Most companies’ websites could be summarized as a showcase where the user is presented the product and told why ACME is the best company. If this was okay a few years ago, it is not how you’ll get results from your website today.
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Let’s show you how you can start generating leads with your website in just three easy steps.
The problem with the “traditional” websites is that they haven’t been built with the end user in mind. Those “look at me!” sites might please the board of directors because they look pretty, but in today’s reality, the end user has taken all the power on deciding how, when and what content he’ll consume. So stop neglecting your end users and give them what they want!
#1 Solve a problem
Before doing anything else, you need to attract new people to your website. That might sound obvious, but I know for a fact that once a website is live, most companies just hope for people to find it. So, how can you attract people to your website?
Well, today’s users are looking for answers, so… solve their problems! No matter the format you choose (a page, a blog post, a video, etc.), don’t start the conversation by explaining how great your product is. You’ll attract many more visitors to your site if, instead, you tell them how to solve a problem that is linked to your own offerings.
Once you have that content ready, the search engine will start to add it to their rankings, but it might take time before you get visitors from there. Fear not, the social networks – and why not some paid ads – will help you increase your reach.
Pro tip: Posting content on social media can be very time intensive, so it’s better to use a tool that helps you schedule your posts. Buffer and CoSchedule are both great apps you can trust. And don’t be concerned about posting the same content more than once—no one will realize it and you’ll get a much bigger reach.
#2 Offer them something more
Someone from your niche has seen your post on her Facebook wall, and because she has the problem you offer to solve, well, the click came easy. She’s now learning how to solve a problem on your website.
It’s a great opportunity to convert this unknown visitor into a lead! The trick here is to offer more added value in relation to the topic that attracted the visitor. It could be as simple as a half-page checklist, as long as it helps your users solve their problems even more effectively.
Before asking for an email address, you’ll want to grab your user’s attention on the page or blog post with a call-to-action.
Pro tip: Your call-to-actions should always present the benefits of your offer and use action verbs in the button. Try to be as descriptive as possible.
#3 Convert your visitors
After clicking on the call-to-action, you should redirect the user to a landing page on which the user will get more info about your bonus content and see a form they need to fill in to get your content offer. It’s important to redirect them to a separate landing page in order to minimize all distractions. This page has one and only one goal: to get the lead’s email address.
Pro tip: Building a landing page is pretty straightforward. Learn how to structure a landing page for success.
You now have a tool to convert your visitors into leads. Repeat this process for all your products and niches and you’ll soon have a lead generation machine that works even when you sleep.
