How to Find Clients Online in 10 Easy-To-Follow Steps

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published November 28, 2022

The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed's data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

While traditional marketing, such as radio or television advertisements, is still prevalent, many companies are focusing more on creating an online presence. Finding clients online allows companies to reach a larger audience to increase brand awareness and sales. As there are many strategies to discover and connect with prospective customers, learning about them can help you find a technique that meets your needs. In this article, we explain how to find clients online and discuss the benefits of doing so.

How to find clients online

If you want to learn how to find clients online, follow these steps:

1. Leverage our current client base for referrals

Your current clients can be a great resource for you as you build your business. They have experience with your product or service and can often direct you to other people who find your products or services useful. Consider offering your current clients a referral bonus or other incentive for recommending your business to potential new clients. You can also ask your current client base for positive reviews or testimonials that you can include on your website. This shows prospective customers your products or services have proven successful, encouraging them to trust your company and make a purchase.

2. Consider your SEO strategy

Many potential clients start their product search online using a search engine, so it's important that they can find your website quickly and easily in online searches. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving your website's ranking in search engine results pages, which can increase your website's traffic. Although you can buy ad space to help your website rank higher, you can also improve your SEO organically, which can naturally increase your website's rankings in search engine results.

Some methods to improve your SEO organically include:

researching keywords that your potential customers search for and including them in your content
creating unique website content that potential customers are interested in reading or viewing
linking useful resources throughout the website

3. Follow up with lost leads

Lost leads are prospective customers who showed an interest in your products or service but didn't finalize their purchase. If you have their contact information, like a phone number or e-mail address, you can reach out to them to discuss their prior interest.

Before contacting them, try creating a list of questions you can ask or topics you can discuss to guide your conversation. For example, you can ask why they didn't follow through with their purchase to determine how you can earn their business. Showing your lost leads that you care about their business may lead to a sales conversion and a new professional relationship.

4. Consider using a lead capture on your website

A lead capture allows potential clients to enter their contact information directly on your website. Once you've gained a lead's contact information, you can connect with them directly to engage them in a conversation about their needs. To encourage potential clients to fill out your lead capture, consider offering exclusive content or a discount to anyone who gives you their contact information. Here are some examples of content you can offer potential clients in exchange for contact information:

recordings of past webinars
entry into a drawing for a special offer
access to e-books or PDFs
interactive content like quizzes or surveys

5. Create insightful content for your website

An effective website supplies potential clients with your prices and locations, plus content that answers their questions and draws them into a conversation with you about your services. If potential clients find your website to be a valuable resource for them in their search, they may be more likely to choose your business when they make a purchase. Plus, quality content using keywords and internal linking increases your website's SEO, which means more clients see your website.

The type of content you create depends on the needs of your prospective clients, but some common resources include blog posts, testimonials, and tutorial videos. Consider making your content shareable, either via download or direct link. That way, your clients and partners can share your content via social media, which may increase the traffic on your website.

6. Use social media wisely

Creating an online presence on social media can help businesses connect with existing and prospective customers. Develop a social media marketing plan before creating accounts on different social media platforms so you can determine your target audience and create content that appeals to them. Most social media platforms have the option to create a business account so that -you can monitor your engagement and apply the feedback to your future content.

7. Launch a lead-generation campaign

Lead-generation campaigns are a good way to increase the number of potential clients in your audience. In a lead-generation campaign, you might offer a free resource, event, or service for people who sign up within a specific period. Usually, the lead-generation sign-up is on your website, but you could advertise the event on social media and through e-mail. A lead-generation campaign's goal is to gain as many leads as possible within a set time, like a week or month. That allows you to map your client's life cycle, including how long it takes for a lead to become a client.

A lead-generation campaign often offers bigger incentives to get contact information, like an exclusive webinar or trial period of service. The shorter period of a lead-generation campaign encourages your potential clients to act quickly, especially if your website, social media and e-mail remind them that the offer is temporary. A well-advertised offer can draw in lots of leads who can become clients if your follow-up marketing is effective.

8. Try cold e-mailing

Cold e-mailing is sending an e-mail to people or businesses who may find your products or services useful but haven't interacted with the company yet. Find clients or businesses with public contact information and compile a list. This may take time, but it can lead to a high-quality list of prospective customers. Once you have your list, you can create an e-mail that you can later adapt based on the needs of individual recipients.

Include details in your e-mail, like what the business offers and how it can benefit them to encourage them to respond. If they do respond, consider scheduling a call or in-person meeting to discuss your offerings further.

9. Develop effective calls to action

A call to action encourages prospective clients to complete a specific action after they visit your website, interact with your social media posts, or read your e-mails. Including a strong call to action can help turn leads into customers. Here are some examples of calls to action you can include in your content:

sign up for a rewards program
download a resource for more information
schedule a meeting with a sales representative

10. Get involved in your industry

The more connected you are with your industry, the more your potential clients may see you as an expert in the field. One way you can become more connected is by joining a professional organization in your industry. This can offer the opportunity to take part in marketing events, like webinars and conferences. These associations often have online membership directories, which can bring your business to the attention of potential clients. Membership in these organizations often allows you to put their seal of approval on your website.

What are the benefits of finding clients online?

Creating an online presence for a company to find clients has plenty of benefits. It can help you improve the company's image and increase brand awareness, helping you form relationships with a wider range of customers. Online marketing techniques like SEO and cold e-mailing can also be more cost-effective than traditional advertising. When looking for customers online rather than in person, you can work from anywhere, so you can work from home and have more flexibility in your schedule.