In previous posts we’ve discussed ways to attract consumers to your website and blog. Although traffic itself is good for your business, as it gives you more exposure and hence brand recognition, what most of us really need are leads.

Leads are something you can follow up on. Something you can have your sales team pursue. Somebody you can send marketing materials to. And ultimately leads are something you can close and turn into revenue.

The leads we are talking about in this post is someone that fills in their information on your website. A consumer you can identify. For someone to be a lead you need their name, email address and phone number.

Website traffic is anonymous by default. You can’t tell who is visiting your site unless they fill out a form. So how do you get someone to fill out a form and become a lead?

Make Them a Really Good Offer
You need to develop a good offer for visitors to convert them into leads. What can you offer visitors in exchange for their contact information? Make it compelling. Most consumers know at this point that they may contacted after they give out their contact information on a website. They are not going to go through that potential perceived hassle unless they think they are getting something more valuable in return.

What will you offer a visitor to your website that is compelling enough that they will still give you their information? Some examples of offers:

• A free ebook on a subject of interest
• A free consultation
• A discount coupon
• A how to video

Call To Action
Weave your offer into a link or ‘button’ (see example Call To Action “buttons” below from Hubspot) you can put on your website, blog and any emails you send out. Keep the text short and punchy. Examples of text you can put in a link or button:

• “Download our Free lawn care Guide here”,
• “For a Limited Time get 25% off your Next Visit to Our Spa”

Landing Pages
Your Call To Action link or button should link to a web page specifically designed to generate leads. The goal is to have a consumer enter their contact information -without this you have do not have a lead. Without the consumer’s contact information you have no way to start the conversation that could turn into a sale.

Don’t direct people to your home page or a general web page on your site. You need to develop specialized “landing pages”.  Some landing page guidelines:

• Landing pages should have no distractions (no navigation to the rest of your site for example.)
• Sync the language on your landing page to your Call To Action so visitors know they are in the right place after having clicked on your Call To Action link or button.
• Make your form for a consumer to enter their contact information clearly visible.
• Don’t ask for more information than the minimum you can live with. Research shows the more fields there are for the visitor to fill in the number of people that will fill in the form drops off fast. Keep your forms to name and email address as much as possible (and ask for their phone number if you have to).