7 Ways to Convert Website Visitors to Leads

You’ve put in place a strong marketing plan to drive people to your website: congratulations! But what happens once people land on your site? Do you have a plan to convert website visitors to leads, or will you be like the dog that caught the car?

Let’s look at 7 ways to convert your visitors into leads and turn browsers into buyers.

1. Create personas. Before you do anything else, make sure you know who your ideal buyers are and what you have to offer them. Create a persona for each of your ideal customers: a fictional person based on your target customer’s likely demographics, likes and dislikes, triggers for making buying decisions, etc. Why does each persona need your product or service? What information do you have that could help these people in their daily work?

2. Target your personas. Look at what you have to offer each persona, then plan content around each that begins to educate them—practical tips on your industry, pointers on projects they’re responsible for, things they need to know to make a good buying decision, etc.

A blog that covers a wide range of topics is a great way to do this, as you can write posts customized to each of your personas. For deeper content, consider webinars, white papers, ebooks and the like that give even more detailed information.

Remember to inform them and to be helpful—not to trot out a hard sell. While you are meeting their needs, you are also demonstrating your knowledge and ability to guide them through their projects. Have you heard the old adage “content is king”? With increasing volumes of content being generated ever day, that’s still true, now more than ever.

3. Plan guided tours. When you go to a grocery store, it’s no accident that you have to walk through the store to get to the milk or that candy and magazines wave next to checkout lines. Do the same for your website.

Give your visitors a planned experience from the moment they arrive. Structure your home page and landing pages to tempt them with information that is just what they’re seeking, then lead them down the path of learning more.

Think in levels. What will they need to know first, second, third as they’re planning their project or making a buying decision?

For example, Level One might be a question or small piece of information targeted to their needs. Level Two could be a blog post or recorded podcast. Level Three could be free consultation, an ebook, a free recorded webinar or a workshop discount that promises even more about how you can help them. In this way, you start to build credibility and a relationship with your visitors.

4. Include a call to action. At the end of each level, always put a call to action that moves visitors down to the next, deeper level. Often, this will involve an exchange of information: Give us your email address, and we’ll send you our newsletter. Share your phone number, and we’ll call to set up a complimentary consultation.

Use verbs to put your visitors in motion: “Download ebook” or “Sign up for enews.” Try numbers to grab attention: “View 10 free sales tips” or “Get 20% off.” Keep it short. And choose your colors wisely—red for urgency and orange for calls to action.

5. Optimize your images. When visitors come to your landing page, don’t make them wait. Make sure your page loads quickly. Hubspot has found that decreasing the file size of your images can raise your average conversion rate by as much as 11 percent.

6. Follow up. Once you’ve engaged your visitors, recognize them. When they download a white paper or subscribe to your blog, present a confirmation page with a great big thank you. (And then of course offer to take them to other relevant content on your site, the next stop on the tour.)

At the same time, shoot them an email that thanks them for requesting your resource, includes the download and/or any relevant links they might want for safekeeping, and present the next value-added resource.

Follow up again several days later, in a helpful way. Ask if the resource was valuable to them, if they have any questions, if you can offer them even more ways to excel at their job (and provide your next-level resource). Be a friendly guide.

7. Check your metrics, and refine. Once you’ve implemented the process, watch to see how the results match up with your key performance indicators (KPIs). Check Google Analytics to see the paths people are taking through your site. Are they dropping off at the same point? If so, see if you can improve the content on that page, the page load time, and the user-friendliness of the page design. How many people are downloading your initial resources—and coming back for more? How can you make these resources super strong—and catch those customers who might otherwise slip away?

Not sure of the best way to increase your conversion rate? Feel free to ask us for personalized advice.