Your Next Website Project Should Focus on Leads; Not Design
Ok. Web design is important but it better not be the only focus of your new website project. We often hear from clients or prospects that they want a new “look and feel” for their website. If that is all you want then there are many cheap solutions out there. But if you look at your website as an investment to help propel your business then
Investing in a well-designed website is a great way to boost your brand online. However, if you are not spending time focusing on generating leads, all the money you invested in the website will be for nothing. Even with a website design that impresses everyone, it will not do you any good if you are not focusing on the essential aspects of lead generation and sales conversion. Design needs to support this initiative.
Spending money on the design of a website is critical as this is the first point of contact several people will have with your business. The website must be designed correctly so that it attracts and nurtures leads for the business. If the website is over-designed or the design is too complex it is very easy to overwhelm the visitor and potentially turn them away. The website strategy you create will go a long way to help build interest in the organization, and convert those leads into sales. Let’s look at some of the ways you can focus on creating a website strategy that builds interest, converts leads, and improves website design.
Offering Value to the Target Audience
Every company is in the business of providing value to the customer. You must be able to focus on a website that provides value to your audience immediately. A customer needs to immediately see the benefits of hiring your company. For example, If you are in the marketing business, your goal is to show clients how you can boost their sales, which is something they care about greatly. It’s all about “what’s in in for me” when you are building a website to generate and convert leads.
Encourage Customer Feedback
What is the best way to generate new leads? Getting your existing customers to do the talking for you! Customer testimonials are a powerful way to generate new leads, and improve your conversion rate. People will trust a testimonial more than you talking about how great your company is, and why they need to purchase your products.
Some of the best customer testimonials will include hard figures. Encourage people to include a percentage amount in their feedback form, such as “working with (company) helped to increase our sales by 30%.” These types of hard results help to boost the credibility of your business, and make it easier to attract new leads.
Email Marketing Is Part of Website Strategy
To generate new leads and convert sales, you need to keep your customers updated with company processes. Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses as it informs customers quickly. Write blog posts that the customers are interested to read. Offering them value will go a long way compared to a basic “sign up for updates” pitch on your website. If people know they will not be bombarded with email newsletters, they are likely to sign up for the emails as they know it will deliver them helpful information.
Persistent Call to Action
One of the best ways to generate leads with your website is by creating a persistent call to action. This can be set up as a side bar ad where the customer can fill out the contact information any time they want. This is a great way to generate leads when you have people hoping to find out more information about your products or services. Generating leads from the website is a great way to find people that will end up buying your product. They are browsing your website for a reason, and they want to learn more. The landing pages you create do not need to be overwhelming, keep them basic and simple with enough information to peak their interest. Here are some things you must include on the landing pages to generate leads:
- Contact number
- Testimonials to build credibility
- Online videos describing the company or products
- Make use of whitespace
New Website Content
A website lives and dies by the traffic it generates and the leads it converts. You need to help your website rank higher by adding new content. A website that remains static will be unable to build traffic, and improve visibility. Move your website onto a content management system where you can update your content on a regular basis. Blog at least two or three times a week. Blogging is a great way to target traffic that is interested in your company.
Create Offers
To build new leads, you need to offer something to your customers. If you aren’t giving people something to be interested in, they will lose interest and will move to the next website. The offers you use need to be valuable enough to convince people to give you their contact information. Using content offers can help you generate some new leads to convert as sales. A content offer can include a short eBook which benefits the reader in some way.
Nurture Your Leads
How can you nurture your leads? The best way to do this is by setting up an email drip campaign. When a website visitor registers and is given a free offer, they are going to receive various emails offering them valuable content. Using email drip campaigns will help you appeal to your leads, making it easier for you to understand what they want as you use a sales campaign to convert them into a customer.
Investing your money into an effective website strategy is a great way to boost visibility of the site and your sales versus focusing on the design of the site alone. Working with a content management company is a great way to help you create effective landing pages that are designed to generate leads and convert leads into sales.
