It, of course, can’t be taken for granted that all business websites (the majority of the businesses are conducted online) primarily aim at gaining leads and transform the maximum of them into conversions. It would not be improper, by any means, to say that these are the conversions, (i.e., the competence to add to the existing clientele) that forms the lifeline of any business.
Besides, it is always desirable to keep the existing clientele while strategizing to add to it further. However, not all the business websites can achieve the same with ease nowadays for the competition has grown to be fierce than what it used to be till a few years back!
Tips to Gain Leads and Make Conversions
As already said above, the competition to add to the list of the clientele is getting harder day by day. It should never be forgotten that apart from yours, there are a number of business websites that conduct the business online.
So in order to make your website stand tall among those of your competitors, you have to strategize and act accordingly in order to gain the maximum of leads and convert them successfully into clients. Here are quite a few tips to do the same:
- Blogging: Blog content is something that should never be taken for granted. Rather, you should hold it in high esteem. With an interesting and well written blog, you are likely to gain the leads.
Also, you may use blogs to achieve optimum of SEO. The point to be noted is that when a creatively and innovatively written blog makes its appearance on a business website, it increases the probability of the appearance of the website in the SERPs i.e., the Search Engine Result Pages including Google.
Thus the result of publishing blogs on your website would be an increase in the traffic to your website. It is one of the most coveted results by the owners of any website.
What’s more, if the audiences feel that reading the blogs on the website leaves them better informed, it obviously implies that most of their queries are being answered.
So it is a good idea to keep posting relevant blogs on the website. It would not only draw greater traffic to your website, but would also retain the interest of the leads thus gained, and paving the way for the conversion of the leads into customers.
What’s more, an innovative blog caters to the logical psyche of the traffic to your website. The point to be noted is that a blog also allows encompassing most of the inter-related aspects as well. This facilitates it even further that the leads thus gained are more likely to be retained for longer periods of time. This again adds to the probability of the conversion of leads into clients.
- Social Networks: We seem to be living in the world of the social media Gone are the days when people used to hold and attend long business meetings to strike business deals and visit their kith and kin to share fond memories with the family albums opened large in front of them. Nowadays, people across the globe prefer sharing their joys and sorrows on Instagram rather than arranging and treasuring the pics in the family albums.
- Pay Per Click: As the name suggests, traffic is drawn towards your website when you pay for it. PPC is one of these means. You are required to pay per click. Thus you are required to pay the websites whenever your ad is clicked upon or as per the total number of times that the ad by you is clicked upon.
- Maintaining the PR (Public Relations) Counts: Though maintenance of public relations might seems to be belonging to the bygone eras, this time tested method should not be neglected. Though investing time, effort and energy to maintain public relations might be perceived as somewhat old fashioned, PR has been making use of a number of methods that are significant even today.
Both print and electronic media play a very important role in optimizing conversions. Thus the commercials telecast on television, live events, publications, e-mails and advertising play a highly effective role to increase conversions.
- Begin at the grassroot level: It should never be forgotten that your final objective is to make conversions, and so, the grassroot level should not be neglected. The moment traffic is drawn to your website, it is best to cultivate the interest of the visitor from the beginning itself.
You may ask the visitor to fill a form asking them for the contact information including name, address, phone number, e-mail id etc.
- Optimize the landing page: The landing page, unlike any other page on your website, aims at serving a specific purpose. The landing page comprises content to address something specific. A call to action may also be included in the landing page. It may include asking the traffic to the website to perform some action, e.g., reading a newsletter or an e-book etc. You may also insert a form in the landing page to gain the contact information of the visitor.
It should always be kept in mind that a landing page aims at getting hold of the contact information of the traffic or even making the conversion i.e., to put it to the matter of the fact terms, conducting a sale.
Thus it only makes sense to realize that the landing page coupled with the call to action is more likely to convert the traffic into clients and hence definitely scores an edge over the home page.
- Call to Action: As the term suggests, call to action implies making an appeal to the traffic to your website to perform an action. However, what should be kept in mind while asking a visitor for a call to action is that whether you have to make a conversion or retain the interest of the traffic on the way to conversion.
Accordingly, the call to action may vary. If the conversion is to be made, then getting the required form filled would be more appropriate. However, in case if the interest of the traffic is to be maintained in order to achieve the maximum number of conversions, then asking the visitor to read a newsletter or e-book would be more appropriate.
- Motivate the audience to subscribe: It is highly important that once you gain a lead, the interest of the visitor is to be retained so that he/she feels motivated to purchase the product and/or services required. You may use any of the methods specified above to fulfill the objective. Apart from getting the forms filled, asking the visitor to read a newsletter or e-book, or making use of the landing page (all these methods have already been specified above), you may also make your own addition to this list.
- Reiterate: Reiteration, but in a logical and convincing manner, does count. Stay focused making an appeal to the logical faculty of the visitor, putting forth the plus points of your products and/or services that make you stand tall among your competitors.
- Make use of e-commerce: E-commerce is a great blessing that the advanced technology has endowed the mankind with. E-commerce , doing away with the all the cumbersome irritations of the traditional ways of business paves the way for the conversions in a smooth manner.
- Retain the already gained clientele: Though the ultimate objective for all the marketing strategies of any business seems to be gaining leads and finally making conversions, that does not sum up the entire process! Retaining the already gained leads is equally important.
So, it’s best to keep in touch with the clientele that you have already acquired by updating them of any new products and/or services that your business puts forth. E-mails are a good way to achieve this objective.
- Remind your customers: In case, any of the leads does not make a purchase in spite of having said to do so, remind him/her in a polite manner. In case, the time assigned does not suit the potential client, change the time accordingly even if the purchase is to be made online and the potential client is not supposed to pay a visit. You may also allow discounts or think of gift vouchers if possible.
- Thanksgiving: Even if the lead proves to be too tasking on your time, thank him/her for the time he/she spends while visiting your website, attending to any of your calls, performing a call to action such as reading a newsletter by you, etc. It would only motivate the leads to walk down the road to conversion.
- Re-selling counts: Think how great it is if any of your clients asks you for another piece of the same product he has already purchased from you! It does serve to keep the cash registers for your business ringing. Besides, it of course strengthens the bond between a business and the customer a great deal.
- Ask for feedbacks: A feedback is not meant to be conducted only at the end of the business transaction. It only makes sense to get feedbacks from the leads frequently so that you may be able to optimize the probability of the conversion by removing the factors that a lead finds cumbersome.
However, what is of utmost importance is that the methods of gaining a lead and motivating the same for conversion differ from business to business. Even if any of your competitors finds a particular method most suitable, that’s no guarantee that the same would benefit you as well for the pluses and minuses of your website obviously differ from those of you rival (and it should be noted that your competitor deals with the same product and/or services as you do).
It’s you who understands your business in the best possible manner. So, it obviously implies that instead of toeing the line, even of the most successful of your competitor, it makes more of sense to carve out your own strategy to gain and retain the leads and also make conversions.
However, in addition to the tips and all that has been said above, it is a good idea to study what draws the traffic to the website to your competitor and also what facilitates the conversions for your business rivals.
But, again, as already said earlier, though you may study what makes your competitors’ business more successful, blindly following the same is no solution to any of your problems in order to gain leads and make conversions. You should be thoroughly well versed with all the requirements of your business websites and implement only those strategies opted by your competitor that suit your business as well.
