There are many ways to generate leads, and some are better than others. According to this infographic by MarketingProfs, websites rank as the sixth most effective way to generate leads. The first five are inside sales, executive events, conferences/tradeshows, telemarketing and electronic/email newsletters. In other words, websites are more or less the most important online lead generation source there is for businesses.
What that means, especially for businesses that rely primarily on their online presence for sales, is that their website lead generation must be impeccable. There are plenty of tricks in the book and small yet important details, but even covering just the most important do’s and don’ts is sure to make your website lead generation much more efficient. Have a look at these do’s and don’ts of B2B website lead generation.
Produce Good Content and Don’t Forget the CTA!
Writing without a clear purpose in mind is one of the biggest lead turnoffs possible. What are the signs of good content?
Relevancy
This can’t be stressed enough. Your content needs to engage leads — it needs to be relevant to where they are located in the buying cycle. It has to be tailored to what they might currently need. As you will see in the above link, there are different forms of content (e.g. blog post articles, eBooks, whitepapers, demo videos, case studies, webinars, etc.) and all of them are relevant to your lead generation efforts, so make good use of them.
Rich in Offering Information and Solutions
Provide plenty of information, instead of insisting on the hard promotion of your products or services (so-called ‘getting married on the first date’). Of course, unique selling points (USPs) are important, but take it easy. There’s plenty of time for that, as well.
Furthermore, if you hit the mark and approach the right person at the right time and with the right content, you will immediately see results. Any content that solves a lead’s problems brings them closer to becoming a client.
CTA
And never forget the CTA. Good content without a CTA is like telling someone about a great restaurant and then not providing directions. A good CTA, a custom one, ties in with the content and naturally sets the course for further actions.
Whether it’s more engagement (actionable language truly makes a difference!), more information (don’t forget to acquire some emails in the process) or something else, a CTA is indispensable.
A Website That’ll Stun Them… Templates are a No-No!
Good content on an awful website? Good luck generating those leads. It’s like digging for gold in a trash heap — sorry to be blunt. So here’s what you should do for your website to make sure that your great content can work its wonders.
Optimise, Optimise, Optimise
At no point should you disregard your visitor’s experience. The main point is that your website should be optimised for usability, i.e. that it is available for all sorts of browsing requests from various devices.
But optimisation goes deeper than that – make sure your website is visually compelling, easy to take in, and has plenty of white space to let viewer’s eyes and minds rest. Make navigation smooth and flowing so that users know at all times where they are and where they’re headed.
Photos and Testimonials that Convert
Nothing says more about your trustworthiness than the testimonials of other people about how happy and content they are with what you’ve provided them. Numerous surveys over the past few years have proven this point time and again. What you should not forget, though, is that you need testimonials that convert.
Testimonials that convert are authoritative, relevant and there’s a person behind them – i.e. a photo that testifies that this person is someone who really exists. They should also be realistic in that they don’t embrace you wholeheartedly (as strange as that may sound to you at first). Real(istic) testimonials are rarely one sided – there’s always something that could be better, so showing a bit of humility there brings you closer to your prospects.
Nothing Says ‘No’ to a Lead Like a Ready-Made Website Template
It is a given that at no point will you even consider the possibility to use a cookie cutter website template. True website lead generation happens only through custom websites. Your website must distinguish you from everybody else out there, so invest in a unique representation of your company online.
A custom website communicates many subliminal messages to your clients – it speaks of how you see yourself, whether you value yourself, whether you’re willing to invest in showing your best side, etc. If it doesn’t show these things, clients are likely to expect that the rest of your business won’t be of much value, either.
Build Lists but Don’t Even Think of Purchasing Leads
How do you know who your leads are and what they want? By convincing them to share more about themselves. But, how do you do that?
Create Forms and Request (Some) Information
Build lists at every possible occasion. Offer forms on every page that offers something in return but don’t ask for too much, at least not initially. Less is more. People are more likely to divulge personal information if they don’t feel they are asked to reveal too much. As trust grows, so will the information they are willing to share.
As with your website, try creating custom forms. But avoid glaring pop-ups that take up a large percentage of the screen and disrupt user experience. Forms should be functional and should correspond to the funnel stage of the lead.
Purchase Leads to No Effect
Hardly surprising, but this bears reiteration. Never, at no point, try to purchase leads. Purchased leads lead nowhere. You wouldn’t want irrelevant e-mails from businesses you’re hardly familiar with always flooding your inbox, would you? Well, then practice what you preach.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but if you’re not willing to invest real effort, real care and real attention and would rather take a ‘shortcut’, be prepared to fail.
SEO Is Still a Good Friend of Yours
SEO never died, despite having been pronounced dead by critics numerous times. Not only is it alive and kicking, but with Google continuously rolling out updates and introducing changes to algorithms, you need to step up your game in order to remain on top.
You’ve Optimised? Great, Now Go Back and Do It Again
Website lead generation begins with a website that actually appears in search results.
SEO is the basic building block of your website. So make sure you, too, are continually researching keywords and adjusting to changes in the industry – new trends, new approaches. From headlines, page titles and meta-descriptions to site architecture and your unique high-quality content, always review your work from an SEO perspective.
Always Test
Test anything you can test. Maybe a campaign didn’t work out well. Analyse it and try making modifications. A/B test lead generation landing pages to figure out which small details make a big difference.
Finally,
don’t disregard metrics. They’re your compass and can tell you a lot about how you’re doing in terms of hard, tangible results. After all, there are real costs associated with your lead generation efforts and paying attention to the metrics will help you keep the perspective.
Bottom Line
The above do’s and don’ts are fundamental if you’d like your website to generate leads. Did we miss anything crucial? Leave us a comment below — we’d be happy to discuss other essentials of website lead generation to help your business grow.
