8 Ways to Make Your Site a Lead Gen-Machine‍

If you build it, they will come. So Kevin Costner was told. But that was a baseball diamond. Websites are a little different. Yes, you can just get some snappy visuals and some passable content out there and hope for the best that people might notice and come wanting to buy. But it’s not a likely route to success. Let’s face it - the competition’s tough.

It’s much better to take a step-by-step approach. One that guides you through the minefield of site building to the sunlit uplands of lead generation. A foolproof set of tips that you can start using straight away to turn your site into a lead-gen machine. Something very like…. Oh yes, what you’re reading now. Excellent choice. Let’s start.

8 Strategies to Generate More Leads Using Your Website

Image sourced from statupbonsai.com

A website should be all about you and what you do. But it can’t only be that. Think about what makes for a good conversation. It’s most definitely not one-way. The talker who doesn’t consider the listener is going to be forced to turn that monologue into a soliloquy in short order. Websites are the same. You have to consider the visitor. There are lots of ways to do this.

Create high-quality content targeting ideal clients

So, there has to be something on the site for the visitor. That doesn’t mean you have to think lowest common denominator. If you want to go niche, that’s fine. As long as that niche is not just, well, you.

For instance, a site that’s all about, say lead generation for insurance companies won’t always appeal to a vast range of visitors. But it will be just the ticket for an insurance company looking to pick up customers.

However, you do need to consider the wants and needs of that niche representative. You’re going to need to think about content so that your site has value for such visitors. The content has to be interesting and up-to-date. Too many sites wallow under the weight of obsolete content, which affects both the UX and the ranking.

Overall, when you’re considering how to appeal to your ideal client, put yourself in the shoes of whoever it is you're trying to attract. Think about what your site can do for them. Step one is giving them a reason to visit, and that’s what creating better content does. 

Guide visitors through effective call-to-actions

It’s a little reductive to say that a commercial site is only a route by which you want to propel a visitor to the CTA. But there’s some legitimacy in saying that a commercial site without effective CTAs is a waste of cyberspace.

You should think about what you want your call-to-actions to be. No, they don’t have to be ‘buy now’. They can be, but that’s only one route to customer engagement and lead generation. You can also encourage customers to learn more or subscribe to an email list or similar. Or you can have a mix of all three, and who knows what else?

The crucial factor, whatever the CTA, is to ensure that it’s clear. Apply design principles of font, contrast, and positioning.

There also needs to be a logical path through the site so that a customer journey leads inexorably to the CTA. A call-to-action button right at the top might be super-visible. But if the customer doesn’t understand who you are, its appearance might be a little premature.

Include reachable communication channels

Make sure that you include on the site the routes customers can take to contact you. Whatever those routes are, be certain that they are current and adequately staffed. Otherwise, you’ll immediately snuff out any lead potential there and then.

It’s a great idea to have contact forms on the site so that the customer can fill them in as they browse. There’s nothing to stop you from having a button for such a form on pretty much every page of your site. This way, you’re not losing any customer interest at any point. You can also make the form as pain-free as possible by including auto-fill where you can.

Offer incentives to drive signups and subscriptions

You might think to yourself that the mere chance of being on your subscription list is a reward in itself. After all, any subscriber is going to find themselves festooned with quality content and irresistible material. Great to have that self-belief, but we should temper it with a little realism.

People tend to respond to nice shiny things up front. Yes, you can tell them that signing up will get them untold benefits in time. But that means nothing unless you serve them a beefy discount on goods or services as a delicious sweetener. Lead generation will follow.

Another crucial aspect of lead generation through your website is to ensure that you have a clear and transparent invoice process for any products or services purchased by potential clients to maintain a professional and efficient transaction process.

Track your results and optimize your campaigns

Measurement makes all the difference. Every field of website endeavor is different, and what works for some won’t work for all. This means that you need to be able to track the success or otherwise of your site so that you can adjust your approach if necessary.

For instance, you may feel that the conversion rates aren’t as high as you were hoping. You can try improving your content to lead up to conversion. A great technique to use is A/B testing, where you measure results as is, then change one thing and measure results again.

You can do this with any number of sales lead tools for outbound sales generation. These can include the script used in outbound calling and, more pertinent here, the color you’ve given your CTA button.

Establish trust with testimonials and reviews

Shoppers trust other shoppers. In a sea of superlatives thrown at us by retailers and service providers, it’s good to cut through to the experience of somebody in a similar situation to us to see how they rate things. It’s called social proof - the evidence that derives from those you can trust rather than those who are intent on selling you things.

Social proof is why so many online shoppers tend to like to consume online reviews before making a purchase.

Implement chatbots or live chat for engagement

When chatbots first came in, they had a bit of a mountain to climb. We have to acknowledge that they weren’t very good. You were usually ushered onward to a human agent after a frustrating few minutes for the customer (and bot if they were at all capable of feeling frustrated).

Now, however, the tech has moved on, and chatbots are an indispensable part of the customer service machinery. They take the pressure off staff. They do this by dealing, in an efficient but courteous fashion, with all the routine inquiries that used to bedevil the human phone agent’s day.

Customers have grown to love them for their availability and their speed. No more hanging on for hours on an overstuffed phone line, only to end up talking to the wrong person and have to start again. No, today’s chatbots are ready, willing, and able to leap into lead-generating action. Use them.

Image sourced from statista.com

You can, of course, use this phenomenon to your advantage. Encourage review submission, either directly to your site or via social media.

By including reviews on your site, you're saying two things. First, you value the thoughts and opinions of your customers. Second, you have nothing to hide. Your products or services are high quality, and you’re not afraid to put them out there to be tested and reported on.

But, in all honesty, if the reviews are all bad, you may want to review this policy.

Enhance website visibility and optimize for UX

The best website content can sometimes languish in a fog of obscurity. This can be because some basic optimization principles were overlooked. In an environment as uber-competitive as the World Wide Web, you need to give your site the tools to get some visibility under its belt. This is a key lead gen activity.

SEO techniques include intelligent use of keywords - i.e., what are people actually searching for? - and the encouragement of backlinks will do wonders for your site’s SERP rankings.

Another assistance in the battle for visibility is how successful your site appears to be at keeping the visitors who do turn up. If people stay for a second and realize immediately that the site does nothing for them, then the bounce rate will be high. This can affect your site’s Google rankings.

So, in all your site design, think about what you’re doing for the user. As mentioned above, make sure the content is of value. And then take a long hard look at the ecommerce architecture. How you’re presenting the content is key. Does it look attractive? Is it easy to read? In short, does it invite engagement?

UX optimization is not an easy field to master. But with practice, you’ll get there.

Setting Sites on Lead-Gen

Websites can be terrific at generating leads. But you have to bear in mind a raft of factors. Yes, content is key, but alongside this are such ingredients as visibility, reachability, and reward. Above all, you need to make a site visitor feel glad they came. Your site has to be enjoyable to visit.

In short, you have to consider the user experience. In all the stages of the sales funnel, this is the critical component. So, whatever part of the site you're looking at, try looking from the customer's perspective. You'll find it helps no end.