Did 2022 feel like a repeat of many previous years? Perhaps you didn’t get as many leads from your website as you think you should have. Or maybe you feel like you aren’t getting as many leads as your competitors?
The important question is – what happens if nothing changes next year?
Two-Step Process
If you want to change your results, you’ll need to do things differently. TWO THINGS have to happen for your website to consistently generate quality leads that turn into sales. Focus on these two things:
- Your prospects have to find you, whether it’s on Google or LinkedIn or an online directory. This has to happen at the exact moment they’re looking for a new vendor.
- Once your prospects have found you and arrive on your website, you have to persuade them to give you a call, fill out a webform or contact your local rep.
Looking at your lead generation process, you need to make sure that these steps are occurring. If not, you have to figure out what is breaking down in your process.
If It’s Broken, Take an X-ray
If you thought you had broken something and went to the doctor, you would take an x-ray right away. Based on the x-ray, the doctor would make a diagnosis and come up with a plan to remedy the issue. Fixing your lead generation problems follows the same process. You need an x-ray to see what’s broken in several key areas:
- SEARCH ENGINES – When your prospects are looking for a new vendor, 90% of the time they will start their search on Google. What product keywords are your prospects searching for? Can they find you? Will they find your competitors instead?
Tools to help answer those questions include Wordstream (keyword research tool, free), SEMRUSH (suite of tools, paid), Brightlocal (search ranking tool, paid).
- HOME PAGE – Your Home Page is often the first page that visitors see when they arrive at your site. Does your Home Page do these things:
- explain to visitors what you do in less than 5 seconds?
- identify a specific problem that you solve?
- include proof that you do what you say you can, in the form of case studies, testimonials or white papers? (or are there unsupported marketing claims?)
- feature certifications, industry association membership or awards your company has received?
- include video content?
- provide clear calls-to-action (request quote, schedule a call, etc.)?
- display links to LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.?
- LANDING PAGES – No matter which page of your website that visitors see first (the homepage or another landing page), they will decide in seconds whether to stay on your site or leave.
Do you know which pages of your site are the most popular landing pages, and what percentage of the time visitors leave those pages, and your website immediately?
Google Analytics, a free website reporting tool, can tell you these things. The “Bounce Rate” in the chart below indicates how often visitors leave the website entirely after viewing a given page. An average bounce rate of 69.67% is very high. It shows that visitors are rejecting your website more often than anything else.
- NAVIGATION – Use navigation labels that are descriptive rather than generic. Include popularly searched phrases in your navigation.
Before/After of navigation labels:
- PRODUCT/SERVICE PAGES – Your product or service pages often have the biggest impact on whether you convert your website visitor into a lead. The checklist below outlines important elements to include to increase your leads:
- Headline – include a headline that is easily scanned and descriptive of the product or service you provide.
- Keyword Focus – include the keyword that the page is targeting in both the headline and page title.
- Short Paragraphs – make sure your copy is easy to scan and includes sub-heads that are descriptive.
- Q&A – do you provide answers to the key questions your prospects need answered?
- Proof – do you offer proof in the form of testimonials, video testimonials or case studies that you can do what you say you can do? See additional details below.
- CTA – include a persuasive call-to-action within the body copy of the page in addition to the header/footer. See additional details below.
- PROOF – How many unsupported marketing claims are found across your website? What proof can you offer to make your prospects believe you’re their best vendor option?
Testimonials, case studies, white papers and video testimonials are tools that you can use to substantiate your marketing claims.
It’s critical to highlight specific details to back up what you say you can do (see example below). Make sure you include a face/name/company/logo to personalize the message.
- CALLS-TO-ACTION – ‘Contact Us’, ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Learn More’ are not descriptive calls-to-action. Tell your prospect how they will benefit if they get in touch with you.
- FORM PAGES (REQUEST QUOTE, CONTACT, ETC.) – Personalize your Contact and Request Quote pages by including the name and photo of who will be responding to the lead, and in what time frame (1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours?) you will get back in touch.
- MEASURE & OPTIMIZE – You probably review monthly sales statements, profit/loss reports, inventory levels reports, etc. But do you know how many visitors come to your website, how many webforms they submit, or how many phone calls they make? Is your website helping your company’s sales efforts and boosting your bottom line? If you don’t know, how can you get better?
Get a Diagnosis, Find your Cure
Like medical problems, lead generation problems require a unique and specific treatment approach. Upright Communications has extensive experience in the process of diagnosing and curing lead generation problems.
Our objective is to develop a customized lead generation program that meets your lead generation goals and solves your unique challenges.