When someone enters your website and then leaves; it is rare that you are able to catch the potential customer’s details. This makes your website a poor lead generator.
The same cannot be said of your Michigan small business website. It is one of the best ways to generate leads for long term sale opportunities because data collection is far easier.
There are many different options for your small business to collect information and process leads. The data collected can also be highly informative; telling you where customers are located, their general internet browsing behavior and what products they are interested in. By using this, you can generate highly targeted marketing campaigns which will sell well.
So how can you generate better leads through your small business website?
Collect Email Addresses
The most common way to generate leads through your small business website is to collect emails from visitors. This can be done either via a side form or a pop-up. There is very little information which can be gained from this if you are using a generic option to collect email details. Instead you should be using several forms which are programmed to display only on certain pages, based on the content of that page, to segregate the contacts you have based on what they were viewing on your website.
Then you can send viewers marketing content specifically based on what interests they have demonstrated on your website. To gain more information on the leads, you should have more fields for the potential customer to complete. For instance, instead of just asking for their name and email address – ask what their job title is, how large is their company, what is their annual turnover? As long as the information you are asking is relevant, there shouldn’t be too many problems.
You may find that asking for more information will reduce the number of contacts generated – however those who do not complete the information are unlikely to be the best leads.
Finally, to improve the number and quality of leads generated; create a free gift for the potential customers to download if they provide you with their contact details. This is a highly effective as many people love free gifts and it gives you details about what is specifically interesting your visitors.
Improve Your Calls To Action
Calls to action are the statements and text you use to ask the person to complete an action. For lead generation this is often related to contacting your sales team or signing up to an email marketing list.
How you word and the design of the button, can directly impact the success of your marketing campaigns. There have been several studies to demonstrate what the best calls to action are. Here are some of the best practices:
- Give the reader ownership: instead of using words like “your” and “the” use words that signal that the reader already owns the downloadable content or the information you are offering. Words like “my” are a really good options to use.
- Tell the reader what to do: giving the visitor an instruction like “download” or “request” are better at generating responses than using words that imply the user doesn’t have to do anything.
- Create urgency: If your visitors believe that they have an unlimited amount of time to receive what you are offering or to complete the action, they will often delay. However, if you create a sense of urgency by using words like “now”, “today” or “before the offer expires” – more readers will feel compelled to take immediate action.
Your Content Words
The content on your website is very important, even if there is no direct link to your email sign up or contact page. By using certain powerful words you can create a professional image that will generate more attention for your small business’ brand and will keep visitors on your page longer or persuade them to complete an action you want.
One of the best set of words to use is “you”, “your”, etc. This is because it speaks directly to the audience and it starts to build a rapport with them.
Re-Targeting Paid Display Ads
In recent years, a new way to process leads that appear on your website has been developed, called re-targeting. This is the process where those who have visited your site are shown a paid advert, like those on Google, based on what they have viewed.
To achieve this, you need a Google account. Re-targeting has proven to be highly effective for small businesses because it only costs when the customer clicks through on the product and the ads are only displayed when the customer has shown some interest in the product previously.
The ad can be displayed on a number of other websites, including those of your competitors, allowing you to draw away customers from them.
However, caution should be applied when using re-targeting. It is generally for the retail marketing and considering the average expense for generating a sale; you have to be really careful on whether the profits you generate on the products sale is worth the expense.
However, considering the work that is required to make this lead generation avenue work, you can have a significant amount of leads generated relatively quickly with just one action as everyone who visits your site becomes a potential lead. These leads can then be processed without any further action once your advertisement has been created.
Conclusion
Lead generation through your website is an important marketing activity. Without lead generation, the value of your website and your online marketing activities diminish. Therefore, consider your options carefully and implement strategies to improve your lead generation in both quantity and quality. This will earn you greater revenue and profit.
What website lead generation tips do you have?
Take Action:
- Review your website copy to check for the best marketing language.
- Improve your calls to action so they generate more leads.
- Increase the number of fields email subscribers have to enter.
- Create free downloadable content in exchange for email contact details.
- Run a Google Re-targeting campaign.
by NJE Design