Getting visitors to come to your website is incredibly hard work. So it’s no surprise that site owners want to see a huge increase in their site’s lead conversion rate.
Many elements affect visitor behavior. Loading times, image quality, colors, and copy, all combine to create a user experience. And in aggregate, they contribute to a visitor’s decision to perform the desired conversion task.
Here are some simple site changes you can make to improve the odds that a visitor will convert to a lead.
Don’t Ask, Give
Getting people to take action is hard when you are asking for something, but offering little. This is why “subscribe” isn’t an effective call to action (CTA). Especially when it is accompanied by mediocre content.
But what if you are offering something of value to the reader at no cost? Well, they are far more likely to take action -especially if the offering is directly related to their reason for reading your article in the first place.
Imagine that you are reading an interesting article about sales lead scoring. The writer is offering you the exact Excel template she uses to score her site leads. If you find the article useful, then it’s reasonable to believe the template will also be of value.
Remember Hick’s Law
Hick’s Law explains how people take more time to make a decision when they get presented with many options. This suggests that you should limit the number of offers on your site. Ideally, you want just ONE offer that remains consistent everywhere on your site. However, it’s acceptable to have complementary offers in different locations. Just not on the same page.
If you visit a website with an offer to download an eBook in 3 different locations on the page, you will probably notice the offer. And you’ll consider the merits of downloading the eBook. If the promised information is appealing, then you may take action.
But what if they offer an ebook, a ‘free consultation’, and a newsletter? In that case you’ll need to evaluate them all individually. If you’re a casual browser, this much thinking probably translates to zero action.
Having multiple choices confuses us. It’s more likely someone will do nothing when they can’t decide which action is best.
Instead, you are better off making a “high value, irresistible offer” and consistently repeating it in high traffic sections of your website.
Success Begets Success
People want to know what sort of experience they can expect from working with you. The easiest way to demonstrate you do good work is to showcase happy clients.
Consumers consistently choose solutions that have good reviews. It makes users feel confident they are making a good choice.
Visitors shouldn’t need to hunt around your site for reviews, testimonials or case studies. While it helps to have a dedicated testimonial page, the odds are good that few people will see it.
Instead, liberally spread client sentiment throughout your site. Testimonials are especially powerful in areas where you want people to take an action. For example, if you direct people to a confirmation page after someone fills in a form, it’s a good idea to showcase testimonials on this page. You’ll be speaking with the prospective client over the next day or two and it can only help if they’ve seen examples of happy clients before speaking with you.
Make your testimonials ‘come alive’ as much as possible. Use client photos (with their permission) to accompany their words. And consider using video to further humanize your past clients.
Be ‘WOW’
There are about 2 million articles published every DAY.
Think about that for a moment. Every day there are more words being published than you could probably read in your lifetime. And the vast majority of those articles wants you to fill in your name and email address to subscribe for future updates.
We all have limitations on our time and attention. If we sign up for too many newsletters our email boxes overflow and our productivity slows to a crawl. (OK, truthfully, the more newsletters we sign up for, the less we’re likely to read!) With this in mind, most people are picky about what they want to read. If your articles fall into the ‘pretty good’ category, it’s obvious that not many people will take action. There is just too much information out there for them to process already.
Everyone knows “you should be blogging”. But here’s the thing… 91% of sites get no search traffic from Google. If you do the same things as everyone else, you’re going to get the same search traffic results as almost everyone else.
Make Converting Easy
Easy conversion is the best conversion.
We are all sensitive about giving out our personal information. Give some thought to the next steps in your client relationship funnel. Consider what information you really need in order to take things forward.
If you are collecting prospect details just to segment your leads, consider shortening your forms.
For example, do you really need someone’s last name? If you don’t, then don’t ask for it in the signup form.
What about their phone number? Are you planning to call them? Can you get that information at a later time? It’s easy to ask for someone’s phone number after you’ve sent a few emails back and forth. Some B2B services initiate communication by email. From the prospect’s email signature they can get their full name, phone, site details, and other pertinent information.
Lengthy forms feel invasive. Show your visitors you respect their privacy and make the conversion process easy.
Conclusion
Generating leads on your website isn’t complicated. Put yourself in the position of a skeptical or indifferent visitor. And then honestly decide whether you would take action on your site. If the answer is no, play with the suggestions above until you can honestly say you’d be happy to convert.
Over To You
Do you have any additional tips that you think your fellow readers should know about? Please share them in the comments section, below. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.
You may also want to read: Maximizing The Conversion Opportunities You Were Probably Missing
B2B Content Marketing Mastery: Optimize Creativity & Conversion Rate
Improve Your Business Website Conversion Rates
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