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A website that doesn’t generate leads is like a pencil with no point – POINTLESS!
The number one aim of your website is to generate leads and ultimately sales. The ‘online brochure’ of a website just won’t cut it anymore in this ‘content-driven, social, online world’.
Here are a few ways that you can generate leads from your website:
1. Good Content:
As I said above, people are after content that solves their problems/needs. They expect to see that content in different formats – videos, eBooks, blogs, podcasts etc). By having good content that is optimised properly you will be able to attract quality traffic to your site. This is why we are starting with the content – you need to make sure you drive the right traffic to your site.
Chances are that people will Google a keyword/phrase that they need solving (how to plaster a wall, how to create a website, how can I attract women etc). If your content contains these keywords/phrases then they are more likely to click your content – i.e. they are your customer and they are more likely to buy from you. This means that there are a ‘qualified lead’.
2. Good Design:
Elizabeth Sillence (of Northumbria University) conducted a study where she asked a group of people to find websites about hypertension. She then asked them to record whether they trusted/distrusted the website.
Upon review she found that 94% of people said that they distrusted a website because of bad design.
Bad web design can cost you sales. If people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. This doesn’t just mean generic, vague, “I just don’t like the look of it” kind of explanation. There were specific things that people didn’t like – cluttered/too busy, bad layout, bad navigation, pop-up ads, slow load times, text-heavy, too corporate etc.
3. Clear Calls To Action (CTAs):
CTAs are the most crucial part of the conversion process. If you have bad conversions it may be that your CTA button isn’t visible. Bad visibility is one of the biggest reasons people don’t convert.
Good visibility means that the CTA is a slightly contrasting colour to the rest of your site; clearly sited on the page (preferably above the fold); it has to be the one and only CTA on the page as too many CTAs becomes confusing for your customers; large enough to pop out without being overt/silly.
4. Not Cluttered/Messy:
If a web design is messy and cluttered then it will confuse your customers. Your aim is to have 1 CTA per page (2 max). If the site is cluttered with too many elements then your customer won’t know where to click. This is often the case. It’s not so much that they don’t want to click – it’s that they don’t know where to click. Inevitably they end up clicking the wrong thing.
5. Make It Quick:
People hate long-winded buying processes! People don’t have time to be faffing around with long-winded buying processes. The sales process needs to be no longer than 3 pages deep. In fact anything above 3 pages can apparently hurt your SEO rankings as you are not giving your customer a good online experience. Make it simple, easy and quick for them to enter their info and to buy/download etc.
6. Ask For Info:
People are divided on the use of opt-in forms and pop-ups where they ask you to enter your email address. It really comes down to:
- is it appropriate?
- is it done tastefully?
- is it relevant?
- is it going to annoy my customers?
By answering the above questions you will be able to determine which device you will use to capture data and from where. Remember that there is no magic formula for everyone and you will never be able to please everybody. Test, measure and adapt.
Hi, I’m Haroon Rashid and I’m the author of this blog and the founder of Finisher Creative. If you are a small business or a charity/non-profit I would be more than happy to talk to you about your online marketing and social media needs. If you’re in the Yorkshire area (UK) I’ll even take you out for a coffee! You can email me on info@finishercreative.com, check me out on Facebook, follow me @FinisherCre8ive or Google+ I look forward to hearing from you!
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