THIS RIGHT NOW
Download the Chrome extension Super Dark Mode to see what your website will look like in dark mode.
Fewer Form Fields
There is a direct correlation between a website's conversion rate and the amount of information required to complete a form. Going from three fields to five decreases the conversion rate by 20%, and going from five fields to six-plus decreases it by another 25%7 (Figure 2.4).
Conversely, the more fields someone is willing to complete directly correlate to a lead that is easier for sales to convert. You must find the right balance.
If you do not want to ask for a ton of information so that you get more leads, then stick to the basics of name, phone number, and email. You can also use a Facebook or Google registration button so they can complete a form without any keystrokes at all.
You can even have an option site-wide that lets visitors use their Gmail to opt in. If they are already logged into Gmail (which has more than 1.5 billion users), they simply click twice, with one of the clicks authorizing Google to give you their email address.
Figure 2.4 Adding Required Fields Decreases Conversion Rate
If you go the higher-quality lead route and ask for additional information, be sure that what you require directly improves the lead's experience during your sales calls. For example, if you are a real estate agent generating a seller lead, knowing their time frame and if they need to buy another home puts you in a position to have a more meaningful conversation.
Ultimately, just make sure that the data you gather when you capture a lead makes the experience better for the customer. That can mean better calls, but it can also mean better marketing. The more you know about your leads, the easier it is to send them the right email marketing campaigns and show them relevant ads.
I have also found it to be worth having a backup option such as “Or you can call/text 555–5555 or email [email protected]” anytime you display a contact form. The bottom line is that if someone is willing to fill out a form on your website to be contacted, they might prefer to talk to someone right away.
If it takes more than a moment or two for a visitor to locate your phone number and email address on your website, fix that immediately. My entire marketing philosophy is to stop chasing leads. My goal for you is to attract clients. When it works and someone is ready to contact you, make sure there is zero friction.
Keeping Focus
More choices = fewer decisions made. You want to limit the number of calls to action on any given page to one when possible. If one page of your website asks me to subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on Instagram, and download your e-book, I might not do any of them. Remember, one page, one purpose.
The only pages of your site that will likely need multiple CTAs (calls-to-action) are your home page and contact page. Keep them laser-focused on one goal for all of the other pages.
Design for Edge Cases
Many of your website's visitors will be coming back to visit for a second, third, or even 100th time. Some of your website visitors will be visiting for the first time. Even the best-built websites do not capture every visitor who stops by. Just make sure you capture every bottom of the funnel lead. Also, make sure the visitors who are the “edge case” (don't visit often and are unfamiliar with you and your brand) can navigate your site and find information as easily as the visitors who return often.
HOW TO QUICKLY TURN YOUR WEBSITE INTO A LEAD-GENERATING MACHINE
Building a well-designed website can be a daunting, lengthy, and expensive task. The good news is that there are some quick hacks for turning (almost) any website into a lead-generating machine.
There are proven tactics and add-ons that will increase the overall percentage of your website's visits to leads captured (conversion rate). That said, if you annoy people with too many aggressive pop-ups or you force them to register to access basic information, you will have a much harder time getting them to answer their phone and convert the lead.
Our goal is to be there for leads who want to speak with someone in sales but also to capture the information of people who will convert later.
PROVEN WAYS TO CAPTURE LEADS ON YOUR WEBSITE WITHOUT BEING (TOO) ANNOYING
Adding the following will increase your conversion rate and is as simple as installing a line of code into your site settings.
“Alert” boxes (Optimize by Google makes this easy and free to add. You can even run A/B tests. You can also use Proof for more advanced alerts that help convert visitors to leads.)
Live Chat or Chatbots (Drift, Intercom, and Olark are all great.)
Pop-ups (Wisepops, Poptin, Sumo, and OptinMonster are all easy to integrate and either free or inexpensive.)
A Contact Us page that you link to from your About page and Testimonials page as well as from your website's menu, header, and footer; this page can have a form, but it should also have every other way possible to contact you (live chat, phone number, email address, location that is clickable to Google Maps and social media profiles)
THE IMPACT OF PERSONALIZATION ON LEAD CONVERSION
One of the best features of tools like these that few companies are taking advantage of is personalization.
Personalized CTAs convert 202% better than generic ones,8 and 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when a brand offers a personalized experience.9
If someone visits a specific page of your site or if they visit a certain number of times or spend enough total time on your site, you can show them individualized content, copy, and CTAs that are hyper-relevant.
As an example, if someone is on the testimonials page of your website, for the third time in the last 30 days, you can have the headline for that page be “Thanks for reading our reviews, again. Don't worry, we read them a lot, too.” or “Fun Fact: People check out our reviews an average of three times before they contact us. This is your third time. No pressure.”
In the same scenario, you can also personalize the live chat message based on the knowledge that they frequently read testimonials. Instead of a generic live chat starter message, we can say, “Thanks for reading our reviews. I always read a lot of reviews before I buy things, too. If you have any questions, let me know! Our goal is to earn a 5-star review from you as well.”
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