If you are a small business owner, new to the land of digital marketing, or you’ve just launched a new website, it can be hard to figure out why your website visitors don’t convert into leads. The overall performance of your online marketing strategy is influenced by several factors such as: writing content that sells, using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, and even employing an effective image strategy that keeps you on-brand and engages your customer base. Because of the multitude of factors that influence the efficacy of your online presence, it can be challenging for new business owners to determine what to focus on to generate more leads.
Here are 5 tips to help you convert website visitors into leads right away:
1. Ensure your message is crystal clear.
You can’t convert visitors if they don’t understand your offer. Visitors will leave your website if your offer is confusing. In fact, you only have 8-10 seconds to make a compelling case for your business—so make sure those seconds count by providing a clear message.
Have some friends take a look at your home page and then ask them ‘Can you tell me what this website is about/what this product does?’ If they can’t answer this question, then your visitors probably are not converting because they don’t understand your business.
2. Create Exclusive Interviews with Industry Leaders
Interviews with industry experts are a proven way to secure website visitor information. There is one caveat, if the interview with the expert addresses real problems it justifies asking for your prospects’ email address to watch the interview. If the interview doesn’t address a visitor’s actual challenges, you probably won’t get their email address.
Here’s an example.
A while back, Groove, a customer service company, published a series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs asking specific, targeted questions. The interviews were packed with valuable lessons for small business owners and they also featured an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session with the expert in the comments section. It was wildly popular and helpful to consumers because it addressed questions specific to their needs.
Want to get more leads from your website? Get a FREE website assessment and we’ll show you how to get more.
3. Provide Helpful Videos
‘How-to’ videos can solve a real problem your prospects are facing in a format that is fun and easily digestible. People are much more likely to watch a video than read a wall of text, so if you want to keep your visitors engaged—use video.
Here’s an example.
Imagine that you are an online retailer selling digital cameras. One of the most common problems your prospects face is understanding how to use the camera’s settings. To solve this issue, you create a series of how-to videos that explain the settings, techniques, and rules that all digital camera owners must now.
If your visitors learn something useful from your website once, they’re more likely to visit the site again when they are ready to purchase.
4. Tweak Your Call to Action (CTA) Buttons
A few years back, Mozilla wanted to increase the number Firefox browser downloads. They looked at their CTA button and decided to attempt A/B testing using variable copy. When they changed the CTA copy from ‘Try Firefox 3’ to ‘Download Now — Free,’ the results were stunning.
In just two weeks, the new CTA button garnered Firefox 30,000 clicks to download, which grew the conversion rate from 9.73% to 10.7%.
Mozilla learned that their visitors were much more likely to take action when their CTA was compelling.
Test different copy, colors, and placements. Examine the results and see what you can do to improve your conversion rates.
5. Offer Checklists
Checklists are another type of content that you can offer to your visitors. Consumers love checklists—especially if they are organized around a topic area they need quick, specific guidance on. When you offer something of value to your customers like a checklist or an eBook, they are more likely to give you their names and email addresses in exchange for the information.
Checklists are not only a great way to generate leads, but visitors who find them helpful are more likely to share the checklist on a social media site. If you have wrapped your checklist into a lead offer that has a concise headline, an eye-catching design, and the content is short and sweet, when your visitor shares the checklist on social media, it has a great probability of creating a conversion.
We hope these tips help you turn your site into a lead-generating machine!
Want to learn more about how to convert website visitors into leads? Download our ebook ‘Six Steps to Creating a Marketing Plan That Works’ now. You’ll find plenty of helpful information in there.
Let us know what you think.
