{"id":18551,"date":"2015-07-31T08:30:22","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T13:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crazyeggblog.wpengine.com\/?p=18551"},"modified":"2018-07-18T00:23:54","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T05:23:54","slug":"optimize-sales-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/optimize-sales-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimize Your Sales Funnel: The Top, Middle & Bottom-Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve planned out your customer\u2019s path to action.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got everything in place.<\/p>\n

All you have to do now is flip a switch and your sales funnel will be live \u2014 effortlessly reeling in new customers, lowering your bounce rates and sending sales through the roof. Right?<\/p>\n

Hmm, maybe not.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re dealing with lackluster results from your maraketing and are looking for a way to squeeze every drop of conversion goodness out of your efforts, it’s time to optimize your sales funnel. This article should set you on the right path.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at some steps you can take to start increasing conversions across the board \u2014 at the top, the middle and the bottom of the funnel.<\/p>\n

Before we start, this post already assumes you\u00a0know what a sales funnel is<\/a>\u00a0and have set one up in your preferred conversion tracking system (Google Analytics, etc.). You\u2019re here because you want a simple approach for improving that funnel. So let\u2019s start at\u00a0the top.<\/p>\n

Top of the Funnel: Traffic Generation<\/h2>\n

The top of the funnel is where your traffic is coming from. If you think there\u2019s nothing you can do to optimize that, think again.<\/p>\n

Of course, you need good\u00a0quality content optimized for search<\/a>, but where your visitors are coming from matters just as much (if not more) in the conversion game.<\/p>\n

According to a\u00a0recent study<\/a>\u00a0from the Content Marketing Institute, there seems to be no stopping the content production train:<\/p>\n

\"more-content\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s 70% of marketers publishing new content. But, as it turns out, only 21% of them are successful at tracking their return on investment:<\/p>\n

\"roi\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem:<\/strong>\u00a0Many marketers track their ROI in terms of the amount of traffic they\u2019re getting, but that only tells part of the story. More traffic doesn\u2019t automatically mean more conversions. You\u2019ll need to look beyond the raw numbers to determine just how many people are engaging with your content to begin with.<\/p>\n

[tweet_box design=”box_01″]Expecting a sale from a new prospect is like proposing marriage on the first date.[\/tweet_box]<\/p>\n

The solution:<\/strong>\u00a0Look at where your traffic is coming from. Concentrate on areas most conducive to driving conversions. What kind of content seems to resonate best with them?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t spread yourself too thin trying to create content that appeals to everyone and ends up being yet another bland, uninspiring piece relegated to the catacombs of the blog archives.<\/p>\n

Measure engagement by other means, such as comments, shares, time on site and number of pages visited. This demonstrates that your content is being found and being read.<\/p>\n

Take a look at your core traffic focus areas. According to the Content Marketing Institute study, the majority of B2B marketers are getting their traffic from social media, with newsletters, blogs, articles and events not far behind.<\/p>\n

\"what-using\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Are you focusing too much on one content area while neglecting others?<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, once you get them through the top of the funnel, the work still isn\u2019t complete. Those that are interested will move forward into the second stage, the actual conversion process.<\/p>\n

Middle of the Funnel: The Conversion<\/h2>\n

This is where the real work begins. You\u2019ve got their attention. Now you have to keep it.<\/p>\n

Creating content isn\u2019t so much of an issue at this point. It\u2019s making the content engaging that marketers struggle with.<\/p>\n

As you can see, finding out what that content is and how it drives conversion are two things that the vast majority of marketers struggle with.<\/p>\n

\"content-donuts\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"content-donuts2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many marketers struggle to understand what makes content engaging and high quality<\/em><\/p>\n

But you\u2019re not going to be one of them.<\/p>\n

The problem:<\/strong>\u00a0An abundance of content that gets read and shared but doesn’t convert. By conversion, we mean subscriptions, downloads, orders or whatever you’ve set as your\u00a0conversion goal.<\/a><\/p>\n

The solution:<\/strong>\u00a0There are several reasons people choose not to take action at that very moment, most of which can be distilled into three main points:<\/p>\n