A healthy pipeline of leads is essential for any business which is looking to grow. Whilst many businesses spend their time looking for a ‘golden goose’ technique to generate more leads, usually what they don't realise is that their website can be pivotal to achieving this. In this article, we run through some of the top reasons why your website might not be as successful as it could be – and explain how to make it a focal point in your lead generation activities.
The key, therefore, to successfully generating leads in 2021, is to focus on grabbing the attention of your target audience – and providing them value. Think about what they are genuinely interested in, both in their professional and personal lives, and create quality content around these topics. Not only will this enable you to capture the interest of your target audience, it will also allow you to position yourself, or your organisation, as an expert within the mind of the consumer – making it much easier to generate (and convert) those all-important leads.
Once your potential leads have discovered your business, it’s more than likely they will want to visit your website to learn how your products or services can benefit them. Calvin Candle’s famous line from Django Unchained springs to mind: “You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.” Generally, this is true of any consumer. Their curiosity may lead them to your website, but it’s what you do with their attention which will determine whether they take action (be that through a sale, an enquiry, or a newsletter sign-up).
Your website, then, acts as an information hub in the buying cycle, and is primarily responsible for converting leads into sales. With this in mind, it’s important to understand the crucial role of your website in helping you to generate – and convert – leads. Failing to understand and execute this important part of the process, could result in you losing the interest of your leads, and failing to convert them into sales. They might even choose to go with your competitor instead (even worse!).
With this in mind, here are our top 4 tips for optimising your website for lead generation.
Your website should act as an information resource in the buying cycle of your ideal client or customer. Therefore, it needs to house content which is relevant, educational, and answers any questions or concerns which they may have. Naturally, this will boost your organisation’s search engine ranking for the most relevant search terms, helping to generate more leads.
Put yourself in the shoes of your target consumer. When they arrive on your website, what questions might they have about your products or services? How can you create the perception that they need your product or service? And how can you demonstrate the value you will bring to the table? Essentially, this is your opportunity to showcase what your organisation is about, and how you can improve the lives of your clients or customers.
You should also think about what particular topics your target audience might be interested in, and what problems they may be facing. Creating content around how your products or services will solve a problem for your potential lead, will ultimately help to convert leads into sales.
Whilst ensuring your website houses relevant, engaging content is one piece of the puzzle, it’s equally as important to set your website up for conversions. Make sure you use call-to-action buttons strategically, to encourage users to buy your product or service, sign up for your newsletter, or any other key performance indicator. For example, if you have a whole page dedicated to the benefits of a particular product, it’s essential to have a call-to-action on this page. By doing this, you can make it as easy as possible for the user to purchase your product - ensuring that your UX journey naturally encourages conversions.
If your business offers quotations or free consultations as part of the buying process, make sure to use forms in the most accessible parts of your website, such as the homepage. Umbraco content management system (CMS) provides an easy-to-use form creator, allowing you to implement and edit forms seamlessly. Umbraco Forms also allows you to collect and store relevant user data within the CMS, such as names, email addresses and phone numbers. Therefore, not only will Umbraco Forms make it as easy as possible for users to get a quotation or book a consultation, it will also allow you to develop an efficient sales pipeline and CRM system for future lead generation.
If you’ve ever used a website which feels slow, clunky, and outdated, you’ll know just how frustrating this can be. To optimise your website for lead generation, you must have a website design which is simple and convenient to use. If not, you can expect the bounce rate of your website to be high, as users typically don’t want to waste their time. Not to mention, the average human attention span is now just 8 seconds, so your website design must capture the imagination of your user as quickly and efficiently as possible!
Landing pages and paid ads can offer great sources of traffic to your website. But, are these traffic sources directed to pages with a clear, specific purpose? Or just to your homepage?
Make sure the content of the landing page is closely linked to the title of the page, in order to prevent any unnecessary confusion for your users. Just like the rest of the content on your website, your landing page should be informational. So, ensure your landing page content answers any questions your users may have, and clearly outlines your unique value proposition.
Remember to keep your landing pages simple. Remove the fluff and get straight to the point. Landing pages which are clear and concise, tend to convert a lot better than those which ramble on and on. Now, this doesn’t mean your landing page needs to be short. If you need a longer landing page to answer any objections your user may have before buying from you, then that’s totally fine. The key here is to get straight to the point and give your user the information they need!
If you’ve implemented the tips above, but you’re still not generating the results you want, it might be worth working with a digital agency to refine your lead generation strategy and put you on the right path to achieving your objectives.