7 Actionable Techniques for Generating Leads on Your Website
Most digital enthusiasts these days, including those to whom we refer to as growth hackers, cannot find common grounds when it comes to exploiting the right channels.
Devising an effective lead-generation strategy is predicated on various factors, so flexibility is key in this process.
What exactly is a lead?
A Lead is a stranger that is converted into a prospect thanks to your offer, blog post, landing page, Ad, etc.
Moreover, generation of leads is one of the most important TOFU (Top of the Funnel) acquisition strategies out there. You can put SEO as a channel on the same page, but lead generation tends to convert a lot better in terms of continuing the journey across the funnel.
Enough with opinions, let’s talk numbers.
According to numerous studies conducted on behalf of growth hackers, more than 60% of all B2B marketers believe that leads are one of the primary entry points to increase the LTV (Lifetime Value of Customer).
In the graphic below, you can see what digital marketers think is going to be a game-changer in 2019:
Lead generation tops the list of priorities with 47%!
In addition to that, 85% of B2B marketers have stated that lead generation is currently among their top priorities in 2019.
Obviously, you can’t get more leads without working on your SEO and traffic, but that doesn’t contradict with the idea that digital marketers lay emphasis on leads, now more than ever.
You can see the pattern here. So, let’s take a look at the best practices that will help you build up your list:
1.Install PDF24 Plugin
Many websites these days understand the utmost necessity of generating leads, so they decided to add a plugin on their Websites that can convert any article into PDF Format in exchange for an email.
The lead generation box could look something like this, but you can adjust it to your standards.
The plugin is free to use and easy to install. Moreover, so it’s one of the easiest ways to build an email list if you have a sufficient amount of monthly traffic. If that’s not the case, then you should start working on SEO and Content Production in order to get enough visitors on your website. Once there, you can experiment and find out which variety converts the best.
2. Transform Your Top Web-Pages into Landing Pages
No, we are not talking about Paid Ads!
You can design the top pages of your website to resemble a fully-functional and high-converting landing page.
How to do it?
You can start by finding out which web-pages receive enough traffic and while you are at it, check out the Bounce-Rate and Time on Page.
Keeping your bounce-rate below 70% is imperative.
Let’s look at an example first:
Backlinko’s home page is where Brian generates most of his email subscribers. From the looks of it, we can say with some confidence that it’s pretty simple but extremely powerful.
Why?
Because users love simplicity and are more likely to share their email if they stumble upon an alluring design.
Go over to your website, and test it for user experience. Conduct A/B testing for various CTAs and strategic positioning.
Above all else, make sure the visitors understand what you offer in return for their email. And you can’t achieve that if your Landing Page is loaded with meaningless chunks of text and other distractions. Snap out of it, and keep it simple.
You can do that on pretty much every other page you deem to have a potential for attracting a large audience.
3. Use Pop-ups & Slide-Ins
We all hate pop-ups, and that’s the truth.
There’s rarely a person who doesn’t mind when an opt-in form jumps out of nowhere. But, here’s the little secret – it works.
Then again, it’s hard to be in the top 10% of Websites that convert a whopping 9.3% of the visitors. Don’t let that discourage you since having 3.5-5% conversion rates will transform so many cold visitors into potential buyers.
There are a handful of plugins both Free and Premium that give you the freedom to design pop-ups and slide-ins with the use of drag and drop mechanism.
If you don’t have enough money, Hello Bar and MailChimp are free to start.
Slide-ins, unlike pop-ups, show up in the corner of the screen, trying to catch the user’s attention without disrupting the flow.
Here’s an example:
It’s also important to mention that most of the Slide-In Plugins come at a price.
When it comes to pop-ups, there are a few things you have to know.
Depending on the content of your website, and service, of course, you need to craft your plan. One of the options is offering a FREE E-Book that resonates with your audience, or simply a newsletter reminder that incentivizes users to sign up.
Apart from being crucial to success, the timing is also the backbone of behavioral automation most advanced Plugins have in store.
In order to seize the momentum, we recommend conducting A/B testing, as the only way of detecting the highest-converting triggers.
4. Experiment with Content Upgrades & Content Lock-Ins
Remember what we said?
The simpler it is, the better it converts. Well, yeah!
If you have some super cool information on something that nobody else talks about you can use the momentum to generate more leads.
Just write a piece of content, and offer a “bonus or sequel” that is super-valuable in exchange for an email.
It sounds super-easy, but you’d be amazed by the power of it.
If you have ever stumbled across a great piece of content that is genuine in its entirety, but offers even more in exchange for a certain action, then you know exactly what we are talking about.
Some top-notch WordPress plugins such as OptinMonster and Thrive-Leads allow you to create your Success Action (when a user clicks or follows the desired path).
The truth of the matter is, both Upgrades and Lock-Ins work really well.
In Thrive-Leads upon generating the shortcode, you’ll be presented with a list of templates to choose from, and you can build it up from there.
When to use Content Upgrades?
Let’s say you have a bonus tip or appendix you would like to share with your Premium Subscribers, so what do you do?
You can use a Plugin (Thrive-Leads or OptinMonster) to generate a code and place it on your webpage.
Next, an opt-in form will pop up.
Users dazzled by your free content will be eager to share their email to get access to a valuable new piece of information.
5. Use Eccentric CTAs (Call-to-Actions)
What are Call-to-Action Buttons?
Part of a message that attempts to influence the user’s behavior into performing a certain action. Example:
It’s no longer enough to use high-contrast CTA buttons to catch user’s attention.
Also, users are no longer drawn to robotic language and prefer a conversational tone. So, here are a couple of tweaks that can improve your conversion rates, regardless of the technique you intend to leverage.
- Change your tone
- Use weird colors
- Make a statement
- Address the problem
Let’s break it down, and understand the step-by-step process.
It’s much more effective to use CTA such as “I Want to Learn” rather than “Sign Up” or any other traditional copy.
Just think about this for a moment, and understand that serious tone is not appealing to the visitor. Furthermore, boring expression can lead to low conversion rates.
If you want to build up your list, you should really change your approach and to put yourself in the user’s shoes.
Try to refrain yourself from using formal speech, and keep it casual is the best advice you’ll ever going to get.
6. Utilize Social Media & Referral Traffic
The main concern with regards to lead generation is traffic.
According to digital marketers, there are a few channels you ought to take into consideration to drive visitors to your Landing Pages.
- Social Media
- Paid Media
- Organic Traffic
If you are out of budget, paid media (CPC, CPM, Facebook Ads) will not be a feasible option at the moment. So, where do you start?
Promote your landing page on all social media outlets.
You might think that you don’t have enough followers to make an impact, but remember every single user counts. The message can spread quickly if your offer truly is breathtaking.
Sites like Quora, Reddit can also help you out to reach new audiences and drive referral traffic to your website. Sign up and become a valuable member of the community.
Chatting with your target audience may also guide you toward making the much-needed tweaks to gain great exposure.
7. Focus on Inbound Marketing & SEO
In all honesty, this is more is more of a roundabout route but it will definitely help you to scale your business.
Why indirect?
Because it generally doesn’t mean more leads, but it paves the way to higher engagement from your audience.
Here’s how it works.
Your job is to attract as many people as possible with an actionable and relevant piece of content. Once the visitors land on your website, you have to find the best way to monetize that delight and turn them into prospects.
Bear in mind that generating qualified leads only gets you to the Middle of the Funnel (MOFU).
Marketers at HubSpot describe it as a threefold process, consisting of:
It might be scary to many, but nowadays the buyer is in full control. With so many options on the market, your job is to identify the best channel to accelerate the engagement with your brand.
Creating great content is one thing, generating organic traffic is something way different.
Long gone are the days, when the creation of mediocre content was more than enough to earn the lion’s share of organic clicks.
You have to optimize your blog posts by utilizing both On-Page and Off-Page SEO tactics.
Don’t be tempted to get into hot waters with Google, and just stick to white-hat strategies.
The methods we deem can help you rank are beyond the scope of this article.
Final Thoughts
Without a doubt, lead generation is becoming an indispensable asset in the sales funnel. More than 40% of all qualified leads are reluctant to make the first purchase, and in order to ease off the tension, you have to interact with them.
Once your Website gets enriched with a good mix of high-quality content, and engaging Landing Pages, you can begin focusing on numbers.
In other words, by looking at the metrics, you’ll have a broader perspective of what works and what doesn’t.
In return, you’ll not only boost your organic ranking, but you’ll also improve your conversion rates by weeding out the stuff that doesn’t yield good results.
The bottom line is – lead generation is nothing but the process of turning reluctant visitors into valuable prospects.
