Does your website work for you, or do you work for your website? That’s a question you should not delay to answer. An effective website will increase your exposure, develop awareness about your products and services, educate potential customers, and convert visitors to customers. Any paid online advertising is an enhancement to your organic traffic, not in lieu of it. Therefore, if your website is not generating calls, emails, quote requests, or online sales, it is time to reevaluate your marketing strategy and how well it aligns with your website. Below is a list of website issues that could be hurting your lead generation.
Ways a Website Can Hurt Lead Generation
1. Poor Website Design – You may have a beautiful and professional looking website, but that is not enough. Your website is not for you, it is for your for customers. The design must optimize usability and functionality. This means fast loading speeds, easy navigation, mobile-friendliness, and social media integration. Moreover, avoid intrusive and disruptive elements, like pop-ups and auto-play videos.
2. Quality Content – Inbound marketing is not about having a large content library, it is about the quality of a growing content library. It is important to understand your potential customers at every stage of the buyer life-cycle and publish the content they want to read. The role of content is not just to generate traffic, but also to encourage return visits, newsletter sign-ups, social follows, and customer conversions.
3. Conversion Opportunities – If the only way that you are collecting potential customer information is a “contact us” page, then you are losing leads. Every business website will benefit from multiple landing pages, each optimized for a different customer group. Landing pages encourage prospects to provide contact and other information in exchange for some offer, which can be a discount, free trial, or promotional merchandise.
4. Email Subscriptions – Once a prospect has made the small commitment of signing up to your email list or newsletter, you can more directly nurture the lead. Email marketing allows you to personalize the marketing message, which will inspire return website sites, social shares, and boost overall online engagement. The typical person will need to visit your website, or otherwise see your message, 3 to 7 times before taking action.
Do you have questions? What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about lead generation, or a related topic, please contact us.