As many small business owners know quite well, a website is an outstanding way to let potential customers know about your company and its products and services. A well-planned website can also be a terrific marketing tool that will help to generate leads. In order to create a website that will increase the chances of getting some new customers, Unbounce notes it’s important to have a landing page that is expressly designed for getting as many qualified leads as possible. For example, the following tips will help you to create a lead-friendly website:
Make it clear who you are marketing to
While this may seem like an obvious point, there are plenty of websites that don’t let visitors know who the key customer is. In order to make the website as lead-friendly as possible, know who your customer is, and design the content around this person. Even if your small business has a variety of clients, try to design the site to appeal to the one that is a more typical and profitable customer.
One website that does this quite well is QuoteWizard; the large text at the top of the page that says “Auto, Home, Renter and Life Insurance Leads” lets visitors know that the site offers top quality leads to people in the insurance industry, and right below it short descriptions of lead types combined with small but eye-catching photos makes it clear who can benefit from working with the company.
Offer customers something
Just about everybody likes to get something for nothing, whether it’s free shipping, a coupon they can use right away on their order, or a complimentary e-book. Freebies are also a terrific way to get more leads, Jenny Shih notes. If you promise people something tangible in exchange for an email address, they are more likely to provide it. They key is to come up with something that customers will actually want. In general, the offer should be valuable enough that they will click on it, and written in a way that it’s very clear what you are offering.
In addition, the offer should tie into something the customer is already thinking about; for example, Hallmark.com does this not once but twice on its landing page. Customers who are wondering if they can purchase items on the website will see an offer for free in-store pickup on the main page, and those who are hoping to save money on their order will be happy to see a high value coupon that they can use right away.
Have call to actions where people can see them
In order to capture as many leads as possible, you need to place call to actions and other clickable links in prominent places on the website. You could have the best free offer in the industry, but if it’s tucked at the bottom of an ordering page, chances are good many potential customers won’t even see it. An example of a company that has a well-planned website is Starbucks; the site features an appealing call to action that’s placed smack dab in the center of the home page. “My Starbucks Rewards” is advertised in a white font over a black graphic, and then visitors are told that they can sign up for a loyalty program that’s “all about you” just by registering their Starbucks card. Not only is the positioning of the call to action ideal, it’s also a great example of asking customers to do something that will not overwhelm them and will make them feel like they are gaining something really cool by clicking on the link.