Unless you’re just having fun blogging, you likely want your website traffic to convert in some way.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to make more sales or just build your email list, it is possible to turn your website into a lead generating machine. You don’t even have to do any additional marketing.

Your website should work for you. Let it naturally guide visitors to respond to your calls-to-action.

Provide A Special Offer Form

You’ve probably signed up for many of these yourself as you’ve visited different websites. You were happy to provide your email address in exchange for a free ebook or product discount. Special offer forms are a great way to entice visitors to provide their information. Why does it work? People aren’t usually thrilled to just give away their contact details. If you give them something valuable in return, they feel like it’s a win-win situation.

Include Multiple Contact Methods

It’s hard for your site to be a lead generating machine without contact information. While your default might be to offer a phone number or contact form, it’s best to offer multiple contact methods to appeal to everyone. A few options to include on your site are:

• Phone number
• Email address
• Contact form
• Live Chat – 90% of consumers consider live chat extremely helpful
• Chatbot – for answering common questions when live chat is unavailable

It’s also important to provide response times for each contact method. For instance, if someone wants to call, what time frame should they call to reach a person versus voicemail.

Keep Contact Forms Simple

If you have contact forms on your site, but they’re not converting, it could be because they’re too complicated. Limit how much information you ask for. For instance, if you want to build your email list, all you need to ask for is the email address. Optionally, ask how often or what types of email the subscriber wants. The more text boxes a visitor has to fill in, the more likely they are to abandon the process completely. Keep it as simple as possible to boost conversions on your site.

Place A CTA On Every Page (And Above The Fold)

While experts argue on the best placement for your CTA, they all agree that it should always be easily accessible. Ensure there is a CTA on every page. For instance, many websites place their main CTA on their homepage or landing page and then include it in the footer so it’s always there. No matter what, ensure your main CTA is above the fold. This makes it more noticeable and more likely to turn your site into a lead generating machine.

Make Your CTA Button Stand Out

Your CTA should draw visitors to it. A large, bold, colorful CTA button is instantly noticeable and draws your visitors’ eyes directly to your CTA copy. No matter how great your copy is, no one will notice it if it doesn’t stand out from the rest of your site. Use WordStream’s guide for far more effective CTA buttons.

Create Compelling Content

Why should someone provide their email address or make a purchase? What draws visitors to your website in the first place? It all comes down to compelling content. High quality, informative content boosts your search rank and brings in more organic traffic. Now that visitors are on your site, explain to them why they should convert.

Consider adding video as part of your content strategy. Simply adding video to a landing page increases conversions by as much as 80%.

Offer Proof

Testimonials, videos and reviews all provide proof to your visitors. Humans are social creatures and they want to know that someone else has experienced your product or service already. This is why reviews are so important to product sales on sites like Amazon. Offer some type of proof that makes visitors more comfortable and you’ve created a lead generating machine.

Use Interstitials Sparingly

A popular lead generation technique over the past few years has been interstitials. These are pop-ups and full screen pages that appear to encourage email signups or provide a special offer. While some websites have found them effective, Google could punish sites that use this technique, especially on mobile devices.

Create Your Own Lead Generating Machine

Don’t just let your website sit there. Use it as a lead generating machine to build your email list or boost sales while you sleep. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your analytics data to see how well your conversion techniques are working.

Ready to create a lead generating website? Contact Darren today to see how to get started.

Image: Brooke Cagle