This is a guest post from Michael Reynolds, President/CEO of SpinWeb. SpinWeb is a web solutions firm in Indianapolis, Indiana specializing in content management and content marketing.

Everybody wants page one rankings in Google, right? Some people make it sound so easy with promises of quick results and low budgets. In reality, SEO is hard work and takes lots of systematic planning and effort. That’s why enterprise SEO companies like Slingshot SEO exist.

However, with all the attention placed on getting traffic, I sometimes get concerned when people leave out the second part of the equation: conversion.

Here is what a well-planned SEO strategy looks like:

VISIBILITY + CONVERSION = LEADS

A lot of our prospective clients spend all their time on part one (visibility) while sometimes neglecting the rest of the equation (conversion). It’s important to questions like:

“What happens when visitors arrive at my website?”
“What will they see?”
“What impression will they get?”
“What incentives will they have to take action?”

Design quality of your website is one key component that should be addressed before anything. It’s proven that design affects credibility on the web so you will want to analyze your markers of trust and ensure that you don’t lose conversions based on aesthetics alone.

Additionally, web content is a key player in the big picture. The most beautiful website in the world will not convert visitors effectively if the content is poor.

A modern website will also most likely contain dynamic modules that are updated frequently. Functions like blogs, press rooms, and events help your SEO efforts while at the same time giving your website a feeling of relevance and can be a big part of a content marketing strategy.

Guiding your website visitors to the right content is also key. It’s important to understand why your prospects are visiting your website and what information they need. This helps you guide them to the right places and encourages them to join the right permission channels.

SEO is not all about visibility. It’s also about conversion. By being mindful of both parts of the equation, you can ensure that your SEO efforts are achieving maximum impact.