Your business website, the core of your digital campaign, can provide you with a maximum number of leads. But only when it is properly optimized. No, this just doesn’t involve developing quality content or a CTA button on the home page; there’s a lot more to it. What you need is a strategic approach, and only then can you generate leads through your website. So what works and what doesn’t? Which practices should you adopt and which should you abandon? Which mistakes impact the ability of your website to generate leads?
Let’s find out all these answers and more! Read on!
Reviewing the Lead Generation Process
Before you set your website up for lead generation, let us first learn how leads can be generated.
The process begins when a visitor on your website responds to a call-to-action that you either place on your site pages or blog posts. This CTA then directs visitors to a landing page, which collects contact information. Usually, the visitor submits a form, after which they are taken to another page that thanks them.
That’s it. The lead generation process ends here. What follows next is part of converting these leads into paying customers.
We’ll now explain how you can set your website up for the lead generation process.
How Well Are You Doing Right Now?
Before beginning, quickly review the performance of your current lead generation strategies. You should know how effective they are, and use it as a benchmark. Once your website is setup, you can compare the results with your current standings. This would give you an idea of how much improvement you’ve made.
Test the performance of your current lead generators using appropriate tools that evaluate sources, landing pages and CTAs. Advanced tools even suggest improvements. You should also compare your landing pages and figure out the ones that are doing better than others. As an example, assume that 10 people out of 1,000 visitors filled the form on your Landing Page 1A. The conversion rate is then 1%. Now consider landing page 2A, where almost 50 leads are generated for every 1,000 visitors. The conversion rate of this page is higher. Compare 1A and 2A, and figure how the first page is different and where it lacks. Now optimize this page, keeping in mind the elements on landing page 2A.
Gather all the results from these tests and then begin focusing on those features or aspects that have been the most effective for your lead generation process.
Add a Form to Pages That Already Receive the Most Traffic
This is one of the simplest and most effective lead generation strategies. Which of your pages get the most traffic? They might be the best choice for lead generation purposes. Audit your website and note popular pages. Also, analyze incoming traffic and the sources from which it is being directed. Generally, these include the following:
- Emails – If you run email marketing campaigns, some of your users would have been directed to your website from these emails.
- Social Media – Are you active on popular social platforms? They are often a good source of traffic if you can engage your targeted audience through the published posts.
- Live Chat – If you’ve enabled live chat on the website, many visitors would turn up only to use the tool. Nonetheless, it’s a highly recommended feature because it does get you traffic and also increases satisfaction levels as you’re able to serve customers more quickly.
- Blog Posts – Good at crafting blog posts? An excellent lead generation source if you offer value and share original information.
Where do the above four sources direct most of your leads? Now optimize these pages and make sure they can generate interest and engage visitors who visit them. So, for instance, if most of the visitors on a certain page originate from Facebook, you should make the page content more engaging. You can increase the length if you want, but do add forms as well so that you can collect contact information.
Optimize Every Step of the Lead Generation Process
What kind of offers do you use to entice visitors on your landing pages? Ensure that they are relevant to the content on the page from which these visitors have been directed. So for instance, if a potential visitor lands on a page titled ‘Tips to Build Credibility in the Digital World’, then you should give them an offer that’s relevant to authority or online reputation – because only when the offers are relevant and of interest to them, will you be able to engage these visitors further.
Also, when these visitors land on your page, you should observe their path towards conversion. And if they don’t, then take notice because that’s a sign you should improve various elements of the page further. A/B tests can be really helpful here, but conduct them using the right set of tools. When testing, focus on the following four main elements of the lead generation process.
The Call to Action
Which colors are featured in the website design? Use complementary colors for your CTA button.
The Landing Page
A research claims that when a business puts up over 30 landing pages, they generate 7 times more leads than companies that have only 1 to 5 landing pages. So make sure your landing page is optimized and attractive.
The Thank-You Page
Just as the name implies, this page thanks the users for sharing their contact details. But go a step ahead and present an offer to your potential customers. This can help you channel down the newly generated lead to the next part of the sales funnel. So for instance, you could include a download link or you could just put some social sharing buttons.
The Kick Back Email
Don’t just thank visitors through a thank you page. Send a note of appreciation through a thank you email as well. And when you do, cash onto the opportunity to include super specific CTAs.
Add a CTA to Your Home Page
Your home page should have a CTA, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming. You shouldn’t have too much information to repel potential customers who may be visiting for the first time. While keeping the content simple and limited, place a CTA strategically at an appropriate position. This should be related to a subscription or a free trial.
The following two CTAs are known to work best for the home page.
The ‘Subscribe To Updates’ CTA
The chances of new visitors on your website making a purchase right away are very low. So basically, you should aim to provide them with more information about your business so that they choose you over others. Of course, like we said, you can’t overload them with details, so simply request them to sign up for your newsletter if they want to stay updated with the latest news in the industry. Should they do this, follow them up with another email, evaluate their interest levels, and see if you can direct them to the next step of the purchase cycle.
The ‘Sign Up for a Free Trial’ CTA
If you offer products, then your CTAS should revolve around a free trial or a time-limited demo session. Collect names and email addresses through a simple and brief form. Once the trial version is over, do follow up with these users and get their feedback.
Offer a Free E-book Download on Valued or Popular Blog Posts
Free e-book download offers are one of the most effective lead generation strategies when promoted through a blog post. Blogs contribute to SEO and help you improve your ranks on the SERPs. Most of these visitors want solutions to their problems. If you can help them out, they’ll likely do business with you.
For what keywords have you optimized your website? Come up with a new set of keywords that are related to your business. Create posts around them and then draft an e-book on the same topic. Design the cover page and put your company’s logo on it. Also, include contact details.
While you can share links for downloading the book on your website page, it’s best to share them through email.
Utilize Whitespace
Whitespace or negative space impacts the overall design of your website. Filling up all areas on the page goes against the rule. So place your CTAs, content, banner, social media buttons and other elements some distance apart, ensuring that they have sufficient whitespace between them. This eliminates clutter and garners the attention of your visitors.
Leverage with Power Verbs
Powerful action verbs make an impact, compelling visitors to take the desired action. Do use them in your CTAs and even website content.
Include Testimonials
Testimonials increase your credibility, but gone are the days when you could just put up text-based testimonials on your website. New best practices also suggest putting up testimonials by incorporating them into a video. Yes, this does require efforts on your part, but it is one of the most effective lead generation strategies.
Highlight Your Contact Number
Highlight the contact number on every page of your website by using attractive colors and fonts. This increases the customer’s trust in you. Somehow, they find comfort in knowing that you’re just a call away.
Integrate Your Website with a Live Chat Platform
Many potential customers expect a live chat option on every website, which you can use for your lead generation process. As you address the needs of your potential customers, you can also collect valuable information and gain insights into their problems. Accordingly, you can optimize your lead generation process, your solutions and other business aspects.
Which Website Mistakes Can Hurt Your Lead Generation Process?
We’ve already talked a lot about how you can generate leads through your website. Now let’s shed light on what can hurt the lead generation process.
Not Optimized for Mobile
More than 50% of the internet traffic originates from mobile devices. And so you MUST simply optimize your website for mobile platforms. And while doing so, make sure the speed is efficient because you don’t want potential visitors to leave.
Unclear CTAs
Your CTAs should be crystal clear, telling your customers exactly what you want them to do. So many businesses put too much content, complex navigation or add too many steps between the lead generator and the CTA. All these practices will just force your visitors to abandon your website. So ensure that wherever they come from on your website, they must directly be taken to the CTA.
Not Retargeting
People leave the sales funnel midway for so many reasons. Use it as a learning opportunity and try and understand what aspect of the lead generation process or the sales funnel didn’t work for them. Now try to retarget them through suitable strategies, connecting with them once more. Keep them engaged, and you might be able to convert these customers the second time around.
Conclusion
Great, so now you know how to generate leads through your website. Do let us know which of these tips worked for you and which didn’t.
Improving your individual sales funnel never stops. Instead, you have to consistently adjust your funnel. But it’s worth the effort. A solid sales funnel helps you:
- guide your leads throughout their buying journey.
- make your sales process more transparent for all involved parties.
- identify weak (and strong) parts in your selling process.
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