to navigate away without closing that browser tab, no additional content to click on, etc. There’s ONE sold purpose to this landing page and it’s to convert visitors into subscribers.

You’ll also notice that this isn’t a basic landing page either. I’ve explained WHAT the lead magnet is, WHO it’s for, WHY they need it, and REINTRODUCED MYSELF.

It’s professional, contextual, and totally relevant to the ideal audience. Remember, many website visitors might not yet know who you are (and that’s okay!) which is why I remind them who I am, what my credentials are, and why they need this lead magnet/what value they will get from it.

From a user experience point of view, it’s obviously a good idea to have a landing page for each lead magnet. But the real SEO value comes from having a dedicated page that search engines can crawl and index. Google will also make note of all the inbound links that lead back to this particular landing page (both from your own website and external sites), which is another SEO factor that can help boost you in rankings and get in front of a wider audience online.

Note: repeat this process for each lead magnet and create a custom landing page for every one.

2. Create a “Freebies” or “Resources” page if you have multiple lead magnets

On my own website, I’ve created a “Freebies” page and I’ve found it to be super helpful since I have many different lead magnets and people can easily find them all and then opt-in for the ones they are most interested in.

As you can see, the “Freebies” page is linked to in my main navigation but you might also find it valuable to link to it in the footer section of your website. Either way, it’s currently set up as a simple page where each image links out to the specific lead magnet’s landing page. It’s not rocket science, but it sure works.

Again, this has value from a user experience point of view because website visitors can easily find all your lead magnets in one place. But it’s also helpful from an SEO point of view because you’re capturing all that content on one particular “Freebies” page and then linking out to the separate landing pages from there, thus creating a natural web or flow for humans and search engines to follow through.

3. Create a dedicated “Newsletter” page

Along the lines of the point above, I recommend creating a dedicated Newsletter page that people can check out and opt-in there directly. On my website, I’ve currently linked to it in the website’s footer on the left hand side so that no matter where someone is on my website, it’s easily accessible.

This Newsletter opt-in page is a bit different from a lead magnet landing page because you’re really just explaining why someone should sign up for your newsletter (e.g., for a discount, exclusive content, early bird access, jump to the front of the waitlist, etc.), as opposed to offering someone something physical/digital in exchange for their email address. Like, they are just signing up for your email list and not getting a checklist or something emailed to them to go along with the opt-in, you know?

The SEO value here comes from having a specific page that both humans and search engines can visit, and again you can easily link directly to this Newsletter page throughout your website. You might add this Newsletter page to your website’s main navigation, include a link in the footer, include it in your blog’s sidebar, link to it within blog posts or other content across your site, put it in Youtube video descriptions, in your Instagram bio, etc. The goal here is to get LOTS of people visiting the page so that you can convert them into newsletter subscribers and get started with nurturing through email marketing.

4. Create long-form blog posts specifically for each lead magnet

When it comes to blog posts, you should be aiming for quality content AND length. 500 word blog posts ain’t going to cut it, my friend. Instead, you should be writing posts that are AT LEAST 1000+ words, ensuring that they are keyword-rich and target your ideal audience and the kind of stuff they are searching for online.

With that in mind, I recommend creating amazing long form, keyword rich blog posts centered around each one of your lead magnets. Not only is this a fantastic way to create the exact kind of content that your ideal audience is looking for online, but it also makes it a total no brainer for people to opt-in to your lead magnet.

There are 3 main ways that you can include your lead magnets within these blog posts:

Embed the opt-in directly into the content (like I did up above for the Squarespace SEO checklist)
Use a text link (like I’ve done a few paragraphs down below)
Insert a graphic that links to the lead magnet’s landing page (like I’ve done at the very bottom of this post, just above the ‘related posts’ carousel)

Each option is great, just use your best judgement or try a mix of them all!

Let me give you a few examples.

First off, imagine you are a photographer and you have a checklist-style lead magnet called “6 easy ways to prepare for your engagement photo shoot”. You would then write an entire blog post that expands on this checklist, and within the post you use the CTA to opt-in so that they can print it out and refer back to it as they are getting their outfits ready or whatever.

Next, pretend you are a graphic designer and you have a lead magnet “Design a logo in 5 simple steps”. Your blog post would cover this topic in detail and again, you’d embed several opt-ins or links out to the lead magnet’s landing page directly within the post content.

On my own website, I’ve set up something similar with my blog post 10 reasons why you NEED to start pitching your web design/development services. In this post, I’ve included my lead magnet “Pitch your services roadmap” that people can opt into, as well as the natural links to the product that they’ll get funneled into, which is my Guide to Pitching your Web Design & Development services.

Make sense? Get creative and brainstorm as many relevant blog posts topics that you can create that directly relate to your lead magnet, and then go ahead and write those posts. This is to most natural way to beef up the content on your website and you KNOW it will be SEO-friendly and drives the right kind of traffic to your site, traffic that’s going to convert with ease.

5. Include your lead magnets in existing blog posts

Surprise surprise, it’s time for one of my favourite SEO strategies: audit & improve existing website content!

Don’t reinvent the wheel - work with what you’ve got but make it work harder!

It’s one thing to created these new SEO-friendly and keyword rich blog posts directly related to your lead magnets, but don’t stop there! This point about auditing and improving existing blog content is something that many people overlook and it’s a true missed opportunity. Don’t make the same mistake, hunni.

I recommend that you take take inventory of all the blog pots that you’ve already written, and figure out where it makes sense to include mentions/links to your lead magnets.

In this step, you’re auditing existing blog content and updating it to include links or opt-ins to your lead magnets.

For example, you can see that I’ve included my Squarespace SEO in every single blog post about Squarespace SEO…. this is what’s helped me grow my email list to thousands of subscribers who are all interested in my little section of the internet where I talk ad nauseum about this niche topic of Squarespace SEO ;)

Not only does this strategy give you a solid opportunity to improve the content that already exists on your website, but it also means that you are building and leveraging the content you already have and that’s already driving traffic to your site. But now that you’ve included the lead magnets and opt-ins within the blog post content, you have even more chances to convert site visitors into email list subscribers!

Website content audits have HUGE SEO benefits so don’t skip this step!!!

6. Get backlinks to specific lead magnet landing pages

If you haven’t already, read this post about the benefits of backlinks for Squarespace SEO.

In that blog post, I explain why general backlinks to your website are so important… but let’s focus on our goal here to see why backlinks to our lead magnet’s landing pages are even more likely to convert!

Imagine you’re a guest on a podcast and during the conversation you mention that you have a freebie that people can download if they want to learn more about XYZ. In the show notes, they include a link to the landing page that you’ve created specifically for the lead magnet, not just/in addition to a link to your general website.

Same thing goes for a guest blog post, interview, media feature, expert advice roundup post, etc.

This is helpful from a user experience point of view, because people can easily click the link and access the particular freebie that they’re interested in. Also, this is exactly the kind of traffic that is going to convert into an email list subscriber, because they’re opting in for something specific.

But this backlink strategy also has SEO benefits because search engines will see this particular web page is getting referral traffic so they may be more likely to rank it higher in relevant search results.

7. Get included in roundups, aggregators and “best of” lists

This is another variation on the basic backlink strategy but again, our focus here is getting specific inbound links back to particular lead magnet landing pages (not just to our general website).

For example, imagine someone is writing a post all about the best resources for getting better at closing sales calls. If you have a sales call script free that the author can include as part of their “best of” list, then OBVIOUSLY you want to be included and marked as a resource on the topic!

This allows you to take advantage of the referral traffic and send it to a lead magnet that you KNOW people are interested in, as opposed to having those visitors sent to your general website for vague information.

In this step, you might have to get creative and pitch yourself and your lead magnets to be included on these lists but don’t let that hold you back from doing the tough work! It’s truly a numbers game that will pay off with a little strategy and grunt work.

8. Ask your past clients or customers to write a review of your product or service

Social proof is a massive reason why people decide to do business with you, and effective testimonials can go a longggg way in converting someone from one-time website visitor to client/customer.

This is why review or feature-style blog posts on other websites are hugely important in driving the right kind of traffic to your website and increasing conversions or even sales!

If you know someone had a positive experience with your product or service, then ask them to write a review about it on their website. For example, if you hosted a workshop/conference on a particular topic you could ask attendees to write a review or “event recap - was it worth it?” style blog posts.

Obviously, these blog posts are going to link directly back to your website and specifically to the product/service’s page. But you could also instruct the author to include mention that they first found out about your offering by downloading your freebie (which they link to) and then decided to buy from you after going through your email sequence and getting to know you better.

This subconsciously gives readers permission to do the same (i.e., download your freebie first and then buy later).

Review-style blog posts can convert directly, but they are also a fantastic way to get people to enter into your email list sales funnel by first opting into a freebie. The added SEO benefit comes from referral traffic that you get from this other website that sends visitors your way who are interested to learn more or want the same results.

9. Share links to your lead magnet’s landing page on social media

This is a super popular but general social media strategy, but to a lesser extent there are also SEO benefits.

In Google’s eyes, links directly from a website are prioritized and weighed more heavily than links from social media. But social media links are still indexed and recognized by search engines so there’s no downside in doing so!

Add links to your lead magnet’s landing page to your your social media post rotation (on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). On Instagram, you can share the link via stories “swipe up” feature or include it in the link in your bio (either directly or use a tool like LinkTree)

Don’t forget to track performance!

When it comes to Squarespace SEO, the numbers don’t lie and you’ll know whether your efforts are paying off or not. In my online course, Top Squarespace SEO, I have an entire module and exclusive spreadsheet template dedicated to measuring and tracking your SEO strategies - I take this shiz very seriously because I don’t want you wasting your time on SEO stuff that doesn’t work.

Depending on your goals, there are several factors that you can look at to see if your SEO strategies lead to real results, higher conversions for your lead magnets and a growing email list.

Basically you’re looking for more:

Email newsletter opt-ins (general # of subscribers and also for specific lead magnets)
Product sales
Sales call inquiries
Booked services
Free trial signups (e.g., if you have a software)
Discount codes redeemed
Etc.

To get an idea of what your conversion rates are, look at the ratio of page traffic vs number of opt-ins. More info on that here.

I recommend that you review and track your numbers AT LEAST on a monthly basis. However if you’re serious about results and are making a bunch of changes after reading this post, you might check the data weekly for a little while until you see things normal out.

If you want a done-for-you spreadsheet to track all these numbers, I’ve got an awesome Website Growth Tracker that you can purchase for only $10 - it’s a no brainer #yourewelcome

Final Thoughts

Et voila, my favourite Squarespace SEO strategies to increase conversions on your lead magnets and grow your email list!

Take these pointers and apply them to your own website and I know you’ll start seeing real results before you know it :)

Don’t just create random lead magnets and let them die a slow & painful death in the internet’s forgotten territory. Instead, use the powers of SEO to leapfrog into higher conversion rates so that you can grow your email list and get back to business much faster!

You’ve got this, hunni!

Now it's your turn to tell me, what lead magnets do you currently have? Are they converting as well as you’d like? Are these freebies actually growing your emai list? Have you ever thought of using SEO to increase traffic and get more opt-ins?

Leave me your questions down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. As people are spending more time online than ever before, it’s SO important that your website shows up properly in search results so that you can reach your ideal audience online - and better yet, get them to join your email list.

If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.

My signature online course, Top Squarespace SEO, will be opening for enrollment again soon - sign up for the TSS waiting list here!

You can also sign up for my newsletter (right here or below), where I often share Squarespace SEO tips, tricks and high-quality exclusive content. I send out emails to my list every Wednesday, mostly focused on Squarespace websites and SEO, and I can guarantee that you’ll find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time. #humblebrag

Finally, shameless plug: hit me up with any specific questions you have about Squarespace SEO and your website because I’m your girl. You can reach out to me directly if you’re interested in working together on your website and we can talk about whether or not you would be a good fit for my consulting and ongoing services. I can’t take on every request to do Squarespace SEO consulting but I do pick a few websites and businesses to work with every month and I’d love for you to be one of them.