Websites are a must in today’s business landscape- we all know that. It’s a place to tell your story, sell your products, and provide expertise. But, it can’t just look pretty! If your website isn’t optimized to convert leads (turn visitors into purchasers) then it’s no different than a brochure. In this post, we’ll go over some quick ways to optimize your website for lead generation.
To understand how to optimize your website, you’ll need a foundational understanding of the web lead generation process. Here’s a quick overview:
- A website visitor clicks on a call-to-action (CTA) located on one of your site pages or blog posts.
- That CTA leads them to a landing page, which includes a form used to collect the visitor’s contact information.
- Once the visitor fills out and submits the form, they are then led to a thank-you page OR You take an action to reach out. As soon as that visitor engages by submitting the form, they are a converted, qualified lead- you did it!
Now it would be wonderful if all you had to do to convert leads was through a CTA button or form on your home page, but it isn’t so simple. Let’s talk through ways to optimize your site for sustained lead generation:
1.) Evaluate where you’re at today.
It’s important to know where you site is at currently with lead generation before you can track your success and determine the areas where you need the most improvement. Some of your pages might make excellent lead generators and you don’t even realize it!
To start, conduct an audit of where most of your online traffic and outreach comes from.
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.
- Blog Posts: Traffic might come from your highest-performing blog posts.
Once you identify where your leads are coming from, you’ll want to make sure the pages they’re landing on are doing everything they can to nurture a visitor’s interest. (Need help conducting an audit?(Read this post)
2.) Don’t Miss A Step
Lead generation is not a one-step process. There are several steps a visitor takes before and immediately after becoming a lead. Be sure you don’t overlook any of these steps or you could easily get tripped up. It might help to choose one lead generation opportunity and write down every step a visitor would take there to become a lead. As you consider the steps in the process, ask yourself the following questions.
- How do they arrive at the page where they will convert?
- Will they not only be satisfied but also delighted with the information they receive when they get there?
- What stage of the buyer’s journey are they most likely to be in?
- Is the offer available through the page relevant to their interests and their stage in the buyer’s journey?
- From the visitor’s perspective, is the information requested on the form worth providing in exchange for the offer?
- Is the offer provided immediately, clearly and in a way that is accessible to the lead on any device at any time?
- Is there a good plan for nurturing the lead once they convert?
These aren’t easy questions to answer, but they are important. In analyzing your lead generation efforts from this perspective, you will find that you’re able to think about your prospects first and strategically optimize your efforts with their needs and preferences.
3.) Be Relevant: Make sure the steps in your lead generation process make sense
First and foremost, it’s important to note that no matter what, your messaging is clear. If someone is reading a blog post about website design, don’t provide a link to an offer for car repairs. It doesn’t make sense. Make sure your ads, blogs, posts matches with the landing page you’re directing visitors to. It saves heartache (and will decrease bounce rate.)
Second, pay attention the conversion paths of your visitors. (You can find this in Google Analytics, or through your marketing automation platform.) You’ll be able to see which pages are frequently visited and the order in which they are visited. If your website’s conversions are a little on the low side, it’s important to analyze the current conversion path to identify areas that can be improved to be more relevant to the visitor.
4.) Get creative with your calls-to-action!
Try using different contrasting colors, different shapes, placements, animations, or even get creative with the copy. A call to action does just that. So make sure the visitor is moved to press that button- learn more- fill out that form- give you a call etc. If you’re needing a little inspiration, try one of these 8 ways to spice up your calls-to-action.
5.) Provide hooks on your ‘thank you’ pages and nurture your leads.
Hooray! They filled out your form! Now what? There’s an opportunity that is important, but often overlooked. Keep them on your site! The longer you keep them on your website, the more trust you build. Have them take a look at your portfolio, direct them to a downloadable resource on your site – the possibilities are endless! No matter what, make sure that wherever you choose to redirect them, that it makes sense for the end user.
6.) Test, Track, Adjust, Test Again
There’s no silver bullet when it comes to website lead generation optimization. However, time invested in improving your lead gen strategy will yield significant returns. Just remember to understand your site’s existing metrics and trends so that you’re able to measure them moving forward. Keep the perspective of your prospects and remember that everything you do should be about them – from the design to the content, the CTA location to the actual steps in the process – it should all cater to them.
Lastly, don’t forget to test and measure. All. The. Time. Try new things. See what works and what doesn’t. Then try again. It’s a work in progress so just keep at it and you’ll see – the leads will come.
