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EZInsights
Lead Generation Is your site put together in the best way possible— designed to generate leads that will convert to sales? From small businesses to enterprises, every company wants to be able to generate leads online. However, many companies don’t do it well, missing opportunities that could have converted to sales. Here are a few ways to effectively generate leads to your site — and some pitfalls to avoid.
Actionable Tips To Generate Leads With Your Website 1. Hire a professional web developer and designer. Web developers are great when you want to capture the essence of your brand and translate it to your website, allowing you to convey your message consistently across all of your marketing channels. If you cut corners here it could hurt your website in the long run, so be sure to find and hire the best web developer and designer you can find within your budget. You don’t want to have to play catch-up again in a year or two and have to do another site redesign, so do it right the first time.
2. Go responsive. This is not a trend. Mobile devices aren’t going anywhere and mobile has taken over desktop use. Your site needs to be
optimized for mobile devices or you could potentially lose out on business.
3. Look at your analytics. Whether you’re using Google analytics or another platform, track your analytics. Look through your Users Flow under Audience to see where users are dropping off and fix those landing pages. Always be split-testing different landing pages until you’ve found ones that have the highest conversion rate.
4. Include your contact information. It’s no longer just a phone number and address — you also want to include your social information because more and more people are finding it easier to interact with businesses through social media. Make sure your social sharing icons and “follow” buttons are easy to find on the page. Ideally, they should be above the fold on your homepage and on the sidebars of blog posts. Hovering social share bars that move as a user scrolls up and down the page are great as a gentle reminder to please share. Always include sharing numbers, too, as people are more likely to share when they see that others are finding value and sharing. Use phone call tracking so that you can track leads that result from users visiting your website. If you aren’t using phone call tracking, be sure that you or whoever
answers your phones is always asking how the customer found your business. Combine all the data to determine where your money is best spent on getting leads, then increase that to get more leads.
5. Use a contact form on every applicable page. You will get better conversions with the lead form showing up above the fold. Have convincing (but not too salesy or corny) calls to action. Not only can you then reach out to qualified leads, but you’re also building your email marketing list for when you want to announce events, promotions, discounts, new services or products, and any other shareable information.
6. Show off your partnerships, awards, or any other badges. Develop a sense of trust by showing users that they can relate a well-known brand partnering with or showcasing your business. If you are partnered with Google, show it! If you got an award from the Inc 5000, put it in your logos.
7. Use case studies and testimonials. People who come to your website want to see that others from outside your business are giving you props for your work. This imparts a lot of authority to your brand and shows that you can help others with their business, and that your customers are really happy with your products or services. When you can also include statistics like revenue or profit growth, it will resonate with other business owners who would like to see those same results.
8. Get more visual with videos. Videos are becoming more popular in business as a way to address customers and clients in a personal way. Send them out through your email marketing platform, and submit them to YouTube, Facebook, and other social channels to drive traffic and engagement.
What You’re Doing Wrong With Your Website 1. Outdated website that doesn’t keep up with the trends. It isn’t mobile, it isn’t parallax, it isn’t responsive … it isn’t getting the leads you want. It’s not that you won’t get any leads if your website is outdated, it’s just that you’re missing out on getting more leads with your old website. Also, be careful to not have these annoying website features that make users bounce right off of your site back to the search engine results or a competitor.
2. Template website that isn’t original. They’re boring, and they’re a dime a dozen. Your website is your online storefront, so don’t make it look like you’re closed for business. Having a custom-built website means faster load times and your own unique design that is consistent with your brand.
3. You didn’t define your target market. Reverse-engineer who you are writing your web content and blog posts for. Who will be visiting your site? Who do
you want to visit your site? What leads that visit your site will have the best conversions? You need to establish a buyer persona for your customers. Create and curate content that speaks to them. Find out what questions they are asking and write blog posts that answer those questions.
4. You don’t have a blog. This is where you get to show off your expertise in your industry. When people in your niche are searching for a specific solution and they find your answer to their question, it adds a sense of trust to your brand. They will absolutely remember that when they are ready to purchase. Blogging is important because Google loves fresh, original, and resourceful content. When your site is constantly being updated with new content while being shared and mentioned, Google will notice that the next time they crawl your site and you’ll rewarded with better rankings for those topics. It also offers you a chance to cover more keywords, industry issues, questions being asked, and gives your brand a voice to show off as an expert in your niche. Use relevant internal links in your blog posts to help direct users through your website.
5. Your calls to action aren’t clear. Maybe it’s surrounded by a bunch of text and other visuals or maybe it’s just too small. Use colors that stand out, and a size big enough that make visitors realize that they should click there (without using the words “click here”). Make sure that your calls to action are above the fold, or near the top of the page. If they are hidden at the bottom right corner of your website, no one is going to see them.
6. It’s too salesy or pushy. Everything you say ends with exclamation points or its in big, bold words. Your visitors are already there! Gently guide them through the funnel of your website, but don’t scream “buy now” everywhere and scare them away. The best practice is to just let your expertise and knowledge of your industry and services do the selling.
7. Not doing any SEO, content marketing, inbound marketing, or social media. You need to be doing all of these to bring more traffic to your website. If your traffic isn’t increasing, then why would your leads? Find a way to get more referral traffic from relevant website sources, fix your business directory listings so that people can find your website. Also, you can use lead generation services or find a company that provides SEO to optimize your website while increasing your rankings and traffic.
8. You aren’t split-testing. Always be split A/B testing landing pages and marketing campaigns to see what works best. If you aren’t split-testing, then you’re just guessing. The data doesn’t lie — so track all of your marketing campaigns and find out what variation offers the biggest return on investment. By following these applicable tips for your website, you should begin to see more traffic and leads generated from your website. Keep in mind to be continuously split testing and comparing data and statistics for the best possible results. Be sure to leave a tip below on how you have used your website to gain more leads for your business.
Michael Juba Content Marketing Strategist at EZSolution
Website, Integrated Marketing & IT Solutions
111 Centerville Rd. | Lancaster, PA 17603 P: 717.291.4689 | F: 717.291.9434 www.ezsolution.com
Helping your business grow!