Your website is out there representing your business 24/7 and can be a great resource in generating leads for your sales team. Below are a few simple things you can do to increase the quality and quantity of leads your site generates:

1) Write it so they can read it. Write your content for users who are scanning, not reading. Making it easy for them to find the information they need on your site makes it more likely they’ll contact you and not your competition.

2) If you have a “contact us” form, remove the phone number as a required field. Users fill out forms rather than calling so as not to have to speak with sales people. Removing the phone number as a requirement lets them know you understand this.

3) Add your physical address to your site. It gives users a sense of comfort that they are going to be dealing with a real company.

4) Provide valuable information users researching your products or services may need. The more you become a resource, the more they feel they can trust doing business with you.

5) Make it as easy as possible for them to experience your product or service on a temporary basis. If you sell a product, can they try it free for 30 days, or see a demo on your site?

And remember, the point of your website isn’t to tell them every minute detail of your business. The site content needs to move a potential customer or client to put your business on their “short list” of companies they need to consider prior to signing with anyone.

Your website should get you on that list. Your sales people should close the deal.

Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing Content, Lead Generation, Leads, Online Content, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business, Website Usability

We so often hear the term “interactive media,” when referring to websites. I understand the underlying sentiment that users can come in and navigate through to where they want to go, they can spend time with the pages they like the best, and leave if they aren’t happy. And on sites that allow for UGC, they can even “talk” to you or others about your services or product.

The problem I have with labeling this activity as “interactive” is that clients often confuse it with “conversation.” This so often means that clients create their sites as if they are actually having a dialogue with their customers. When in fact, the user is there to “pull” information from their site. If they don’t find the information they are looking for, quickly and easily, they leave.

There is no chance for a company representative to say “no wait, we actually do have exactly what you’re looking for,” or “in fact, we do provide that service, maybe I just wasn’t explaining it right.”

Think about the conversations your sales people have at trade shows. Potential clients/customers come to your booth and you explain what you sell, the service you provide, your point of difference, etc… Then they have a chance to ask questions, and if it seems like they aren’t quite getting the benefits of doing business with you, the sales person can try a different tack. That is “interacting.” Online, if your website isn’t providing information in a succinct manner that lines up with the user’s query, you don’t have the luxury of changing your tack and trying again.

That’s why your content needs to be written from the users’ point of view, not yours. It has to be written to make it easy for them to find what they’re looking to “pull” and not what you’re looking to “push.”

Website Content Content, Lead Generation, Leads, Online Content, Website Usability