Adding a “Click Here” button to your home page is not enough to generate leads. You need to optimize your website to generate leads.
This post will provide some strategies that can be used to make a website more effective in generating leads.
We need to learn about optimizing our website to generate leads.
What causes a casual website visitor to turn into a lead?
A lead is generated when a website visitor clicks on a call-to-action (CTA) located on one of your site pages or blog posts, which takes them to a landing page. The visitor’s contact information is collected on a form on the landing page. After the form is completed and submitted, the visitor is led to a thank-you page.
Now that we have a general understanding of lead generation, we can get into the specifics.
12 Ways to Optimize Your Website for Lead Generation
Here are twelve ways to make your site better at generating leads:
1. Add forms to the pages that get the most traffic.
Before you start working on your lead generation, it is important to see where you are currently and what needs improving. Some pages on your website might be generating leads without you even knowing.
To start, conduct an audit of where most of your online traffic and outreach comes from — your lead generators. Here are some common places a business might get visitors:
- Email Marketing: Traffic might come from users who click through to your website from one of your emails.
- Social Media: Traffic might come from users who engage in a campaign through one of your social media profiles.
- Live Chat: Traffic might come in the form of users who reach out to your customer service team through a live chat window on your website.
- Blog Posts: Traffic might come from your highest-performing blog posts.
After finding out where your potential customers are coming from, it is important to make sure that the pages they land on are interesting and hold their attention.
If you realize most of your potential leads are clicking on inbound links to your website from your Facebook page, you should update the pages they’re visiting with content that keeps them on and engaging with your website. On your most visited website pages, add longer-form content that visitors can access through forms that solicit their contact information.
2. Measure the performance of each lead generator.
To see how effective your current lead generation tactics are, use a tool like Website Grader. It will evaluate your lead sources (such as landing pages and CTAs) and give you suggestions on how to improve your existing content.
You can also compare landing pages that are doing well with landing pages that aren’t doing as well. For example, let’s say that you get 1,000 visits to Landing Page A, and 10 of those people fill out the form and convert into leads. For Landing Page A, you would have a 1% conversion rate. Let’s say you have another landing page, Landing Page B, that gets 50 visitors to convert into leads for every 1,000 visits. You would have a 5% conversion rate.
A 5% conversion rate is excellent! The next thing to do is to compare Landing Page A with Landing Page B and see what needs to be improved on Page A.
You could try running internal reports to evaluate which offers are performing the best. Try looking at landing page visits, CTA clicks, and thank-you page shares. Once you know which offers are doing well, you can create more like them.
3. Optimize each step of the lead generation process.
If a visitor searches for “lawn care tips” and clicks on a blog post you published called “10 Ways To Improve Your Lawn Care Regimen,” it would be beneficial if you linked that blog post to an offer for a consultation related to that topic. This way you can take advantage of the visitor’s interest in that particular subject.
The moment a person arrives on your site, you can start to understand their journey to becoming a lead. This process starts when someone visits your site, and ideally culminates with them filling out a form.
Sometimes, a visitor’s desired path does not go as planned. If this happens, you can try to optimize the conversion path.
How did Surety Bonds improve their conversion rates? They ran an A/B split test with Unbounce to compare the performance of two different versions of their landing page. Based on the results of the test, they made some changes to their page, including changing a link to a button and adding a form. They also began asking different questions on their forms.
The result? A 27% increase in lead generation.
If you want to run an A/B test on a landing page, be sure to test the three key pieces of the lead gen process:
The CTAs
To make your blog more effective, try using contrasting colors for your CTAs. You can use a free online tool like Canva to easily create engaging images.
The Landing Pages
Companies that have 30 or more landing pages on their website generate 7 times more leads than companies that only have 1 to 5 landing pages.
The Thank-You Pages
The thank-you page is often overlooked in the lead generation process, even though it’s just as important as the landing page. The thank-you page is where the visitor is taken after they submit a form on the landing page and become a lead.
Make sure to include a link to your offer on your thank-you page, along with a simple ‘thank you’ message. You can also add social sharing buttons or a form for another related offer.
4. Add photos and testimonials for greater credibility.
While rich media testimonials can be a powerful marketing tool, they may be too bandwidth-heavy for lead generation websites. However, solid testimonials can still have a strong impact and support your offer.
The accounting software Free Agent uses positive customer reviews, black-and-white photos, and large quotes to make an impact on its pages.
5. Make your videos speak to the user.
Video content online helps connect people who might not otherwise buy things in person, as well as typically causing more people to follow through with a purchase than those who saw only an advertisement. The best videos are the ones that feel like a conversation, rather than a one-sided presentation.
6. Use trust seals – but make sure they’re more than just eye candy.
The majority of trust seal providers say that having a trust seal on your website can lead to more conversions, but it’s tough to find numbers to back up this claim. If you’re going to install a trust seal, make sure it comes with a consumer guarantee, as OrientalFurniture.com did when they chose the BuySafe guarantee.
7. Use power words when describing your offer.
Action verbs such as “get”, “feel” and “have” are more persuasive than words like “imagine having” or “imagine feeling” because they sound more active. This makes the customer feel like they are the one receiving the benefits, rather than just imagining them.
A lead generation page for a chronic pain course uses powerful words at the top of the page to get the most impact.
8. Avoid “cookie-cutter” site templates.
When generating leads, you should avoid using cookie cutter templates and invest in a well-designed website. This will increase customer confidence and trust.
9. Consider the end-goal first.
When it comes to lead generation, define what a lead means to you. Defining this will make your testing and analytics goals even clearer, and help you determine exactly what actions you want the user to take as they progress through each stage of your sales funnel. For example, is a lead considered someone who fills out a form? Someone who signs up for a newsletter? Requests a callback? Clearly define your starting point and you’ll have a much easier time adjusting your conversion goals accordingly.
10. Make good use of whitespace.
Whitespace is a term used to describe the empty areas on a page. Although it may seem counterintuitive, adding whitespace to a web page can actually be beneficial. It can help to make the page more readable and increase conversions by giving elements on the page room to breathe.
11. The bottom line for best lead generation: Test, Test, Test
You will not see results unless you try these techniques and see what works best for your specific situation. The number and quality of leads is an important part of conversion, just like any other factor. Use this checklist to improve conversion rates.
A lead generation page is also a great way to test crucial design changes before applying them sitewide. By split testing changes from one landing page to the next, you’ll be able to see whether or not your lead gen efforts pay off. Of course, having the right testing and analytics software in place will help you determine exactly what’s working – with real-time data, historic timelines, trends and conversion funnels that let you segment down to the smallest details.
The only way to know for sure what will work for your needs is to test it, but these best practices can help you be more efficient and increase conversions when designing your lead generation pages.
12. Nurture your leads.
Even if a lead is good, nurturing efforts are required to turn them into a customer.
Leads that fill out a form on your landing page should be placed in a workflow so you can continue to send them relevant content. Lead nurturing should start with follow up emails that include great content. As you nurture them, learn more about their interests so you can tailor all future content to their specific interests.
Research shows that companies that nurture their leads end up with 50% more sales-ready leads, and it costs them 33% less. So it’s a good idea to start emailing potential customers.
Generating leads is essential for boosting sales and expanding your business. By following the suggestions outlined above, you can make the most of every opportunity and prevent potential customers from leaving your site unsatisfied.
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